Music Recommendation: Harriet Smith and Robert Martin- Isobel Waller
At the time of supper in the Moriarty mansion, every family member was in the dining room when one of the servants appeared at the front of the door and whispered something to the butler. Alfie's eyes slightly widened before he announced,
"Marquee Hooke, Marchioness Hooke, their daughter Rosetta Hooke and Lady Camille have arrived in the mansion."
Marceline turned surprised as she wasn't expecting any guests to be joining them for dinner. She turned to her parents and asked, "What are the Hookes doing here?"
Lady Annalise replied, "We thought it was our duty to be hospitable to the Marquee's family who arrived yesterday in town. Mr. and Mrs. Hooke reached out to your father, and it would be rude to not invite them over for a meal."
Marceline turned to her brother, who was sipping his wine. A faint smile appeared on her lips, and she remarked, "They must be very keen on building an alliance with our family. After all, one wouldn't expect people of that status to reach the family of Viscount."
"Not everyone has the same amount of lordliness as you, sister," Vincent commented, placing his wine glass on the table.
"As if you have any less than me," Marceline retorted to Vincent's words with a polite smile.
Senior Mr. Moriarty intervened in the sibling's conversation by saying, "As all of you already know, Marquee Hooke's family is of high social standing, even though they aren't pureblooded vampires. They are said to be close to the King, so try to be on your best behaviour. It's just one dinner, and they will be gone."
"The Moriarty family have excellent behaviour and manners, father. There's nothing to worry about," Vincent assured his father with a bright smile. He turned to Lady Annalise and said, "I hope mother doesn't have any plans of speaking about my marriage?"
Annalise's lips twitched at Vincent. She said, "Not unless they decide to bring it up." The older vampiress had already been humiliated after she had received complaints from Hooke's relative that the young vampiress had come home crying after meeting Vincent.
"An alliance between a Marquee and a pureblooded family, I think it would be a wise decision. Right, father?"
"In theory, yes. It would bring gains in terms of social standing and power," Senior Mr. Moriarty replied. He and the others stood up from their seats while he spoke something to his wife.
At the same time, Marceline turned to Vincent and asked, "What do you think about it, Vince?"
"It's an excellent idea."
Marceline's eyes lit up that she and her brother finally agreed on something. She had always hoped to see the Moriarty family reach higher ranks in terms of power, to be the most powerful family to exist.
But Vincent didn't stop there, and he continued, "I heard that the Hooke have a son, who is of the age of eight." He then whispered to Marceline, "By the time he grows up, you would have grown up too to marry him."
The smile on Marceline's lips fell, and she sent a slight glare at her brother for making a joke as bad as this one. She said, "Only you can laugh at your jokes." Vincent chuckled, knowing his words irked her more than she let on in front of him.
Soon the Hooke's family appeared at the dining room's double doors that the servants opened, and they entered the dining room.
"Welcome to the Moriarty mansion, Marquee Hooke and your family," Senior Mr. Moriarty greeted them.
"Thank you for visiting our mansion even though your visit in Skellington is short," Lady Annalise held a polite smile which was meant only for the people of the high society.
"Thank you for inviting us. I hope it was no trouble," Marquee Hooke responded. The man was an inch or two shorter than his wife and wore a thin moustache on his upper lip.
"No trouble at all. We are happy to be of your service," Senior Mr. Moriarty signalled the butler, who quickly pulled the chairs so the Hooke family members could take a seat at the dining table.
The Marchioness praised, "Your mansion is beautiful, Mr. and Mrs. Moriarty. I love the interiors and the walls."
The entire time, Rosetta tried to hide behind her parents and next to Aunt Camille. Even feigning illness had not gone well and had only resulted in her getting scolded for her behaviour by her mother for picking the wrong people to be in her company.
After leaving Eve's house, her mother had scolded her on their way back to Aunt Camille's house in the carriage, with,
'I cannot believe that instead of finding a suitable man to settle down with, you picked a woman from a poor family to be your friend. Not only am I disappointed but ashamed that you would bring such an ill view in others' eyes.'
'B—but, mother, I didn't do an—'
'I don't want to hear another word. To think you would make up things like the Moriartys sacrificing their wives. I don't know what goes in that mind of yours. You will not be seeing that lowly poor woman anymore, who has been influencing you in who knows what.'
Right now, when Rosetta's eyes met Vincent's, she noticed the pleasant smile he offered her now, but she knew it was a farce!
"Rosetta!" She heard her mother call her for attention and realised her mother and Lady Annalise were talking about her.
Rosetta offered a slight bow to Lady Annalise, who smiled at her. Lady Annalise said, "Why don't we take our seat and continue our conversation later."
Soon everyone took a seat at the rectangular dining table, and on the butler's instructions, the maids brought in freshly prepared food which the Moriarty family was never out of. Blood was served as wine for everyone at the table.
Marquee Hooke, who took a sip from the glass, hummed in appreciation and said, "Mermaid blood. I like what your cook has done with it."
"I am glad to hear that it is to your taste," Senior Mr. Moriarty responded in politeness.
Lady Camille, who was in the room, said, "We were going to have a mermaid ourselves. Paid for it. But before it could be delivered, the creature was killed."
A few days ago, when the mermaid had not been delivered, only Lady Camille had gone to check the mermaid she had paid for to find out that the blood she had consumed was of a siren and not a mermaid. Though vampires could drink both types of blood, it was usually preferred to have a mermaid as they were rare. Hence making her leave the little detail about it to anyone.
"Getting a hold of the mermaids isn't easy. I was lucky that I was able to present it to my mother on her birthday," Marceline smiled sweetly, turning to look at Lady Annalise. She then turned to Rosetta and asked, "You must have had the mermaid's blood too at the ball of the night."
Rosetta didn't like the entire Moriarty family. She had built a distaste towards them that made her face rigid. She replied bluntly,
"It was a low quality mermaid. I tasted better than that."
Rosetta had heard the rumours about the low-quality mermaid blood that flew in the town. And the last thing she needed was, to tell the truth that she was drunk to taste the mermaid's blood.
Marceline turned pale after being exposed in such a manner in front of everyone, and she tried to fix her fallen face. The elders at the table stared at Rosetta, and Mr. and Mrs. Hooke laughed to ease the tension, and others joined them.
"My daughter has been raised no less than a princess and I have given her the best of the best that is there in the world," Marquee Hooke stated proudly, while the underlying words hinted something to the Moriarty parents. "And I hope that she marries into a family that can keep her the same way."
Rosetta stiffened on hearing her father's words, knowing where this conversation was headed.
She had avoided looking at Vincent because she feared the man. She had avoided him all these days, and her parents had brought her to sit in front of him. The thought that maybe her parents didn't love her and wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible suddenly planted itself in her mind.
