The mid-morning sun was only beginning to assert its supremacy over the Jamaican day, though the more solid and honest denizens of Port Royal had long been awake and about their business at the first breath of sunrise.

Well, perhaps it would be better said the [i]majority[/i] stirring were among the solid and honest of citizens.

A coy little twist of her lips was all the answer the woman had for the commander of men ahorse beside her small, hooded carriage, a tantalizing reply barely shrouded by the pale ivory veil of fine French lace. Her grey eyes never left his face, though her words were directed to the elderly man beside her on the carriage chaise. "What say you, [i]mon chèr Oncle?[/i] Shall we join Robert tonight, at Fort Charles?" 

The thick Parisian accent rolled off her tongue like undulating waves of silk, as smooth and inviting to the touch as the flawless, sun-kissed skin of her shoulders above the pale green satin of her dress bodice. Soft waves of ebony hair were plaited from her face, coiled neatly at the nape of her neck. Large curls hung in thick tendrils well past those same shoulders, bouncing gently with every pass of the chaise carriage wheels over the cobblestone roads of the bustling center of Port Royal.

"Hmm?" Sir Greene turned toward the voice of his great niece Antoinette, his attention pulled from the much-loved sounds and scents of a great port city by the only person who could still lovingly command his attentions. "Oh, this evening Antoinette? I'm afraid that might be an affair for a far younger crowd, my dearest. Your old uncle's legs simply would not be up for the exercise - though I look forward to your playing before tea time." 

"You are no age at all, Oncle Nathaniel!" the young woman countered swiftly, shaking her head as she took her uncle's fingers in one evergreen silk-gloved hand, the palfrey's reins held loosely in the other. 

"Then you must be nearly as blind as I, my dearest," Nathaniel teased right back, squeezing her hand affectionately in return. "No, no - if you wish to dance tonight? Commander Murray, I trust you will keep my niece safely ensconced on your arm, until she is delivered again to mine?"

The Commander's gaze traveled from the barely veiled, exotic face of the woman beside him, to Sir Greene - and then back once more with a soft smile. "Yes Sir, I certainly would - if the lady would agree, of course?"

Mademoiselle Antoinette Mireille Greene released her great uncle's hand, gloved fingers rising to her face to pull the veil of lace back over her forehead, silver-grey eyes studying the man's face for several long moments before she said a single word. 

[i]'How very like they are, in so many ways,'[/i] she could not help but think to herself as she regarded this stalwart military man sitting so straight in the saddle atop his bay stallion, his intelligent, thoughtful dark eyes regarding her with a small, sweetly hopeful question of a smile on his lips. 

The natural child of Sir Greene's wayward nephew and a woman he'd fallen madly for in the East Indies, Antoinette was born in Paris, where the lewd French were [i]notoriously[/i] tolerant of such dalliances. As a grown woman, the charming Antoinette was as foot loose and travel-besotted as her father had ever been, indulged by her wealthy English relations as she explored the mysteries of this shining New World. And how she did love her Great Uncle Nathaniel, with all his stories and memories, the rich treasures of a grand life lived fully and well.

[i]'Honorable, each in his own way; brave to a fault; unfailingly loyal to their men, their duties - and yet, so very different. If Antoinette disappeared this very moment, a truer face beneath, there would be no chance to do a thing differently with this man. No, only the brig, perhaps the firing squad? No... No, with the company I keep now, it would doubtlessly be the crow's cage.'[/i]

Antoinette's smile widened as she nodded her head. [i]"Merci, Robert,[/i]" she replied before letting the ethereal veil fall back over her face. "I should like this very much. And all your men too, your... Your... Oh what is this word? Oh yes, your [i]officers[/i] too, yes? This will be such fun! I have long wished to meet your friends, Robert."