Katherine could feel his presence before he entered the room. Sneaking a sideways glance, she saw him standing in the doorway. Even at a distance, she could read the look of stunned disbelief on his face. Studiously ignoring him, she deliberately continued to chat up young Lieutenant Blackwirth. Katherine had seen Violet perform often enough to know how it was done. Although it went against the grain to act like an empty headed flirt, she reminded herself that it was for a good cause.

Throughout dinner, Katherine acted as if James Norrington did not exist. This was a rather difficult feat considering that he was seated directly across the table from her, but she managed by focusing all of her regard on the Lieutenant. For his part, James remained immersed in conversation with Captain Wilson and made no attempt to engage her attention. Katherine could feel her pique growing at his disregard. She had debated long and hard before choosing this particular dress, for it really was more flamboyant than her usual style but she had wanted to make a splash. The frock had been a birthday gift from Violet and had been given to her after the debacle with Sir Huntley. Katherine had supposed that the almost indecent nature of the décolletage was meant to convey an insult towards her honor but she had merely politely thanked her sister and tucked the garment away in the back of her wardrobe. It had been pure chance that Jennifer had packed it. Katherine had known more than a moment's hesitation after donning it and had almost changed before leaving for dinner. But Commodore Norrington's insults had kept ringing in her head and she had decided that it was worth some discomfort of her own to be able to wrong foot the annoying man.

Unfortunately, her strategy to thoroughly enrapture and ensnare and then cruelly cut the Commodore was not going as well as she had hoped. However, she was somewhat mollified when she noticed that on more than one occasion his glance strayed and fixated on the neckline of her gown. It made wearing the thing worthwhile. She just had to be patient and plan her moves like a game of chess. If she acted too precipitously, the Commodore would not feel the slight nearly so deeply. He had to be the one to pursue her, or her victory would not be nearly as sweet. With renewed determination, she focused on Lieutenant Blackwirth.

For his part, James found the dinner interminably long. It wasn't that Captain Wilson was a poor conversationalist. To the contrary, the man had many interesting viewpoints on recent political matters. The problem was the young woman sitting across from him. James found humor in that he could recall having the same thought back in England; only the circumstances were now entirely different. He had no idea how this sudden transformation had been engineered but there was no doubt of its success. Her hair was now arranged stylishly and, without the awful pomade, he could see that it was a rich chestnut color with strands of auburn running through it. Minus the perpetual downcast expression, her face was actually quite pretty and her figure… well her figure was definitely not the type usually associated with an old maid. But the most dramatic change was the confidence and vivacity that she now exhibited. Even now, he could hear the Lieutenant plying Miss Thompson with compliments and her laughter as she responded flirtatiously. His temper grew with each musical note of her chuckles. She and her dammed family had been playing games with him. Their purpose for this deception was a mystery but he would damn well find out before much more time passed. It was likely that this grand metamorphosis had not been slated to take place until they reached Port Royal, which meant that her vanity had been stung by his comments the other day. That could and would be used to his advantage. Miss Thompson would find that she had picked the wrong person with whom to play games. He was a commodore and knew how to plan battles and wage a war.

Right now, his strategy was to wait and see just how far Miss Thompson was willing to go with her new persona. Hopefully she would not cause too much chaos amongst the crew before he figured out and put a stop to her plot; the dazed looks on the faces of the majority of the men at the table made that wish seem unlikely to be fulfilled. Hell, if he were honest with himself, even he was finding it difficult not to feast his eyes on what she was so blatantly displaying. Young Lieutenant Blackwirth was clearly besotted with her. James had seen enough of these types of situations to know that things could quickly turn ugly. Since it appeared as if Captain Wilson were oblivious to the potentially volatile circumstances, James decided that he would have to keep a close eye on the matter to ensure that things did not grow into too large of a problem.

As dinner ended, James heard the Lieutenant suggest a turn around the deck to Miss Thompson. When she readily agreed, the other men's faces registered disappointment and envy, but fortunately no real animosity. A few minutes after they departed, James made his excuses and silently followed.

"That star there is Polaris. Follow it and you'll always be heading north," the Lieutenant proudly instructed Katherine.

Katherine did not have the heart to tell the young man that she had grown up sailing every weekend with her Uncle Cuthbert, and that she could probably name more constellations than he could. The Lieutenant was so flatteringly eager to please and he had been so even before tonight. That was why she had focused on him rather than some of the other men. Blackwirth had been a gentleman, in every sense of the word, since the journey's beginning. This was more than she could say for some, especially a certain commodore. At the thought of him, she felt her temper start to rise and with determined gaiety asked the Lieutenant, "So, tell me all about Port Royal. It is to be my new home and I know next to nothing about it."

For the next hour he told her all about the history of Port Royal and its current citizens. Katherine was surprised to find that he had a knack for describing people and distilling their personalities down into a word or two. She could almost picture them in her mind.

"Then there is Mrs. Turner."

Here, Katherine perked up at the mention of the woman that the Commodore had deemed such a paragon of womanhood that she could give lessons to others.

"What is she like?" Katherine asked and hoped that she did not sound too eager.

"Well, I guess that most people would first notice her beauty, for she really is breathtakingly beautiful. I guess I would have to say that she strikes me as a bit hard. I am not saying that she's mean or vicious. She's just determined to get what she wants. Take, for instance, the way that she treated Commodore Norrington," and at Katherine's questioning look, he continued, "She agreed to his proposal and as an engagement present asked for help saving William Turner. In the end, she broke the engagement to the Commodore and married Turner. I suppose it's none of mine or anyone else's business since the Commodore seems to have forgiven her, but it just doesn't seem very cricket to use one man to secure another."

Katherine filed away this fascinating piece of information but it made her conscience prickle. She wasn't trying to secure another man, but she had initiated this stroll with her own gain in mind. Yet somewhere along the way, she had found herself truly enjoying his company. "Well, I have had a lovely evening Lieutenant, but it is time for me to retire for the night. Thank you for the excellent conversation."

"It has been my pleasure, Miss Thompson. I hope that it is something that we can repeat again soon?"

"I would like that, Lieutenant." As he made a movement to escort her below deck, she added, "There is no need to escort me to my quarters. I can hardly get lost. Stay and enjoy the solitude."

He bowed, took her hand and kissed it. "Thank you. I think that I shall do just that. Goodnight, Miss Thompson."

James watched them as they chatted. Occasionally snatches of conversation drifted his way, but he was unable to hear the bulk of their discourse. If their body language was any indication, then they were both enjoying themselves. When the Lieutenant kissed her hand, James was surprised to feel a stab of resentment. He quickly attributed it to anger at Miss Thompson for leading on the poor young fool and made his way below deck.

As Katherine walked to her room, she mused over the night's happenings. Although she had enjoyed herself with Lieutenant Blackwirth, her plan had not gone very well. Commodore Norrington had barely noticed her. Thinking herself alone in the corridor, she fell into her old habit of talking out loud to herself, "What does it take to capture that man's attention? Maybe I should try flattery. Men always respond to flattery."

A cold voice interrupted her thoughts, "If Lieutenant Blackwirth responds any more to you, we shall have to have Captain Wilson perform a marriage ceremony."

Katherine pulled up short and finally noticed that Commodore Norrington was directly in her path to her room. If he had not spoken, she had been so lost in her plotting that she would have run directly into him. Having the object of her thoughts so suddenly appear threw her and she promptly forgot all notions of using flattery. "Excuse me, sir, but you are blocking my way. I'd thank you to keep your observations to yourself and move aside," she ordered him.

James found that he disliked having her speak to him in that condescending tone. His anger drove him to perform the exact opposite of her demand. Instead of letting her pass, he crowded her until her back was against the wall. When she would have slid past him, he placed a hand on either side of her, effectively pinning her in place.

"Let me pass."

Driven by some demon he did not understand, James just smiled and replied, "No." He delighted in her inarticulate cry of temper and the way that her bunched hands revealed her rage. After the performance that she had put on at dinner, she deserved some frustration. Certainly the majority of men at the table would not be sleeping well tonight, with thoughts of her driving away their slumber. Then he taunted, "What is the matter, Miss Thompson? Did the Lieutenant disappoint as a lover? I should not worry if I were you. There are plenty of others who will volunteer to take his place."

Katherine gasped in outrage and then quickly recouped her wits. Lifting her chin and murmuring as seductively as she could, she asked him, "And would you be one of those volunteers, Commodore?"

James stifled a biting retort. He made the mistake of looking down and letting his eyes sweep across the expanse of shoulder and bosom exposed by the dress. Then once again, as they had the other day, his eyes found and focused on her mouth. Without conscious thought, he closed the distance between their lips until there was but a hair's breadth between them.

As she stood there waiting for him to completely close the gap, Katherine found that it suddenly had become very difficult to breath. All thoughts of one upping him fled her mind, she could only think of how much she wanted to know what James Norrington's kisses tasted like.

James could feel the desire for this woman surge through his veins. In spite of her audacious behavior this evening, he wanted her. At this moment, he did not care what her game was or why she was playing it. At this moment, all he cared about was this overwhelming need to touch her. That thought was enough to scare him. Fear drove him to whisper nastily, "You'll want to be careful. You have made your desire for marriage clear enough. Do not forget, men will not pay as much for soiled goods."

Katherine recoiled from his words and the blood drained from her face. Of its own violation her hand came up and slapped him soundly. The sound echoed in the silent corridor. The only other noise was the harshness of both of their breaths.

Her slap had brought James to his senses. He was appalled by his own behavior. He had never before been so rude and disrespectful to a lady, and could not fathom what had caused him to be so tonight. With no further words exchanged, they both took their leave and retired to their respective quarters, where each spent a restless night.