Book Two - Chapter Two: The Story

Amelia knew that she was in a world of trouble. She had been kept barred in her room for the past week, only allowed out for dinner and mass. When she was told to pack her things she feared that one of two things would occur. The first thing she feared was that they would turn her out directly onto the streets of London. The second fear was that Colonel Crestcastle would be forced to come and claim her, causing himself public shame that could result in a whole line of unpleasant consequences that Amelia just could not bring herself to imagine. Her mother had already threatened that if Amelia could not prove herself to be a decent lady by her own means she would just have to be married off to the Colonel's terribly prominent yet terribly grim son, Gerald Crestcastle.

Amelia packed all her things into one trunk and struggled with getting it outside of the door. An attendant came and helped her carry it down the stairs at which point a coachman offered to the trunk from there and load it onto the back of his car. The presence of a coachman, and not a cheap one at that, brought one of Amelia's fears to heart. Ms. Epp reprimanded the girl one last time, making sure that she knew that this series of events was strictly Amelia's own fault and that she should pray for redemption. Then Amelia was lead into the drawing room where she was told her attendant was waiting for her. At least those words reassured her that it was not Colonel Crestcastle himself who had come, yet the thought of facing him and her mother was still horribly daunting.

Upon entering the drawing room, Amelia found herself completely breathless at the sight of her father standing there. She had almost not recognised him, not just because of the nicety of his outfit, but mostly out of a belief that he would not have come, at least not this soon. She could barely restrain herself from leaping up a him with a full embrace, shouting "Papa!" but, seeing Ms. Epp standing beside her, did what she knew to be the proper thing and gave a small curtsey of acknowledgment and said absolutely nothing at all.

Barbossa looked at the young woman who had entered the room, gave a small bow to return the gesture she had given, and proceeded to wait for his daughter to come to the room. He could not help but notice that the girl standing before him was quite a pretty young lady. Her completion was delightfully fair, her height was pleasing, and her waist well formed. Her dress was exquisite and her hair done fashionably so that the ringlets that framed her face complimented the shine of light that was caught in the bulk of her hair which was pinned up delicately. He did his best not to glance too readily at the young woman yet he could not help but notice features that reminded him of his daughter. The waves were in her hair, a feature he would not have thought common in young ladies. The blueness of her eyes gleamed out with the depths of the sea.

"Mr. Smith," said the sweet voice quite meekly, "am I to understand that you will escort me home?"

The sound of her very voice echoed out a secret desire for freedom that her eyes confirmed was longing in her soul. The realization of this young and beautiful creature being his daughter left Barbossa completely astounded. He had left behind his young daughter and now here was this woman standing before him. A tear formed in his eye. He wished so badly to be able to feel her embrace as proof of her really being his little Amelia.

"Aye, Ms.," Barbossa answered still a little mystified, "I shall take you home."

Amelia was led to the coach by an attendant while Barbossa finished with Ms. Epp. A letter was to be sent to Crestcastle Hall, stating that Amelia was to be lodging with her aunt. No return address was left, Barbossa made certain of that.

Once inside the coach, Barbossa placed his hand on his daughter's cheek. Amelia began to weep and held his hand against her face.

"My poor poppet," he sympathised.

Amelia could barely speak through her tears, she managed only to repeat the words "I'm so sorry, Papa."

Barbossa hushed her, laid her head upon his shoulder and stroked her hair, as he used to do with his little girl. He required no explanations from her. He had assumed from his initial impressions of Ms. Epp that Amelia was quite incapable of being as vulgar as the headmistress so thought and wished that he had been able to retrieve his daughter sooner or even to have prevented her from ever being transported to London. He had seen happier prisoners in Australia who never had been brought down so low as to be accused of inevitable demonic possession caused by tainted blood from merchant sailors. Of all the tall tales and utter poppycock Barbossa had ever heard this was the worst by far.

It was some time before Amelia had recovered from her grief and was able to express how happy she was that her father had come for her. She also finally did explain her side of the story as to why she was expelled from the Academy:

From the first of her arrival, Amelia was treated with quite the disrespect from the other young girls. Ms. Epp and the other instructors were a little more tolerable so long as they believed her to be the natural daughter of Colonel Crestcastle. The first couple of years were not the most enjoyable but were far more pleasant than the years that followed. Somehow word of mouth travelled to Ms. Epp of the scandalous circumstances which led to Colonel Crestcastle's marriage to Amelia's mother and that Amelia was the product of a mystery man her mother always failed to produce evidence for. Ms. Epp was under the impression that Amelia was a completely illegitimate child, though she would never admit having such thoughts. Mrs. Epp simply repeated the rumour of Mrs. Crestcastle's story of having been left a widow by her merchant sailor husband who was the father of the child. Never having these rumours officially settled and noting how vividly they bloomed within the halls of Hawthorn's Academy for Young Ladies, Ms. Epp took it upon herself to discover the truth about Ms. Amelia Crestcastle.

Ms. Epp and Father Cremmel took Amelia aside privately and asked her how she was, how she was finding her program thus far, and how her family was since she last heard. Starting the conversation as such, Ms. Epp added that in order for the Academy to provide the best education for her, they should need to address her unique situation. Amelia knew the story she needed to tell, she had rehearsed it many times before. Amelia confessed to having a merchant sailor for a father who had been away for years, up until his untimely death. She had been raised solely by her mother, except for those occasional summers when her aunt would send for her to ensure a proper education. Amelia had no need to lie excessively in this story since she could honestly attribute her language and geography skills to those occasional summers. Colonel Crestcastle had then proposed engagement to her mother who accepted and from there Amelia was adopted as his legal child. There was no point for Amelia to over embellishing anything about her story, she knew that it was not a refined type of history but at least it was honest enough not to be accused of fabricating it, which would be even less dignified.

From the moment of Amelia's confession her treatment was much altered for the worst. As far as Ms. Hill went, she was Ms. Epp's pride prodigy and could do no wrong. She was also Amelia's most merciless abuser. Not a day would pass without Ms. Hill subtly mentioning the tragedy of the ill-bred or the vulgar. That is what inspired Amelia to begin writing to her mother, begging to be allowed to be removed from the Academy, but her pleas were rejected. Due to that response, Amelia felt most inclined to bring the matter to her father. She was certain about receiving her father's acceptance and sympathy, but due to the uncertainty of when he would be able to even reach England, Amelia did not place much hope in being so quickly rescued.

A few weeks after Amelia had her letter sent to her father the Academy was holding a Sunday picnic with the young men from the college. Unbeknownst to her, Amelia had gathered quite a pack of male followers who were doubly intrigued by her rumoured rustic lineage. Amelia refuted each one. One of the boys, however, in an attempt to provoke a reaction from the girl, whispered a hardly subtle proposal which basically insisted upon Amelia's submission if she were ever to weasel her way into society half as easily has her mother had. With that comment Amelia took the uncouth boy by the shoulders and kneed him in the groin - a defence mechanism which many a crew member, including her own father, had shown her while aboard the Roving Maid. That incident was never reported officially yet the tale was circulated quickly amongst the young pupils.

The following week - the one which resulted in the letter of dismissal - came about when Ms. Hill decided to exploit the afore mentioned incident as a sure tell sign that Amelia must be the daughter of a miscreant sailor, for no true lady of class could ever do such a thing.

"You're quite mistaken, Catherine," Amelia said to Ms. Hill quite collectively, "what I did was quite deserved, for no gentleman of class would have ever said such things, nor would a true lady of class ever do anything so unbecoming as to dwell upon such things as you continue to do. Please, do tell, does Father Cremmel know about that Lawrence boy, or do ladies avoid confessions as well?"

Ms. Catherine Hill, in her outrage, slapped Amelia ever so pitifully. Amelia was not the least bit hurt but since the first strike had been made it would be wrong for Amelia to leave the scene without having the last word or the last blow. With that she punched Ms. Hill in the nose, not hard enough to break it, but enough to cause that pampered face to redden. Ms. Hill was incapable of actually physically fighting back but she would not relent in shooting off further insults which simply provoked Amelia to continue her attack.

Barbossa, upon hearing his daughter tell her story, had to refrain from laughing from the description. Instinctively he wished to applaud his daughter on having stood up for herself so well, but the stricter fatherly part of him had to vocalise his disapproval of his daughter fighting, especially another girl who was wholly unable to defend herself. After a brief lecture, Barbossa added that if Amelia had truly wanted revenge she should have made sure to have broken Ms. Hill's nose, thus forcing her to adopt some form of humiliation while her face would be bandaged up.