Chapter Text
Charles found himself at ease with his eldest daughter’s prospects as her first season came to an end but he received something of a shock when, two years after Isabel’s coming out, a handsome naval officer, little more than a decade younger than Charles himself, asks for his permission to court Isabel. More shocking still is that his daughter appears to be amenable to the man’s request.
Isabel is rather surprised at herself too. She neither saw herself doomed to spinsterhood nor bound for married bliss, she was only 19 and found that either was still a possibility and she would not mind either path. She did, however, want children of her own (though not half as many as her own parents’) and given her family’s history she adamantly believed that there was only one proper way to come about having children though she refused to pass judgement against those who came by them by less socially acceptable means.
And that was at the heart of it all, she was not a romantic but a realist and a pragmatist. She knew matches like her parents were not common; neither had married the other for money, property, or title, they’d been young and madly in love and nearly two decades later remained young-at-heart and still very much in love. Believing such a high standard could not be met, Isabel had decided that she would be quite content to become a spinster and maintain her independence, or, if the opportunity presented itself, marry a man who would allow her her independence whom she could come to like, if not love, and who would return a tender, not passionate or all-consuming, admiration and affection.
Shortly after their first acquaintance it became evident to Isabel that Commodore James Norrington, newly arrived in England from the Caribbean, could be a candidate for the role of husband and father to a small number of future children.
He was a tall man and most pleasing to the eye, kind, dependable, steady, and always smiled at her when she said anything bordering on scandalous though he was quick to attempt to hide his smiles. From time to time he even flashed small displays of wit and sarcasm, proving that there was a sense of humor behind his serious façade, and these little displays filled Isabel with glee.
Here is a man who would never forbid me my books or chastise me for spending too much time riding horses, she thought to herself. In fact, she was certain that he would even go so far as to encourage her in her pursuit of knowledge and all the other things that made her less desirable in the eyes of many men. She based this on the times where he had graciously accepted defeat when she had bested him while debating topics that the mamas of debutantes thought unsuitable for women in general and young unmarried women in particular. Isabel had felt rather silly to discover that she felt rather pleased with herself when she was declared the winner of their debates and not simply because she was competitive but because it seemed to please the Commodore when she showed off her solid grasp of politics or philosophy. Sometimes he looked even more than just pleased, he looked as if he was lost in a bittersweet memory; she never questioned what brought about the bitterness but she happily lapped up the sweetness.
The Honourable Isabel Beaumont did not have her sights set on Commodore James Norrington but she decided that his attentions, if he chose to bestow them upon her as a suitor, would continue to be welcome- most welcome indeed.