Chapter Text
“I swear Jack said he would send a man for us, but I don’t see anyone familiar,” Will fretted, arm going around his wife as he anxiously scanned the boats and ships in the harbor. Jack had sent them an invitation to dine on the Pearl nearly a week ago with a date and a time. They had arrived at the civilian docks of Port Royal punctually, but Will did not see any likely boats.
“They’ll have some sort of disguise, obviously. You know Port Royal isn’t friendly to— James!” Elizabeth cut herself off, waving in excitement. Will saw a well-dressed man look up from where he was directing two port hands to place what looked like trunks into a small but serviceable rowboat.
Elizabeth dragged Will along to the dock, catching his confused look in the process. “It’s James Norrington,” she explained softly. “My father told me he had just returned only to resign his commission and declare he was leaving Port Royal forever. Can you imagine?” Will couldn’t, having not given much thought to the Navy man since they’d learned he’d escaped from Jack - or had Jack let him go? He was fuzzy on that point, and only interested in the fact that Norrington’s absence from the Navy here surely meant Jack was safer. Not that Jack had even been in the area for some time; this was the first they’d heard from him in over a year. Will respected Norrington, to a point, but for the last few years he’d only been able to see him as a potential rival for Elizabeth’s affections and pompous besides.
“Miss Sw— pardon me, Mrs. Turner,” Norrington said as they walked up to him. He had a small smile for Elizabeth which turned slightly cooler as he moved his gaze to Will. “Mr. Turner,” he said with a respectful nod. Will nodded shortly back.
“I heard you were leaving! I’m so glad to have caught you before you’d gone,” Elizabeth said effusively.
Norrington’s smile looked somewhat tight at this. “I apologize for not having paid my respects. Your father did not know where you were when I visited him and I had much to do.”
“I should like to have seen you all the same. For old times’ sake, if nothing else,” Elizabeth said, disappointment in her wide eyes. James sighed, looking somewhat discomfited. Will felt some sympathy for the man. It was difficult to resist Elizabeth when she used that look, as he had been learning firsthand.
“My sincerest apologies, then,” Norrington said, actually looking sincere. He coughed lightly, then continued: “And was it I which brought you both to the docks today?” he asked in his usual droll tone.
Elizabeth made to answer, but Will cut in. “Ah, no, actually,” Will said. “We are to meet an old friend for dinner on his ship and are awaiting a boat to take us there.” Elizabeth frowned at him and he manfully ignored it. He was sure she wanted to know where Norrington had been and he didn’t care.
Norrington’s look grew sharp. “A boat, you say? Is there a reason your friend couldn’t dock his ship in Port Royal?” Will gulped. He’d walked right into that one. Elizabeth was glaring at him now.
But Norrington continued to speak. “I have some idea of who this friend of yours might be,” he said with a sardonic smirk. “I’m sure you’ve heard that I have resigned my commission; your friend’s whereabouts is no longer of professional concern to me.” Will thought Norrington looked rather annoyed at this.
But then he sighed. “The ship I am to meet this evening happens to be in the vicinity of Sparrow,” he said, sounding aggrieved. “I can take you there on my way, if you wish.”
“We should rather wait—“ “Oh yes, please!” Elizabeth said, cutting Will off. “I would be delighted to have a chance to catch up with you, James,” she smiled at him winningly. Will huffed and rolled his eyes. He thought he saw a sparkle of amusement in Norrington’s eyes before he turned back to the port hands.
Soon enough, Norrington’s two trunks were loaded and the three of them had settled into the boat.
“I don’t supposed you’d mind if I undressed somewhat,” Norrington said, shrugging off his coat before sitting down at the oars and tugging at his neckcloth. “Rowing is hot work.” Will responded in an obligatory negative, though Norrington didn’t seem to care what they thought as he pulled his neckcloth off entirely and tossed it carelessly atop his coat. Will noted Elizabeth looking on with slightly wide eyes. He nudged her discreetly in the side in hopes of shifting her attention.
Norrington commenced at pulling the oars, looking strong and confident at it. Will hadn’t expected him to be at all familiar with such labor; he’d thought Norrington was a nobleman of some sort, given that he’d traveled in the same circles as Elizabeth and the governor when he’d been here. Though he’d been gone over a year, and on some unknown errand - who knew what he’d been doing or what skills he’d picked up in that time. His skin was still quite pale, however, so he couldn’t have been spending much time out of doors. It was strange. Will now found himself hoping that Elizabeth would draw out some of those details, if only to satisfy his own curiosity.
“You look very well, James,” Elizabeth said gently. “I do believe you look happier than I’ve ever seen you.” She squeezed Will’s arm, and Will appreciated the gesture.
Norrington smiled a small, genuine smile. “Yes, well,” he said, sounding sheepish. “Serving in the Navy could be quite stressful.”
“I’m sorry to hear that your family has had troubles,” Elizabeth continued.
“My—? Oh, yes. Of course, thank you.” Norrington had seemed legitimately confused at first, but obviously he’d understood what Elizabeth was referring to, if belatedly. Curious.
“My father offered his assistance, of course? If Will or I could be of assistance as well—“ she pressed, but Norrington shook his head.
“No, no, that’s not necessary. I—“ Norrington paused, considering as he rowed. “Can I trust you to keep what I tell you in confidence?”
“Oh, yes, of course!” Elizabeth was all wide-eyed innocence, but Will knew she wanted quite badly to hear what Norrington had to say. He nodded his own affirmative to Norrington more sedately.
“As far as I know, my family is as well as they have ever been,” Norrington said blithely. “Truth be told, your father and Captain Gillette seemed quite unwilling to accept my resignation until I gave them what they considered to be a good reason.” Will and Elizabeth both goggled at him.
“You lied to them?” Elizabeth was first to speak, sounding both shocked and delighted.
“I wouldn’t say lied so much as stretched the truth,” James said, smirking slightly.
“Why James, that’s practically piratical of you,” Elizabeth teased. Norrington merely rolled his eyes, when a year prior, he would at least have delivered a sharp response. Who was this man, and what had he done with Norrington?
They had passed out of the bay in which the port of Port Royal was based and were coming up on a more secluded cove which Will knew was not visible from the fort. That cove had been where Will had arranged for the Pearl to lie in wait while he helped Jack escape the noose nearly two years ago. Had Norrington known of it this whole time? And who, exactly, was he planning to meet here?
“Pardon me for asking, but why is it the ship you’re meeting also couldn’t dock in Port Royal?” Will asked. Norrington gave him a quelling look, but before he could answer—
“Oh, look, there she is!” Elizabeth exclaimed, looking over Norrington’s shoulder at the ship that was slowly revealing itself as they turned into the cove. The Black Pearl, while still as black as its name, looked much less sinister than Will remembered it. It had been crewed by Jack and by non-cursed crew members for two years at this point, and it showed. She was a beautiful ship and was obviously in good repair.
However, as far as Will could see, the Pearl was the only ship waiting in the harbor. What on earth was Norrington planning to do here?
They were shortly in hailing distance, and Norrington turned to yell an “Ahoy, Black Pearl!” up to the ship. Will saw crew members crowding around the railing, yelling and waving in welcome. Elizabeth waved back enthusiastically, but Will was trying to make out what they were yelling back.
“Mr N! Mr N’s come back!” he heard one crew member shout. Mr N— they couldn’t mean—? Will thought, suspicions forming. He then saw Jack shove his way to the edge of the railing.
“Quiet, you lot!” he yelled at the crew before yelling down to the boat. “’Bout time you got here, you sluggards!” he grinned down at them.
“We are not remotely close to being late and you know it,” James yelled back up, following it up with a soft “insufferable”.
Norrington continued to grumble under his breath as he brought the boat alongside the Pearl with practiced ease. The crew were tossing down ropes, which Norrington caught easily. He tied one across the prow of the boat and handed the other to Will, gesturing for him to do the same aft. Will complied, suspicions crystallizing.
“You didn’t ever leave the Pearl, did you,” he said knowingly to Norrington. Norrington merely raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Elizabeth goggled at them both. Will was surprised; usually she picked up on things like this more quickly.
The boat was being hoisted up to the deck of the Pearl now. As soon as it reached the railing, Norrington jumped out lightly. Will stepped out more carefully, then held a hand out to Elizabeth to help her down onto the deck.
Jack was there to meet them, still looking like an eccentric pirate, but rather less scruffy than when they’d seen him last. He was not wearing a coat, and Will could see that his waistcoat was finely embroidered and his linen shirt a clean white and fairly new. His bandana and belt sash were brightly colored and new-looking as well. The Pearl’s latest voyage must have been lucrative.
He stood next to Elizabeth, watching Norrington and Jack bicker. Elizabeth was looking, eyes narrowed, between Jack and Norrington.
“You said you’d send a man for them - honestly, Sparrow,” Norrington was saying in his sardonic voice.
“You’re a man, ain’t you, luv?”
“Yes, but you didn’t send me.”
“Aye, but I’m happy to have you back all the same,” Jack said with a grin. “Got everythin’ tied up with a bow?” Will could detect nothing sarcastic in Jack’s tone - he was genuinely happy to see Norrington. And Norrington, though he sounded annoyed, had a small smile on his face. How very… unexpected.
“I have concluded my business satisfactorily, yes.” A few of the crew cheered at that. Will looked around - it seemed like the whole crew was grinning at Norrington.
“Wonderful to hear it, luv,” Jack replied, slapping Norrington companionably on the shoulder. He turned to Will and Elizabeth, as if seeing them for the first time. “And you’ve brought guests!” Jack exclaimed, throwing his arms wide in welcome. Elizabeth ran up to hug him. “Wonderful to see you both! It’s been much too long!” he said, hugging Elizabeth with one arm while reaching out to clap Will on the back. Jack led them out of the crush of crew members. Will nodded at the few faces he knew as they passed and got happy exclamations and a few more claps on the back in return.
Will looked back— Norrington was attempting to answer the questions of multiple crew members at once and was looking both aggrieved and pleased by the attention. He had pulled a burly-looking man - Tearlach, Will thought his name was - into helping him lift his trunks out of the boat and onto the deck.
“James has been sailing with you this whole time?” Elizabeth hissed at Jack once they had gotten to a quieter corner of the deck. “His letter said you had let him go!”
“Aye, so I did. But then he volunteered to stay on, y’see.” And Jack looked mighty pleased about it, too, Will thought. “Been right helpful, he has. Turns out he has no qualms with piracy so long as it’s directed at the right targets,” Jack’s grin was almost sharklike for a moment, Will noted, before settling back into its previous affable state.
“What on earth did you do to convince him to stay?” Will said skeptically.
“Let’s just say his priorities shifted,” Jack said cryptically. The three of them watched as Norrington and Tearlach got the trunks settled in a secluded corner of the main deck. Anamaria approached Norrington and he bowed gallantly at her, smirking as she burst into laughter and then caught him in a hug. Will glanced at his companions; both were watching James, Elizabeth with a wide-eyed, astonished look and Jack with a soft, almost tender smile.
“They certainly must have,” was all Will could think to say.
Gibbs made his way over to tell them that dinner was nearly ready, and the four of them made for the great cabin, talking all the way. Gibbs had begun to regale Elizabeth of the Pearl’s latest voyage, which had apparently been around the Cape of Good Hope. “Oh, my! Did you go to India?” “Not quite so far. Where we went was in the middle of the ocean and weren’t on any map.” “Ah, another secret island?” “A sunken island, in fact!”
As they entered the great cabin, Will looked around. It had certainly changed since he’d last seen it, the last time the Pearl had been in the area. At that time, Jack was still in the process of redecorating it after Barbossa’s long tenancy and it had looked very much half-finished and still rather gloomy. Elizabeth had told him what it had been like inside when Barbossa had been captain - dark, bleak, and cluttered. It was still cluttered, but felt much more home-y than Will remembered, with a lovely plush carpet and comfortable looking chairs. He saw a fair number of books and rolls of parchments along one bulkhead and several swords and other weaponry lining another. Including, he noticed, the sword he had been commissioned to make for Norrington’s promotion ceremony.
A large table in the middle of the cabin had been set for six. Before Will could ask who else would be joining them, the door opened and several crew members came in bearing dishes of marvelous looking food and mugs of what looked like ale. They moved about the table to set everything down, chatting with them and amongst themselves all the while. Will gathered from the conversation that the rest of the crew would be dining well on the deck this evening. “And music after, now that Mr N is back!” Will heard one of them say.
At some point while the crew who’d delivered the food were filtering back out, Anamaria and Norrington had joined them. Anamaria was chuckling as Norrington described, in his dry baritone, how his visit to the fort to hand in his resignation had gone. “— Captain Gillette simply refused to accept it from my hand,” Norrington was saying, “so I dropped the letter on the desk and made to walk out. I’m afraid he tripped over his own chair in his effort to stop me leaving.”
“And that’s how he got the black eye?” Anamaria chortled.
“And the split lip, yes.”
Elizabeth was looking mildly shocked, but delighted to hear this. “I was wondering what had happened to Captain Gillette. He looked like he’d been in a fight when Father had him at the house the other day.”
“This yer old first lieutenant, James?” Jack butted in as they sat down to eat, clearly understanding more about Norrington’s Navy connections than Will did. “Tryin’ to fill yer shoes then, is he?”
“I would have recommended him for captain eventually. He is a capable officer,” Norrington said.
“He’s a pompous blowhard,” Elizabeth said crossly. Will grimaced slightly, but everyone else laughed. Even Norrington smirked a bit.
“Then the Navy in Port Royal hasn’t changed much, eh?” Anamaria asked, eyes widening in faux innocence.
“Ha, ha,” Norrington said sardonically, rolling his eyes at her. “You admit I improve on acquaintance.”
“I admit nothin’,” she replied, smirking right back.
“We best start eatin’,” Gibbs cut in, picking up his fork and knife. “Those two’ll be at it all night if we don’t.”
The meal was, Will admitted, one of the most delicious he’d ever had. Even Elizabeth was effusive in her compliments, and she was used to this sort of fare at her father’s house. “The Pearl seems to be doing quite well for herself,” Will commented, noting that the cabin, the food, and even the crew seemed to be in much better shape than he recalled.
“Having James here on board has forced our standards of living to rise,” Jack said glibly.
“A few fat merchants didn’t hurt none, either,” Gibbs added, smirking.
“Not English merchants, I hope,” Will said repressively. Norrington looked somewhat shifty at that, but Jack cut in before Will could think too much on it.
“Naw, French,” Jack said. “They have the best victuals.”
“Hear, hear!” Gibbs cheered, starting a toast.
There were toasts all around, followed by several more throughout the dinner, each seeming more ridiculous than the last. “A toast to the goddess of the Caribbean sea,” for example. Eventually, the topic of what Norrington did aboard the Pearl came up. Will had assumed he was one of the captain’s mates, given his background, but—
"Surgeon!" Elizabeth said in surprise. "I have a hard time imagining you as a ship's surgeon, James."
"He's a man of many talents, our James," Jack broke in, sounding proud. He patted Norrington's arm and Will was surprised to see that Norrington did not protest the casual touch.
"Aye, he’s got quite the knowledge o' plants and herbs what have healing properties," Gibbs said.
"He's a 'orrible cheat at cards, too," Anamaria added.
"I am not!" Norrington said hotly, sitting up from his previously relaxed lean against his chair. "You know very well that I-" he broke off when Anamaria started laughing. He put his elbows on the table, head in his hands, and let out a sigh. “I’m sure I’ve not missed the jabs at my dignity,” Will heard him murmur.
“I keep tellin’ ya you make yerself into too easy a target, luv,” Jack said, patting Norrington on the back consolingly, but Will saw he was smirking.
“Perhaps if you all stopped attempting to shoot,” he said, sitting back up and running his hand through his hair. Will had noticed he wasn’t wearing a wig when they’d met him at the dock - the first time he’d seen Norrington without one, he thought - and then had forgotten about it, but now was noticing once more. Norrington looked younger without the wig, and more handsome, brown hair clean and tied back into what had been a neat queue before he’d mussed it. A few strands had slipped out, and Will noticed Elizabeth watching as Norrington absently tucked the loose strands behind his ear with his fingers. He was suddenly quite glad he had already married Elizabeth and that Norrington was no longer vying for her attentions.
But then Will glanced at Jack, and Jack was giving Norrington the same look Elizabeth was, his hand still resting on Norrington’s back. And Norrington was looking back at Jack and… was he blushing? What on—
Just then, the door to the cabin burst open, and Marty came running in, nearly disappearing from Will’s view as he came up to the table. “Mr N, sir! It be Jacobs, he thinks his wrist is broke,” Marty said in a rush.
“Again?” Norrington sighed, pushing himself up from the table. “Pardon me, I must attend to this,” he said, bowing distractedly in Elizabeth and Will’s direction before heading after Marty at a brisk walk. As Jack watched him go, Will glimpsed what looked like longing on his face for just a moment before his expression shuttered.
“’Tis right useful havin’ a dedicated surgeon aboard,” Jack said with an easy smile as he turned back to the table. “Oh, we didn’t tell you ‘bout the time we…” And the conversation moved on.
———
Soon enough, music had been struck up on the deck and was filtering into the cabin. Anamaria excused herself to join the crew and the rest followed happily. As they emerged onto the deck, Will saw the party was in full swing, with a number of crew members dancing. There was a fiddle, pipes of some sort, and a male singer with a lovely baritone rounding out the mix. The song was a familiar one which Will had heard making the rounds in the taverns of Port Royal over the years, but the musicianship was of better quality than he was used to. The singer in particular was quite good, Will thought, trying to spot who he was. Night had fallen and the deck was sporadically lit. Finally, he saw the trio, set up in a corner.
Elizabeth was happily watching the dancers and swaying to the music herself. He tugged on her arm. “Did you know Norrington could sing?” he asked when she turned to him. Her eyes went wide and she scanned the crowd, finding the musicians for herself.
“I had no idea,” she breathed, surprise on her face.
Will had been surprised by the man at so many points already this evening that he wasn’t sure there was any more surprise left to be had. Clearly Norrington had been hiding large pieces of himself from the people of Port Royal for years.
“Never heard him sing, have ye?” Jack said from Will’s other side, smile in his voice. “I told ya he were a man o’ many talents. He were wasted on the Navy, if you ask me.”
“He does seem much happier here than I’ve ever seen him,” Elizabeth said thoughtfully. “But, and forgive me, Jack, but on a pirate ship? Be honest, how did you convince him to stay here?”
“He mostly convinced hisself. Though I may’ve helped him along by threatening to kill his men if he didn’t,” Jack grimaced slightly.
“Jack, you didn’t!”
“Oh, I did, and lucky he forgave me for it. But there were… extenuating circumstances, shall we say.”
Will could tell Jack was hiding something, but wasn’t sure what it might be. “The circumstances must have been extraordinary,” he commented mildly.
“They were indeed,” Jack said, fondness in his voice. Will gave him a narrow look, but Jack merely winked and meandered off to join a small pocket of crew members who seemed to be passing a bottle of rum amongst themselves.
The party went on long into the evening, and Will and Elizabeth found themselves alternately enjoying the music, listening to stories, and telling their own about their considerably more boring life in Port Royal. Jack joined them at times, but mainly spent the evening flitting about among the crew. Will couldn’t help but notice he was by Norrington’s side more often than not throughout the evening.
Late in the evening, when Will had once again drifted from the earnest conversation Elizabeth - who was somewhat deep in her cups by that point - was having with Anamaria, he saw Jack and Norrington ensconced in a dim corner together, sitting so closely they were practically atop one another. Norrington had his arm around Jack’s shoulder and was whispering in Jack’s ear, and Jack seemed to be laughing softly in response. As Will watched, they helped one another up and stumbled towards the main cabin, shutting the door softly behind them. The few crew who seemed to notice chuckled, winked at their conversation partners, and carried on. Will, who’d had very little to drink that evening on purpose, wondered if the rum had been stronger than he’d accounted for.
———
Will and Elizabeth leant against one another as they were rowed back to Port Royal. It was very early morning - the sun was only just threatening to rise - and Elizabeth was barely awake. Will was somewhat more aware of the world around him but barely attended to it. He found he had a lot to think about.
He and Elizabeth had fallen asleep on the deck of the Pearl the previous night, utterly exhausted from talk and song and drink. Will had woken first, to find someone had draped a blanket over them where they lay curled together on the deck. Much of the Pearl’s crew was sleeping around them. Empty plates and bottles and mugs had littered the deck, evidence of a successful party.
Will had been cognizant of the fact that he and Elizabeth needed to get back to Port Royal before they were missed. He’d roused Elizabeth and had tracked down one of the few crew who were still awake - those who had drawn the short straw and were on watch for the night. He’d roped a man - Duncan, he’d remembered just in time - into rowing them back to the port, but Elizabeth had not wanted to leave without saying farewell to Jack first.
They’d been stopped from entering Jack’s cabin - “they get right grumpy without a proper warnin’,” they’d been told - but soon enough Jack had answered the summons at the door, wrapped in a sumptuous-looking dressing gown and yawning.
“Leavin’ so soon?” he’d grumbled. “’Tis not even light out.”
“We’ll be missed soon,” Will had said apologetically. “Do get in touch the next time you’re in the area.”
“It’ll be soon, I’m sure,” Jack had grinned as he returned Elizabeth’s sleepy farewell hug. “Not plannin’ to leave the Caribbean again for awhile yet.”
With those assurances, they’d loaded into the boat and were off. And now Will found himself thinking about the “they” in Jack’s cabin, Jack in nothing but a dressing gown, and Norrington following Jack into his cabin the previous night. They all added up to… well, something he knew was a hanging offense in the Royal Navy, that was for certain. Was that why Norrington had decided to tender his resignation? He couldn’t bring himself to feel any condemnation, if that were the case; mostly he was simply glad that Norrington had so thoroughly removed himself from being a rival for Elizabeth’s affections.
They were approaching the docks now and Will nudged Elizabeth awake from where she’d fallen into a doze against him. The sun was now just peeking out over the horizon and Will was eager to be home. As much as he’d enjoyed spending time on the Pearl again, he found he preferred to be on land when possible.
Duncan pulled them up close to the dock and Will stepped out of the boat, reaching a hand back to Elizabeth to help her out. They both waved in thanks to Duncan, not wanting to call the harbormaster’s attention. He saluted them and rowed off, the sunrise shimmering along the boat’s gentle wake. Elizabeth, still blinking herself awake, was looking towards the cove where the Pearl was concealed, a considering look on her face.
“Shall we?” Will said quietly, offering her his arm. She took it, gaze abstracted as they began to walk.
“That was a much stranger visit than I’d expected,” Elizabeth said finally as they left the dockyard and began walking into town. “I mean, I’d expected to be told tall tales and for Jack to be his usual, strange self, but…”
“But Norrington,” Will said simply.
“Yes! I can hardly believe it! He was so different from who I remembered him to be.”
“That’s for certain,” Will said, remembering what Norrington had been like as an officer in Port Royal - cold, pompous, intimidating. On the Pearl, he had been much more human.
“It was so strange watching James with Jack and the crew. They seemed to know him better than I feel I ever have,” she said thoughtfully.
“Jack in particular was quite… friendly with him,” Will said delicately as they reached their home behind the smithy. He fumbled in his pocket for the key to the door.
Elizabeth, hearing his tone, waited to get inside and for him to shut the door behind them before she said anything. “Will, I saw things and heard things from the crew, and… this might sound crazy, but…”
“It probably isn’t, if it’s what I think you’re going to say,” Will interrupted.
“So you noticed, too? Will, I think… I think James might know magic.”
Will blinked. “What?”
“Jacobs, the man James left dinner for because he had a broken wrist? His wrist was fine when we saw him! He told me he’d broken three bones over the course of the last year, including his leg, and James had taken care of them so quick he’d hardly had to rest!”
“That’s… that is a little crazy, dear,” Will said.
“And that wasn’t the only story. The sirens they said they visited, apparently James could talk with them!” Will found himself shaking his head in disbelief. What on earth? Elizabeth kept talking, outlining the many things she’d heard. When Will continued to look shocked, she snapped his fingers at him. “You said you knew what I was going to say! What on earth did you think was going on with James?” she asked, bringing him back.
“I think he and Jack are sleeping together,” he said, feeling slightly too dazed to censor his words more than that.
“What?” Elizabeth was goggling at him. Will found himself haltingly explaining what he’d noticed the previous night. When he was done, they both stood there, trying to process what they’d heard from one another.
And then Elizabeth started laughing. “Just imagine what they’d say at the fort if they knew. Or what the members of high society in Port Royal would say! James resigning so he could run off with a pirate ship and involve himself in a torrid affair with the captain - it would be such a scandal!”
Will found himself laughing along with her. “And if we told them he’d been practicing voodoo as well… they wouldn’t be able to talk of anything else for months.”
“But of course we can’t say a word,” Elizabeth said, disappointment in her voice. “I couldn’t do that to James.”
“No, of course not,” Will said, though he was personally more concerned about the potential repercussions for Jack and the Pearl.
“And besides,” Elizabeth said philosophically as they settled in together in their small but serviceable kitchen, a hot cup of tea apiece, “who would ever believe us?”