Here it is... ;-)
Chapter 9
Mrs Gardiner was the first who managed to speak: "Lizzy? How…? I do not understand. But you are upstairs sleeping!"
Elizabeth was confused. "Aunt, I am here. I came back. I was not here before!"
"If this is really you, who is upstairs then?" Mr Gardiner asked. "We were all convinced it was you."
"What are you talking about, uncle?"
"A lady who looks just like you. I found her near the docks on Monday. We all thought it was you. The lady had lost her memory, she said, but when I called her Elizabeth, she responded that she recognised it as her name."
"How very strange," Elizabeth said.
Now Jane came forward. "Oh Lizzy, is it really you?" She hugged her. "I am so glad to see you. And so relieved…" Here she looked at her aunt who had come to the same conclusion: If the lady upstairs was not their Lizzy, then it was not their Lizzy who was with child.
But then Jane reminded herself that the lady still would need their help.
Now Mrs Gardiner hugged Lizzy. "Come dear, let us go into the drawing room. I am still very confused as to what has happened in the past few days. You must tell us what happened to you!"
Elizabeth woke up to the sounds of some commotion downstairs.
The little nap had done her some good. The ache in her head was reduced to bearable proportions. For a moment she stayed on her bed. Like most times after waking up, she needed to remind herself of where she was and what she knew. A new fact had been added that morning: that she was pregnant. With her hand she covered her stomach. She could feel the slight bump. How was this possible? When did this happen? She closed her eyes and in a flash she saw the handsome sailor again. It must have something to do with him. She felt sad that she could not remember him.
Then she roused herself. Thinking too much still increased her headache. She decided to go downstairs. She wondered what the commotion had been about and felt a little bit curious. Slowly she walked down the stairs, still not very stable on her legs. Everyone seemed to be in the drawing room. Maybe that Mr Darcy had come to visit again.
Upon opening the door, she first saw Jane and her aunt and uncle. When her eyes fell upon the other person in the room, she nearly fainted from the shock! It was as if she saw herself! The other woman stared at her open-mouthed. Elizabeth really had to hold onto the doorpost so she would not collapse. Mr Gardiner came towards her. "Come, you must sit down Miss, before you fall." He guided her to sit down and all people in the room now looked between the two women.
"The similarity is almost scary," Jane said, "But now I do see some differences."
"Who are you?" Lizzy asked, not very polite, but that was because of her own shock at seeing herself walking in.
The lady burst out in tears. "If I am not Elizabeth, then who am I?"
Mrs Gardiner patted her on the arm. "Dear, dear, we will find out. We really thought you were our niece, but now I see Lizzy, there is no doubt that she is the real one."
Suddenly Lizzy knew: "You are Elizabeth! You must be! I have met some people in the past days who must have mistaken me for you. According to what they said, you must be Elizabeth Swann!"
Something clicked in Elizabeth's mind and she nodded. "Thank you! Yes, that is my name! You see, I cannot remember anything, beyond some scattered impressions and memories that as of yet do not make much sense."
Lizzy stood up, walked towards the other lady and embraced her.
"Excuse me for being so frank, but I have heard a lot about you and had been wondering if there would ever be a chance that I would meet you for real. And here you are, in my aunt and uncle's house no less!"
Mr Gardiner looked like he was slowly adjusting to the new circumstances. He said: "Now we have two Elizabeths in the house. How shall we keep you apart? I think Elizabeth Bennet should be called Lizzy all the time, and Miss, are we allowed to continue to call you Elizabeth, of do you prefer Miss Swann?"
"Elizabeth will do, sir." She smiled. Then her smile faded suddenly. "But where am I to go now? Now the real Lizzy has returned."
Mrs Gardiner said: "You do not have to go anywhere. You are not recovered yet and as long as we don't know where else you could go or whether you have family somewhere in England, you are welcome to stay!" Mr Gardiner nodded towards his wife, to show he agreed with her.
There was a knock on the door. The butler came in. He gasped at the sight of the two Elizabeths and then managed to ask: "Wha… What? How is that possible? Who is now Miss Lizzy?"
Lizzy laughed. "That will be me, James. This is Miss Swann." He gaped for a moment longer at both, until Mr Gardiner asked: "Was there something the matter, James?"
"Ah yes sir. Mr Darcy is here."
"Mr Darcy?" Lizzy exclaimed. "Why is he here?"
"Shush Lizzy, not so loud," Jane said. "He has been here a few times in the past days."
There was no time to say more, for said gentleman was led into the drawing room.
To say he was shocked at seeing the two ladies, is slightly underrated. He closed and opened his eyes a few times, rubbed his eyes and looked again.
Lizzy had never seen so much emotion on the gentleman's face, except maybe during his proposal.
"Mr Darcy, do come in. Some mysteries are being solved. Our Lizzy has just arrived. She had not had time yet to tell us where she had been. And this lady," Mr Gardiner pointed, "is Miss Elizabeth Swann as we just found out."
Mr Darcy got himself back together with some effort and then bowed to the ladies.
"Did your memory come back, Miss Swann?" He asked.
She shook her head. "Still only fragments, sir, but Lizzy seemed to have heard about me and she knew my name. And I recognised it."
He nodded: "I see." Then he turned to Lizzy. "Miss Elizabeth? May I say, welcome back?"
Lizzy nodded half-heartedly, but was really confused. "Mr Darcy, may I ask why you are here?"
"Lizzy!" admonished her aunt.
"It is quite alright, Mrs Gardiner," Mr Darcy said.
"You left Hunsford so suddenly. I visited Mr and Mrs Collins the morning after you left. Mrs Collins told me about it and was very worried about you. As I was leaving for London myself, I promised her to call here to ascertain that you had arrived safely. And when I came here I was glad to find you were here – although it seems now that we were wrong about that. As Miss Swann was not well, I was worried and hoped I could help to find out what had happened."
Lizzy nodded at him. She didn't really know what to say to him or how to react. He seemed genuinely worried about her. She had hardly seen him show emotions, but now they were all still visible on his face. There was no pride or arrogance visible either. And, he had been visiting her aunt and uncle. Surely he must know that her uncle is in trade! Based on what she knew about him she had expected him to ignore them or treat them in a haughty manner. Yet, he did not seem to mind to be in their company at all.
Her attention went back to her namesake. How was it possible that she should be here?
"Lizzy!" Aunt Gardiner caught her attention. "I have called for tea. Would you now tell us about what happened to you please?"
She nodded and started her story: "Well, I left Hunsford on Sunday afternoon…" Here she was interrupted by Jane.
"Pardon me, Lizzy, for interrupting you. But why did you leave then? I thought you were supposed to arrive here next Monday! Did something happen?"
Lizzy's cheeks coloured deep red and she glanced at Mr Darcy. She did not wish to talk about the proposal, especially not within his hearing.
"Ahem, I'm afraid it is probably my fault," Mr Darcy said. He himself looked quite red as well.
"Mr Darcy!" Lizzy could not believe it! Was he going to tell her family that he had proposed to her and she had refused him?
He glanced back at her.
"We had a conversation that did not go too well. I'm afraid I have upset Miss Elizabeth and I guess that is why she wanted to leave."
Lizzy nodded, still mortified. While he had not told the details, it was still too embarrassing to talk about it like this.
Mrs Gardiner saw the embarrassment on both Lizzy and Mr Darcy. There was more to this, but it had to wait. This was not the right time. Later on she would ask her niece.
"Do continue, Lizzy." She said. "So, you left Hunsford. Did you take the post coach?"
Lizzy was thankful for her aunt's question and deflection.
"Yes, I did. I got out at Bromley where I had to change, but I must have taken the wrong coach, for instead of here, I ended up at the docks." She then went on to tell how she had met Jim and after that Annamaria and her crew.
At that name Elizabeth's head shot up.
"Annamaria you say?"
Lizzy nodded. "Yes, she told me that you both had sailed on the same ship on a few voyages."
"Same ship? Oh!"
Elizabeth covered her forehead with her hands. A picture flashed through her mind. A ship with black sails was hunting the ship she was on and she was trying to help find a way to get out of their way. "You're daft, lady." It was Annamaria's voice. Another piece clicked into place. The realisation did make her head throb. She breathed deeply a few times until the worst had passed.
Then she gestured to Lizzy to continue her story. That lady then told her audience how it came that she had to stay the night in the inn, and how, the day after, she had joined the crew to visit their ship.
"Truly, Lizzy?" her aunt asked. "I had expected some more sense from you."
Lizzy blushed. "I know aunt, and at some moments I did regret it. But I really wanted to see what it was like to be on a ship. They had told me so many things. They might not have been the politest people or fit for our society, but they were friendly and I feel that I really have become good friends with Annamaria. I was amazed at her skills. The way how she commanded her crew. She really knew what she was doing and she really had their respect." She smiled when she thought of her friend.
"Please continue, Lizzy," her uncle said. There was a twinkling in his eyes.
He knew she should not have done it. People she hardly knew. But it had all turned out well. And he could see that Lizzy had enjoyed this adventure and surely had learned important things for life. Secretly he was proud of her inquisitive nature as he had always been.
Lizzy told them about the ship, the change in the weather and how they had to stay in place. She told about the moving the next day and how they finally had been able to moor at the quay just this morning.
Throughout her story she had glanced towards Mr Darcy. He must be relieved to have escaped being bound to her. He surely must detest her now for her impertinence and for how she had been a bit careless and irresponsible. Her behaviour had been all but ladylike or sensible.
But instead of scorn, she saw fascination on his face. He seemed really eager to hear her story.
"And so I finally ended up here, three days later than I had intended."
"Oh my, Lizzy," Jane said. "I knew you are courageous; but doing all this? Were you not scared in that storm? Or when you were in that dinghy?"
"Maybe a little," Lizzy laughed. "but I was more intrigued by everything going on and everything was new and exciting to me, so it hardly left space for being scared."
"You said that they talked about me. What did they tell you?" Elizabeth asked. She hoped for more pieces of the puzzle.
Lizzy smiled at her. "Most of them knew you, but I believe it was Jim who saw you last, some months ago I think? He talked about a battle in the middle of a maelstrom, and a ship called the Flying Dutchman."
This time Elizabeth had to grab onto her seat, for her whole world started to spin. Pouring rain, cannon fire, clanging swords. A voice: "Elizabeth, marry me." At once she recognised the voice. With it came the rest of the memory. "Barbossa, marry us." Her own voice. More fighting. Enemies were falling all around them. "I now pronounce you husband and wife." Barbossa's voice was difficult to hear above all the battle noise. A kiss that made her forget everything around her.
"Will…" she whispered.
The people in the room looked on while she was lost in memory.
Then she spoke, a soft voice: "Yes, the battle against Lord Becket and his armada. We won, but at a great cost!" She hugged the chest to herself, tears now streaming down her face. "I lost Will. No, not entirely. Ten years…" She fell silent.
Lizzy's voice was soft and empathic: "Jim said you married? He said that your husband became the new captain of the Flying Dutchman?"
Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, we married in the middle of that battle. A captain of a ship has authority to perform marriages you know. And as we didn't know whether we would survive the battle, we thought it the best thing to do. Shortly after that he was wounded. The captain of the Dutchman was killed and Will took his place. His… task is important. Because of it, he is only allowed on land once every ten years. We spent a day together on a beach and then I had to say goodbye to him." Her crying hadn't ceased.
Lizzy embraced her. "Poor thing! That must be very hard. But know that you have found friends here who will help you if you want it."
Elizabeth smiled through her tears. "Thank you Lizzy, that means a lot." Her hand went to her stomach and she caressed it. "At least I now will have something else to remind me of Will."
Mr Darcy had been quiet through the whole of Lizzy's story and Elizabeth's discoveries. Now he said: "But it still doesn't explain how you came to be here in England. If I understand it right, all of this happened in the Caribbean? I thought I recognised the name of that Lord Becket. I read about him in the newspaper yesterday."
Elizabeth looked at him. "I have no idea! It seems that I now remember most things, or should be able to fill in the blanks over time. But I cannot remember what happened after I saw Will for the last time!"
She closed her eyes but was met with a black wall. That was how it felt. No memories whatsoever from between her standing on the beach, seeing the green flash make the Dutchman disappear and the moment she ended up on the quayside in London.
"Do you remember anything from the ship you came her on? The name perhaps? Or a person?" Lizzy asked. Elizabeth shook her head. "Nothing."
"When I left there this morning, there were still ships from since Monday. Uncle, do you think it would be possible to send someone to ask around if anyone would remember Elizabeth?"
Her uncle looked at her. "Good thinking. If the ship is still there, hopefully they would be able to tell more. If it's gone, that's a pity, but at least we tried."
He then summoned a footman, wrote a note and sent him to the docks to enquire.
"That reminds me," Lizzy said. "Annamaria lent me some money and paid for my stay in the inn. I promised her to pay it back. She told that they will leave either Friday or Monday. Uncle, would you allow me to visit the docks once more tomorrow, to bring her the money?"
Mr Gardiner looked at her again with twinkling eyes. "Just to bring money, right? You're not planning to sail off with them?"
"Henry!" warned his wife.
Lizzy smiled. "Do not worry uncle. I admit that I enjoyed my time, but I have decided that I prefer my life on shore."
"Elizabeth," Mrs Gardiner said. "Now you remember more, do you know if you have family here? Where did you live, if I may ask?"
"I was born and grew up in England," Elizabeth said. "After my mother died, my father took me with him to Port Royal, where he became the governor. That is where I lived for eight years. Then… a lot of things happened. Too much to tell. But since then I have sailed all over the world. I even went to Singapore. Mr Gardiner, do you remember what I told you in the carriage to your warehouse?"
"Please, you may continue to call me uncle. But yes, I remember. Was that Singapore?"
"Yes, it was. I did not like that city. Luckily we left there after a very short time." She sighed, caught up in the memories that now flooded through her mind.
"But, Mrs Gardiner, no, I do not have family anymore. My father was killed, somewhere in the time that I was in Singapore. It was that awful Lord Becket."
"You really seem to hate him," Mr Gardiner said.
"Oh yes. Will and I would have married much earlier, if not for him. Lord Becket arrested both of us on the day of our wedding. We had helped a pirate escape. Both of us managed to escape as well. But he has hunted us ever since. However, he is dead now. And the world is well rid of him."
"I understood," Mr Darcy said, "that he was head of the East India Trading Company? I never liked that company." Upon a questioning look from Lizzy and Jane, he explained: "This company is very corrupt and uses slaves in many of their endeavours."
"Lord Becket was more occupied with extinguishing all pirates around the world, than actually looking after his trading. He was very cruel and has had many innocent people killed through his decisions."
Mrs Gardiner looked a bit uncomfortable. While it was good that Elizabeth finally remembered her past, she did not like talking about people being killed, especially not in her own drawing room.
There was now one question which no-one had asked yet. Jane, kind, serene Jane, could no longer wait.
"May I ask, Elizabeth. Now that your memory is back: do you know what is in the chest?"
Elizabeth blushed at the question. She remembered now, but she could not answer that! They would think her insane! No, never! It was her secret. Instead she answered: "What is in it, is as it were part of my husband. It makes me feel closer to Will and helps me being sure that I will see him again, even though it will be a long time before that will happen. I hope you will understand why I do not want to see it in someone else's hands."
It seemed that everyone accepted her explanation and Jane found her curiosity satiated.
Elizabeth then asked to be excused. Her headache had come back in full force after all the emotions and she needed to lie down.
Lizzy wished to have a bath and her aunt had a servant prepare one.
Before she left the room, her uncle said: "Sorry Lizzy, I never answered. But yes, we can go to the docks tomorrow and you can see your friend again."
I think this is the longest chapter in this story so far. So much to tell. I don't know if them finally meeting came out a bit anticlimactic. I found it difficult to describe. I also figured that both Gardiners and Jane are sensible people so I can't see them breaking out in hysterics etc.
P.s. I have just realised in this chapter that I wrote the name Swann wrong (forgot an N). I will change that later in the other chapters.
P.p.s. I think two more chapters and an epilogue after this, but I still have to write them.
I have loved reading all your comments! I really appreciate it when people tell me they like my story! :-) thank you, and keep those reviews coming. ;-)
