Authors Note: With regard to timeline, in the last chapter Elizabeth has just turned 16, and Norrington, having received his promotion to Post Captain, has set sail. In the script Elizabeth is stated as being 20 when the Commodore proposes to her, and while some other canon may have her at about 17 or 18 (indeed Knightley was 17 at the time of CotBP), I am choosing to go along with the timeline in the script.

Chapter Nine

It was quite fulfilling, if perhaps a bit taxing, to have a whole ship under one's command. The crew of the Dauntless were of the first rate sort, veterans of the sea who knew what they were about. As her captain I piloted the man of war to further glory, adding a few more dents to the hull and more blood to stain its crude deck. We captured a former frigate, 64 guns, the Amie Marie, a corsair ship under the command of a French gentleman named Emile Vallette. M. Vallette was exceptionally fond of dueling, and so overly confident in his abilities with the blade, that he would often challenge the captain of an enemy ship to a formal duel rather than waste time and gunpowder on a battle. He seemed a very unlikely privateer, was clearly of genteel origins and had not much taste for the bloodshed his profession required. So it was that I was able to best him at swords and capture his ship without any of the carnage and smoke as was usual.

There was a female passenger on board the Amie Marie, an elegantly dressed Austrian miss with large, dark eyes that reminded me so of Elizabeth's soft brown ones. They sailed with us until we reached the channel, and then we set them afloat in a longboat with some provisions. Not long afterwards, I learned they had reached France safely, only for M. Vallette to be killed in another duel.

The mademoiselle was, I supposed, his gilded mistress, and a rather inconstant one at that. She often attempted to attract my favor, but her coquetries only made me ache to be with Elizabeth. Having her on board reminded me of all of those things that made Elizabeth so enchanting; the slender form and graceful gait of a woman, the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck, the stray hairs about her face that flapped in the sea breeze. In private, I indulged in thoughts of Elizabeth, my dreams infused with an unexpected and intense desire, and my waking filled with daydreams of our future together.

There were also worries. Sometimes I felt sure I would find Elizabeth married upon my return. Perhaps she would even have kids. In my darker moods I pictured calling upon her when I returned to Port Royal, only to have her husband standing nearby and her children surrounding her feet. I dismissed these fears by writing to the governor to assure myself of her continuing unmarried state. The months between letters were agonizing, every day reminding me of my missed chance with Elizabeth. I promised myself that I couldn't wait any longer, and that as soon as I returned to Port Royal I would waste no time in asking her to be mine, worthy or not.

The Dauntless took 25 ships in all, most of them not at all as grand as the Amie Marie, sunk 22, and brought in over 10,000 pounds worth of prize money. When I once again beheld the weathered battlements of Fort Port Royal, four years had passed. I had been in Port Royal for a few days when the Governor's invitation had arrived, scarcely able to call upon the man, consumed with business and engaged to dine with the Admiral and my fellow officers every night. Admiral Braithwaite had a guest staying with him from England, a Mr. Graham with connections among the heads of His Majesty's naval offices there. While I enjoyed the talk of all things naval, the company, and the praise they kept throwing my way, I longed to be able to dine at the Governor's table, where I was sure to see Elizabeth. While on my voyage I had seen and experienced so many new and terrible things that I almost felt that I didn't belong in such a calm, domestic setting anymore, but the moment I saw Elizabeth any notions of that sort swiftly vanished.

It was at a dinner party at the Governor's. She was there, along with a few other personal friends of her father's. As I entered the drawing room, there sat the ever vigilant Lady Barclay, looking as though she had not stirred an inch from her perch in that same drawing room four years ago. Elizabeth was there, and I nearly gaped at her, rejoicing in the detail of her, on the other side of the room and yet so near to me, so much closer than the loveliness that had lived in my memory for those four long years. I realized how wrong I had been about her. My mind's eye could never capture the lively twinkle in her eye, the way her curls bounced across her forehead when she turned, the way her hands curved around her fan. The image that had captivated my heart and sustained me these four years was just a pale reflection of the life and beauty of this girl I saw before me. I found I could not help but notice her bosom, fuller and more exposed than when I had seen her last, and fashionably powdered so that it matched her porcelain complexion, through which her natural rosiness was trying its hardest to peek. I was arrested by other acquaintances before dinner, and as we moved into the dining room, my efforts to secure a seat near her were thwarted by Lady Barclay on one side, and a corpulent colleague of Governor Swann, a Mr. Wythe, on the other. As we dined, I watched her, marveling at her intelligent conversation and decided opinions. The youthful wisdom and certainty of twenty made her more ravishing than her sixteen-year-old self, and as I listened to her opinions against beating servants, my heart warmed to her sense of justice and her kindness and compassion.

The interval between dessert and the time when we could rejoin the ladies seemed to last forever, and when the host had waved a servant away with an empty decanter, I sprang out of my seat and made my way to the drawing room to situate myself on a fashionable French canapé, right next to Elizabeth.

"May I say how well you are looking tonight, Miss Swann." She smiled prettily.

"Thank you, Captain. I am very glad to see you returned so safely." I was heartened by the warmth in her voice.

"I am touched by your concern." I looked at her, my heart surely in my eyes. "I have often thought of my friends here in Port Royal and wished to return all the sooner."

She lowered her eyes and fluttered her fan. "I thought every sailor's heart belonged to the sea."

"In his younger years, when he seeks adventure and the glory that battle brings, the sea seems a seaman's whole world. But when he gets older, he begins to realize his need for a different kind of relationship, one that the sea and his shipmates cannot provide." My directness had made her uneasy. She was silent. I tried in vain to remove the emotion from my voice as a added, "That is why I am so very honored that you should count me among your friends."

She smiled at me, affectionately. "And I you, Captain Norrington."

I couldn't help myself. "Miss Swann--Elizabeth, may I call upon you tomorrow? I thought perhaps--that is, I have been so long on board ship and I have just acquired a fine mount. Should you perhaps like to join me in a ride tomorrow afternoon?" Before she could respond, Lady Barclay's voice rang out across the room.

"What are you talking of there, Captain? You seem very involved in your conversation." I was saved the awkwardness of a response as she continued on to another subject. "Elizabeth, have you overheated? You look quite flushed. I hope you have not had too much wine at dinner?"

Elizabeth smiled at me conspiratorially. "No m'am. I'm quite well, thank you." She was then entreated to play, and floated over to the pianoforte.

I moved closer so that I might better enjoy her performance. She played as well as she danced, without the precision of a true master, but with a whole-heartedness that was endearing. Lady Barclay's shrill whisper broke into my thoughts.

"…but you know, I don't know what the girl is about. I've tried and tried to get her a husband but she simply will not accept any of the men I put in her way. It has been four years since her come-out, and still not even so much as an engagement. Not that she hasn't been asked enough times. Her beauty keeps them coming, but the men are beginning to think there is something wrong with her, and no man likes being rejected. Lord Fontleigh, you know, tried for her twice, but she'd not have him! I am about to wash my hands of the girl. I've told Governor Swann to send her to London for the season, where she'd be sure to find some man to touch her heart, but he won't hear of it."

Her companion, Mrs. Wythe by the sound of it, chimed in. "What about the captain?" I felt two pairs of eyes at my back. "She seems to be interested, and he is obviously besotted. And the way they were talking earlier, so cozy and intimate. How do you know she hasn't already given him her heart?"

The piece ended and gloved hands clapped as Elizabeth moved to sit down. I remained where I was, bristling. What right did these women have to speak of Elizabeth in such a way? If she did not wish to marry, it was not their place to criticize. Something wrong with her, indeed! They did not realize that Elizabeth must marry for love. Her nature was far too passionate to marry merely to increase her fortune. And what business of theirs was it if he spoke to Elizabeth? He was an old friend, it was perfectly respectable.

"James? Are you quite well? You are looking very severe." His last words were said as warning, for there were several wagging tongues around. I forced my expression to soften.

"Governor Swann. May I compliment you on Elizabeth's playing. Truly accomplished." He grunted amusedly at my dutiful remarks before steering me to a chair.

--

As I waited in the front hall for my horse to be brought round from the stables, Lady Barclay approached me. "Captain Norrington. I hope you will do Miss Swann and I the honor of calling upon us here tomorrow afternoon? We should so much like to see you now you are returned to Port Royal." I was too surprised to be annoyed by her maneuvering. I simply bowed and said "Your servant, m'am."

Then a footman informed me that my horse was just outside, and I called a goodnight to where Elizabeth and her father stood goodby-ing their guests before donning my hat and stepping outside.

...

Author's Note: Ok, so by rights I ought to give more detail to James's four years at sea, but I'm sure you're more interested in this part. Perhaps someday I will go back and write those four years, but for now you'll have to be content with what's here. For those of you eager to jump into canon, we are on the brink of Captain Norrington becoming Commodore Norrington, so next chapter should do it.