A/N: Prompt A place in the world. Originally posted 13/7/07.
Captain Norrington proposes on a summer's evening in a garden full of roses.
Is there birdsong? Perhaps, but it is not obtrusive.
He wears full dress uniform—but has neglected his wig, for she prefers his own dark hair —while she is dressed in finest silk with Mama's pearls at her throat and in her ears. She is taller and old enough to pin up her hair—but she does not wear a hat.
"Elizabeth," he says, voice softer than its wont, "I can no longer hide from you how deeply, how passionately I love you." He catches hold of her hand and…kisses it feverishly. Yes, feverishly.
"Your courage, your intelligence, your wit, your beauty; all of them I admire most fervently. Will you promise to grant me the honour, the privilege, the joy of becoming your husband?"
She accepts with appropriately elegant words, blushing so becomingly that he cannot help but take her in his arms and…
Perhaps not. It is difficult to imagine Captain Norrington doing anything that deviates from the strictest codes of propriety, which is a pity.
But they will live in a fine house and Father will give her a generous dowry and stop worrying about her future and her place in the world, and perhaps Captain Norrington will take her on some of his voyages—perhaps they shall even travel together on the new sloop. Oh, yes.
Captain Norrington proposes on the deck of the Interceptor, as they race full-rigged into a red dawn…