Disclaimer: I don't own half the characters in this story, but I do own the plot.

SHE WAS A PHANTOM OF DELIGHT

Chapter 12: A Very Un-Piratelike Gesture

"Father, I don't need a husband," Camille was insisting a couple of days later. "I can live perfectly fine on my own."

"You read too much nonsense," Dorian scolded. "A young woman needs a man to take care of her. I refuse to listen to any of that rubbish you have been reading."

"It's not rubbish, father. And I can speak without getting my ideas organized from something written by a man," she said coolly.

"You hold your tongue, child. I'll not be spoken to in such a manner."

Camille looked at the ground. She would not get her father to agree that she was capable of surviving without an emotionless marriage. (Oh, blasphemy!) If her father even began to go on about her being barefoot and pregnant to carry on the Quartermaine lineage, she was going to have to scream. "If the inheritance is gone, why are we still prattling on about the idea of my marriage?" she protested, knowing she was being much too bold for her own good.

Her father became impatient. "Camille, without that inheritance there is nothing for you! Do you really think that men will listen to a woman, much less an unmarried one? Do you wish to be treated equally by society? You will not be; without a husband, you are nothing," he said gravely.

She bit her lip as tears filled her eyes. Again, it was the marriage. Again, it was what everyone except her thought was best for her. It was what her father wanted, to keep his good name. She was infuriated.

"That's not what Mother would have thought," she said calmly, and before the sentence had gotten completely out of her mouth Dorian backhanded her across the face.

"Don't you EVER speak that way about your mother!" he screamed before he was even fully aware of what he'd done.

Aside from being spanked as a small child, her father had never laid a finger on her. She recoiled in horror, terrified of the thought of her own flesh and blood becoming as close-minded as everyone else in this forsaken port.

He was still yelling as she turned away, and he even grabbed her arm. She pulled free from his grip and ran up the stairs, locking her door behind her. She began to cry.

About half and hour later, she was still sobbing on her bed when she heard a noise below her window.

Startled, she rolled off her bed and sat still, holding in her remaining tears as most of them stayed cold on her face. She tried to steady her breathing, but then she heard a THUMP and bit her tongue. Somebody had climbed right into her room.

She heard a person moving about stealthily, and looked around for something to aid her. She could see nothing but a stack of hatboxes by her bureau.

She turned her head slightly, glancing under the bed to get a good look at the tips of a pair of brown boots. The culprit was now rummaging around the small nightstand on the other side of her bed.

Reaching underneath her bed, she could almost touch the pair of boots. Maybe she could pull the attacker's feet out from underneath…no, they probably weighed much more than she could account for. And her furniture could break in the process.

As she pulled her hand back underneath, she caught a glimpse of the figure's outline as they passed in front of a mirror.

"Jack!" she exclaimed, getting to her feet as the pirate jumped two feet off the ground.

His hand flew to his chest after whirling around and facing her. "Are you trying to kill me, love?" he demanded.

She rushed into his arms unexpectedly, and he wasn't quite sure how to react.

"Oh Jack, I never thought I'd see you again!"

She was…happy to see him? "Well, I couldn't be expected to leave you here, could I?" he asked, narrowing his eyes when he saw wet streaks on her face. "So it was you I heard then," he said.

She nodded, affirming his suspicion. "Captain, my father has been robbed," she confessed.

"So you mean to tell me that you are up here weeping because Gillette no longer has any incentive to marry you?" Jack said in a disbelieving tone.

"It's not Gillette. Now no one wishes to marry me," she said indifferently.

"Love I do apologize, but I'm still not making a connection here. What's got those eyes not sparkling, eh?"

"Captain Sparrow, I believe that yours truly cannot operate in a British society without having a husband of equal stature."

He cocked an eyebrow. Has this been the bold redhead he'd gotten to know over such a short period of her misfortunes? "Says who?"

"Says my father. And every other man and woman in Port Celebros who knows what's best for me," she said sarcastically.

"Ah, now it's starting to make sense."

Camille took a seat on her windowsill, looking down on the garden. "My mother always told me, Jack…she said that I could do whatever I wanted just because God loved me that much when I was born."

The captain eased up beside her, giving every ounce of his attention to her, letting his eyes fall onto her radiant features, trying his best to avoid her breasts and stay focused on her face. He stared at her hair as she spoke.

"She was beautiful, Jack," Camille continued without noticing him. "She never wore makeup, or a corset, or even put her hair up unless it was Sunday. She said that women relied too much on the opinion of men, and she married my father because he agreed."

Jack grinned, knowing not to make a witty or even sardonic comment at such a time. Camille was clearly upset, and remembering her mother was comforting her. To his wonder, it was comforting to him as well. "She sounds like a wonderful woman to me."

"Yes, she was."

"Was, love?" Jack inquired, knowing there was more to the story than perhaps the lovely woman would let onto.

Camille took a deep breath, looking at Jack. "They accused my mother of heresy within the Protestant church," she said darkly.

"Heresy? Witchcraft?"

She nodded. "They tortured her to death, in hopes that she would confess to worshipping the devil."

He looked at her sincerely. That explained a lot about her father wanting to marry her off so desperately and not wanting her to have any kind of independence. "Is that why your father is so intent on you being absolutely nothing like her?"

"Can you blame him, Jack? He watched his wife die because she would not serve under a man."

"If he's the one responsible for those bruises, I think I can blame him," Jack pointed out.

She looked at him, surprised that he had noticed. He hadn't seen her in more than half a year. She opened her mouth to speak. But he spoke before she got a chance to.

"I don't think it's much of a secret why I've returned, Camille."

She looked at him, drawing back. He was asking her to go with him again. "Jack, I can't go with you."

"Why not, love?" he pressed. "Give me one good reason and I'll never return to Port Celebros and tamper with the Quartermaine way of life again, I swear."

Again, she opened her mouth to speak. But she couldn't think of a reason. Her father wanted her gone, obviously. She had no friends. Without her money, no one seemed to think she would be of any value anymore.

"Love, are you all right?" Jack's voice said from behind her. He looked concerned. "You seem frightened."

"No, Captain. That's not it."

"Well then, what's gone and made you so silent, eh? If Dorian's gone and made you upset-"

She waved her hand. "No, it's…Jack, you could never give me a mansion or a high place in society or, well, even a good, decent title, but-

"

She caught the expression on Jack's face she had caused.

"Jack, I know I'm shallow, but hear me out!" she protested. "I know that you could never give me any of those things, but…"

"Yes?" he said impatiently with his arms crossed. "I've got to get back to my low place in society," he said bitterly.

She took a deep breath, biting her lip for a second. "But I think that you could give me something much bigger and better than all of that."

His expression softened a little, but he still looked hurt. "Like what, love?"

She looked at him. "Jack, I like you. You're the only man who has ever had an interesting story to tell about himself, and among that has stopped in the middle of it to ask me about myself. And…well, you don't bore me, and…this isn't working at all," she said sadly. "Jack, close your eyes."

"Excuse me?" he said, finally uncrossing his arms. This woman was beginning to confuse him.

"Please?"

Jack obliged, and not a moment later felt a gentle touch on his shoulders and a kiss on his lips. It was much different than in the tavern; this time it was not an act of desperation. He opened his eyes, and saw her with her hands folded in front of her. "I'm terribly sorry, I don't know what came over me. I've never done that either. I was entirely improper of me."

He looked at her as she made excuses and became flustered. "Camille," he said, ending her rant. She was silenced.

"Look, I'm a pirate. D'you know what that means, darling?"

She gave him a confused look, biting her lip.

He continued. "It means that I have rejected what you know to be society. I'm by no means proper, I cheat, I lie, I steal, I love alcohol, and I haven't the slightest regard for personal space," he said, stepping up to her. "Honestly, I can think I would be the last person to judge you, my dear. Don't be ashamed, all right?"

She looked up into his brown, kohl-rimmed eyes. She wanted to kiss him again, and she wanted to run away with him and Ana Maria on the Black Pearl. She wanted to watch the dolphins play as she felt the sea on her face and the wind through her hair.

Jack stepped back slightly. "Now, with that said, would you like to kiss me or wouldn't you?"

"She will be doing no such thing," Dorian's voice said from the doorway. He was aiming a pistol right at Jack. "Camille, step aside and don't look."

"Father, no!" Camille said defiantly. She stood in front of Jack. "Let me explain."

"No, Camille. I was beginning to wonder where you were getting such strange ideas," Dorian continued, lowering the pistol.

"Father, listen to me. Captain Sparrow has never hurt me, and neither have any of-"

"Stop it!" Dorian yelled, silencing his daughter immediately. She shrank back in the same horror, watching her father transform into a mindless chauvinist like the rest of Port Celebros' male citizens.

Taking this opportunity to try and aim for the pirate, Dorian held the pistol out again and pulled the trigger. Camille sprang forward and shoved his arm upward, causing the shot to go through the ceiling but still eliciting a shriek from her.

"Camille!" Dorian bellowed. "This man is trying to kill you!"

"No, he's not!" she bellowed back, surprising the three of them with her strong voice. "Father, I am leaving Port Celebros with him," she then said quite calmly.

"No, he's gone and put nonsense into your head. I told you not to read those books…" Dorian ranted as Camille took Jack's hand and kept him very close to her as the two went downstairs. Ignoring her father, she pulled the door open to face the entire Navy.