Chapter: The Unruly Cousins
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He had a horrible thought that the cakes might run short, and then he—as the host: he knew his duty and stuck to it however painful—he might have to go without.
-- The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
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Adriano Cuthburt was the sort of man who, even in his early fifties, retained the angular good looks and physical form of his Spanish ancestry, the very same Spanish ancestry that had given his brother, Sophia's father, his swarthy complexion and Sophia her black hair. He was perhaps an inch taller than Jack, with dark hair that curled away from his forehead boyishly but was beginning to sport dashing silver streaks at his temples. He greeted Sophia with a smile that was both confused and courteous, and swept her hand up for a friendly kiss.
"My dear Lady Norrington, my niece! Why, I have not seen you since your wedding! How. . . Good heavens! What are you wearing?"
This was all said very quickly and with a faint Spanish lilt. Jack studied the man with veiled, suspicious eyes, but Sophia reverted quickly to the arrogant manner of her prosperous family, that artificial happiness and ignorance that drove her steadily insane with time. Her expression wiped clean of all previous distress, leaving her face smiling graciously, pale and serene. She ignored her uncle's question.
"How lovely to see you, Uncle Adriano. How are Aunt Vera and the cousins? Faring well, I hope?" She asked, calmly skirting around the situation. Jack smiled faintly at Sophia's cunning and said nothing, allowing her to deal with the circumstances as she saw fit, for she knew the ways of her family much more than he did. He did, however, watch her carefully and saw her expression change, her emotions veil themselves in an obviously practiced way. He saw her build up her wall.
"Oh, very well indeed. Vera is much better, for the sweating sickness has passed. The children are wonderful; Elizabeth is growing up to quite a beauty, and Bertie is as he always is," Adriano said. Both Sophia and Jack noticed a flash of pain in the Spaniard's eyes as he mentioned his son's name that quickly disappeared as he took notice of Jack and stood silently, politely waiting to be introduced.
"I'm glad, Uncle," Sophia assured him, before poking Jack discreetly in the side so that the pirate, unaccustomed to the rules of civil conversation, would step forward. "This is my good friend, Captain Jack Haverling. He is a sailor and accompanying me on my journey."
Sophia lied as smoothly as if she were taking her wedding vows.
Jack greeted the older man in a conservative manner, for he still did not completely trust this member of Sophia's family, and Adriano smiled distractedly as they shook hands, taking note of Jack's strange appearance for a respectable sailor.
"Oh? What sort of journey are you on, niece?" He asked.
Sophia was very glad that Adriano was not the sort of man to be suspicious. "I am meeting my husband in Virginia to look at a plantation that he may want to purchase. He thinks tobacco may be profitable in the near future," she lied. Jack grinned.
"Ah, very good. Would you like to join us for supper, Sophia? Captain Haverling can join us as well, if he'd like," Adriano asked graciously.
"We'd like that very much, Uncle," Sophia said. Jack looked at her sharply. Lies.
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The Cuthburt hall faced due east so that one could look out the master bedroom window and see the sea, and the rising sun, fresh and red in the early morning, shone onto the creamy stone exterior, casting shadows around the pillars and stairway. In the evening, the gardens and plants at the entrance were cloaked in shade, a pleasant relief from the midday heat. The grounds were expansive, and most of the land was used for the harvesting of sugarcane, but there were some sweet, hidden places that had delighted Sophia when she'd come to visit as a child: patches of cool tropical forest, rolling, impossibly green plains, or entirely still ponds with an abundance of skating water bugs.
All was normal at that beautiful mansion, the hall in which Adriano Cuthburt, his wife, and his two children lived, save for the small window on the third floor, furthest to the right.
On that window, there were bars, cold and hard as the iron of a blade.
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"Why, woman? Why, in God's name, did you agree t' this?" Jack hissed quietly in her ear as they sat in the back of the carriage. Adriano was driving the handsome pair of hunters, and the horses' hooves sent stones skidding into the ditches on the sides of the road.
"Wouldn't my uncle think it a bit odd, Jack, if his most beloved niece refused to have at least a quiet supper with him and his family? Don't you think it might cause him some alarm?" Sophia asked pointedly. "Besides, it's not as if we'll be staying for long."
The house came abruptly into view, its imposing silhouette massive against the evening sky. "Bloody hell. . . 'S tha' it?" Jack questioned quickly and incredulously to Sophia. She nodded. "Certainly big enough, aye?"
Before Sophia could answer, Adriano pulled the horses to a swift halt. "Welcome to Cuthburt Hall," he declared graciously, stepping out to open the door for Sophia. Jack, unaccustomed to the customs of polite society, swung the door open himself and clambered out of the carriage, his heavy boots crunching against the gravel that littered the drive.
Adriano led the way, up the stairway and through the grandiose entrance hall, bedecked by multitudes of nameless servants. They were all smiling and bowing or curtseying, and Sophia found that she was rather disgusted by their undying attachment and friendliness towards those of the higher class, and wondered if she had ever noticed it before. No, she realized, she hadn't. She'd been too preoccupied with her petty and insignificant troubles to notice the domestics that fawned about her.
Jack, however, was finding this all very amusing. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had called him "sir" or "master," and, consequently, had to force down uproarious laughter each time one of these serfs did so.
Adriano smiled, blissfully ignorant and used to such a procession, and allowed his coat and hat to be taken by one of his anonymous personnel. "Ah, thank you. Anyway, I would like to introduce you all to my niece, Sophia Norrington, and Captain Haverling, her escort."
"Good evening, miss. Good evening, sir," they chorused. Sophia frowned.
One of the maids stepped forward, quietly addressing Jack. "May I take your hat, sir?"
Jack whirled around on his heel to stare pointedly at the pretty young woman who had requested such blasphemy, his brow furrowed. He leaned in close to her. "What did you say?"
"May I take your hat?"
Jack stared at her with an abundant amount of disgust. "Definitely not, love." With that, he turned and walked towards Sophia, tapping her on the arm, looking very scandalized. "She tried t' take me hat."
"It's what they do, Jack," she hissed, trying to ignore the strange looks her unconventional outfit was receiving from the servants.
At that moment, a small wisp of a woman entered, the olive folds of her satin gown rustling as if to announce her presence. Adriano smiled. "Vera! I was wondering when you'd appear. Look what I've found!"
Sophia looked up, shocked by the change in her aunt's appearance since she'd last seen her. Vera was pale, her cheeks pinched, and a fine spider's web of tiny wrinkles had materialized on her forehead, around her mouth, and at the corners of her eyes. The beautiful, glowing person Sophia had seen only three years ago had transformed into the picture of a woman who'd seen too much and lived too long with pain, who'd lived months and years with anxiety bearing down on her chest like lead. Nevertheless, Sophia smiled. She'd always liked her aunt.
Vera smiled as well, a curling of the lips that didn't reach the stone in her eyes. "Sophia! How wonderful to see you, my dear! Gracious me. . . what are you wearing?"
Sophia embraced her aunt in a brief hug. "All my beautiful dresses were lost overboard on the journey, I'm afraid; I was forced to borrow clothes from the men. It's so embarrassing, Aunt Vera!" She droned pathetically, hoping to grasp some of the simpering child she was before her time on The Black Pearl. Vera muttered to her consolingly.
"Don't worry, dear. We'll soon have you fixed up. I believe that you are about the size of Elizabeth, and I'm sure she'd be more than willing to lend you some dresses."
Sophia manufactured an expression that she hoped resembled gratitude. "How relieving! I was quite worried that I would have to tramp about in these rags for the entirety of the journey!" She exclaimed, laughing as if the idea was immensely entertaining. Vera was chortling as well.
Jack watched everything, grinning at Sophia's sudden change and deception. She was not the same person she had been. Finally, he cleared his throat loudly, needing to be introduced.
Sophia shot Jack a dangerous look. This was the one situation in which he would have to let her be in control and keep his mouth shut. "Oh, how terribly rude of me, Captain! Aunt Vera, this is Captain Haverling. He is escorting me to Virginia where I will meet my husband, and the captain of The Interloper." Sophia knew, of course, that Jack had neither heard nor seen such a ship, but she needed some sort of fabrication to make him appear reputable in the minds of her aunt and uncle.
Both Vera and Adriano glanced at Jack with a new respect in their eyes. "The Interloper? That's the replica of The Interceptor, is it not? The fastest ship in the Caribbean? Oh, we must talk ships, young man! I should like to know more about this water demon you captain," Adriano offered, smiling.
Jack glared darkly at Sophia for shoving him into this situation, and she stared back at him with wide, innocent eyes, full of mirth. Jack curled his fists in his pockets. "O' course, mate. 'S a fine ship indeed."
Adriano seemed satisfied with such an answer for now, and, with a sweep of his arm, beckoned the two into the sitting room. Vera spoke up quickly, however, her eyes on Sophia's clothes and undoubtedly thinking of defending her fine horsehair chairs from such an onslaught of grime. Jack's clothes were in similar states of distress, but she would never dare to say so to a man, even such an odd man as Jack. "Oh, Sophia. I'll call Elizabeth to see if she can lend you a dress. Where is that girl? Elizabeth!"
Elizabeth was naught but twelve when Sophia had seen her last, and the moment the young girl swept down the staircase she could see that she had grown up. A lot. The pretty child Sophia had known was fifteen now, a woman by society's standards and eligible to marry. Sophia did not doubt that Elizabeth had suitors. She was probably the most beautiful person Sophia had ever seen, with light brown hair that curled in alluring ringlets to her waist, a perfect rosebud mouth, and green eyes that looked, to Sophia, like a devious cat's. She had inherited the bronzed skin of her father's side and it flowed and stretched like milk over her slight frame. As Vera had said, she was about the same size as Sophia, although nearly an inch taller and with the same curves in the same places. Sophia felt positively hideous next to such a goddess, and felt herself bristle with an envy that shamed her. Elizabeth was her cousin and a lovely girl.
And yet, as Sophia looked into Elizabeth's eyes she shivered. They were cold, and there was knowledge there, a terrible knowledge, and power. Her cousin knew how to manipulate people with her beauty, knew how to use her looks to her advantage. Sophia fixed a smile onto her face. "Hello, cousin. It's delightful to see you looking so well!" She exclaimed, embracing Elizabeth quickly. She was stiff in her arms.
Jack stared at this cousin, struck dumb by the girl's utter exquisiteness. Even when Sophia introduced him under his false name, he couldn't speak; he literally had no words. He watched as Elizabeth turned her sharp eyes to him, an entirely lovely smile at her lips. Her gaze warmed as she took in his face, his physique, his uniqueness compared to the boring noblemen she was accustomed to. He watched as she narrowed her attentions and set her sights on him completely, and knew. He knew that as soon as she asked him, he would be hers.
Sophia watched as well, her eyes cold and dark as they noticed Elizabeth's tempting fascination with Jack, and her lover's rare and consuming devastation as soon as this cunning seductress looked at him.
Sophia could not explain it, but she saw straight through Elizabeth's beauty; the girl was looking for power and was willing to use her sexuality as a weapon to get it. Jack was a mystery to her and undoubtedly an important figure (how was she to guess he was a pirate?) if her parents were so welcoming to him. By gaining him, she could gain control over him and whomever he commanded as well. Clearing her throat, Sophia interrupted the heated gaze between the two, and said, "Elizabeth, as you can see, I'm in dire need of a gown. My own clothing was lost overboard. I don't suppose you could lend me one?"
Elizabeth's eyes darted away from Jack, leaving him to stare at her with a mounting desire. "Of course, Sophia, dear. I've many dresses and I'm sure I could spare several. Follow me; my room is upstairs," she purred, shooting Jack another hot glance as she freely offered the knowledge that no guest, least of all male, should know: the way to her room and thus to her bed. Jack swallowed hard.
Sophia's face hardened and her eyes followed Elizabeth as she turned to climb the stairs disgustedly. Before she followed, she walked over to Jack and pinched him roughly on the arm. He barely noticed her. "Jack!"
"Mmm?"
Sophia nearly growled at him. "She's fifteen, Jack."
"Is she?" Jack asked, finally turning towards her.
"You mustn't take any notice of her. Can't you see? Can't you sense it? She's a wicked girl. She wants power, only power. She would seduce you to control you. Ignore her," Sophia hissed. Jack was listening carefully now.
"I've never seen anythin' like 'er," he confessed.
"I know. You mustn't let her control you."
Jack found that he believed her, and believed that her urgent warnings were more than those of a jilted lover. Sophia was far to intelligent to think that, after sleeping with her for a week, Jack would be faithful to her and only her, but she didn't want him to fall victim to this temptress for his own sake.
And something in Elizabeth's searing emerald gaze had suggested that she was appraising him for more than his looks.
Jack glanced at her, telling her with his eyes that he understood, and then turned and walked into the sitting room to join Adriano and Vera.
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Elizabeth, if nothing else, was generous with her gifts. She gave Sophia three elaborate dresses: one of a deep forest green with a wide skirt and square neck; another, the color of dark, dark wine, off the shoulder and flaring at the waist; and the third of gray, smartly adorned with black lace trim and a somewhat less wide skirt. Sophia was grateful, despite her grudge towards her cousin and the knowledge that as soon as she returned to the ship she would once again dress in the clothes in which she came. For now, she would don the wine gown. She found that it accented the pallor of her skin and her faint flush from the heat.
"Oh please, Elizabeth! Spare me the corset!" Sophia pleaded jokingly. She knew the dress's waist was far too small for her to go without the contraption.
Elizabeth smiled unsympathetically. "I'm sorry, cousin. It has to be done."
Sophia sighed as the servants flocked about her and an uncomfortable silence fell across the room. She searched for a subject to engage a conversation about, and, after discovering one, searched the room with her eyes for an untrustworthy face. Finding not one, she spoke. "Have you had any trouble with salt water lately, Elizabeth?"
Sophia and Elizabeth were both women from the Cuthburt line, and thus both carried the message of Bernardo Ektibar. Elizabeth shook her head as if the question was an ordinary one. Adriano had trained her well. "None whatsoever. You?" She asked in return.
"Not at all," Sophia lied.
They did not speak of such matters again.
So Sophia resigned to the numerous maids' attentions, even allowing her hair to be coiled and twisted into a mass of dark curls at her crown. By the end of it she was sweating, suffocating, complaining, and nearly bursting out of the dress, for indeed her breasts were swelling over her neckline enticingly, albeit uncomfortably. But even she had to admit that she looked glorious, even next to the outshining beauty of Elizabeth.
"Oh, Sophia. You look absolutely stunning," Elizabeth breathed.
Sophia looked at the two women in the mirror: herself, dressed in the finest of clothes, hair perfect, face the picture of loveliness; and Elizabeth in her everyday gown of pale gold, emerald eyes smoky with unanswered desire and knowledge. She knew that if a man was given the choice between them both and her cousin was to fix him with her green-eyed gaze of seduction, he would choose Elizabeth.
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Jack stopped chewing on his crumpet when Sophia walked into the room. His eyes were very wide. Sophia smiled knowingly and cast him a look laden with sensual intensity. Jack paid less attention to Elizabeth after that.
Adriano rose quickly to offer Sophia his seat. "Sophia, you look stunning!"
Sophia smiled courteously and sat delicately on the edge of the cushion as a lady should, straight-backed and shoulders square. She could feel Jack's eyes boring into her from across the table. "Thank you, Uncle. That is very kind," she replied.
Adriano smiled in return and then turned to address Jack. "Now, Captain, I believe you were just going to tell us of The Interloper, were you not?"
Elizabeth chimed in, her eyes cold as they flickered past Sophia, who felt a perverse sort of feminine pride at stealing Jack's attentions away from her cousin, for the pirate now stared at Sophia with a sexual energy that surprised her in its intensity. "Yes, Captain, please do tell us of your ship. Ships have always fascinated me. How do they work?" Elizabeth breathed, fixing him with that captivating stare.
Sophia could have laughed at the abrupt change in Jack; he looked at her with something akin to revulsion. "How do they work?" He repeated, incredulous. "Have you not been on a ship before, lass?"
"Oh, several. But I never dared to guess what made them move. . . besides the wind, of course."
Jack resolved to simply ignore her, despite her outstanding beauty. Her stunning looks were eclipsed by her disgusting ignorance of the ways of the sea and ships, in his book. Instead, he turned to Adriano, happily formulating a picture with words of a ship he'd never seen. Sophia smiled and shot him another seductive glance that rivaled those of Elizabeth, if she did say so herself.
Jack swallowed and, after several tries, continued to speak. "She's sizeable, much larger than The Interceptor. Now, I meself 'ave captained both ships, an' The Interloper's far superior. . ."
Jack maintained the conversation, lying compulsively, and managed to keep Adriano completely absorbed. Sophia, meanwhile, struck up a discussion with her aunt.
"Aunt Vera, where is Bertie? I've not seen him yet this evening," she asked, quietly as to not disrupt Jack and Adriano's exchange.
Sophia watched as her aunt's face crumpled and discovered the reason for Vera's strained appearance and new wrinkles. "Oh, Sophia. It really is a dreadful circumstance, my son." Carefully, she lowered her voice to a hushed whisper. "You remember, of course, that Bertie has always been very fascinated with the Fortunes?" Vera asked, casting her gaze towards Jack, unknowing, of course, of his complete knowledge of Ektibar's hidden treasure. Sophia did remember. She remembered her young, handsome cousin sitting by himself and muttering, shooting glances at both Sophia and his sister, whom he knew possessed the message. She remembered his obsession. Vera continued, "Just last year, he tried to find it."
"What?" Sophia hissed loudly.
"Hush, child," Vera reprimanded. "We brought him back, thankfully. He was gone only a month on a small dinghy. But, I'm afraid, the heat and starvation affected him quite badly. He's taken a turn for the worse."
"Taken a turn for the worse?" Sophia inquired. She didn't understand.
Sophia was alarmed to see tears in Vera's eyes. When she spoke, her voice was a strained and painful whisper. "He's gone completely mad, Sophia. He rants constantly and attempts to escape at every chance he can, trying to find the Fortunes. We've had to keep him here by force. Did you see the bars as you came in?"
Sophia shook her head.
"They're on his old room, you remember? At the very top right."
-
Sophia forced the image of her poor cousin locked in his childhood room out of her mind as she sat down to dinner. The food was quite good, but Sophia was seated next to Jack and he seemed very bent on distracting her from her meal with a hand on her thigh or other less reputable places. Finally, fed up with his petting and flushed with her own desire, she stuck her hand and forearm under the table. Jack bent down as if he had dropped his fork and grasped her wrist, kissing the translucent skin there and then her palm, before moving his lips up the inside of her arm, almost to her elbow.
It seemed to Jack, as he returned to a seated position after spending far too long under the table, that every time Sophia put on a dress she drove him nearly insane with lust. Anyone who cared to look could see his longing for the woman next to him, and look Elizabeth did, her frown marring the exotic beauty of her face.
Adriano and Vera, of course, were oblivious. They ate their dinner in peace.
Sophia could not take it anymore. The combination of the dress and her lust was causing her to overheat, and perspiration was running down her spine and in the crevasse between her up thrust breasts. "Excuse me. I'm feeling a bit faint. I think I'll step out for some fresh air," she admitted, and stood from the table, striding from the table, the dark red train of her skirt trailing behind her.
Jack smirked at that. Faint? He'd show her faint. He waited for several moments before excusing himself as well on the pretense of going to see if Sophia was all right.
She was waiting for him in the hall. Jack wasted no time and crowded her to the wall with his body until her back was crushed against the hard surface, his mouth hot against hers, his fingers rough as they moved across her neck, shoulders, and breasts. He now cursed the dress because it was indefinitely hard to get off. Sophia pressed her hips against his arousal, gasping, her bosom heaving against their restraints and, thus, driving Jack to further levels of lust.
After several minutes, Sophia reluctantly slid out of Jack's embrace. He'd managed to undo the front of her dress and bear nearly all of her breasts, and Sophia fastened it with haste. Understatedly, she came to Jack again, pressing the length of her trembling body to his and pressing a chaste kiss to his disappointed lips. "I'm sorry, Jack. There is only so much I can do with my family in the next room." With that said, she turned and went once more into the dining hall.
Jack cursed her. All the bloody woman had succeeded in doing was increase his desire to dizzying heights. He waited in the hall for several minutes, breathing slowly and trying to regain control of his southern region, before following Sophia into the room.
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Sophia wanted to see how The Fortunes of Ektibar affected those who sought it and went mad while doing so. She wanted to remind herself that what she and Jack were attempting was always uncertain, always dangerous. She wanted to keep herself from relaxing.
Call it curiosity.
She excused herself from where her family and Jack were having a light desert of coffee and sweet biscuits to "use the facilities."
Sophia went alone into that dark room with the shadows of bars across the hardwood floor. Her eyes were strained in the black.
"Bertie?"
Something rustled in the corner, and a lamp suddenly flickered to life. Sophia gasped.
Hundreds of maps littered the floors, and yet more had been pasted crudely to the walls. All were marked excessively with red ink and sporadic X's.
He was still looking.
Her cousin sat at a small desk. He was pale in the sickliest of ways, the way of overwork and overstress, and the good looks he had possessed in his youth were wasted with psychosis. He looked up, saw her, and began to laugh.
"Bertie?" Sophia said his name again, the calmness of her face hiding her alarm.
He was very serious now. "They won't let me do it, Sophia."
"They won't let you do what, cousin?" Sophia asked, gently.
"Use Elizabeth. Use you. They won't let me. Why not?"
She understood now. "Because it can't be found, Bertie. You've already tried once. Shouldn't once be enough?"
Bertie exploded into motion. With one swift arc of his arm, he upturned the table and his maps, sending the fragile pieces of parchment floating to the ground. Sophia started back several steps as he strode towards her. She could see his fingers curling. "SHUT UP! None of you understand, do you? If I wait much longer it will be too late! They will have found it! I am supposed to find it!"
Sophia was paralyzed with fear. She was foolish to come in here, in his claustrophobic room that reeked of madness. And now she would die at the hands of this maniac, her cousin.
Her prophecy did not play out, however. Bertie turned from her abruptly went back to his original spot in the corner. He righted the desk and sat down in his chair, staring ahead with a blankness that frightened Sophia far more than his outburst.
"They keep putting smells on me."
"I'm sorry?" Sophia thought that she had not heard him correctly.
"They keep putting smells on me," he repeated, his eyes now full of dark suspicion as they stared dully into hers.
"Oh. . ." Sophia's gaze darted towards the door. She inched towards sanctuary from this lunacy. She heard one last exclamation from her ruined cousin before she closed the door behind her.
"Tell them to stop."
-
Jack's eyes narrowed as Sophia came down the staircase pale and clammy. "Wha's wrong, love?"
Sophia waved her hand submissively, shaking her head. "Nothing of your concern, Captain," she said, smiling at her family. They beamed back. "Thank you all so much for the wonderful meal and your hospitality. You truly are wonderful hosts."
She elbowed Jack discreetly. "Bloody—Ah, yes. Thank you," he offered, wincing. Sophia glared at his near slip up of profanity.
"You're welcome, Sophia. Have a wonderful journey," Vera supplied, graciously ignoring Jack's uncouth word.
Sophia exchanged embraces and followed Jack out the door and down the drive. Once they were a safe distance from the house, he wound an arm around her waist and smiled deviously. "Now, love, where were we last?"
Sophia smiled and tried to drive the nightmare of a dark room laden with insanity out of her mind. "I believe it was somewhere around. . ." Delicately, she rose on her toes to press a sultry kiss to the underside of his jaw. ". . .there."
She watched Jack's Adam's apple move as he swallowed, before he ducked his head and began to pass his lips across the exposed whiteness of her breasts. "I think—"
"Sophia! Wait!"
Sophia quickly drew away from Jack, who groaned in the most exasperated of ways, and turned to find Elizabeth trailing behind them, skirts in hand and running towards her. She heard Jack sigh, and whether it was from further frustration with the girl or her beauty she did not know.
"Elizabeth? What is it?" Sophia asked, stepping towards her cousin.
"Oh, merely a question between cousins. Continue on, Captain Haverling," said Elizabeth, smiling at him dazzlingly as he turned to leave, grumbling and shooting Sophia a sulky look over his shoulders.
Once Jack was out of hearing distance, Elizabeth turned on Sophia, her eyes flashing, as cold and icy green as a forest in winter. "Do not think I don't know what you are doing, witch," she spat, fuming, her exquisiteness transformed into an ugly thing as anger replaced her usual simper.
Sophia smiled coolly, finally understanding. Her cousin was utterly, completely spoiled, ignorant, and easily prone to jealousy. Jealousy over men, specifically "Whatever do you mean, cousin?"
Elizabeth quirked her mouth frostily, and her voice was unpleasant as she spoke. "Don't pretend, darling. You are no better than a slut and a whore, using your body to seduce that poor man. And you, a married woman! You just can't get enough domination, can you? First you marry that idiot, Norrington, because he is Commodore and captains an entire fleet, and now Captain Haverling, the newest and most promising addition to your husband's legion. You sicken me."
Sophia felt a pang of sympathy for this girl, this child, who knew nothing about anything that mattered. She was silent for several moments before finally sighing. "Be thankful you have more time to learn and grow, dear Elizabeth."
With that, she turned and walked away to her lover, smiling and looking forward to a night of the kind of satisfaction and pleasure that her little cousin could never guess existed.
-
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage.
-- Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
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A/N: Ahh. . . I love this chapter, although I'm not completely satisfied with it. I get the feeling it's a little unclear. Nevertheless, it was so much fun to write and the words seemed to fly out of my fingertips and into the keys, especially Elizabeth's first entrance and the description of Cuthburt Hall. All of these new characters and situations are wonderful to write. And it's looooong. Over 5,000 words, to be exact. Nine pages. Booyah!
Please, tell me what you think about these characters I've been adding in the last two chapters. I need to know if I haven't lost my touch with character development. And Elizabeth! I really enjoy Elizabeth. She's the embodiment of feminine sexuality, slyness and ignorance in the same personality. AND she's prettier than Sophia, which was entertaining. Sophia is rarely jealous, and when she is it's fuuun to write.
Thank you thank you thank you thank you to all my reviewers. Without you, I would DIE (not really)! You guys are seriously my motivation for writing; if you didn't evaluate, I wouldn't write, so hurry up and click that review button!
ATTENTION! To repay you all for being so lenient with my frequent and horrendous lateness, I have written a little cookie-ish type thing of dialogue between Jack and Sophia. It has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of this fic but is humorous and rather enjoyable, if I do say so myself. It is entitled The Fortunes of Ektibar: France and the Drunkard, and is for all of YOU, so have fun! If you all like it (the only way I'll know that if you review, people!) I'll consider writing more. Enjoy!
Next chapter: All hell breaks loose. Seriously.
