The next few months passed swiftly. Mrs. Norrington departed a week after the wedding and Alexandra and James soon settled into a routine that suited both of them. Most mornings he departed the house before she appeared for breakfast and she often returned from her pursuits barely moments before dinner was served. After quietly sharing dinner, each would adjourn to their respective study and remain there until time to retire for the night. They attended and even hosted a few social functions together. They were courteous to each other and rarely argued. In other words, they barely interacted and when they did they maintained the polite distance of strangers.
Each had their own motive for sustaining this state of affairs. Alexandra hoped that the disturbing awareness of him that had developed would subside. James hoped that the primitive desire he had to stamp her as his own would fade. The kettle of their mutual desire percolated unacknowledged by either of them until an incident occurred that caused it to boil over.
The day's morning had followed the usual pattern giving no hint of the hurricane about to hit. Late afternoon James was interrupted in the middle of a meeting with a request for his assistance. Lieutenant Gillette, in an action uncommon for him, burst into the meeting and demanded, "Sir. You must come to the gaol at once. There's been a disturbance."
"Lieutenant Gillette, please explain yourself. You have interrupted…"
Before his superior officer could finish, the Lieutenant implored, "Please, Commodore. It's Mrs. Norrington. One of the prisoners is holding her."
For one wild moment James wondered what his mother was doing back in Port Royal and then he realized that Gillette was speaking of Alexandra. Throwing an "Excuse me, gentlemen" over his shoulder, he all but ran to his horse. Good God what had Alexandra done now?
Arriving at the gaol he was treated to a scene of utter and complete chaos. Word had gotten out that the Commodore's wife was being held hostage and in addition to fear for her safety, "for she was such a nice unpretentious lady", people were also naturally in fear for their jobs. This led to much running around and wailing but little real rescue effort. Impatiently, James demanded to be taken to where his wife was being held. As they traversed the labyrinth like corridors deeper into the old building, James began to feel his fear grow over what he might find. Situations like these rarely ended well. He reminded himself to remain calm and that losing his wits would do no good. He could hear the voice shouting before he could see its owner.
"You stay back, hear? Get any closer and I'll cut her. Swear I will."
No longer needing an escort James ran in the direction of the voice. In a locked cell, an unkempt man in filthy rags was waving a knife threateningly. Four guards and a rather nervous young fellow were standing by and staring helplessly.
James's eyes frantically searched the scene for Alexandra. As the wild man moved, James caught a glimpse of her. There she was sitting in the far corner of the cell. His eyes scanned her quickly and could find no signs of harm. Relief coursed through him. Then he saw the expression on her face.
She looked… she looked… she looked completely and supremely bored by the proceedings!
"Mr. Grint, please put the knife down. It's long past tea time and I still have some work to complete today," Alexandra calmly requested.
"Now you listen here, missy. Don't you be telling me what to do. These here men are going to let me out."
"They won't let you out, Mr. Grint."
"Yes they will."
"No they won't."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No. They won't. Even if they did, how far do you think you would get with no money or papers?"
James, like the guards and young man, could do nothing more than stand and watch this surreal scenario. Alexandra was arguing with a mad man and he was arguing back! Had the woman no sense of self preservation? Had she lost her mind?
It took a moment for James to register that he had in fact loudly voiced these last two thoughts. James' shouting combined with the commotion caused by his lagging escorts finally arriving upon the scene, attracted the man's attention. It only took a second for Alexandra to grab the slop bucket and swing it down on her captor's head whereupon he crumpled soundlessly to the floor. She lifted her skirts, stepped over him and politely requested to be released from the cell.
"James, I'm so sorry that you were bothered with this nonsense. There was no need to disturb you. I'll see you at dinner shall I?" She turned to the dithering anonymous young man, "Come along, Dr. Smythe. We still have time for at least one more set of measurements," and with this order she turned and headed down a corridor with the young doctor trailing after her.
James could hear him saying admiringly, "I say, Alexandra, you're a real corker you are. He never saw it coming."
With every fiber of his being James wanted to follow her and throttle her to within in an inch of her life. With immense effort, he hid this desire, politely thanked everyone for their assistance, and left.
Dinner that evening was even quieter than usual. Neither spoke a word. Alexandra was silent because despite her outward show of bravery she had been well and truly scared. She was certain that Mr. Grint did not wish to hurt her but if the guards had rushed him he might have done something rash. She had counted on the ineffectual guards remaining paralyzed but James' arrival on the scene had changed things. She knew that James would not stand by dithering. Thank goodness for the distraction that had allowed her to end the matter.
James was quiet because he did not trust himself to speak. He had spent the remainder of the afternoon silently fuming at Alexandra's recklessness and making arrangements that would render her unable to visit the gaol again. He had a few choice words to say to her that were better said in privacy.
Following their usual custom, Alexandra retreated to her study when dinner was complete. Once inside, she heaved a sigh of relief. She'd thought James was going to make a fuss about the whole situation and had spent the rest of the afternoon mentally composing her defense. Perhaps her quick thinking had impressed him and he saw that she could take care of herself. After all he really had nothing to take her to task for, she'd done nothing wrong. She heard the door behind her open and then shut with a decided click.
"Would you mind telling me how you happened to come to be held captive by that lunatic?" a deadly calm voice inquired.
Alexandra turned away from the fireplace and towards the voice. James was leaning against the door silently assessing her. Anger radiated from his every pore. Evidently, she'd been overly optimistic in her hope that he had decided not to pursue the matter. Well damn it she wasn't about to be cowed. She'd done nothing wrong!
"I was just finishing measuring his head when he pulled the knife. I'm certain that he would not really have done me any harm."
James ignored the latter half of her answer, "You were alone in a cell with a convicted thief?"
"Well not the whole time. Dr Smythe left for just a moment to retrieve his notebook."
"Dr Smythe being that effete young dandy who expressed such admiration for you?"
"Really, James, there is no need to call names. Dr Smythe is a very capable and learned man and he has been invaluable in assisting me," Alexandra defended her friend.
"Oh I have no doubt that he has been most eager to assist you. You may tell him tomorrow that his services are no longer required."
"I will do no such thing, James Norrington. I need him or they won't allow me to see the prisoners." she angrily argued.
'That should not present any problem," James purred, "as I have seen to it that you are no longer welcome at the gaol."
"You what? You cant' do that. You promised that you wouldn't interfere with my work."
"That was before I knew how foolhardy and reckless you could be. You may continue your work but not at the gaol," James offered what he thought was a rather charitable concession.
"You have no authority to ban me from the gaol. I'll go there if I please," Alexandra seethed.
Resentful that she hadn't graciously accepted his generous offer, he bit out, "You will not go to that gaol. I forbid it."
"You forbid it! You are a pompous arrogant bastard." Alexandra crossed the room to shove her face in his and scoffed, "What exactly will you do if I go there? Hang me? Draw and quarter me? Which will it be, Norrington?"
So it was back to Norrington and more years of her treating him with a regal condescension. Her taunt shredded the remains of his control. With no other thought than to wipe the derisive smile from her face, he pulled her into his arms and covered her lips with a punishing kiss. He'd warned her about taunting him and now she would pay the price.
Shocked, Alexandra stood still for a moment and then began to struggle against his crushing embrace and bruising kiss. How dare he? How dare he treat her like this? She pushed at his chest and found him immovable.
Slowly through the red haze of his anger, James became aware of what he was doing. The exquisite softness of her lips and the way that her body fit his filtered through and anger turned to desire. His kiss became coaxing and teasing rather than demanding and taking.
The change in the tone of the kiss was her undoing. She could resist the wonderful sensation of being in his arms while he had been bent on her submission but when he began to give rather than take she was lost. With what amounted to a whimper, she sagged against him and began matching him kiss for kiss.
Several minutes later they broke apart. Struggling to catch their breaths, they stared at each other. After a minute James' face grew shuttered and he said formally, "I apologize. That was unforgivable. It will not happen again. Please excuse me." Then he left the room.