Music Recommendation: Heavens, what an afternoon- John Lunn
While Vincent and Eve were leaving the forest, Marceline stood in the town of Woodlock.
Her carriage had been parked away from where she now walked.
Marceline's eyes continued to look around the place, before her eyes fell on the handsome Duke of Woodlock. He stood next to the town's head, talking to him. She was mesmerised by him. This was the third time she was in the town, watching him from a distance and admiring him.
Looking around, she noticed a woman carrying a milk can on top of her head and another can in her hand. Taking this as an opportunity, she stepped into the street and stood looking in the opposite direction. Just when the woman carrying the cans appeared closer to her, she turned back and crashed into the lowly woman.
"Oh, no!" The lowly woman exclaimed in shock. The milk spilt on the ground, wasting her effort and time.
Marceline expected the woman to apologise to her, as she was from high society. Instead, the woman demanded from the vampiress, "Couldn't you be more careful while turning than behave like a princess?" The woman's eyes were slightly yellow.
"You should have walked on the other side. I do not have eyes on the back of my head," Marceline didn't scold back as Noah was nearby.
"You are arguing with me? What is a vampiress even doing in Woodlock? You spilled all my hours of work," the woman accused her.
As the little commotion took place, Noah's attention fell on them and noticed it was Viscount Moriarty's daughter, Marceline Moriarty.
Excusing himself from the head of the town, Noah made his way to where Marceline was getting scolded by a woman from his town. The vampiress' eyes were downcasted, and she continued to listen to the woman's words. Noah questioned,
"What's going on?"
The woman quickly bowed at Noah and complained, "This vampiress spilled the milk cans I was supposed to deliver!"
Marceline softly said, "I didn't purposely push it down."
"She did! She wasn't here before, but on seeing me she decided to come and stand—"
Noah took out a few shillings and handed them to the woman, "I hope this will suffice for your loss."
"Thank you, Duke Noah," the woman bowed and gave a look at Marceline before walking away with her cans.
"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to cause trouble towards anyone," Marceline's eyebrows were drawn close to each other in sadness, "I was looking for a person's address and got lost. I didn't know whom to ask."
Noah offered her a polite smile and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"Lady Anaya Chambers. I heard from one of my friends that she is an expert in designing dresses and I thought to get acquainted with her," Marceline enjoyed standing close to him. "But unfortunately, I will have to wait. I have milk spilt over my clothes now."
"Lady Chambers? How strange, she is at my mansion. You don't have to worry about the spilt milk. I am sure no one will even notice it," Noah assured her, "Let me bring you to her as I am going back there."
"Thank you so much, Duke Noah," Marceline bowed, and she started to walk with him.
Noah asked her, "Where is your carriage? I don't think I saw it."
Marceline answered, "My carriage wheel is broken and my coachman took it to repair. A friend of mine was travelling this way and I decided to take a ride here. I will have to think about how to get back home later," she softly laughed while looking at the sky that had started to turn pink and orange along with the blue.
As they walked on the street, heading towards the Duke's mansion, Marceline watched Noah from the corner of her eyes. He didn't appear as talkative as the first time she had met him at the ball night held in her mansion. To strike a conversation, she apologised,
"Forgive me for what happened earlier back on the street. You must think I am clumsy," Marcelined looked troubled.
"Don't trouble yourself with such thoughts, Lady Marceline. I know someone who is clumsier than you are," at the thought of the person, a smile appeared on Noah's lips. He then said, "People of Woodlock are friendly. The woman behaved that way as she lost her day's bread. It might not seem much, but some live their lives day to day, than some who don't have to work at all. Surely you understand the woman didn't mean to hurt you," Noah turned to look at her with a smile, and Marceline quickly smiled at him.
"Absolutely," Marceline agreed with him, but Noah had a fair idea that the concept was lost when it came to the vampiress. Out of keen curiosity, she said, "I didn't know you were closely acquainted with the Chambers family. Is that why your clothes are so refined?" She indirectly complimented his dress sense.
When Noah smiled, the corner of his eyes crinkled, and he replied, "My clothes are stitched by the same tailor whom my father and uncle get their clothes done. The Chambers family and my father have known each other for a long time. They are visiting us."
When they reached Sullivan's mansion, Marceline's eyes moved across the tall standing mansion, surrounded by gardens and high walls as if to secure it from thieves entering. The butler took Marceline's coat, and she walked next to Noah, her mood brightening with every second she spent with him.
As they continued to walk, Marceline noticed two men coming from the opposite direction. When they neared, Noah greeted them with a bow,
"Good evening, father. Uncle James." So this was Noah's family members, thought Marceline in her mind.
Seeing the vampiress, Noah's father inquired, "Who is this young lady with you, Noah?"
"This is Lady Marceline Moriarty. Daughter of Viscount Eduard Moriarty," Noah introduced Marceline. "This is my father and my Uncle James."
"It is a great pleasure to be meeting you, former Duke Jeffry Sullivan," Marceline slightly bowed, just because he was Noah's father and then at the other man.
Noah's father nodded, "How is Eduard? Since we both retired from the Council's work, I haven't seen him around much."
"He's doing very well. I will be sure to pass him the message that you inquired about him," Marceline smiled, and the man nodded.
Noah's father then turned to look at Noah and asked, "How are things at the Council? Have all the bodies been dug out near the Council."
Noah nodded, "It has indeed been busy. Except for a few bodies, we are unsure who the rest belong to. It looks like bodies of people who are nobodies in the society and all together might be buried elsewhere. It might conclude by tomorrow as everyone is working on it."
"Mr. Walsh seems to have opened the jar of dead worms," Noah's uncle, James, remarked with a frown. "How many of them were there?" he questioned.
"Thirty-seven of them. Mostly Vampires and werewolves and a few humans," on Noah's words, James nodded.
"It is good that the Council is working on it diligently," said James.
Marceline added to his thoughts, "I was in shock this morning when I found out that Mr. Walsh was the one who killed Lady Camille. It is a shame to have such scandalous people in our society," she shook her head in disappointment.
"Very true," Noah's father agreed. "Hopefully things will settle down soon and the news hasn't set panic in people."
Noah led Marceline further into the halls.
"You must have a closely knit family, Duke Noah. It must be lovely to have people with attachments," Marcelin remarked.
"That is true. I grew up with everyone being close and nice to each other. My father and his brother, that is, my uncle have been very close. A few years ago, when I was young, there was a rogue attack of werewolves and it had been a hard time in Woodlock. If it weren't for my uncle, my father would not have been alive. And my father has always supported my uncle. Little things tighten the bonds," Noah smiled and then added, "It must be the same for you?"
Marceline smiled with a slight gingerness with how things were turning under the Moriarty house. She said, "Yes, most families are like that."
The vampiress had hoped that her mother would continue to resist the lowly governess, but instead it was going the way she didn't want to.
They came upon an expansive patio where three women sat at the table, drinking their evening tea. The vampiress's eyes quickly moved to look at the youngest she-wolf, locking eyes with her and offering her the sweetest and politest smile she had to offer.
"This is my mother, Hilda Sullivan. And she is Lady Madge Chambers, and her daughter, Anaya Chambers," Noah introduced the women before saying to Anaya Chambers, "This is Lady Marceline Moriarty, she is here to discuss dress designs from you."
The women bowed and greeted each other. Noah's mother remarked, "I didn't know Viscount Eduard had such a beautiful daughter."
"Your words are very kind, Lady Hilda. But I don't think I have a presence like yours that I am yet to achieve," Marceline's words were refine enough to get the older women's approval.
"Aren't you sweet, why don't you come take a seat. Lady Madge and I were going to step back inside. You can speak to Anaya freely," Lady Hilda stepped away from the small table and walked away from there with the other woman.
Noah said, "I hope you will be able to get the kind of dresses you want. Lady Anaya is a talented woman," he praised the she-wolf, and Marceline's eyes fell on the young woman's dress, which did look different compared to what people mostly wore.
Lady Anaya smiled, "Why don't you take a seat, Lady Marceline."
"Thank you," Marceline nodded and sat next to the she-wolf.
Noah then said, "I will be going now. I need to visit Darthmore as I have been summoned for work there."
Though Marceline wanted to see who Noah was going to be engaged to, at the same time, she had hoped that the man would drop her home. It was why she had earlier said she didn't come in her carriage in the first place.
Unable to keep her thoughts in her mind, Marceline hesitantly said, "Um, my way back home."
Remembering the vampiress didn't have a ride back home, Noah turned to Lady Anaya and asked, "Lady Marceline didn't bring her own carriage. Can you please see to it that it is taken care of?"
"Certainly, Duke Noah," Lady Anaya politely smiled. Marceline watched Noah leave with a slightly sullen face while the she-wolf stared at the vampiress.
Marceline spent time with Lady Anaya, discussing the dress designs for herself. The vampiress didn't find anything special about the she-wolf compared to the other women of the high society whom she had met.
After a while, when they finished talking and started walking towards the mansion's entrance, Lady Anaya asked, "How is your younger sister's governess doing? Ms. Barlow."
"She's doing fine, teaching my little sister and helping her as any governess would do," came the airy words from Marceline. She then asked, "How long are you going to stay in Woodlock. I would like to visit you as much as I can and get the designs done for my dress."
"I will have to go back home with my parents after a month, but I am guessing I will be back again later," Lady Anaya smiled at Marceline and noticed how the expression on the vampiress's face slipped for a moment. She said, "You seem to be well acquainted with Noah."
"Not as well as I would like," Marceline softly laughed. "Just between us women, I was hoping to get to know him better."
"The Duke does have his charms, doesn't he? I am sure anyone who has come across his kindness would feel fortunate knowing him,," the two women's eyes met as they smiled at each other.
The two young women walked out of the mansion, and Marceline wondered if Anaya was taking her for a stroll. When they reached a street where there were many people and carriages were parked, the she-wolf said,
"One of the things about Duke Noah is that he is a down-to-earth and humble person, Lady Marceline," Lady Anaya stopped walking and turned to Marceline, who now held suspicion in her eyes. The younger woman said, "Unfortunately, all the carriages in the Sullivan's mansion are in use, which is why I decided to make sure to see you off in the carriage," she smiled at the end.
"…." Hearing Lady Anaya's words, the smile on vampiress's face fell.
The coachman of the local carriage shouted, "To Skellington, Darthmore, and Raven's towns!"
Lady Anaya waved at the coachman and said to him, "A ride to Skellington," and pulled out a few shillings from her pocket. Turning to Marceline, she said, "You don't have to repay me, Lady Marceline. I hope you reach home safely."
