The Deputy

Elizabeth was very upset and exhausted after returning home, and could not decide whether she was glad or not to find her best, her only real friend really, Miss Henrietta Van Dyke, sitting in the parlour. Miss Van Dyke had come to call on her after the troublesome events of the previous day. She hadn't expected that Elizabeth would accompany her father, and decided to wait for her friend.

"Oh Hen," Elizabeth sighed after they had sat down.

"I've heard you broke up with your fiancé?"

Elizabeth blushed fiercely and bit her lip. "Yes –"

"And you've found yourself a new one on the spot?"

"Yes!" Now she beamed, and all the night's excitement returned to her with a vengeance.

"Did you faint again?"

"Hen!" Elizabeth cast her a reproachful look, but went on just as excitedly as before, "Will has asked me to marry him! Can you believe it?"

"What I find much harder to believe is that you have accepted, my dear," Miss Van Dyke replied with a subtle smile. "What does your father say to that, I wonder?"

"Oh, I think he's still in a state of shock, you know. But how can you be surprised, Hen? If anyone, I thought you had figured me out!"

"My dearest Elizabeth, if you ask me whether I guessed that you've got a crush on young Mr Turner – obviously I guessed that. What amazes me is the fact that you have agreed to undo your prior engagement and marry him instead."

This was no hollow phrase – Henrietta couldn't have been more astonished. She was aware how impulsive her friend Elizabeth was, that she wasn't exactly reasonable very often, that she would act rash and inconsiderate sometimes. But that she could do something so silly was too much, even for her best friend. Henrietta Van Dyke was quite the opposite in temper and disposition. She was the only daughter of a Dutch merchant that had settled in Port Royal seven years ago and she was the only girl that was similar to Elizabeth in age and situation, so they had naturally become friends. Henrietta was an utmost sensible girl, and romantic gushing had certainly never been her field of expertise. She had always encouraged Elisabeth to give way to the Commodore, knowing too well that she wasn't in love with him, but also convinced that this didn't matter too much. Her idea of a good marriage wasn't governed by romance; she relied on sounder foundations, like equality of situation, for example.

For quite some time, Governor Swann had set all his hopes in Miss Van Dyke to correct Elizabeth's sometimes very wild manners. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that she was British, so reserved and composed she was, calm and thoughtful. But perhaps the two young ladies were just too different, because it hadn't worked. Lucky for the Governor that he had another plan up his sleeve yet.

"Of course I have agreed, Hen!" Elizabeth exclaimed in this moment. "Will is so – so – he's wonderful! He is upright and brave –"

"So is the Commodore, my dear. Upright, brave – yes, yes – for the past ten years, he's done practically nothing else but being brave and upright!"

"You're teasing me, Hen. For sure, the Commodore is a very good sort of man. He's what every girl should dream of marrying," Elizabeth murmured, feeling awfully ashamed.

"Every girl but you, eh? Come on, what's wrong with you? I knew that you weren't crazy about him like you were about your Will Turner, but being crazy for someone isn't necessarily a good foundation for marriage. The Commodore is a smart match, and not even you can fail to see that Mr Turner is no such thing."

"Smart! That's your field of expertise, Hen. I don't want to get married because it's smart! I want to marry the man that I love and nothing else."

Henrietta nodded and smirked. "Love, all right. I see. So what is love to you, eh? The stuff that you read about in those crappy novels that you keep on reading and hiding?"

Elizabeth blushed even more. How could her friend humble her like this! Truth was that, yes, those books indeed had something to do with her attitude. They had taught her that her feelings for James weren't the sort of feeling that she ought to be feeling to get married to him, but for some time, she had fooled herself to believe that honest regard would be enough to get by.

"Hen, seriously – I couldn't be marrying James, when my heart beats faster each time I see Will, right?"

"I kind of see the problem, Elizabeth, but in this case the question remains still – why did you accept the Commodore's proposal in the first place?"

"Because everyone, including you, my dear Henrietta, kept on assuring me how smart it would be! He is intelligent, powerful, rich and kind, and I meant that Will didn't love me anyway. You told me that there was no use in pining for him!"

"Now don't you blame me, or your good father. I still think that there's no reason to be pining for him."

"Exactly, because now he is mine."

Henrietta gave up and changed the topic. "So, tell me – does your dear Mr Turner kiss better than the Commodore?"

Elizabeth blushed up to her ears. "Hen! Sh! How can you ask me something like that?!"

"Very easily!" Miss Van Dyke arched an eyebrow. "You've been engaged to him for almost a month! Did he never try – I mean – he's no saint, is he?"

"Apparently, his mind is so much purer than yours, my dear friend! No, he did not try to kiss me, and I don't think I would have allowed him to do so either! You know that I've never kissed the Commodore!"

"Really? And I had thought you simply omitted to tell me. After all, you were engaged to him!"

"I'm not one of those girls, Hen," Elizabeth gnarled, making her friend laugh out loud.

"So why is it that my father told me that you were seen yesterday, kissing young Mr Turner in broad daylight?"

"That's different! Me and Will – we've waited for so long –"

Henrietta discretely rolled her eyes behind her fan, thinking that Elizabeth had somehow lost her mind completely. She herself had never been in love, and she didn't think she ever would be. She wasn't like Elizabeth; she wasn't the romantic type, and not for the world she would have allowed anyone to witness her kissing someone, let alone half of the town and an entire Navy Corps. Personally, she found this a deplorable lack of tact – kissing a man in front of all her former fiancé's officers. The good Commodore didn't deserve that, and that was exactly what she told Elizabeth, too.

"I know, Hen," she said awkwardly. "I guess we were just overwhelmed by emotion, you see –"

No, Miss Van Dyke did not see. Overcome by emotion – what was this supposed to mean, except a feeble excuse for Elizabeth to behave inappropriately? She loved her friend, but she wasn't blind for her faults. Clearly, the good Commodore was blind for them, poor man. He would get over her, surely; there must be hundreds of young women just waiting to say yes to a man like him. Personally, Henrietta had sworn herself to never marry a sailor; she deemed seafaring a most dangerous business, thoroughly unfit for her to base conjugal life upon. If she ever was to marry, she wasn't inclined to raise her children as a widow. On the other hand – for a man like the good Commodore, even she would have been willing to consider a change of mind.

Despite all her affirmations to never marry a sailor, she would have accepted the Commander straight away, had he ever done so much as look at her. He was a smart match, and smartness was what counted in her mind; Commodore Norrington was a man of sense and every other quality that she ranked highly. She was glad to see her friend Elizabeth so happy, but it didn't blur her perception. As nice as he surely was, and 'tender, passionate, sensitive and strong', and all the other attributes that Elizabeth bestowed on him so lavishly now – she found it a downright silly thing to form an engagement with Will Turner. He wasn't even of age, he was poor, he was a blacksmith, and his father had been a notorious pirate; no, she wouldn't rejoice in her best friend marrying him, no matter what this one told her. Additionally, she knew her friend well enough to have some doubts whether she'd have the patience for an engagement that would last at least some years. She might be ecstatic about the boy now, but like a fire of straw, ecstasy usually wasn't burning very long; both needed something more solid to feed on.

To tease Elizabeth some more, she asked, "So, you never kissed your first fiancé, all right. But how does your Will compare to Captain Sparrow?"

"Hen!"

"I'd imagine such a pirate to appeal very much to you, no? So wild – so dissolute – I've heard vile stories, giving me the idea that you've spared the most interesting parts of your little trip! Marooned on an island with a notorious pirate and little hope to be found – gets my imagination going, you know?"

"I never kissed Jack Sparrow, Hen! Goodness, what a vivid imagination you've got!"

"What else is there to do in such an insipid place like ours? I would have kissed him, to be sure. How often does a respectable girl get the opportunity to kiss a real pirate?"

"You only speak like that because your heart is still free," Elisabeth said solemnly. "I couldn't think of kissing any other man than my Will –"

"No, you've kissed none, you got engaged right away!"

"Hen! Stop it! I only agreed to marry James –"

"James it is now, eh? Whatever became of the bashful 'Commodore'?" Henrietta clearly had the time of her life, taking the mickey out of her friend, but seeing that one's vexation, she turned serious again. "All right, all right! Don't be offended! Please do tell me now about your beloved Will Turner, I'm desperate to know!"

"Oh Hen! He's wonderful! He is so tender, and yet so passionate – so sensitive, but also strong –" Elizabeth was so enraptured that it escaped her that her friend was rolling her eyes with such praise. "Butterflies were flying through my veins, Hen," she proceeded and described the effects of Will Turner's kisses, and Henrietta was benign enough not to speak out loud that she imagined this to be a rather unpleasant and tickling feeling.

The object of all the gushing came for a visit on the next day, and luckily, Elizabeth was more well-rested when receiving him, or her exuberance might have overtaxed the diffident young man. And although Governor Swann was not amused, he could scarcely forbid his daughter to see her fiancé. He winced with the sheer sight of the boy, whom he had always valued as an adept craftsman, a decent person and a pitiable orphan just as well. In these respects, Will Turner was a fine young man and would have been welcome to the Governor's household – in the servants' quarters. But being his beloved daughter's fiancé was quite a different story; every feeling revolved, and he could find only one acceptable thing in it – Elisabeth was clearly happy.

Governor Swann hadn't married early in life, he had been already 41 when wooing his young bride Mary. This one had given birth to Elisabeth two years later, and died in child-bed, grieving her husband beyond expression. He hadn't married a second time, would never have done so much as considering it, as there could be no other woman in the world comparable to his dear Mary. Consequently, he had bestowed all his affection on his daughter, who was an image of her dead mother; he had been patient and indulgent, finding that the poor girl was already punished to grow up without a mother. Perhaps, he thought now, he had been a little too indulgent, too lazy in giving her principles, too old to be a proper guide. Something must have gone terribly wrong, he had no other explanation for her latest conduct, but was also far from blaming her. His affection and sweet temper wouldn't allow to see any fault in his daughter, so he found it in himself, and maybe rightfully so. However, he was most unhappy with the situation on the whole.

The Governor was a man of delicate feelings, which nobody had perceived but his dear late wife; in fact, most people thought him to be quite unperturbed and thoughtless. This resulted from an awkwardness that he was too ashamed of to be able acknowledging it, and although Elisabeth herself had appeared appalled with his manner against Commodore Norrington this morning, he had only acted like that to spare her more trouble. He had tried to draw all the attention to himself and away from her, apprehensive of her feelings. She had broken the poor fellow's heart, and she knew it, he could judge from her features how guilty she felt. But it had to be done; he had foreseen it, had indeed advised her to break off the engagement. Governor Swann would have been utterly happy, had his daughter attached herself to the worthy young man, but he loved her too well and thought too highly of the young officer to wish for a relation that wasn't founded on mutual affection.

Well, her present admirer was just as fond of her as poor Norrington, and she appeared to have fancied him half of her life, too, so in terms of affection, there was nothing left to wish for. But in all others! He had scruples to say it to Elizabeth's face so openly, but he could find nothing in the whole affair that let him believe in her future happiness. It would take ages until the young man could afford to marry anyone, and some years more until he could afford to marry a woman like Elizabeth Swann! She would be twenty-fife, thirty perhaps when finally walking to the altar! He knew his daughter, he knew her impatience and quick temper – how should she wait for a man for so long without losing some of her spirits? How many other men would she meet that might incense her, being bound to a man who could, at his best, never offer her much more than his heart and two warm meals a day?

For that was another problem in the Governor's eyes – his daughter was accustomed to a life of affluence and comfort. Taking her away from England might have spared her some of the spoiling of her fellow sex; Port Royal wasn't London, it was not even Kingston or Nassau. But he couldn't picture her living as a craftsman's wife, with perhaps two or three servants, wearing plain clothes, inhabiting a house in the middle of ordinary people, who were much more vulgar in Port Royal than they would have been in Kingston. The town had only begun to be truly civilised after his own arrival, and he did not flatter himself – it had been Commodore Norrington's labour that had raised it so far. Before, it had been pillaged by pirates twice a year at least, who had returned whenever the inhabitants had restored enough to be worth taken. The last eight years had rendered the town more peaceful, had elevated it from a mere settlement to a proper town, but eight years weren't enough to change its people. Will Turner might well be the only decent civilian in a whole town of drunkards and scoundrels, but could that be sufficient for his beloved daughter? He strongly doubted it.

He stood at the window of his study and looked down into the beautiful, tropical garden, where Elizabeth and her suitor were taking a walk. He couldn't deny it, they were a handsome couple. The boy – for he wasn't much more than a boy, only nineteen years old – seemed incapable to grasp his own luck, goggling at his fiancée with admiration and incredulity. Elizabeth on the other hand was more confident, more assured of herself, and glowed with enthusiasm. It suited her well, and melancholically, the Governor remembered her mother. It was still beyond his grasp how a woman like her could have fallen in love with a man like himself; he didn't think so for being modest, which he wasn't. But the gap in age – Mary had been only 22 when accepting his hand – had seemed unconquerable to him. When he had asked her to become his wife, he had been prepared for being refused, but he couldn't have helped it nevertheless. He must ask her, no matter what would be her answer, for she had been the loveliest creature to walk this earth.

Will Turner showed the same marks now, he being too young, where Governor Swann had been too old, and having nothing to recommend himself apart from a gentle heart and a handsome face. He was handsome, the Governor had too much taste to deny it, but so was the Commodore. Clearly, it wasn't the evenness of features that counted in Elizabeth's books. The Governor simply could not understand it. Everything that might endear her to William Turner, she would have found in abundance in Commodore Norrington as well, who after all had so much more to offer, and not only in the materialistic respect. When her father had hoped that she would marry the Commodore, he had only had her best in mind.

Alas, regret would not do, and with a deep sigh, he turned away from the window and returned to his desk. The new Commandant of the fort was expected tomorrow, and once more, he read the letter of recommendation that the Commodore had left. Captain Francis Filister was his name; up to now, he had captained the HMS Fortuna, which took berth in Nassau and was to be discarded soon. Her last journey would bring her to Port Royal and with her the Captain, who should substitute as the Head of the Navy Corps until Commodore Norrington's return and wait here for his new vessel. According to this letter, he was a very worthy officer, in his late twenties only, but with the merits of an older man, and Governor Swann's friendly temper let him assume at once that he should be very fond of the young officer. And perhaps…

"My dearest child," he murmured, smiled and sipped his wine at dinner. "I hope you have not forgotten in all your excitement that we are to welcome Captain Filister tomorrow?"

"Of course not, Father. And I shall be glad to welcome him fairly, as long as you do not force me into another corset!"

He chuckled, "Will you ever stop mocking me for this thing, Elizabeth? When I bought the dress, I was told that it was the latest fashion in London. I'm no expert in this field, and I found it very pretty. Besides, your friend Mr Sparrow ripped it anyway, and I promise to buy no new one."

"That should increase my life expectancy immensely! Just imagine how healthy I could be without constant fainting, falling off cliffs, or suffocating?"

He laughed and shook his head. "I've heard that the Captain is a very honourable man – let us hope that he isn't disappointed with Port Royal, after harbouring so long in Nassau!"

"That still doesn't tempt me to wrap myself into fashionable breathlessness." She grinned. "And if Captain Filister isn't satisfied with our humble abode – well, he isn't to stay long anyway, is he?"

"I don't mean to sound prejudiced against the man himself, but we can only hope. Should Commodore Norrington not come back – God bless him – the Captain would probably be his successor!"

Elizabeth turned pale. "But why shouldn't he come back, Father? The Dauntless is the power in these waters!"

"But it isn't invulnerable still, dear child. The Commodore is a fantastic sailor, and all the odds are in his favour, but you never know. Better accustom yourself to Captain Filister, it cannot do harm."

She shuddered. "Please Father, don't speak like that! Commodore Norrington, not to return to Port Royal! I pray you, it's bad luck to talk in this fashion!"

"Since when are you so superstitious, my dear? You of all people!"

"I hadn't believed in ghost stories either, until actually facing a crew of skeletons!"

Yes, this was true. The Governor, although no match for his daughter in smartness, was still a man of information and had always been ruled by sense. Hadn't he seen this damned crew with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it. Ghosts and haunting spirits had belonged to fairy tales and children's stories in his mind; coming from England, where almost every old house had its own story of spooking lost souls, he had always dismissed these tales as results of an imagination running wild. After all, he wasn't really so terribly concerned for the Commodore's sake; he was almost perfectly certain that he'd return to them sound and safe. His original intention had been to introduce the matter of the respectable Captain Filister to his daughter and soften her against him if possible. She might have found fault with one honourable officer, but who could say how she'd find the next?

The afternoon came, and with it the HMS Fortuna, an old, dignified ship that had seen a great many battles, and though she looked like stableness itself, an experienced eye could well see that she was no longer. Governor Swann and his daughter had dutifully hurried down to the docks, and while the former was quite exited, the latter was merely tired and bored. A new Captain, oh well, she couldn't have cared much less.

How disinterested she might ever have been, the sight of the actual man changed her mind at once. That Captain who now came towards them was quite different from what she had anticipated. He was tall and had a good figure, holding himself gracefully, and coming nearer, she was amazed to spot an air of easiness and good humour that she had never seen before in a man of rank, so very unlike the Commodore, or Gillette, for an instance.

"Welcome to Port Royal," her father greeted him, and the two men exchanged all due formalities, before she was introduced. Captain Filister smirked pleasantly. "It's a pleasure to see that Port Royal isn't only the home of some of England's finest sailors. I hadn't expected to meet an enchanting young lady such as yourself, Miss Swann!"

"You must have a very bad opinion of us, Captain Filister! I wonder how we're spoken of in Nassau!"

"You needn't worry, Miss! Of you, I've heard only the best, many of my officers who had been so lucky having been here, wouldn't cease praising your beauty and charms. But you know how it is – we sailors like to spin a yarn, and one better doesn't believe a single thing we say until it's being proven!"

She gave him a friendly smile, satisfied with his civilities, and seized the opportunity to have a closer look. His features weren't perfectly regular, and weathered by the sun and wind. His tan yet emphasised a set of startling bright blue eyes, that blinked at her and betrayed that he was smiling and laughing a lot. She wondered how old he might be, estimating him to be approximately in James Norrington's age, his complexion rendering him older, but his cheerfulness letting him appear much younger than this one. 'Fun' was one of the things desperately missing in a place like Port Royal, and Captain Filister promised indeed to be a worthy addition to the town. So her father seemed to think; he now chatted animatedly with the newcomer, about their journey, about the awaited new ship, and slyly, Elizabeth made use of her fan to hide herself behind it and observe the Captain some more.

She found that, on the second look, there was something else about his face that was hard to decipher, a spark of gloom underneath the smirks and laughter lines, that was quite becoming, and she wondered where it might derive from.

Well, she'd have plenty of time and possibility to find out; for a start, the whole party was to have lunch in the Governor's house. Captain Filister, his First Lieutenant Mr Hart, the Second Lieutenant Mr Hawkins and Lieutenant Gillette, who had solemnly passed the command on to the Commodore's deputy, had all decided to walk up to the house, as the Captain had chuckled, "Oh no, Sir, we better go by foot. Even a great ship like the Fortuna offers only little place to exercise, so I hope you'll excuse us for slighting your kind offer for the sake of some walking! It'll do us all good!"

The second carriage was sent away, and Elisabeth and her father went up on their own. "How did you like them, my dear? I must say, I'm very pleased with the lot of them!"

"Oh, I do like them very well, Father. It is nice to have somebody around for a change who actually knows how to smile!"

The Governor nodded. "Yes, indeed! Very agreeable manners, and the Captain is as fine a man as I've ever seen!"

"Father," she cried, shaking her head. "I know what you're up to!"

"I'm up to nothing, my dearest Elisabeth, I'm just speaking my mind!"

"Yes, a mind full of scheming, I know you too well!"

This was true, he thought to himself, his daughter could see right through him, just like her mother had. He hadn't allowed himself to set too much hope in the Captain before his actual arrival, but now, the tables seemed to turn. He did not possess Elisabeth's gift of understanding others, but knew enough of his own daughter to see that she did like the Captain, and was this bad for a start?

The lunch was as agreeable as the manners of the attending guests, and everyone agreed that they needed to continue their conversations in the evening. Governor Swann hurried to invite some others of the first families, namely the Van Dykes, Reverend Martin and his wife, and Dr Jennings, the old physician. Reverend Martin was a man of fifty years and a good vicar for the small congregation, his wife was a practical woman, and their six children equalled her in temper and sense. All of them were looking forward to meet the new assessments to their community, and with a saucy look, Elizabeth told her friend Henrietta, "I dare say that you will be enchanted by the Captain, Henrietta. If only you were willing to give your heart to a sailor!"

"Ah, I'm more like you, my dear. I prefer a man who keeps his feet firmly on the ground. Now tell me! Did you find yourself a new suitor among the officers?"

She received a friendly nudge for this remark. Elizabeth was ready to fatigue her friend some more wit more gushing about dear Will, hadn't Scott announced in this moment – "Ladies and gentlemen, the officers have arrived!"

"Now I can't wait to see them," Henrietta said under her breath, being utterly mistaken by Elizabeth, who smiled roguishly. In fact, nothing could be further from Miss Van Dyke's mind than fancying one of the new officers for herself, but if it was true what Elizabeth had told her, she supposed Will Turner to get a serious rival soon.

The four gentlemen came in and were instantly surrounded by the curious crowd, even poor Lieutenant Gillette receiving his share of interest. This did not happen too often; for some reason or other, he wasn't very popular, and had been to the Governor's house only four or five times before. He obviously enjoyed himself and his newly gained status, for his rank might have been lowered by Captain Filister's arrival – he had represented the Commodore in the last days – but he seemed to feel no grudge about it. Instead, he talked and laughed gaily, outclassed by the far more interesting Captain, but possibly accustomed to this state anyway.

"You happen to know Mr and Mrs Callahan in Nassau?"

"What about Admiral Thompson?"

"Have you been to Kingston lately?"

Captain Filister answered every question with accuracy and good humour, and it took only half an hour to endear him to everybody present. Even Henrietta acknowledged quietly, "I must say, you were right, Lizzy! He seems to be a thoroughly pleasant man!"

"Ah, do I hear you changing your mind after all, Hen?" Elizabeth replied just as softly from behind her fan. "A sailor for you, perhaps?"

"No, I rather wait for another blacksmith to rob my heart, dear; I've heard the most amazing things about the qualities of members of this profession!"

A few minutes later, the busy Captain managed to come over to them at last, clearly a little exhausted, and taking a seat next to Miss Van Dyke. "Pooh, I wouldn't have guessed how much I could be speaking! Our life is usually so boring, and you might imagine how insipid conversations on a ship can be after half a year at sea!"

"That doesn't sound very different from our lives here," Henrietta remarked dryly.

"That couldn't be, could it? My cousin tells me Port Royal was a quite lively town!"

"Your cousin, Captain?"

He beckoned over to the figure of Lieutenant Gillette. "Excuse me, of course you couldn't know. Yes, indeed, Lieutenant Gillette is a second grade cousin of mine. We haven't met in ages!"

"How interesting!" Elizabeth cried, thinking that this was the first time ever that she'd use the word 'interesting' in a sentence referring to the hapless Lieutenant.

"I've heard some things that promise to be far more interesting, Miss Swann! I've received intelligence that congratulations are in order – you're freshly engaged, I believe?"

"I am, Captain Filister!"

"Well, and where is the lucky fellow? I hope to meet the happiest man in the Eastern Caribbean!" He was smiling nicely, and not even a benevolent friend like Henrietta could mistake his civility for flirtation.

"And you shall! If you should ever be in need of an exquisite blade, you will find no better than those manufactured by my fiancé," Elizabeth replied self-confidently.

She had expected him to show some astonishment, or scorn even, but suiting his whole air, he merely laughed. "That sounds promising, and indeed, I am in want of a good sword. I should visit him as soon as I can! And what about you, Miss Van Dyke?"

Elizabeth was inwardly beaming with joy, but tried hard to not let it show. How wonderful, that the Captain should inquire for Henrietta so directly! The young woman wasn't quite as gratified as she should be in her friend's eyes, but smiled friendly nevertheless. "Oh, as it seems, all the promising young men in Port Royal always fall for Miss Swann here – saves me many predicaments, you see?"

"Shall I believe that, Miss Swann? You truly are a man-eater, and draw everyone's attention away from your charming young friend?"

"Absolutely not, Sir! Miss Van Dyke is exaggerating, but that's just her style. She is such a good laugh!" Elizabeth cried playfully, seeing her schemes in action already. Surely, Captain Filister would esteem nothing so highly in a woman than a good sense of humour.

"How very nice!"

"So what about you, Captain? How many broken hearts are waiting in some harbour for their bonny's return?"

"Oh, none, I believe… The only broken heart –" His voice faltered and he averted his face.

Elizabeth sensed uneasily that they had touched a painful matter here, but Henrietta asked without mercy, "What a girl would be so bold as to break your heart then, Sir? Is't possible?"

He seemed to fight with himself, before murmuring, "Not bold, but ill, Miss Van Dyke. My fiancée – I've been engaged to the most lovely Miss of the whole of Nassau, but I was robbed of her due to a severe illness –"

Both girls clapped their hands to their mouths with shock, and Henrietta hurried to say, "Oh, excuse me, Captain! I hadn't meant to – I did not know – be assured of our compassion!"

"Thank you, Miss Van Dyke…"

"When – and how – did this happen?" Elizabeth asked breathlessly. "How very dreadful!"

"Yes, it was dreadful, very much indeed. I – It happened roughly two years ago. After coming home from the most successful campaign, more so, finally being able to marry her – I had to learn that – my beloved Jane had gone for good…"

Tragic as this certainly was, and despite her genuine pity, Elisabeth could not help it but notice that two years were quite some time. Perhaps he would recover, if only he found another, just as lovely woman? Her friend Henrietta was lovely, with her light blonde hair and her bright blue eyes, her fine complexion and the same air of cheerfulness like him. Elizabeth couldn't think of a better girl to make him forget his grief.

With great interest, she heard the whole story. Apparently, his 'beloved Jane' had been the daughter of his Captain, when Captain Filister himself had been the First Lieutenant of the Fortuna yet. As old Captain Barnes had been killed in battle, which had been won after all and led to the destruction of a heavily armed pirate vessel, his promotion had been at hand, and with it the possibility to marry the lady. How cruel this irony had struck him! He ended his story with the whispered words, "The death of Captain Black and his darned crew had become worthless to me within a heartbeat. No one could imagine a more sudden drop, from highest elation to deepest mourning!"

The ladies were appropriately affected by the sad story and expressed themselves accordingly, while Captain Filister still wouldn't look up. Elizabeth remembered her first impression of his underlying gloom, and understood its origin now. Poor man! Even poor James' fate must appear secondary compared to such woe!

They were joined by Lieutenant Gillette, and it was he who gave further explanation of Captain Filister's fame, modestly objected by this one. Of course, Elizabeth had heard of the story before by coverage of the officers' reports and newspapers, but she had forgotten most of it. Now it came back to her – two years earlier, one of the last big pirate threats, Captain Horatio Black and his crew, had been vanquished by the Fortuna. Heavy losses had been suffered, more than half of the Fortuna's crew had lost their lives to the noble cause, but in the end, Lieutenant Filister had been able to present the villain's infamous scimitar to Admiral Thompson, Head of the Navy of Nassau Port. The Lieutenant had been promoted instantly, and his great victory and the resulting fame had been enough to expel other pirates from the area. Elizabeth was very pleased indeed to hear about the Captain's merits, endearing him even more to her. Yes, such a man could tempt even her dear friend Henrietta, she would take care of that, a man of such honour, grieved by tragic loss, must be rewarded with the hand of a good woman!

She deemed to already spy some marks of admiration in her friend, who would ask a lot and nod enthusiastically with Gillette's report when it reminded her of something she had heard earlier. Elizabeth found that after all of Henrietta's recommendations of noble James Norrington, she could hardly be oblivious to Captain Filister's worth, who was additionally almost as handsome, surely more fun, and who couldn't be far away from another promotion, being a favourite with Admiral Thompson already. What else could be there to ask for?