A New Life, A New Love

Chapter Fifteen: Walk Like a Lady


     Rachel awoke with the face of Captain Blakely haunting her dreams. She knew that it would
take a while to get over what she had done. A part of her would never get over it and she thought
that was for the best. She never wanted to become the type of person who could kill without
guilt. Blakely was an evil man, and would have killed Jack had she not killed him first. But she
had never taken a life and still wasn’t sure she had the right to. She comforted herself with the
thought that she had merely chosen which life was to be . A. And the world was better off for
her choice.

Her mental meanderings were mercifully interrupted by a gentle knock upon the door. “Come
in,” she called.

The door opened and Annamaria stepped inside. “Who gets lessons this mornin’?” she asked.

“I think you do,” Rachel replied. “Ready for that dress?”

“No, but I’ll put it on anyways,” Anna said with a sigh.

Rachel opened her trunk and pulled out the gray taffeta dress. “Tell you what,” she said. “I’ll
wear a dress today too.” She pulled out a burgundy taffeta edged in pink “This will do, I think.”
She opened the other trunk and pulled out corsets for them both with garters, stockings,
petticoats, and shoes, and a small carved wooden box. “I’ll even go first.” She removed her
nightgown, pulled the petticoat on in its place, and stepped into the corset. “If you’ll do the
honors?”

Annamaria laced up the corset for her, being careful not to pull it too tight. Next came the garter,
then the hose, shoes, and, finally, the dress. “Do I have to wear all that?” Annamaria asked her.

“Aye, ye do, lass” Rachel replied with a smile. “You’ll get used to it. It’ll only be for an hour or
two. And at least these corsets lace up the front as well. Much easier to get out of than the last
one I wore.”

Anna walked to the door and, for a minute, Rachel thought she was going to leave, then she very
deliberately reached out and turned the lock on the door. “If I’m t’do this, I want no one to be
walkin’ in on me.”

She stripped her clothing off and put on the things Rachel had given her. Rachel was very
careful in lacing up the corset. She wanted to keep it as loose as possible but she also wanted to
show Anna to her best advantage in the dress.

“Now, hair,” Rachel said picking up her brush and comb. She brushed Anna’s hair until she was
satisfied with it then pulled it up and secured it, then started to work on her own tresses. When
she was finished with her coiffure, she returned to the trunks and pulled out hats to match their
dresses. “Perfect,” she said, settling Anna’s hat onto her head. “And now, for the finishing
touch.” She opened the small box to reveal jewelry of all kinds.

“Where did ye get those?” Annamaria asked.

“Apparently, I had them with me on board the Tradewinds.” Rachel replied. “This will be lovely
on you,” she remarked, holding up a smoked diamond necklace. “And garnets for me.” She
closed the box and returned it to its trunk, then picked up her mirror. “I wish I had a full length
one, so you could see the whole effect, but this will have to do.” She handed the mirror to
Annamaria.

“Is that really me?” Annamaria asked.

“Sure is, toots,” Rachel replied. “You clean up pretty good. Now, lets practice that walk, shall
we?”

They spent an hour or so practicing walking, talking, and sitting correctly. The corset was a
definite asset for Anna’s posture and the lessons went quite well. But eventually it began to
chafe and so the lesson was over for the day.

“It’s been a quiet day, and I’m not on duty. I think I’ll keep mine on a bit,” Rachel said as she
helped Annamaria out of her corset. “I think Jack will like it.”

“You seem t’care a lot about what the Captain likes,” Annamaria replied with a smile. “Why is
that, I wonder?”

“Because I’m totally, head over heels in love with him,” Rachel grinned.

Annamaria’s eyes widened in surprise. “Have ye told him that?” she asked.

“Last night,” Rachel told her. “And he said he loves me, too . . . I think.”

“You think?”

“Well, you know Jack. He’s not going to come right out and say ‘I love you’. What he actually
said was that he never wanted to fall in love but he didn’t seem to have much choice in the
matter, and that I meant a lot to him. Then he tried to make love to me.”

“That scallywag!” Annamaria said. “I hope for your sake he wasn’t just leadin’ ye on. Our
captain has always been a bit of a lady’s man, if ye get my meanin’. Ye didn’t let him get away
with that, did ye?”

“Oh, no,” Rachel replied innocently. “I told him to take his hands off of me. Even threatened to
tie him to the bed.” She smiled. “Then I made love to him.”

“I just hope you know what yer doin’, girl. I’ve come t’like ye and I wouldn’t want t’see ye get
hurt. Jack Sparrow has never been the settlin’ down type.”

“I don’t want him to settle down. I just want to be with him. Of course, if I catch him with
another woman I might have to hurt someone, but I’ll deal with that when and if I have to.”

“Yer daft, lass, I’ll tell ye that much.” She walked to the door. “But I hope it works out for ye
anyway.”

They walked out onto the wheel deck just in time to hear a call from the crow’s nest. “Ship, ho!
To the starboard bow!” Jack pulled out his spy glass and looked in the direction indicated.
“What on earth does he want?” he said.

“Who?” Rachel asked

“Well, that’s the Interceptor II so I must assume it’s Norrington.”