An Earnest Favour

XXXIV

"For long the two enemies looked at one another, Hook shuddering slightly, and Peter with the strange smile upon his face.
"So, Pan," said Hook at last, "this is all your doing."
"Ay, James Hook," came the stern answer, "it is all my doing."
"Proud and insolent youth," said Hook, "prepare to meet thy doom."
"Dark and sinister man," Peter answered, "have at thee." J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan 

----

XXXIV.

Jack waited in the clearing, the one where he had followed Claire to months earlier during their brief engagement. He had sent a trusted servant the night before with a letter for Arthur, instructing him to meet Jack here.

Jack had taken a mahogany box from Adam's study, containing pistols which had once belonged to his father. As the challenged, Arthur had the right to choose the weapon, and Jack had come prepared. Jack did not take Arthur for a swordsman.

He had no second. Jack knew that he should have brought his brother, but that would mean telling him Claire's truth, and he wasn't prepared to share their secret. Jack would negotiate. He would allow Arthur the chance to repent. But if he refused, then Jack would go through with the duel.

Claire had asked him not to fight, and he had told her he wouldn't. But he hadn't promised. A lie was surely better than a broken promise. Jack had everything to fight for. Claire had told him as such when she had confessed her love for him. She would never comprehend what that meant to him, to know that someone loved him, preferred him, chose him. Jack would protect her with his life, and if that meant facing a pistol to stop Claire's harassment then he would do it.

Jack watched as the sunrise shone through the trees, and the fog began to lift in the clearing. He hadn't slept the night before. He had been watching Claire, memorising her, before he had written a will, leaving everything he had to her. The will was on her writing desk, and Jack truly hoped that he would return before she even woke to hide it so that she need never see it.

Jack's horse, which was tethered to a nearby tree, lifted its head as the faint sound of galloping hooves echoed through the woods. Jack could only hear one horse, and he wondered if Arthur, too, was alone.

His question was soon answered as Arthur entered into the clearing on horseback, his green eyes settling on Jack coolly as he dismounted. He was alone and dressed in his best finery.

"No second?" called Arthur as he tied his own horse to a tree branch.

"Likewise," replied Jack. "But I will offer you the same courtesy." Not that he deserved it. "I demanded satisfaction from you, and if you do not swear on your honour this minute to leave my wife in peace from this day on, then I will have you face me, or you will forevermore be known as a coward."

Arthur chuckled and shook his head as he all but strutted towards Jack. "I won't apologise for claiming what is mine."

It was meant to be a taunt, but Jack could not be goaded. As he stared into the cold depths of this man's eyes, Jack saw no threat. He saw a weak, reprehensible man determined to secure a plaything. Jack felt no jealousy, and instead looked upon Arthur Slickson with pity. He was a man who resorted to cons to trick women into favouring him. He could offer nothing of substance from within himself. He had nought but a handsome face to offer, and even then, it was bruised terribly courtesy of Jack the previous afternoon.

How many women had he preyed upon as he had Claire? How many children were stashed across the country? Was Claire the first to reject him?

"She is not yours, Slickson," uttered Jack. "And she never will be again. You make a mockery of yourself every time you attempt to contact her. I will say again, repent, and you leave here as you are."