Chapter Six
Jolly Ol' England
It was raining as the ship pulled into port, not surprisingly, but the weather certainly did put a bigger damper on my spirits than had been previously and I sighed heavily, wringing my hands together and looking over the railing of the ship. Penny was standing next to me, her weight leaning on the freshly cleaned wood of the ship and gazing at the skyline of London, England. It wasn't bothering her in the least that the slight drizzle was getting her all wet and with a slight smile I closed my umbrella and set it next to me, moving closer to her and nudging her shoulder.
"I'm really glad you decided to come to the wedding," I told her. "It means a lot to know that you will be there, Penny."
"Oh Miss Jocelyn it's my pleasure, of course. I wouldn't miss your big day."- she paused to tuck some of her hair under her hat then looked at me with saddened eyes. "If I may be so bold, miss? Well, you're not marryin' Mr. Brody out of spite are you? I mean I know Mr. Sparrow upset you a great deal before we left but are you sure you want to be doing this?"
No. I wasn't sure. In fact, somewhere inside of me I knew I didn't want to be marrying Adrian Brody despite the fact I would be considered lucky by the young women. He was quite handsome and his family was rather wealthy, and in all honesty he was one of the nicest men I had known but he was...can you guess? Boring, yet here I was ready to abandon my true passion and marry into England's wealthiest of the wealthy and live out my days as Mrs. Adrian Brody, my tongue suppressed and my spirit chained until my last breath. It was a life I didn't want, didn't look forward to, and it was a life I was voluntarily getting myself in to. "Yes," I answered her at length. "I guess I'm finally ready to settle down, Penny. No more of this chasing after adventurous pirates....men like Captain Jack Sparrow..."
"All right Miss Jocelyn," she nodded, and I could tell by her tone she hadn't believed a word I had said. "As long as you're sure about all this."
After setting up the ramps for us to get off of the ship they announced that carriages would be awaiting us with our luggage. I found William and Elizabeth and the four of us made it to our carriage provided to us by my father and Nigel, our chauffeur, led us quickly back to Father's home. It was interesting not to refer to it in my head as my home as well; it almost felt as though I were only visiting for awhile and would soon return to the Caribbean with my cousins. There was no sense of nostalgia as I had expected. A part of me was missing and that part of me was Jack... but he was gone now and there seemed to be no more hope of ever reclaiming what we had.
We arrived shortly and hurried into Father's home trying to avoid the rain; the servants I had grown to love over the years helped us get out of our wet coats and I hugged every one of them once they had finished. I had missed them all dearly and were the only people I realized I was truly looking forward to see, especially Mrs. Parker, the cook. She made the absolute best pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving or whenever I asked her to, and I had grown to think of her as a mother. And then, the moment of truth. Father came into the foyer as we were brushing ourselves off and placed his hands upon his hips.
"Mr. William Turner, good to see you again, son!"- he threw his arms open wide and embraced Will tightly before shifting his attention to Elizabeth. "And this must be the new wife."- he bowed, kissed Elizabeth's fingers lightly, then turned to me. I was last, of course. "And my dearest Jocelyn, so good to have you home again."
We hugged but it didn't seem heartfelt from either of us, but I kissed him on the cheek as I always did, and with our arms linked he led me and the cousins into the parlor for a "chat", as he liked to call it. It lasted for at least an hour until the subject shifted to Adrian and I fell quiet, as did the couple sitting across from me.
"I've scheduled the wedding for next week," Father said as he took a fat cigar from the box sitting by his chair. He had always kept it full, and hardly ever let it get half empty before buying some more. I had always fantasized about cutting all of those smelly cigars into little pieces and throwing them in the backyard for the birds to make nests but I had never gotten up the nerve. "Adrian is very excited, my dear, and I hope you are to."
Forcing a smile I said quietly, "Oh yes, Father."
"Wonderful," he said loudly, stuffing the end of the cigar in his mouth and lighting it. He then rubbed contentedly at his robust belly and looked at each of us as the clock chimed five in the afternoon. "Ah! Adrian should be here soon"
And as if that was his cue the doorbell rang and Jameson answered it shortly after, letting Adrian Brody through the front door of the home shaking the water from his coat and hat then handing them to the butler to put away. William glanced at me with a look I couldn't quite decipher but I didn't have long to try and figure it out; Father had grabbed my hand and pulled me from the sofa toward Adrian. My future husband took my hands within his own and I shivered; they were ice cold.
"Oh Jocelyn, I'm overjoyed you agreed to my marriage proposal. I just know we'll have a wonderful life together."
My chest tightened and the corset tied about me seemed to squeeze the breath from my very lungs; this was not going to work at all. I looked at him and all I could imagine was Jack Sparrow staring straight back, his eyes studying me as if I were the only thing to think about. Meanwhile Adrian just smiled awkwardly at me, his eyes glazed and interested only in having a wife. "Of course," I whispered, the thunder booming just outside as the two words left my lips. "Absolutely wonderful."
"All right, everyone in the dining room," Mrs. Parker called boldly from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready and I won't have it getting cold."
Night fell and I found myself staring out the window into the rain as I sat on the window sill, my hand massaging at my neck. The absence of the locket had made me feel so weird and I could only hope that Jack had kept it and hadn't thrown it out to sea. There was a bump at my door and I looked, catching sight of Penny as she had begun to rub at her knee. "Are you all right?"
"Oh fine, miss," she reassured. "Hit my knee on the table out here, is all."
I smiled softly then returned my attention to the streaming water on the glass in front of me, not noticing Penny walk further into my bedroom. "But are you all right, miss? You seemed a bit distracted at dinner earlier as Mr. Brody talked with you."
"I've just been thinking," I murmured with a sigh as she sat next to me. "I can't seem to get used to this marriage. I know it's a week away but I just don't think I'm quite ready to wed someone so early in my life. Especially to someone I haven't seen in over fifteen years."
"So what are you going to do miss?"
"I guess I have no choice, Penny. I must marry him, mustn't I? It seems to be what everyone wants."
"Everyone except you, Miss Jocelyn. And me, if I may say so myself. I rather liked Mr. Spar-"she cut herself short and ducked her head. "But of course I already told you that a while back, didn't I? Doesn't quite matter now that you're in London, eh?"
Somehow Penny always knew just what to say to make me smile and I hugged her, truly glad she had traveled with us from the Caribbean. "Perhaps by the end of the week I'll be a little more prepared for what's to come," I sighed, looking back out the window.
"Goodnight, Miss Jocelyn," she said, rubbing my arm and walking toward the door. I soon found myself thinking of Captain Jack Sparrow, unable to resist remembering all of the exciting nights we spent together and predominantly the night we shared that kiss under the stars.
Jolly Ol' England
It was raining as the ship pulled into port, not surprisingly, but the weather certainly did put a bigger damper on my spirits than had been previously and I sighed heavily, wringing my hands together and looking over the railing of the ship. Penny was standing next to me, her weight leaning on the freshly cleaned wood of the ship and gazing at the skyline of London, England. It wasn't bothering her in the least that the slight drizzle was getting her all wet and with a slight smile I closed my umbrella and set it next to me, moving closer to her and nudging her shoulder.
"I'm really glad you decided to come to the wedding," I told her. "It means a lot to know that you will be there, Penny."
"Oh Miss Jocelyn it's my pleasure, of course. I wouldn't miss your big day."- she paused to tuck some of her hair under her hat then looked at me with saddened eyes. "If I may be so bold, miss? Well, you're not marryin' Mr. Brody out of spite are you? I mean I know Mr. Sparrow upset you a great deal before we left but are you sure you want to be doing this?"
No. I wasn't sure. In fact, somewhere inside of me I knew I didn't want to be marrying Adrian Brody despite the fact I would be considered lucky by the young women. He was quite handsome and his family was rather wealthy, and in all honesty he was one of the nicest men I had known but he was...can you guess? Boring, yet here I was ready to abandon my true passion and marry into England's wealthiest of the wealthy and live out my days as Mrs. Adrian Brody, my tongue suppressed and my spirit chained until my last breath. It was a life I didn't want, didn't look forward to, and it was a life I was voluntarily getting myself in to. "Yes," I answered her at length. "I guess I'm finally ready to settle down, Penny. No more of this chasing after adventurous pirates....men like Captain Jack Sparrow..."
"All right Miss Jocelyn," she nodded, and I could tell by her tone she hadn't believed a word I had said. "As long as you're sure about all this."
After setting up the ramps for us to get off of the ship they announced that carriages would be awaiting us with our luggage. I found William and Elizabeth and the four of us made it to our carriage provided to us by my father and Nigel, our chauffeur, led us quickly back to Father's home. It was interesting not to refer to it in my head as my home as well; it almost felt as though I were only visiting for awhile and would soon return to the Caribbean with my cousins. There was no sense of nostalgia as I had expected. A part of me was missing and that part of me was Jack... but he was gone now and there seemed to be no more hope of ever reclaiming what we had.
We arrived shortly and hurried into Father's home trying to avoid the rain; the servants I had grown to love over the years helped us get out of our wet coats and I hugged every one of them once they had finished. I had missed them all dearly and were the only people I realized I was truly looking forward to see, especially Mrs. Parker, the cook. She made the absolute best pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving or whenever I asked her to, and I had grown to think of her as a mother. And then, the moment of truth. Father came into the foyer as we were brushing ourselves off and placed his hands upon his hips.
"Mr. William Turner, good to see you again, son!"- he threw his arms open wide and embraced Will tightly before shifting his attention to Elizabeth. "And this must be the new wife."- he bowed, kissed Elizabeth's fingers lightly, then turned to me. I was last, of course. "And my dearest Jocelyn, so good to have you home again."
We hugged but it didn't seem heartfelt from either of us, but I kissed him on the cheek as I always did, and with our arms linked he led me and the cousins into the parlor for a "chat", as he liked to call it. It lasted for at least an hour until the subject shifted to Adrian and I fell quiet, as did the couple sitting across from me.
"I've scheduled the wedding for next week," Father said as he took a fat cigar from the box sitting by his chair. He had always kept it full, and hardly ever let it get half empty before buying some more. I had always fantasized about cutting all of those smelly cigars into little pieces and throwing them in the backyard for the birds to make nests but I had never gotten up the nerve. "Adrian is very excited, my dear, and I hope you are to."
Forcing a smile I said quietly, "Oh yes, Father."
"Wonderful," he said loudly, stuffing the end of the cigar in his mouth and lighting it. He then rubbed contentedly at his robust belly and looked at each of us as the clock chimed five in the afternoon. "Ah! Adrian should be here soon"
And as if that was his cue the doorbell rang and Jameson answered it shortly after, letting Adrian Brody through the front door of the home shaking the water from his coat and hat then handing them to the butler to put away. William glanced at me with a look I couldn't quite decipher but I didn't have long to try and figure it out; Father had grabbed my hand and pulled me from the sofa toward Adrian. My future husband took my hands within his own and I shivered; they were ice cold.
"Oh Jocelyn, I'm overjoyed you agreed to my marriage proposal. I just know we'll have a wonderful life together."
My chest tightened and the corset tied about me seemed to squeeze the breath from my very lungs; this was not going to work at all. I looked at him and all I could imagine was Jack Sparrow staring straight back, his eyes studying me as if I were the only thing to think about. Meanwhile Adrian just smiled awkwardly at me, his eyes glazed and interested only in having a wife. "Of course," I whispered, the thunder booming just outside as the two words left my lips. "Absolutely wonderful."
"All right, everyone in the dining room," Mrs. Parker called boldly from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready and I won't have it getting cold."
Night fell and I found myself staring out the window into the rain as I sat on the window sill, my hand massaging at my neck. The absence of the locket had made me feel so weird and I could only hope that Jack had kept it and hadn't thrown it out to sea. There was a bump at my door and I looked, catching sight of Penny as she had begun to rub at her knee. "Are you all right?"
"Oh fine, miss," she reassured. "Hit my knee on the table out here, is all."
I smiled softly then returned my attention to the streaming water on the glass in front of me, not noticing Penny walk further into my bedroom. "But are you all right, miss? You seemed a bit distracted at dinner earlier as Mr. Brody talked with you."
"I've just been thinking," I murmured with a sigh as she sat next to me. "I can't seem to get used to this marriage. I know it's a week away but I just don't think I'm quite ready to wed someone so early in my life. Especially to someone I haven't seen in over fifteen years."
"So what are you going to do miss?"
"I guess I have no choice, Penny. I must marry him, mustn't I? It seems to be what everyone wants."
"Everyone except you, Miss Jocelyn. And me, if I may say so myself. I rather liked Mr. Spar-"she cut herself short and ducked her head. "But of course I already told you that a while back, didn't I? Doesn't quite matter now that you're in London, eh?"
Somehow Penny always knew just what to say to make me smile and I hugged her, truly glad she had traveled with us from the Caribbean. "Perhaps by the end of the week I'll be a little more prepared for what's to come," I sighed, looking back out the window.
"Goodnight, Miss Jocelyn," she said, rubbing my arm and walking toward the door. I soon found myself thinking of Captain Jack Sparrow, unable to resist remembering all of the exciting nights we spent together and predominantly the night we shared that kiss under the stars.
