AN: well…it appears that my dear mother is taking advantage of my trip to Italy and taking the rest of the family on a trip to our native homeland, namely Wales. Where there are no computers. Well, not chez ma grandmère, at least. Hence, all the Maom strips in Christendom will not enable me to bribe my sisters to update. So…here are two chapters for you to be getting your teeth into, and I regret you must wait until my return for more. I'm very sorry…it doesn't show much appreciation for you lovely people who review my work. But I will be back, Terminator-stylee, ASAP. Until then, dd xx

28

It was some days before Commodore Norrington awoke in his own bed, his body wracked with pain.

He looked about him groggily, his eyes unused to the bright sunlight, and it took him a few moments to realize that he was in his own home, and that a gentle hand was running a cold flannel across his brow. Every muscle of his body ached, and as he moved his head starbursts of blinding pain exploded behind his eyes. He resolved to keep as still as possible.

'Commodore?' asked the person by his bedside, and he realized with an internal groan that it was Alicia. He moaned indistinctly in reply.

To his great surprise and embarrassment, he heard her burst into noisy, abandoned tears, and felt her hands clutch at his as she sobbed.

'Oh, Commodore Norrington, I have been so anxious!' she cried, her voice muffled through the handkerchief she held to her mouth. 'I…I feared that you would die…your fever has been so high…oh, thank God you are recovering…please…please look at me, sir…oh, you are alive…'

Norrington's heart sank as he heard her outpouring of relief and worry. It had not been his imagination then. Her emotion confirmed that he had expressed his affection for her in a rather uncouth physical form, and now she expected him to continue in such a vein. He raised his hand weakly, and felt her little fingers clasp it and caress it.

'Oh, Commodore, we have all been frantic here! My brother has not spoken for days, and Miss Swann has called to visit seven times! Oh…oh, sir, you do not know what this means to me! I should have died with you if you had perished…and it was I who sent you down into that battle, sir…oh, oh…' she dissolved into tears again, and Norrington felt dreadful. He must apologise to her for his ungentlemanly conduct of the night of the battle, before Theodore Groves discovered it and finished the job the brigands had started. He cleared his throat dryly, and was grateful to feel Alicia lift a glass of cool water to his parched lips.

'Miss Groves,' he whispered weakly. 'The night of the battle…I…' he closed his eyes against the harsh sunlight and listened to her feeble sobs for a few seconds. 'I behaved poorly towards you…I took advantage of your distress to act in a way that no nobleman should, and for that I cannot apologise enough. I hope you understand and believe that I most certainly do not behave…like that…in normal circumstances.'

She was silent a while, and stopped crying abruptly. Norrington, though his eyes were closed, could sense her watching him in confusion.

'But…but James…what if I have no objections to your behaviour? What if…oh, Commodore, will you not be honest with me? What should I care for propriety and behaviour and comportment and the stifling rules my class are slaves to, if you truly meant what your words and actions indicated?'

Norrington opened his eyes a little, and saw her next to him, her face blotchy with tears, her eyes sparkling with emotion. He looked away, his heart torn between a new urge to reach over to her and kiss her once more, and his maxim always to do the right thing.

It would do her no good, he thought sadly, to be involved with him, a man so constantly caught up in skirmishes and bloodshed. A man so thoroughly enslaved to duty and honour. He knew, deep inside of himself, that he had always compromised his own happiness in a quest for righteousness. He wondered if this would earn him a greater salvation at the final judgement, or if he was simply compounding his own solitude and despondence forever.

A delicate sniff reminded him that Alicia was still waiting by his bedside, waiting for him to cast her away from him.

'You did not mean…what you told me, then?' she asked calmly.

'I…Alicia, it is immaterial whether I meant it or not,' he replied hopelessly, letting his eyes close once more. 'It would be better for us both if the entire incident was forgotten.'

She continued wiping his face with cold water for several seconds, and then placed the flannel back in the bowl. Her sobs had entirely subsided, and she seemed much older than he remembered.

'I see,' she said slowly. She rose carefully and left the room, her skirts rustling softly.

Miss Swann was entering the house and handing her fashionable bonnet to Mrs Manning as Alicia descended the stairs, attempting to quell the tears threatening to overcome her again.

'Why, Alicia, whatever is the matter?' asked Elizabeth as she saw the other's distressed countenance. 'Is the Commodore worse?'

'No…no…' she choked, rushing past the elder woman into the Spartan parlour, where she collapsed on the chaise longue, her face contorted with the effort not to cry. Elizabeth followed her, removing her riding gloves as she did so, and sat beside her. The Commodore's former fiancée had taken a great fancy to his new companion, and had observed with admiration the devoted way in which Alicia had cared for him. The two women had become friends in Norrington's house, dividing the work of a nurse between them, and talking fondly of the man and his great nobility.

However, Elizabeth guessed now that her friend had awoken and begun reverting to his old, stilted self, the persona that had at first so prejudiced her against him.

'Come, Alicia…the Commodore is awake, I take it?'

Alicia nodded weakly, dabbing ineffectually at her reddened eyes.

'What has he said to upset you? You mustn't mind all he says, you know. He is somewhat of a novice when it comes to conversing with ladies.'

'He…he told me he loved me…' Alicia hiccoughed, her genteel demeanour marred. Elizabeth gasped. That was most unlike the often aloof, formal Commodore she knew.

'James said that?' she inquired incredulously.

'He…he said he loved me, and he…embraced…he kissed me…oh, Elizabeth…surely he would not do such…such things and then…and then…'

'Go on, Alicia…' she pressed encouragingly.

'And then…then say he didn't mean it…he would not be so cruel, surely? Oh…I am so very sorry, Miss Swann…I confess I am very upset…'

Elizabeth hugged her friend comfortingly.

'Come, now, Alicia…I am a little confused. The Commodore is in no fit state to be embracing anyone at present, with the wound to his back…'

Alicia smiled wanly. 'I am sorry…I did not explain properly. He…he perplexes me greatly, Miss Swann. When I rode to his residence…after our plantation was attacked, you see…he…that was when he…he said those things…oh, Elizabeth…I felt so guilty for being happy, more than happy, when my family was in danger…'

'But you said he didn't mean it?'

'Yes…just now…' she looked distractedly out of the window, biting her lip at the memory. 'He apologized for kissing me, Elizabeth! He…he must truly regret it…'

Elizabeth sat contemplatively beside her friend, passing her own handkerchief to the distraught girl to replace her own, sodden one. She wished the Commodore could see his lady now, reduced to bitter tears because of his blasted pride and sense of stifling propriety. It was too much to bear.

'Go home, Alicia, dear,' she said soothingly, placing a motherly kiss to her pale forehead. 'I will talk to the man, make him…understand the hurt he has caused you…please, do not be troubled…that man has no sense when it comes to relations with another person. If it doesn't involve a ship or a gun, he doesn't have a clue, I'm afraid.'

Elizabeth watched Alicia walk unsteadily down the path to her waiting carriage, her parasol shading her. As she helped Mrs Manning to prepare a tonic for the patient, she maintained her usual ladylike exterior, but inside she was seething for the damaged heart of her friend. She simply could not comprehend how a man so intelligent could occasionally show such blinding stupidity.

Carrying the tonic, her nerves prepared for a verbal sparring match with the indisposed Commodore, she climbed the stairs.

AN: and next comes the promised angry!Elizabeth. Enjoy…dd xx