Eleanore stared miserably at her reflection two days after returning to Port Royal and the day after the Governor's resignation. This was her final fitting for her wedding gown, which was probably the most beautiful piece of clothing she had ever worn. Wasted.
"It does look beautiful Miss Norrington." The seamstress said proudly, admiring her work. Ella forced herself to smile politely. Charlotte entered the room, followed by a maid who was bringing in their afternoon tea and sandwiches. As two maids help Ella change back into her day dress, Charlotte searched her sister-in-law's face for any insight into her thoughts. Ella had not spoken a word since the night in Beckett's chambers on the ship and did not plan to until she recited wedding vows that meant nothing to her.
Charlotte so wanted to hear of Ella's pirate adventures, but James had warned her that Ella was heartsick and would likely not speak to her. It was hard enough for him to listen to the sound of her soft weeping each night. Her composure was admirable though. She never allowed herself to lose face in front of people. Not even a maid. The maids put away the dress for the following day and the seamstress said her goodbye, wishing Ella luck in her marriage. Ella simply nodded and only when they were gone, did she turn to the wall for a moment. It was quite clear to Charlotte that she was gathering her composure.
"Ella dear, do come have tea...I have so much to tell you." Charlotte said, waving the remaining maid out of the room. Obediently, Ella sat taking the tea that Charlotte offered. Her eyes were lit with question, but she remained silent.
"Oh Ella," Charlotte pleaded. "Please do talk to me. I feel so utterly alone. Jimmy has been cross since giving up his position as Admiral...and I just can't bring myself to tell him that now when we're without an income, I'm giving him another burden." Ella swallowed, knowing what Charlotte would say next. "I'm...I'm...having a baby!" Charlotte cried, bursting into tears.
"He has an inheritance you know." Ella's slow lifeless voice came finally as she tenderly rubbed the girl's back. "If my father did nothing else right, he did give us that protection.You will lack for nothing...it is no burden." Charlotte looked gratefully up at Ella, hope forming in her eyes.
"Oh Ella...there is no light in your eyes." She said sadly, taking Eleanore's hand. Ella's expression do not change.
"Why should there be? Beckett has ruined so much that is dear to me...James, Port Royal...But, by marrying him, he can't ruin everything." She said softly.
"But...to sacrifice yourself like some lamb? It's preposterous." Charlotte said in horror. Ella looked at her hands.
"Charlotte, I've always done what I was told...I always assumed I would grow up and marry a man I did not love, of course, but at least that I could stand and we would have children and that would be that...you see, before I moved here, I stopped believing in love. When I was seventeen, I was engaged to be married and I loved him. He was beautiful...but he wanted me to give myself to him first and when I wouldn't, he moved on with a girl. And I moved on alone."
Charlotte frowned, setting her tea aside.
"He sounds to me like a perfect jackass." She said with disdain. Ella smiled sadly.
"He was a young man...I'm sure he's grown up now..." She said, remembering him for once without hurting. She went on, "Then, I came here to your wedding and met Captain Jack Sparrow. I don't know if Jimmy told you, but he kissed me on the beach that night. Charlotte's gasp told her that he hadn't. "It was the first time I felt...things...again...but he left and I nearly forgot him...and then Lord Beckett was so decent to me and I decided it was time to carry out my plan to marry and have children. Even though I didn't feel for him that way."
Recognition came into Charlotte's eyes and she nodded.
"You mean...after Captain Jack Sparrow kidnaped you...you...fell in love with him?" Charlotte nodded grimly, hurting.
"I didn't want to. He's filthy, rotten scoundrel, who thinks of nothing but himself. Not to mention he's quite a..."
"Rake?" Charlotte offered. Ella let out a slight laugh.
"I was going to say drunk, but yes there is that too! His desire to bed every woman in the Caribbean can't be a far off goal now...don't you see Charlotte? He is all wrong for me."
Charlotte grinned.
"Yet, he is all right for you...the light has come into your eyes just speaking of him." Ella raised an eyebrow at her.
"Oh Charlotte, don't talk like that...you sound like one of those horrid cliché romance novels..."
"Which I recall, you read..." Charlotte teased, making Ella's cheeks turn a brilliant shade of pink.
"I wish it were like one of those..." Ella sighed, "They all have happy endings." Charlotte took her hands.
"You can too Ella! Don't do this...do you think Jack Sparrow can't get himself out of predicaments? From what James has told me, he's managed to escape death numerous times."
"It's not just Jack..." Ella admitted. "He promised to ruin you as well if I did not comply." The color drained from Charlotte's face.
"I...see..." She said worried. "How?" Ella could not bring herself to tell Charlotte that Beckett had threatened to kill their baby and possibly James.
"It isn't important...it's not going to happen."
"I just wish there was some way for you to...be happy..." Ella, trying to make the best out of the situation to keep Charlotte calm, patted the girl's flat abdomen and said.
"My children will make me happy." Luckily, she turned away at that moment, for her eyes had welled up. The thought of bearing Beckett's children was hideous to her and it was then that Eleanore Norrington strongly considered suicide.
"Tia Dalma...you bloody well better answer this door because I haven't the time!" Jack Sparrow banged his fist on the nymph's door for what seemed like hours, but was in reality only moments. The door slowly opened and found her sitting at her table grinning.
"I been expectin' you Jack..." She crooked her finger at the three of them. A look of surprise crossed her face. "Why Jack...are ye clean?" He crossed his arms over his chest. Indeed the Captain did have on a clean white shirt and pants as well as a new pair of boots.
"Not...entirely. I needed to see you."
"Well, 'ere I am." She said, motioning Elizabeth and Will to sit.
He tossed the compass onto the table.
"I need to see Aphrodite." He explained. "My time is almost up and I don't know if I can fix it before then. I am going to bargain her for time." Tia Dalma's face was full with warning.
"I don' tink..."
"It's the only way." He pled. She nodded and rose from her seat to a heart shaped satin jewel box. Carefully, she opened it and dropped a bit of her special dust into it, closing it and setting it back in it's place.
"Now what?" Elizabeth asked, looking from her to Jack. Tia Dalma sat again.
"We wait." She said. The room fell silent for less than a minute before a small pink light appeared in the light of the sun. Within moments, the light transformed into one of the most beautiful beings any of them had ever laid eyes on. Jack noted that she looked a bit like Eleanore with dark hair and full lips.
"Calypso..." She said affectionately, holding her hand out. "What is the trouble...?" Tia Dalma motioned to Jack.
Jack presented the compass.
"This trinket..." He said and Aphrodite's beautiful face broke into a smile.
"My compass...it was given to you?" She asked, taking it into her hands.
"Yes," He replied, "And it seems it's put some kind of love curse on me? I have to fall in love...or serve Hades...you should really think these things through love..." Aphrodite inspected it.
"It seems you have met the girl..." Her face melted into a mask of pleasure. "Ah! And she has confessed her love for you!" Jack's eyes widened.
"She has? Where did you get that?" He asked, looking down at the compass, confused.
"See how it ticks back and forth...one party has confessed..." She looked up at him. "Now it is up to the other party to complete the spell."
"It's more like a bloody curse..." Jack muttered under his breath. Aphrodite gave him a look of irritation.
"Tell me something Jack...were you happier before or after you met this lady?" The look in his eyes answered for him. She smiled serenely. "Then you're welcome...and I suggest you go save her before she marries Lord Beckett and damns you to Hades." She disappeared in a wave of pink light and Jack turned to the others. His eyes filled with renewed hope.
"Alright...we have things to do." He pulled a knife from his pocket. "First Elizabeth, you are going to cut my hair..." She grunted in sarcasm, making him smile in satisfaction. "William, can you go tell the others that we will be stopping in Tortuga for a new suit, two horses and some bloody rum. I've been sober far too long!" He turned to Tia Dalma and nodded. "Thank you..."
Tia Dalma was smiling, but still serious.
"But Jack...are you ready to do dis? To commit? Ella need a man who can give 'er a 'ouse and bebies...she es good." Jack rubbed his temples.
"Honestly? I haven't the faintest idea what I am going to do...maybe I will know when I see her. One thing is certain...Hades or not, she can't marry Beckett!" Tia Dalma nodded.
"Den I 'ave one more question." She said.
"Which is?"
"Do ye love 'er?" He didn't answer, but it didn't matter. Deep down, she already knew the answer.
James Norrington furiously sat in his study drinking brandy and reading Eleanore's letters from over the years. One such had him in utter rage.
Dearest Jimmy, May 3, 1702
I have some news, although I am afraid it is not good news. Samuel and I will no longer be getting married. He wanted something I wasn't ready to give him and Father caught us in a compromising situation. It was of course, deemed my fault, but what isn't with Father? I am such a fool...and I have shamed our family. Father beat me for it...seventeen lashings. I long to be where you are in the warm, beautiful air of the Caribbean.
All my love,
Ella
P.S. How are things going with Elizabeth? Send her my love.
He folded the paper and placed it back in his desk drawer, taking a long drink of brandy. His father had beaten his sister and there was nothing he could do about it. If he had never joined the bloody Navy, he would have been there to protect her. Seventeen lashings. The mere thought of his father whipping small Ella was terrible. With a growl, he rose from his desk and stormed out of the study.
He knocked on Ella's door, but heard giggling behind him. He turned to see the housekeeper holding Ella up by the arm. Ella had half a drunken smile on her face and in her right hand she clutched a bottle of what appeared to be rum.
"They were right...this is effective!" She slurred as the housekeeper tossed her onto her brother.
"She's all yours..." The stout woman said, turning down the stair. James lifted his sister and took her into her room, gently removing the rum from her hand.
"Ella...why are you drinking...?" He asked, and she stopped smiling. "Maybe for the same reason you were...to numb the pain." He shook his head, sitting beside her.
"Alcohol does not take the pain away it just prolongs it." He put his arm around her and noticed her wince.
"Does it still hurt?" He asked and her horrified eyes looked up at his.
"N-no." She said cautiously.
"Can I see?" He asked and slowly, she nodded, sliding her nightgown just past her shoulders so he could see the tops of pale pink scars.
"God in Heaven Eleanore...why didn't you tell me they were this bad? It looks like he used a horse whip!" He said furiously. She shook her head.
"It was a very heavy switch...and they bled for days...weeks..." She said, tears beginning to fall. He took her hand, putting her nightgown back on her shoulders.
"Eleanore...I will beg you again...do not marry Beckett...he'll ruin you." His tone was desperate, but she sighed.
"I can't let him ravage everyone anymore...and maybe if I marry him, just maybe...I can do something about all of this." James sighed heavily.
"This isn't your fight...it's Sparrow's...and mine." She turned to look at him.
"Jimmy...you cannot risk anything. Charlotte hasn't told you yet but she is with child." His eyes were not surprised.
"I had thought as much." He replied and his blank expression did not fool her. She knew he was fighting his inner demons and had his doubts about fathering a child when he had never had a real father.
"You will be wonderful Jim." She smiled, still a bit drunkenly. He kissed her goodnight and shut the door behind him. As he walked toward his bedroom, an idea came to him and he ran toward the servants' quarter to wake his messenger.