Chapter: Accustomed to Your Face
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"That she was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance of new conditions in herself that colored and changed her environment, she did not yet suspect."
-- The Awakening, Kate Chopin
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"I very strongly dislike that man."
Jack smiled crookedly as Sophia sat beside him where he was stretched out languidly on her bed. Her expression was very drawn and tense and her shoulders sagged as if she was finally allowing herself to relax after a very long time of holding them ramrod straight. "Aye… 'Ee's a slimy git."
"You haven't yet seen him, Jack," Sophia mumbled, flopping back onto the bed with a harsh sigh and curling so that she lay on her side. She and the new Commodore Knoll had exchanged the various proper pleasantries, his questions becoming increasingly intrusive until Sophia was squirming in her seat and lying outright to his face in order to protect Jack's well-being. He possessed an unnerving manner of seeming to look right through a person with cold precision, and seemed to not care a lick about what he saw unless it concerned him and his position. Sophia knew, though, that her impassive demeanor and biting retorts—cloaked with an impressive veil of uncommon courtesy and respect, of course—had unsettled him at least somewhat by the look of disguised shock in his icily blue eyes. He had expected her to roll over and submit to his interrogation masquerading as a welcome, she was sure, and had been sorely disappointed by what he found in the infamous Sophia Norrington. She, as anyone who knew her closely was well aware of, was not the type to succumb that easily.
Jack broke her from her reverie with a scornful declaration of "Dinn't bloody need to!" as both a method to lighten the mood and ease Sophia's anxiety.
Sophia edged closer to him, fitting her body into his with accomplished ease and resting her head on his chest. Her eyes shut, she replied faintly, "Yes, well, with luck we'll not have to endure another visit from the Commodore for quite some time." She could feel herself beginning to grow rather weary, the constant rise and fall of Jack's chest and the steady muted thump of his heart lulling her into a state of delectable drowsiness.
Jack, the fingers of one hand pulling her long mass of black hair from its loose chignon, toyed casually with the idea of having a midday nap. He was utterly content at present, but knew from extensive past experience that he would not remain so for long. He gave himself several weeks before he began to yearn once again for the sea, and then he didn't know what would happen.
He could not stand the thought of leaving her.
Sophia broke him from his reverie with a surprised declaration of "I've just thought of something, darling pirate."
"Aye?"
"We've never…" she paused, her face flushing with foolish embarrassment, "…never—oh, stop laughing, you cheeky thing! We've never made love on dry land! How strange. I must admit I expect a marginal decrease in performance on your part, actually… without the ocean's natural rocking to help you along, you know," Sophia taunted, grinning unabashedly as indignation appeared instantly across Jack's face, just as she had predicted.
"Oy, tha's a right insult, tha' is! I sup'ose I'll 'ave to prove you wrong, then," he retorted determinedly as Sophia watched him with wide, innocent eyes, shrugging indifferently.
With a feral growl, Jack grasped Sophia around the waist and flipped her onto her back, utilizing the strength that had been steadily returning to his body ever since his rescue with satisfying effects. Sophia shrieked as Jack made quick work of her laces with practiced efficiency, rendering her nude and helpless in a matter of seconds.
"You devil!" She exclaimed, chortling despite her misleading shouts.
He grinned rather like the creature that Sophia so aptly named him and soon set to work rectifying her blasphemous assumption. And Sophia was indeed proved wrong.
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In the morning Sophia went to visit her mother.
Jack watched with a quirk of humor on his lips as the exasperated woman cursed quietly under her breath while she readied herself for the day. She was a veritable blur of motion, searching elbow-deep in her modest closet for the proper garment one moment and pinning her hair up into a somewhat harsh chignon the next. Jack frowned as Sophia fished out a dusty corset from her trunk with a cough. The Sophia he knew did not wear corsets unless a life-or-death situation was involved, as with his rescue several months before.
Raising a brow, he surmised that it would not be too out of place to ask a question, preparing to backtrack quickly if her mood was truly as foul as it appeared. "You're sure you don' want me t' come along, love?"
Sophia whirled about, her eyes narrowed. "Don't be stupid! My mother would drop dead of shock! She despises anything out of the ordinary. It frightens her," she snapped, beating the stiff corset against the side of the trunk several times. A cloud of dust permeated the air in the room. "She needs to be weaned into the idea that I am now living with a man who is not my husband and, not to mention, a convicted criminal!" she finished sourly, if not a bit hysterically, as if she blamed him for her misfortune.
Jack's lips twitched upwards.
Sophia glared at him. "It's not amusing at all, Jack! This woman is disgustingly close-minded! Of course I love her—she is my mother—but sometimes…" Sophia trailed off threateningly, a gleam of malice encroaching upon the usual amiable warmth of her eyes. She finally let loose a tremendous sigh, seeming to have resigned to her fate at last, and her expression softened. "I'm sorry, Jack. My mother has always brought out the worst in me, I'm afraid. No doubt you'll understand soon—she'll want to meet you after I've told her about our…situation."
Jack steepled his fingers and gazed at her pensively, the old spark dancing delightedly in the near-blackness of his eyes. "I can 'ardly wait."
Sophia cracked a faint smile. "She's all right sometimes, I suppose. Naturally I'm a bit biased, being her daughter. Time will tell, m'love, whether you will be able to charm the frozen old arse off of Chelsea Cuthburt."
Jack let out a snort of laughter, rising from his reclining position on the bed to wrap his beloved woman in his arms and kiss her soundly on the lips in reassurance. "You've faced blood-thirsty pirates an' madmen an' female-starved sailors… I think you can survive this."
"You've never met my mother. Now help me with this bloody corset."
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"Hello, mother! I've missed you so!" Sophia crowed, returning the embrace of the thin woman before her. She kissed her mother on both cheeks, marveling once again how much the older woman had aged in the past five or so years. Sophia's "kidnapping" had put a great strain on both of her parents, and it was beginning to show. Both Cuthburts had graying hair and, especially her mother, the weak appearance of those who had grown old in far to short an amount of time.
Chelsea Cuthburt smiled faintly at her daughter, cupping her smooth cheeks between her veined hands. "You look absolutely wonderful, Sophia! So happy! It's fantastic to see that you are finally recovering from that dreadful business with the pirates. Five years! We were beginning to think you would never get over it!" She declared, her voice annoyingly oblivious, at least to Sophia's ears.
"Yes, well…" Sophia trailed away awkwardly, only to be interrupted by Chelsea yet again.
"And you've brought Mr. Turner and Elizabeth with you, as well! How lovely!" The older woman said, genuinely thrilled. Sophia had indeed brought Will along because (a) she needed a large amount of emotional support to endure the inevitable interrogation of her mother and (b) her parents simply adored him. Elizabeth was obvious, seeing as Sophia's parents were her aunt and uncle, respectively.
"Hello, Lady Cuthburt, Sir…" Will greeted them politely, kissing Sophia's mother's hand and nodding to her father while shaking his hand firmly.
Elizabeth was not quite so proper in her salutation. "Hello, Aunt Chelsea, Uncle Esteban! It's so nice to see you!" The girl chorused, embracing both her elders and kissing their cheeks exuberantly.
Sophia now caught sight of her father, standing tall and dark behind the flustered figure of Chelsea, and smiled widely. "Papa!" She had never quite grown out of using the childish name for her father, and he had never corrected her. Sophia threw herself into the arms of the one man in the world she loved just as much as Jack, nearly crying with joy as she almost bowled Esteban Cuthburt over.
In contrast to her relationship with Chelsea, Sophia had always felt that she shared a strong bond with her father. He had filled up her childhood with stories of his adventures and lessons in his native language, Spanish, which Sophia could understand but not speak, unfortunately, as the skill had diminished over time. She had been quite fluent in her youth, conversing freely with Esteban over the dinner table about his travels and experiences, much to her mother's chagrin. Sophia truly loved her father.
"Hello, querida. How have you been?"
Sophia squeezed her arms around her father's thin but comforting shoulders. "Buenisimo. Oh, you've no idea… I've been wonderful! I missed you so, Papá!"
Esteban Cuthburt smiled fondly at his daughter as she finally loosened her hold on him and looked at her face clearly for the first time since her return, pleasantly surprised by what he saw. Gone was the pale, withdrawn woman of the past five years, and in her place was the vibrant Sophia of old, her face flushed and eyes sparkling with the constant joys of living. She even looked to be gaining back some of the weight she had lost that caused her to look sickly and far too bony for her petite frame. Esteban smiled. "Pareces hermosa, hija."
Sophia smiled at the complement, as those from her father were so rare that receiving one was far better than any material gift he could have given her.
Chelsea, uncomfortable with the Spanish dialogue as she spoke not a word of the language herself, invited them into the parlour where tea and biscuits were waiting for them.
Sophia sipped her tea as she sat between Will and Elizabeth and waited to be tortured.
"So, Elizabeth, how is living with our lovely daughter suiting you?" questioned Chelsea primly, her face politely open and attentive.
Here we go…
Lady Cuthburt had never approved of Elizabeth's decision to live with Sophia (the idea was far too outlandish for her taste). Two unmarried women living together suggested abnormality and would "set the neighbors whispering," apparently. Elizabeth, bless her heart, had paid no heed to her aunt's warnings and flounced off to live with Sophia, despite whatever gossip it might spawn. Evidently Sophia's mother had not given up hope that her niece would come to her senses and come to live with the proper family. Sophia cautioned a glance at both Elizabeth and her father. Esteban was gazing at her with knowing and obvious humor and his eyes seemed say "Brace yourself, querida," while Elizabeth narrowed her eyes almost imperceptibly as she responded.
"We are enjoying ourselves immensely, Aunt Chelsea. Nothing is ever boring whilst Sophia is around," Elizabeth asserted, winking very quickly at her cousin. Will, Sophia noticed, was hiding his grin behind a biscuit. She glared at him in response to his apparent amusement at her discomfort.
"I'm sure," Chelsea said softly, her eyes straying to Sophia. "And has our daughter decided to grace us with the knowledge of why she suddenly decided to sail off to London at the spur of the moment?"
Sophia coughed, nearly choking on her tea. Daintily, she set the teacup down on the table before them with scarcely a rattle and, having regained her composure, tilted her head regally at her mother. "I'm afraid the tea was hotter than I expected," she explained, ignoring Will's own cough as he attempted to hide his laughter. "If you'll remember, mother, I sent you a letter explaining everything: I was called as a witness for the trail of a pirate I met on one of my… adventures." This was, in fact, the excuse she had made to her parents. She knew that it was a poor one, and that with even some half-hearted questioning they could discover that no such trial had taken place.
"Yes, well, I must have forgotten."
Horseshit, mother.
Sophia looked in anticipation at her father. Save me.
Esteban jumped minutely as if he had not been paying attention—which Sophia was sure was the case, considering his tendency to trail off even in the midst of conversations—and sent a playfully reproving glare at his daughter. After brief contemplation he spoke with infinitely rare eloquence. "Elizabeth! The harpsichord! Going well?"
And this was her savior from the intrusive woman that was her mother.
Elizabeth smiled wryly. "Very well, thank you. I'm studying a rather difficult piece now, by Handel, if I remember correctly…" She gave up as the conversation fell stagnant, looking to Sophia imploringly.
"Sophia," continued Chelsea, much to Sophia's exasperation, "I have heard rumors that you are holding a guest in your home?"
Both Elizabeth and Will were suddenly very interested in their cups of tea, which they stirred vigorously as Sophia answered with a stiffly wan nod.
The older woman's gaze hardened considerably, although her tone remained light. Sophia swallowed. She had expected this, of course, but now that the time to explain her rather… eccentric circumstances to her mother had come, she found her nerve failing. "How lovely! We must meet this enigma! The whole town's heard of it, my dear!" Chelsea exclaimed, sitting very forward in her seat as if ready to pounce on her daughter lest she say something that anyone would disprove of.
I'm sure they have. Sophia made a mental note to brutally slaughter the unfortunate soul who had let loose the knowledge that she had a "houseguest," as her mother so delicately put it. No doubt he or she had seen them unloading from The Enchantments and ran to the nearest enjoyer of gossip to speculate.
"Well, you will meet…him at some point, I'm sure," Sophia choked out after a moment's thought, surprised at how normal her voice sounded. Will was not smiling anymore, and gazed at her with a look akin to pity. Elizabeth stared stonily at Chelsea, a not-uncommon fire sparking in her eyes. Esteban was hiding his shock well, the set of his mouth and jaw indicating to Sophia his concern for her.
Chelsea Cuthburt's eyebrows shot up past her hairline.
"H-Him?" She voiced breathily. Sophia hoped she wouldn't faint.
She felt some of her old strength returning. She was not a child anymore and how she lived her life was most definitely not her mother's decision. "Yes, him. I met him in London, and he will be staying with me for as long as he sees fit. His name is Captain Jack Haverling, and I suggest you get accustomed to the idea that he is living with me," she explained smoothly, the lie slipping off her tongue as easily as if she had been reading it from a page. Sophia heard Elizabeth snort as she recognized the name that Sophia had used when introducing Jack to her those many years ago in Port Ayuda.
Chelsea stared wide-eyed at her daughter, her jaw hanging open. Sophia waited patiently for her mother to gather her wits.
Esteban, in contrast to his wife, was taking the news rather well. He seemed to be looking back and forth between the three guests perplexedly, but at least he looked as if he was still in possession of all his mental abilities. Sophia managed to shoot him a small, reassuring smile. It's all right, Papa. I love him.
"And you…you and this…this Captain Haverling a-are…" Chelsea stammered, flushing from the roots of her hair down to the tops of her bosom. Esteban laid a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder.
"Yes." Sophia answered her before she could finish her rather embarrassing question. "We are."
Will was blushing as well by now, while Elizabeth gazed intently at the ceiling. Chelsea sputtered indignantly, not that Sophia could blame her. Her sweet, victim of a daughter had suddenly become one of those women, who consorted with unmarried men and had children out of wedlock.
Esteban was the eventual savior. Sophia could have kissed him. "Well!" He nearly shouted, clapping his large hands together and causing his wife to nearly fall out of her chair. "More tea, anyone?"
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"Sophia, this is shameful! You are desecrating the name of your family! Of me! It's…It's vile and unchristian!"
Chelsea had finally managed to get her daughter alone. Somewhere in the midst of the polite conversation following Sophia's admittance, the lady of the house had managed to draw her into one of the spare bedrooms and lock the door behind them.
Sophia sighed, staring at her mother coolly. "I was never one for church and prayers, mother. You know that," she responded in a deceptively light tone.
"Oh, stop it, Sophia! This is no laughing matter! You will be shunned! No one will want to touch you!" Chelsea continued her ranting, steadily climbing towards hysteria.
"Nonsense. I'm sure I shall be the most popular woman in town until they all manage to catch a glimpse of my…guest. Then they will shun me."
"I cannot believe you are joking at a time like this. I cannot believe…"
Chelsea's prim and modest appearance had flown out the window along with her unruffled social skills. She was red in the face, her hair askew, arms flailing as she chastised her offspring. Suddenly her expression changed, and she promptly began to weep.
"I've failed as a mother! I taught you to be…to be promiscuous! Ungodly! Oh heavens, Sophia, I've failed you!" She cried, covering her face with her hands and curving into herself as trying to protect her fragile body from arctic winds.
"Don't be ridiculous, mother," Sophia assured, stroking back Chelsea's hair as she wept in what she hoped resembled reassurance. "I made this decision on my own accord."
Chelsea looked up, tears shining in her glittering blue eyes. "But how can you be sure that he isn't taking advantage of you, Sophia? How can you know what sort of man he truly is?"
Sophia smiled faintly. "Because we love one another, and I know him better than I know anyone else in the world."
"Well then marry him!"
"He's not that sort of man, mother."
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Sophia did not speak with her father until she was about to leave. She embraced his comforting form fully, grateful for his calm acceptance of her choice of lifestyle. He held her close to him and whispered in her ear, "It's not Haverling, is it? It's that Sparrow fellow, the one who kidnapped you."
Sophia smiled into his shoulder. "He only kidnapped me the first time, Papá. And yes, it is."
"Do you love him?"
"So much… I love him so much."
"Good." And then he let her go.
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Jack was waiting with a cross look on his face when they returned, ripping chunks out of a hunk of bread he'd nicked from the kitchen and stuffing the pieces into his mouth methodically as he flipped through a book from Sophia's bookshelf. It was a silly and repetitive story about a man searching for his father or some such tripe, but it kept him from going mad with boredom.
The door swung open—finally, he thought, they've been gone for hours—and Sophia stormed into the house, looking as if she were either very, very angry or about to faint. Jack guessed, glancing at her corseted figure and heaving bosoms, that it was a mixture of the two. Elizabeth followed her meekly, both eyebrows raised as she quickly climbed the stairs to her room. Before he could get one word out, Sophia flew at him and kissed him hard on the mouth, pressing her body tightly against his and crushing both the book and the bread between them. He dropped both objects in favor of wrapping his arms around her waist. Finally she withdrew and leaned back to look at his puzzled features.
"Wha' was the meaning o' that, love?" He asked her, his fingertips tracing idle paths up her spine.
"I had to know," she began, somewhat breathlessly, "that you were worth it." Pausing briefly, she let out a groan and dropped her forehead against his collarbone. "We are going to have a very rough road ahead of us, I'm afraid."
Jack rested his chin on the top of her head. "It went tha' badly with yer parents, then?"
Sophia inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of him and the vibration of his voice against her flesh. "Apparently the whole town's heard of my 'houseguest,' and my mother nearly dropped dead when I told her the nature of our relationship. She was going on about the defilement of the family name, or some similar drivel to that effect."
"Ahh…" Jack chose to leave his sentiments at that, wanting to keep her relaxed and aware that he was here, and that he would take in stride with her anything that happened to occur.
As if on cue, the doorbell rang, and Sophia jumped, her shoulders tensing immediately. "Oh, I hope it isn't that dreadful Knoll man," she groaned, stepping hesitantly towards the door while she motioned for Jack to remain hidden.
Opening the door, she was met with the sight of an adolescent messenger boy standing nervously on her doorstep. "I've an invitation here for a Mrs. Sophia Norrington," he recited, gazing at her curiously.
Jack, hearing that it wasn't anything that could potentially land him in trouble (at least he didn't think so), swaggered casually over to stand beside Sophia. She shot him a glare. "Yes? You are speaking to her."
"Would you prefer me to read it aloud, Mrs. Norrington?"
"I suppose," she answered, somewhat bewildered.
"Mrs. Sophia Norrington, Miss Elizabeth Cuthburt, and their guest are cordially invited to partake in the annual Masquerade Ball to take place at the Ismay Manor on August the 17th, beginning promptly at seven o'clock in the evening." The boy paused. "What response shall I relay to Lady Ismay? Will you be attending the ball?"
Sophia and Jack both responded immediately and simultaneously, she with a resounding "Absolutely not!" and he with a delighted "O' course!" They then turned to look at one another and proceeded to bicker over their respective decisions, leaving the poor boy bewildered on the doorstep until they came to their conclusion.
In the end, after Jack had pointed out that it would look rather suspicious if Sophia didn't accept an invitation to what was, apparently, the event of the year, they agreed to attend. After the severely shaken messenger left at a dead run, Sophia shut the door and stared at Jack in a manner that would have left lesser men shaking where they stood. "No doubt you think it a highly amusing escapade to attend this ball," she spat disgustedly, nearly snarling with contempt. Jack looked no less agitated as he pressed his lips tightly together to control his temper. He needed this, needed something to keep his mind off of the impending boredom and subsequent return to the sea, and this ball had arisen at exactly the right time. He would never say this to Sophia, of course, lest he send her off worrying and filled with dread that he might leave her, but the thought was there, a constant malady, in his mind. Sophia brought him back to the present with her snappish continuation.
"I know these women, Jack. They are bitter, spiteful creatures who like nothing more than to destroy a person with rumors and gossip. It's disgusting." Her voice was a bit softer, now, as she sighed with annoyance at the mere thought of her fellow townsfolk.
Jack brushed her fears and his aggravation aside with a cock-eyed grin. "If I know anyone who can 'andle 'em, love, it's you."
She gave him a dry smile and said nothing.
-
"She had learned to be a woman for whom experience would always be a prison, and freedom would lie always beyond the horizon."
-- Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
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Author's Note: Ah, another chapter. Once again, it is very late and I still have to read sixty pages of Crime and Punishment before I sleep, and school hasn't even begun yet!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's about twice as long as the previous ones, I think, and we get our first really good look at Sophia's parents and some of the conflicts that may be arising for her in the future. She will obviously be quite the scandal at this little shindig, which I am looking forward to because I love writing Sophia in awkward public situations because she tends to kick the shit out of everyone who tries to insult her. Fun fun.
Spanish translations:
Querida: love, dear
Buenisimo: Very good
Pareces hermosa, hija: You look beautiful, daughter
Anyway, thanks to all of the reviewers: Sunshinejedi, Terriah, MISSZ-SPARROW, Anaknusan, AJ-Sparrow, xJacksJessx, Iffy, doctress, RunawayPirate, Lady Anarane, I heart coffee, Shimbles, CaptainMarySparrow, to name a few. Chapters will be coming out probably a bit slower after this as school starts soon. So sorry, but I'm afraid getting good grades so I can go to college and get a good job so I can support myself for the rest of my life and not starve comes before writing fanfiction. I know, the shame.
