Disclaimer: I tried to lure Jack into my house with rum, but Disney got in my way, so he's not mine.
AN: Yes, Rose is back with the family. Oh, joy, huh? Well, let's just hope that our dear Captain Jack saves her from being bored to death, as well as from that sneaky Gerry. Have fun reading, and don't forget to review! Thanks!
Chapter 21: Return to Imprisonment:
As the carriage rolled up the hill towards my parents' home, I was ready to swallow both my tongue and my heart at the same time. My mouth was so dry I felt as though it were full of wool, and my heart was beating so much it felt as though it were going to burst up through my throat at any moment. Beside me, Captain Hastings was beaming rather arrogantly as he held my hand tightly in his, preventing me from escaping.
'Well, its not as if I could escape in the first place,' I thought, my eyes drifting longingly towards the doors of the carriage.
Apparently, in the month or so that Jack and I had been in India with the crew, Gerard hadn't wasted all of his time sitting in taverns, waiting for news about when the Black Pearl emerged from waters under British rule. From the arrangement of guards surrounding us as we rode, and the securely locked doors of the carriage, Gerard must have arranged all of this while sitting in that dank tavern in Africa. This was why, even though I wanted to attack my captor with every fiber of my being and escape, I couldn't do so and succeed.
I very nearly fainted when I felt the carriage stop, the jingling of the horses' bridles sounding like keys securing a lock to a cage. I was here, and now I was about to lose a part of my soul. From now on, I would have to live by the rules of my parents, including eating, sleeping, and dressing up whenever they told me to. I would be forced once more to eat meals that were elegant and rich, or delicate and not filling enough to satisfy even the smallest bird. My days of freedom were over.
The door was unlocked, and Hastings eagerly climbed out, his hand reaching in to "escort" me out of the carriage, though he was really practically dragging me out of it. Once I was on the cobblestone drive right before the front door, I clenched my free hand, hiding it underneath the folds of my skirt. My other hand was currently in the possession of Captain Hastings, who was looking very smug.
Standing beside me with his back straight and his chest puffed out, he looked every inch the arrogant nobleman. His coat looked very expensive, as it appeared to be made out of blue silk from China. The gold embroidery trimming the coat was thick and elegant, the gold buttons enhancing the fact that a great deal of money had to have been spent on this coat alone. His white linen shirt should have looked out of place, but given its fine make, it would pass. Black leggings encased in polished black leather boots, and a large blue hat with a long white feather completed the outfit. Even I had to admit that his outfit, with his dark hair and green eyes, Hastings looked every inch the dashing nobleman.
'Which is exactly what Mother will be hoping for,' I though, disgusted.
Since the day I came of age to be married, my mother had always wanted me to marry a handsome, wealthy man, just so she could have beautiful grandchildren to look at whenever she visited me. It didn't matter if he was a good man or not, as long as I was well-provided for and had children to raise. If I were forced to live in another country, well, that didn't matter to her, either; after all, Father was a wealthy merchant who had a fleet of ships at his command, visiting my new estate would be no trouble at all.
'Well, at least they aren't here to meet us,' I thought as my eyes drifted about the large entryway.
A few servants had come out the door to see who had arrived, but neither one of my parents were there. In all likelihood, Gerard had probably planned it this way, making it so that he looked like the gallant hero who had brought the long-lost princess back to her kingdom. Of course, this was what he was getting, as the servants who had come to greet us stared at me in surprise for a moment prior to recognizing me.
Before I knew what was happening, I was surrounded by familiar faces, all of them rushing to my side. I tried not to wince as my family's butler and parlor maids babbled on about how glad they were to see me alive and well, and how frightened they had been since I'd disappeared, all of them thinking I must have been kidnapped and killed by horrible criminals. Out of the corner of my eye, Gerard Hastings was looking even more smug than he had before.
"Ahem." Hastings gave a loud, but still polite, clearing of his throat, causing the servants around me to stop talking at once. "If you don't mind, I would like to speak to Mr. and Mrs. Nelson at once in regard to this matter."
The butler immediately straightened his back before giving my captor a small bow. "Of course, sir," he said. "If you and the lady would follow me?"
Gerard offered me his arm, which I glared at before accepting. I knew that if I didn't accept his arm, he would probably force me to, so I decided not to resist. Instead, I let him lead me inside the house, the maids trailing behind me like lost little ducklings. We hadn't even been standing in the entryway for more than a minute before my mother came flying through the doors of the parlor, her face full of hope and joy at seeing me alive.
For an instant, I felt a twinge of guilt in my stomach. Had my disappearance truly upset my parents that much? Looking at the expression on my mother's face, however, the feeling of guilt vanished. She had seen the man beside me and probably thought that I had eloped with Gerard Hastings. As her eyes took in his fine clothes and appearance, her joy of seeing me turned into a different emotion entirely. Of course, the fact that I still wore my engagement and wedding rings didn't help matters…
"Oh, Angela!" Mother cried as she threw her arms around me. "Oh, dearest, we've been so worried about you! Where have you been, you are so tan! Oh, we will have to cover you up with powder until your facial coloring is back to normal."
"Now, my dear, let Angela get a word in," Father said as he came out of the parlor.
While Mother looked flustered, poor Father looked as though he had aged a great deal since I had been gone. His hair had a more white hair that hadn't been there before, and a few wrinkles, but that could be for any reason at all. No matter what his face and hair were like, though, Father still looked every inch the dignified merchant in his usual hat, coat, vest, silk shirt, fine breeches and boots.
"Angela, where have you been?" Father demanded. "What happened?"
Gerard stepped forward. "Allow me to explain, sir," he said, pulling off his hat and performing a graceful bow that had Mother and the maids sighing in admiration. "I am Gerard Hastings, but in Scotland I am known as Lord Hastings."
"Oh, a Scottish Lord! You must tell us how you found our dear daughter!" Mother exclaimed excitedly. "But don't tell us the story in the hallway. You must join us in the parlor for tea."
Inwardly, I sighed as Mother led us to the parlor and sat us down with tea, food, and a blazing fire (even though it was summer and quite warm inside). The men had alcoholic drinks in their hands, and I was sorely tempted to ask for a drink of my own, if only to calm my nerves. Finally, after we were all settled, Gerard began to talk.
"Well, sir and madam," Gerard replied with a charming smile that nearly had Mother melting in her chair. "I am afraid that I am a friend of James Harrington, the man who was to marry your daughter the day she was abducted, and when he told me of his missing bride, I felt obligated to visit him. However, I was in the Caribbean at the time, and was unable to leave until recently. During my journey, my ship docked at a port of questionable reputation, and it was there that I ran into a woman who looked remarkably like the description my friend James had provided in his letter to me."
As Hastings lied through his teeth, I was forced to sit there and say nothing. Oh, I wanted to protest, but didn't dare for fear of something horrible happening. For all I knew, there were soldiers outside, waiting for the order to hunt down the Black Pearl and destroy everyone onboard. Gerard Hastings was not a man to cross, so I kept silent and listened as he spun his lies.
"I knew who she was from her mannerisms, and the air in which she carried herself proved she was not the pirate she was pretending to be," Gerard finished.
He had revealed that I was a pirate, and now I was probably going to be hung for it. While my parents stared at me in shock and horror, I silently prayed to whatever divine powers were listening. My heart pounded as my lungs nearly collapsed from the lack of air getting to them.
"Angela, you're a pirate?" Mother squeaked, her hands shaking as she set down her tea cup.
"Oh, no, ma'am!" Gerard said while giving a carefree laugh. "No, she was merely forced to live and look like one, as it was pirates that had taken her from this port. I was able to deduce this, and when I managed to find her alone, I was able to snatch her away from their grasp with little difficulty."
Both of my parent relaxed and sighed in relief. Of course, I, too, was relieved that I wasn't going to be hanged. However, that idiot known as Gerard Hastings had nearly gotten me imprisoned with his foolish desire to appear the hero. When this was all over and I was back in Jack's arms, I was going to be sure to take my anger out on him.
"Well, that's a relief," Mother said in a cheerful tone as she once again picked up her tea cup. "That would certainly explain why you are so tanned and brown, Angela. We will have to keep you indoors more, and use some powder to make you look more ladylike."
I couldn't hold back a frown of frustration. I did not want to wear powder, and certainly did not want to stay inside all day just so my complexion would turn pale as a ghost! Soon I would be forced into that damned device known as a corset, the laces tightened so that I could no longer breathe or eat. Mother always hated when I ate more than she thought necessary, claiming that it was a disgusting habit in a lady. So, in order to keep me thin, my corset was tightened so that I could not eat a helping larger than the size of my palm. By the time the next meal hour arrived, I was nearly faint from hunger. Of course, due to my corset, I couldn't eat much, and so I had spent much of my life hungry.
"Angela, why are you frowning?" Mother demanded. "Stop that at once, it will give you wrinkles!"
I ignored her, instead reaching a hand out and picking up a tiny tea sandwich before taking a healthy bite out of it. As usual, it was a dainty thing of white bread, a few thin slices of cucumber, and a bit of mayonnaise for flavoring. Once that was gone, I picked up another and ate that the way I had eaten my food on the Pearl, taking big, healthy bites, since pirates had a complete indifference towards table etiquette. After a few more sandwiches, I knew my mother was horrified at my eating behavior, since she snatched the plate out of my reach when I went back for a sixth sandwich.
"Angela, that is not ladylike!" she scolded. "You must never eat more than two sandwiches while you are at tea! It is disgraceful and rude if you do!"
"If I am supposed to eat only two sandwiches, then why do people serve so many of them?" I asked calmly. "Really, it is just a waste of food if people are expected to only eat two of them and the rest are going to be thrown away." Now was the chance to truly shock my parents. "I know that the Captain of the Black Pearl would be furious if we wasted that much food for no apparent reason."
I raised my cup to my lips and watched in amusement as my mother turned pale at my words. Beside her, Father looked as though he were trapped between being angry at my defiance and being terrified at the mention of the pirate ship I had been on.
"The Black Pearl?" Father managed to strangle out. "You were prisoner on the Black Pearl?"
"Oh, my poor dear!" Mother cried out. "From the look of the rings on your finger, however, it is clear that you married Lord Hastings on the voyage here, so you are sure to return to your proper manners."
I snorted in contempt. "I am not married to Lord Hastings," I snapped, holding my head up high as I spoke. "I am married to Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl."
A moment of deathly silence filled the room. I could almost feel the air being sucked out of it as though by some giant force, and while I drank my tea, I waited for the storm to hit. Mother looked as though she were about to faint, and Father…well, Father didn't look well at all.
"It is nothing to be concerned about, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson," Gerard hurriedly assured them. "The sham of a ceremony was performed in India, and you can hardly claim that a Hindu ceremony is valid enough to bind a good Christian woman to a pirate in matrimony."
Once again, my parents nearly collapsed in relief while Gerard turned his head and gave me a glare from beneath his hat. As for me, I was smugly helping myself to another cup of tea, as well as a pastry from a plate that was out of my mother's reach but well within mine.
"Oh, good," Mother said with a smile. "Angela, why don't you give those rings to your father and he can dispose of them for you? I doubt that you'll want to keep them."
My eyes narrowed to slits as I clenched my fingers together. "If you want them, you will have to pry them from my cold, dead hands," I said, my voice full of ice-cold anger.
Gerard cleared his throat. "I'm afraid her time with the crew of the Black Pearl has left her mind and heart rather scarred," he explained to my parents, who were looking at me as though I had grown three heads. "It would probably be best to leave her with the only things that bring her comfort, namely the rings and such."
My parents both nodded, but it was Father who spoke. "We are most grateful for what you have done for our family, Lord Hastings," he said. "If there is anything that we can offer you in return for your actions, you have but to name it."
"Well, sir, that is precisely what I wished to speak to you about," Gerard said, his tone smooth and charming. "During our travels here to your home, I have become rather fond of your daughter. If you would permit it, instead of a monetary reward, I would like dear Angela's hand in marriage."
I knew that this would happen. Of course, Gerard Hastings himself had told me of his intention, so I was somewhat prepared for this. As my parents grew excited about my marrying a nobleman, I sat there and sipped my tea. I was not going to show any emotion towards this, as I felt completely numb. Instead, I listened in silence as my future was planned around me, my heart screaming for Jack to hurry and save me before it was too late.
The Black Pearl was easily the fastest ship in the Caribbean, if not the whole world, and Jack was very proud of that fact. He was even happier that the Horizon's Flame was able to keep up with him. Of course, Will and Elizabeth had probably unfurled every sail on their ship just to do so, but it was something they were willing to do. Thanks to the swiftness of their ships, as well as the wind blowing in their favor, they arrived at a town near Rose's home port before the week was out.
After docking the ships, Jack and the Turners met together to discuss a course of action. During this time, Jack had decided to leave the Pearl and join Will and Elizabeth on the Horizon's Flame in his venture to save Rose. Since the Pearl was a well-known pirate ship, he'd been forced to order his crew to trail behind the Flame, staying a few miles out to sea instead of pulling into the port of Rose's home town so as not to attract attention. Jack had also ordered the crew to switch sail colors, changing the black sails for white ones. It would certainly keep others from being suspicious as to what ship it was, as he was sure that there were a dozen other black ships out there besides the Pearl.
Although he had his own cabin aboard the Flame, Jack was presently sitting in the Turners' main quarters to formulate a rescue plan. Looking around, he noticed how different it was from the cabin he shared with Rose. Here on the Flame, it was evident that Elizabeth's hand was everywhere in the decorating of the main cabin. Jack noticed a several heavy draperies on the walls, as well as a few small decorations nailed here and there, usually where the draperies didn't meet. Heavy knickknacks decorated an equally heavy table on one side of the main cabin, while two desks were pushed against the other. He could only imagine Elizabeth's taste when it came to decorating the sleeping room!
"Well, what do we do now, Jack?" Will asked as he poured water for him and his wife.
Jack smiled as Elizabeth put a bottle of rum in front of him. "My thanks, dear Lizzie," he said, one hand picking up the bottle to give her a mock toast.
Elizabeth shook her head with a smile. "You are welcome, Captain Sparrow," she replied. "But seriously, Jack, what do we do next? Even if he doesn't recognize our ship, Hastings is sure to find out that you're here as soon as he sees you walking throughout the town."
"Ah, but I shall not be walking about in daylight as myself," Jack said, waving one finger in the air. "I intend to put on a disguise when I go into town, or go out at night, when I won't be seen or recognized. That way, I can go anywhere and gather all the information I need."
Will and Elizabeth exchanged a look and a shrug before Will turned towards his friend. "Alright, Jack," he said. "So, what do we do next?"
"We get information on the situation," Jack said, taking a drink of his rum. "Once we know where Rose is and what Hastings is up to, we can plan a way to rescue Rose."
His friends nodded, knowing that the night was just getting started.
AN: Sorry about the short chapter; the next one will be longer, I promise. Please review!