Like many other guests in the mansion, Eve and Vincent walked to Quintin's family dining room.
On their way, Eve saw Allie with her mother and sister. The little girl slightly bowed in greeting and Eve returned it. Lady Annalise only glanced at them, while Marceline offered a sweet smile while taking note of the governess's bland clothes.
The women of the Moriarty family walked past them, which was when Eve's eyes fell on a couple and she quickly stepped behind Vincent. It was the Walsh's whom she had threatened to hit in her umbrella.
Eve turned, ready to walk away, when Vincent caught hold of her wrist. She asked him,
"What are you doing?"
"Thank you for asking my question. Now the answer," Vincent waited for her to reply and uncurled his fingers around her wrist.
"I don't think I am hungry," she replied, subtly looking at Walsh's couple talking to Henry's parents.
Vincent said, "You came here to have lunch, it would be rude to leave. Whom are you trying to avoid?" His curious eyes fell on the Walsh couple. He hummed, "Ah, the man you were going to hit with your umbrella."
It seemed like Vincent knew about this incident too, Eve thought. She would just have to avoid the couple and stay away from their sight.
"What can I say, you are so popular in your catastrophe, that you make me proud," Vincent's eyes twinkled, while she looked slightly worried. "Though it is unfortunate that you didn't whack him with that umbrella of yours. It would have been a sight to remember."
When they stepped into the dining room, Eve heard Henry call her as he approached where she stood.
"Ms. Barlow. I have reserved a seat for you. I would be more than pleased if you would join me for lunch," said Henry, who wanted to spend time with her.
Eve turned to ask Vincent, when she noticed him walking to the right and around the table. She turned back to Henry and nodded.
"This way, please."
Henry led her towards their seats, slightly away from the centre of the long table. The dining room and the table was big enough to accommodate more than thirty people in one sitting. Though Walsh's family sat on the opposite end of where Eve and Henry sat, she felt at ease when Vincent chose to sit in front of her while the other members of the Moriarty family sat at the centre of the table.
With most of them, who had taken a seat, Henry's mother, Mrs. Quintin, turned to Eve and said,
Mrs. Quintin said, "Henry has spoken quite a lot about you, and I can tell that his words did little to no justice to your beauty. Though I must say I am curious how a woman such as yourself was not courted by men."
Vincent picked up his blood wine as if the conversation didn't concern him when in truth, his ears and attention were right there.
"I am passionate about my job and it's what makes me happy," Eve politely responded to the lady of this mansion.
"Only a person who cannot marry would think like that. You must be the only person working in your house, and money obviously doesn't come easy for people in Meadow," Mrs. Quintin stated with a knowing smile, as her son had informed where she came from.
"My employer pays me generously," Eve said, feeling Vincent's eyes on her.
"I do not doubt it," the lady of the house murmured, "Have you attended any soiree before this, Ms. Barlow?" she asked as she picked up a napkin and spread it on her lap.
"I have, Mrs. Quintin," Eve's words were polite.
Mrs. Quintin then leaned towards her son and whispered, "You can have all the fun you want with this one like the others, son. But let us get real, she cannot be part of our family," the woman then smiled, and she picked up her glass to drink the wine.
Vincent, who was staring at his wine, asked, "Mr. Quintin, I hear you want to marry our governess. Was it love at first sight?"
Mrs. Quintin coughed at Vincent Moriarty's question, which was loud and clear for everyone to hear. Henry, slightly nervous at his mother's glare, nodded.
"Ms. Barlow is a beautiful woman," said the human.
"And undoubtedly knowledgeable?" Vincent added, and Henry nodded to it too.
"Yes. Ms. Barlow appears to be a kind woman, and gentle."
"Is that why you are stealing her," Vincent remarked, and Eve's eyes subtly narrowed at him.
Henry softly laughed and replied, "I don't think that it would be stealing, Mr. Moriarty, when she doesn't belong to anyone."
With a serious stare, Vincent said, "That is what you think."
Eve's eyes widened at what Vincent was trying to do. The smile on Henry's face faltered. A few guests around them couldn't help but listen more to their conversation.
"What do you mean, Mr. Moriarty?" Henry Quintin asked, a look of doubt slipping into his eyes.
"Maybe Ms. Barlow will answer you better," Vincent turned the glass in his hand in a circular motion, staring at Eve.
People looked from the pureblooded vampire to not look at Eve, wondering if there was something juicy they could get their ears on. Eve replied, "I am my own person, Mr. Quintin. I love what I do right now and want to keep working."
"Certainly, Ms. Barlow. I very much agree with you," Henry nodded with a look of relief. He said, "Doing something you love, you shouldn't stop."
Soon the servants started to serve a variety of food and drinks. One of the servants, who brought in the food, was Mr. Humphrey, who grit his teeth on seeing his employer talking to Eve right now.
On the other side of the table, Marceline's friend, Lady Stella Desford, noticed Mr. Quintin's attention on the human governess. She leaned towards the Moriarty vampiress and said,
"The last time we were here, you were sitting next to Henry."
Marceline's eyes moved to look at Mr. Quintin, who was right now wooing her sister's governess right now. She commented, "His arms are short and he realised he couldn't pluck the fruit from the higher branch of the tree. So he's settling for something that grows in the ground."
There was no way Henry Quintin would settle for governess. If not him, Marceline knew his parents would never approve of it, and it made her smile.
Lady Stella smiled at her friend's words, nodding, "I can't believe he invited someone like her to sit at the same table as us."
Mrs. Walsh's eyes fell on Eve. Her eyes narrowed before she turned to Lady Annalise, "Is she your new governess, Lady Annalise?"
"Yes. If you want to hire her, you are free to do so," Lady Annalise said with a straight face and took a bite from her food.
"I would never hire a woman with a character like hers. I cannot believe you did," Mrs. Walsh spoke with a look of disbelief.
Wanting to always show that she had the purest heart and kindest thoughts, Marceline stated, "She isn't terrible in being a governess, Mrs.Walsh. Allie is learning quite a lot from her."
Mrs. Walsh shook her head, "I am not talking about her job. You are a kind woman, Lady Marceline, which is why you don't know about her true nature. She's a man snatcher!"
Lady Annalise's eyebrows raised, while Marceline outwardly appeared to be in shock, while inwardly, she was delighted to find the truth behind the governess. Feigning innocence, she said, "I don't think I understand what you are saying."
The other woman leaned forward and whispered, "A few months ago, I was going to hire her, but tried to seduce my husband. Trying to look for immoral favours to gain fast money. My poor Mr. Walsh, he would have been defamed, but we chased her out of our mansion."
"Oh my!" Lady Stella exclaimed.
"That sounds terrible," Marceline said, turning to look at where Mr. Quintin and Eve sat, talking to each other. She said, "If it weren't for my brother, we would have replaced her long back."
In the meantime, Allie sat beside her mother, didn't realise that her fangs had appeared as she ate.
