Disclaimers: I don't own Potc, Norrington, Gillette, nor Groves.
A big thank you to my readers.
During the two weeks preceding their arrival at Santiago de Cuba, Lawrence and James Norrington had become as thick as thieves; they spent most of their days in each other's company, much to the Lieutenants Gillette and Groves' delight. Lawrence helped him around the main deck for his daily take of fresh air, read to him, and mostly had the most intelligent discussions she ever had with anyone, while James slowly but surely healed, relishing the company of his youngest friend.
When they finally arrived, Norrington had fully recovered. He hadn't planned on staying at Santiago de Cuba for more than two days, however, the closer he got to Port Royal, the more reluctant he felt towards his return there, to return home. Given the recent events and the last months, he felt more at ease on his ship, sailing over the immensity of the sea with his friends, and, much to his surprise, he had almost forgotten about his plans of proposal.
This is why, one reason adding to the other, he decided to extend their stay to five days.
'Maybe the woman of my life is here, in this city, waiting for me…' said Groves dreamily.
Gillette loudly laughed at his friend's idea, slapping him on the back, Norrington rolled his eyes and chuckled. As for Lawrence, she smiled and got lost in her thoughts. 'At least, I know I'll never get tired of the sea. So I won't ever need to settle back to a normal life and marry someone. And anyway, nobody would ever want me, as a lady, I am nothing since I left my home, no dowry, no reputation, and try to explain to someone else my life on the open sea, disguised as a man… No, my future is as Ensign Lawrence Reynolds, young male officer of His Majesty's Navy. And I won't ever trade that new identity for anything in the world.'
'Maybe he's thinking about his ideal lady, waiting for him someone!' said Gillette, winking at his friend Theodore, obviously knowing how ridiculous such an idea was, given who Lawrence was.
Sensing that all eyes were upon her, Lawrence came back to earth and looked at her friends with wide eyes.
Beside her, Norrington shifted, clearly uncomfortable by the turn of the discussion. Something inside him rebuffed this idea; he couldn't imagine his youngest friend infatuated with the charms of the other sex, courting a woman, marrying a woman.
'Shall we find some decent place to have a drink, gentlemen?' he said, changing abruptly the subject.
'Lead the way, Captain Norrington!' said Groves and Gillette at the same time.
As the four officers walked side by side, looking dashing in their best clothes, the ladies of higher rank they passed in the street looked at them with awe, giggling behind their fan, and batting their lashes in hope of catching the attention of the Captain. Lawrence looked at her friend then at them, one eyebrow raised. She almost felt disgusted by such a blatant want of attention and hope of a good match. Lost in her thoughts, she looked back at her friend and frowned.
'Anything troubling you, Lawrence?' Norrington said, half smiling.
She shook her head and said, too quickly for her mouth to filter her thoughts:
'I just can't imagine you with a woman of their likes.'
James cocked one eyebrow, surprised by what his friend just said.
'Really?'
'I mean… I do but… Sorry, I'm losing tracks of my thoughts. I shouldn't have said that, please forget it.'
The Captain chuckled and dropped the subject to ease his friend. 'And yet, I am to marry a woman just like them…' he thought with a touch of regret.
The small company entered the tavern that looked the most decent and ordered their tea.
A dozen of minutes later, a man of average size, wearing a long wig and a splendid uniform approached their table.
« Capitaine James Norrington! » he said with a voice surprisingly loud for his seize. « Quelle joie de vous rencontrer enfin. Dès que j'ai entendu que votre navire avait jeté l'ancre dans mon port, je suis venu aussitôt que j'ai pu. Je suis Jean Duplessier, Gouverneur de cette ville. C'est un honneur de vous accueillir ici. » (What a delight to meet you at last. As soon as I've heard your ship had laid anchor in my port, and came as soon as I could, I am Jean Duplessier, Governor of this city. It is an honour to welcome you here.)
The company rose upon the arrival of the Governor and Norrington shook his hand.
« Je vous remercie, Gouverneur Duplessier, c'est un honneur de vous rencontrer. » said Norrington in a faultless French (Thank you, Governor Duplessier, I am honoured to make your acquaintance, sir.)
« Puis-je me joindre à vous? » (May I join you?)
« Bien entendu, je vous en prie. » (But of course, please do.)
« Avec qui ai-je l'honneur de m'asseoir? » (Whom have I the honour to sit with?) The Governor asked to the three other officers.
« Je suis un Leftenant Theodore Groves » (I am Lieutenant Theodore Groves), he said in a broken French.
« Lieutenant Andrew Gillette »
« Et je suis l'Enseigne Lawrence Reynolds, c'est un plaisir de faire votre rencontre. » (And I am Ensign Lawrence Reynolds, sir, pleasure to meet you.)
'Of course Lawrence's French would be perfect, how else could it be…' thought Norrington, impressed by his friend and smiling to himself.
The Governor was very pleased to meet the Captain and his officers, and, as every Frenchman worth of its name, he did not bother to switch to English and genuinely assumed that any man worth his time should adapt and speak French.
He exchanged a few words with Captain Norrington then turned to Lawrence, smiling at her a bit too fondly to her taste, in a way that made her stomach turn; the Governor was looking at her as though she were a juicy piece of meat, his voice was like luscious honey.
« Et comment se fait-ce qu'un garçon aussi jeune que vous soyez déjà officier dans la Marine ? Vous devez être quelqu'un de grande valeur, sans aucun doute… » (How come a boy as young as you are already is an officer in the Navy ? You must be someone of great promises, without any doubt…)
« Après avoir servi quelque temps sous les commandes du Capitaine Norrington, il a jugé bon de me primer Enseigne. Ma place n'est pas de questionner ses actions, mais de n'être qu'honoré par sa bienveillance. » (After serving for a while under Captain Norrington's command, he has seen fit to promote me as an Ensign. My place is not to question his action, but merely to be honored by his benevolence)
Governor Duplessier nodded, his smile still too wide and crooked to make Lawrence feel at ease.
« Je vois… Me feriez-vous l'honneur de me joindre pour diner le Capitaine et vous-même, ce soir, dans ma demeure ? » (I see… Would the Captain and yourself honour me by your presence at diner, tonight, in my estate?)
The Governor blatantly ignored the two Lieutenants, in whom he had no interest whatsoever, caring in the least about being rude or not.
Lawrence looked at Norrington with a blank face. Usually, her thoughts betrayed themselves by reflecting themselves on her face in a frown, an eyebrow raised, different types of smiles; so Norrington, having grown accustomed to his friend's quirks over the weeks, knew that she wasn't feeling at ease about this invitation.
« Je crains que l'Enseigne Reynolds ne se sente pas à sa place au milieu d'une si haute société, peut-être… » (I fear that Ensign Reynolds might not feel at ease in such a high society, perhaps…)
« Foutaises, Monsieur! Soyez là pour sept heures. » (Nonsense, sir ! Be there at seven.) Duplessier said before casting one last glance at Lawrence and leaving the tavern.
Lawrence let go of the breath she didn't know she was catching until now and stared at her empty cup of tea.
'Well, if you want my opinion, I don't like this man at all' said Andrew, crossing his arms. 'And I can't say I understood one bit of what he said… What was that about?'
Norrington frowned, looking at Lawrence.
'Governor Duplessier wants Lawrence and me to have dinner with him, tonight, at his house.' He sighed, his eyes still fixed on the same person as before. 'There is something no right about this man…'
'Oh really?' sneered Groves. 'This man disgusts me. The way he was looking at Lawrence, as though he wanted to eat him or something…'
Lawrence shivered at those words.
'Please, can we talk about something else?' she pleaded.
James put his hand on hers, making her lift her head to fix her eyes on him.
'We won't go, Lawrence. You don't feel at peace with the prospective, so we won't. And I don't care about what he may think of me after that.'
'No! I refuse to let you tarnish your reputation because of me, James. We will go, it's just a dinner, there is nothing to fear. Now, can we talk about something else, please?'
'How about sight-seeing to change the mood?' proposed Theodore, rising from his seat and already moving towards the street.
Norrington realised he was still cupping his friend's hand, which would look suspicious to anyone, being in all appearances two men; he let go of her hand and cleared his voice, rising up and waiting for her before following the friends outward.
'We can still go back to the ship, Lawrence' Norrington said when they were both in front of the gates of Duplessier's estate at the given time.
His friend shook her head.
'It's alright James, it's just a dinner, and besides, I'm not alone' She smiled sincerely at him then put on her mask of placidity.
For a moment, Lawrence imagined this situation in another way; she imagined herself as a fine lady, married to the man beside her, and complaining with her dear husband about some dinner they wished they could avoid.
« Ah, vous voici enfin! Mais venez, venez, soyez les bienvenus. Suivez-moi, je vais vous faire la visite. » (Ah, here you are at last ! Come in, come in, welcome into my house. Follow me, I'll show you around) Duplessier was very eager to boast and impose on them his refined taste in arts and all sorts of things.
The Captain and his young Ensign didn't say a word and followed their host, complimenting him here and there.
« Regardez, Capitaine, j'ai tout récemment fait l'acquisition des carnets de bords du Capitaine de La Belle, Robert de LaSalle. Ses écrits sont fascinants ! Tenez, si vous pouviez me trouver la page où il parle de ses mésaventures… » (Look, Captain, I've recently made the acquisition of the Captain of the Belle's log, Robert de LaSalle. His writings are truly fascinating. Here, if you could find for me the page where he talks about his misadventures…)
« Mais certainement, Gouverneur Duplessier. » (But of course, Governor Duplessier) said Norrington, faking his enthusiasm and obliged to his host's request.
« Et vous, mon brave garçon, venez voir cette réplique de vaisseau. C'est ma préférée ! » (And you, my good boy, come see this ship model. It's my favourite !)
He put his cream-white hands on Lawrence's shoulders, gently patting them, and led her to the model.
« Voyez avec quelle finesse il a été fait, si frêle, si fragile. Il faut le manier avec délicatesse. » (See the attention given to it, it is so frail, so weak. It has to be handled with a lot a care) he said with a honeyed voice, lowering his hands from her shoulders to fondle her rear.
Lawrence almost leapt away from him on the instant, her skin crawled with goose bumps. She tried to remain as calm as her nerves allowed her not to cause a scene and ruin James' reputation by her misconduct.
Norrington was unaware of what just happened, still looking through the log of De LaSalle, and so he was startled by his young friend's sudden presence at his sides.
« Je vous prie de m'excuser, Gouverneur Duplessier. Je crois que je suis bien plus fascinée par les récits écrits que les répliques de bateau. » (I beg your pardon, Governor Duplessier. I believe writings are more appealing to me than model ships) Lawrence said, looking as innocent as she could. Norrington's brow ever so slightly furrowed as he glanced at her.
« Bon, bon, je comprends, je comprends. Mais ce n'est pas tout, passons aux choses sérieuses à présent, le diner nous attend. » (Now then, I understand, I understand. Let us go down to real thing, our dinner is waiting for us) Duplessier didn't see Lawrence's escape from his touch the same way she did, with his sick mind, he merely thought she was playing with him, as cat and mice. He gave her a sly smile, already imagining the several ways he could catch his little prey.
As they went to the other side of the house, where their meal was indeed waiting for them, Duplessier tried several times to get closer to Lawrence, but each time, she pretended to look at something on the opposite side of him, much to the Governor's liking, as he was very much enjoying this situation.
Norrington felt that something was going on, but he couldn't be sure, as nothing happened before his eyes.
The three of them sat at the overabundant table, Lawrence and Norrington next to each other and at the opposite side of their host. As the servants copiously filled their plates, the mood became lighter, and nothing suspicious happened until the Governor asked if the Captain and his young friend would like to stay over for the night, as many of his guest rooms were empty and ready for them.
« Je pourrais ainsi vous montrer ma collection de joyaux que je garde soigneusement dans ma chambre, Enseigne Reynolds, leur beauté n'en est que plus remarquable au clair de lune. » (Thus, I could show you my collection of precious stones that I keep with care in my chambers, Ensign Reynolds. Their beauty is all the more remarkable in the moonlight). His comment rang alarm bells in James' mind, Lawrence shivered and found herself unable to open her mouth; his disgusting advances were so blatant that she was dumb-founded and dropped her fork in her plate.
Under the table, James put his hand on her knee to reassure her. Such a gesture would have shocked both of them in any other context, but the Captain couldn't care less, he just wanted to tell his friend that nothing would happen as long as he was here with her; as for Lawrence, she managed to relax at his touch, realizing how familiar his hand felt. She covered his hand with hers, to silently thank him for his care.
« C'est très gentil à vous, mais nous ne pouvons accepter. Par ailleurs, je crois qu'il est grand temps pour nous de retourner à bord du Dauntless, il se fait tard. » (It is very kind of you, but we cannot accept your offer. And besides, it is high time for us to go back on board of the Dauntless, it is getting late) Norrington announced, rising from his seat and helping Lawrence to do the same.
« Déjà? Quel dommage… Enfin, je suis sûr que nos chemins vont se recroiser d'ici votre départ de Santiago de Cuba » (Already ? What a pity… Oh well, I'm sure we will meet again before your leaving Santiago de Cuba) Duplessier said, with a disappointed look but giving Lawrence a sly smile.
They said their goodbyes, thanking him for his kindness and left his house.