After staying up so late, Jack had a lie-in until late in the morning. Agatha and Teague both rose early and had a tête-à-tête over breakfast about something they had been planning. They came to an agreement, and Agatha went to the bottom of the stairs.
"Eliza, dear," she called up the stairs. "Would you come down here, please? Captain Teague and I would like to talk to you about something."
"I'll be right down, Aunt Agatha!" Elizabeth called.
She appeared a few minutes later, dressed in a simple dress, and holding a happy-looking little Jacob in her arms. He had finally managed to sprout another tooth and was showing it off proudly.
"Oh, what a dear," Agatha exclaimed. "He could probably do with some air, though. Let's see if Maggie can take him out for a bit, hmm?"
A few minutes later, with Jacob neatly bundled off with the maid, Elizabeth sat down in a chair opposite her aunt and her host. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well, about your marriage, dear," Agatha said. "I know you've been studying the Code extensively with the captain here, but I'm not sure whether you knew that he is just as knowledgeable about non-piratical law."
Elizabeth looked at the old captain enquiringly.
"'Struth," he said. "Before I turned pirate, I was a solicitor in England. Very well respected, I was."
"Really? Then, if I may ask, sir... why turn pirate?"
"More honest," he told her, straight-faced.
"The point being," Agatha cut in, "that we both have some concerns about the legality of your marriage. You told us about your sudden, shipboard wedding. What happened afterward?"
"Aye, and spare no details," Teague ordered.
Elizabeth told them about the entire episode, starting from Will's "I've made my choice" and going all the way through their kiss. She told them about the battle in the maelstrom, about Jack's helping Will to stab the heart, and then rescuing her with the sail-parachute just as the crew cut out Will's heart and the Flying Dutchman went down.
At that, Agatha interrupted. "You raised a very fine, brave son, Captain Teague," she told him. "My compliments to you."
He touched the edge of his bandana. "Thank ye, ma'am. Jacky's a good boy, under all that swagger." He fixed Elizabeth with another keen-eyed look. "What happened after the battle, hey?"
Elizabeth told them about saying goodbye to everyone on the Pearl, and going ashore with Will to consummate their marriage. She blushed furiously over that, but then she went on to tell them of her and Will choosing New Flimwell for her to settle in and wait out the next decade.
"That's it?"
"I guess so, Aunt. Why?"
"You just agreed to settle there and wait for him? For a decade? And do what?"
"Er, I'm not sure what you mean, Aunt Agatha." Elizabeth was puzzled.
"You're the Pirate King, dearie," said Teague. "You, my son, and Captain Turner pretty much saved the seas for every pirate an' free sailor on 'em. I think some might have had higher expectations of what you'd be doing with your time."
"Well, I do have a baby," Elizabeth said hotly.
Teague nodded. "Aye, but you didn't know it yet when you settled there. And the sprog's a complication as well."
"Complication? I don't know what you mean." Elizabeth bristled.
"Well, dear," Agatha began, sitting up very straight. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you are not really married. Your marriage is not valid."
"What?" Elizabeth cried.
Teague listed off all the reasons why their marriage was invalid. "No proper ceremony or proper vows. Barbossa wasn't the proper captain of the Black Pearl and therefore had no authority to perform a wedding. Neither of you got a marriage license filed in Port Royal—I sent word and checked—and neither of you signed one. Nor did Barbossa. No paperwork. No witnesses. Your marriage isn't valid in the eyes of the law or the church. Sorry, miss."
Elizabeth sat back, mouth open in shock. Her eyes began to well up, and Teague stood up hastily, In a rare show of affection, he crossed the room and gave Elizabeth's shoulder a squeeze before he left.
"Why?" Elizabeth asked her aunt. "Why did you tell me this?"
"I'm so sorry that I had to, dear," Agatha soothed. "I don't want you spending the next eight years marking time on a hillside. You're worth so much more—you're capable of so much more than that. I'd almost rather see you take up piracy again than waste your life away, waiting for a man who may see you as many as five times before you die of old age!"
"And what about Jacob?" Elizabeth asked.
"What about him?"
"If what you say is true, then he was born on the wrong side of the blanket. Isn't that what Captain Teague meant by 'complication'?"
Agatha's hand flew to her mouth. She'd been so concerned for Elizabeth that she hadn't thought of that. However, it wasn't all bad. "Well, dear, he bears the Turner name, and if your Will is a decent man as you say, then he will certainly acknowledge him. I don't think anyone but us need know that your marriage wasn't valid. To the rest of the world, you'd simply be widowed. And dear, Jacob will need a father. If you're free to remarry, then you can see that he gets one. If, however, you remain shackled to your absent, undead spouse—no matter how good a man he is—Jacob will never have one. As it is, he'll see him only once or twice before he's a grown man himself."
"Jack told me the same thing," Elizabeth mused. "Months ago." She looked up again, wiping her tears. "I'd like to be alone right now, if you don't mind, Aunt Agatha."
"Yes, of course, dear," Agatha said, and hurried out. She almost ran into Jack in the hallway, coming down yawning and looking even more unkempt than usual.
He must have noticed something amiss, for he frowned and asked "What's wrong?"
"Oh, I'm afraid Elizabeth didn't like some things I had to tell her about her marriage," Agatha said. "She'll need some time to adjust to the idea, I'm sure."
"What idea?"
"That she isn't really married," Agatha told him. Jack's eyes widened in surprise. Agatha went on, "Your father looked into things, examined the technicalities, and contacted Port Royale. It turns out Elizabeth's marriage to Will is invalid on several different counts. But as her friend, you must promise to keep this to yourself. With a little baby in the equation—well, I would hate for anyone to question his legitimacy."
"No one will do that. Will was thrilled to hear about his son," Jack told her.
Her eyebrows went up in surprise. "You've spoken to him?"
Jack nodded. "Aye. While I was gone I found a way to summon him without killing anyone. It's a unique method, though. Only my first mate or I can use it."
"Hmm. Jack, do me a favor and don't tell Elizabeth about that—not quite yet."
"May I ask why not?"
"Oh, I just don't want to confuse her at this point," Agatha said vaguely.
"Confuse her? Auntie, that girl's mind is like a double-edged sword. You're unlikely to confuse her."
Agatha smiled. "Her mind may be, but her heart is extremely conflicted. I just want her to come to terms with the fact that she isn't married, before reintroducing Mr Turner to the mix. Believe me, I do have her best interests at heart. The last thing I want is for her to hitch herself legally to that man, out of some misplaced sense of duty or girlish idea of love. And you know my niece, Captain Sparrow. You know what she would be likely to do if she knew she could contact Mr Turner. She'd demand to marry him properly, with no thought of her future, her son, you, me, or even her responsibilities here at the Cove."
"Aye, she might, at that," he replied with a grimace of distaste. "She's always been a bit of an idiot over that boy."
"She deserves something better than an absent spouse, and her son deserves a father," Agatha went on. "If she remains free, then she could marry someone who will actually be there with her."
Ah, he was hooked. She could tell by the gleam in his eye that the seed was well and truly planted. "All right, Auntie. I'll keep mum—for a little while, anyway. When she finds out that I can contact Will and kept it from her for any length of time, she'll kill me, and no one wants that." He gestured expansively as if to say who in the world could possibly ever want to kill me?
Agatha patted his cheek fondly. "You're a good boy, Jack, no matter what anyone says."
Jack grinned and bent down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Many thanks, Auntie dear."
She felt her fingers and her ears. "What'd you take this time? I don't seem to be missing anything!"
"Nothing, dearie—I just like to keep you guessing. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go in and have a word with the non-Mrs-Turner."
"Go right ahead. She could probably use a friend right now, and I'm afraid she's not best pleased with me at the moment."
Pirates*of*the*Caribbean*Pirates*of*the*Caribbean*Pirates*of*the*Caribbean*Pirates*of*the*Caribbean*Pirates*of*the*Caribbean*Pirates*of*the*Caribbean
Note: Teague's observation about the honesty of being a pirate vs. being a lawyer is a callback to one of my favorite lines spoken by the Pirate King in "The Pirates of Penzance." He says, "I don't think much of our profession, but contrasted with respectability, it is comparatively honest!" My favorite version of this show features Kevin Kline as the Pirate King and Linda Ronstadt as Mabel, the female lead, who falls in love with Frederic, the Pirate King's apprentice. It's currently available (as of April 2012) on Netflix if anyone is interested. It has absolutely nothing in common with Pirates of the Caribbean (except a handsome, charismatic pirate captain) but is an incredibly fun show anyway.