Author- Chapter 1 and 2 of this book has been turned into comic and posted on the 'Webtoon' app, if you want to look at it ^^ Thank you <3
With the pale-colored shawl covering Marceline's head, which also hid the intricate embroidery around the collar of her dress, she slowly walked with careful steps, her dull red eyes searching for the right person. She entered the bustling market, and when she caught sight of a familiar face, she made her way to the man.
"Excuse me, do you know where Dawson's house is?" Marceline inquired.
"If you take a right from the front, it comes three streets away from here," replied the man, noticing the woman's face peek through the covered shawl. He said, "Right now, there's no one at Dawson's house. What business do you have with them? I would be happy to pass the message, milady."
The vampiress stared at the human, wondering if he could do the job she had in her mind. She had heard from one of her servants that he was interested in the lowly governess, and considering the lowly woman and man weren't married, she could only guess that the woman had rejected him.
Marceline pursed her lips before she said, "This is something I have been told to relay personally to Ms. Barlow."
Hearing Eve's name, Mr. Humphrey's eyebrows raised in curiosity, and he stated, "Ms. Barlow isn't here right now, and she might return late--"
"As I thought," Marceline murmured with a frown, which caught the man's attention.
Mr. Humphrey felt like he had seen this woman before, but he couldn't tell where and now that Eve was brought up, he decided to think about the latter.
"Is everything alright...?"
Marceline shook her head, "Nothing is alright. Not since that woman showed up to work as a governess in the mansion I work. My Mistress is upset and maybe it's better I don't speak about it with you."
But Mr. Humphrey turned curious about what was going on about the woman he was so in love with and wanted to marry her. He looked left and right and lowly said, "You don't have to worry about me, I am very good at keeping secrets," he actioned locking his lips.
But that wasn't what Marceline wanted, and internally she clicked her tongue in displeasure. She needed to provoke him, and just as the thought passed by her mind, a woman appeared at the place.
"Patrick!" It was Mrs. Humphrey who walked in haste to where her son stood.
When the woman reached where they stood, she demanded from her son, "Why aren't you at work? I didn't know you were going to drop by for lunch."
Patrick Humphrey offered a tight smile to his mother, who stared at him for answers in confusion. He answered, "I decided to leave early. I am on vacation now."
"Vacation?" Mrs. Humphrey's eyebrows furrowed and she asked, "What for? Are we going somewhere?"
After seeing Eve off in the local carriage this morning, Mr. Humphrey had meant to go to Quintin's mansion. But the elderly man at the local carriage, who had remarked to stop working for Quintin's family, had gathered a few more people, which had ended up with him not being able to go to his work. He couldn't afford to let his family or the people of his town know about what he had done.
On noticing a woman standing next to her son, Mrs. Humphrey looked at her and questioned, "Who is this, Patrick?"
Marceline watched the way the lowly woman continued to question her son in a shrill voice that made her wince. She said in a low voice, "I work for one of the reputed families in Skellington and am here to talk to Ms. Barlow. But it seems like I will have to come back later."
Mrs. Humphrey's eyes narrowed in curiosity, and asked, "Ms. Barlow and we are close. Most of us are in this town. I am sure you can tell us."
Marceline noticed the glint of eagerness in the lowly woman's eyes as if wanting to know more about the tea she wanted to spill. Seems like she had found a gossipmonger, and she shook her head before saying,
"I do not know how to tell you, but my Mistress's marriage is at stake with my Master. Ms. Barlow has been... I don't... I feel embarrassed just by talking about it."
Patrick and his mother were taken aback before their suspicions were confirmed. Mrs. Humphrey knew that something was going on! Not to mention, Mrs. Edwards had told her quite clearly that Eve had different carriages, picking and dropping her home! As his mother, Patrick's assumption came out to be true about last night, and he blurted,
"Was it because of last night?"
Mrs. Humphrey and Marceline turned to look at him, and the older woman questioned, "What happened last night?"
Patrick looked apprehensive about sharing the details. It was because he wanted Eve to be his wife; if they did marry, he would have to honour her reputation.
"Did my master meet her last night?" Marceline tried to throw a stone at the well to see the depth of it, and noticing the man's expression, she couldn't believe she had found a pot of gold here. Who knew that her demure and modest governess was actually doing things behind people's backs. How interesting! She internally smiled at the thought of it.
"Patrick! How could you have not told me about this?! When did this happen?" Mrs. Humphrey demanded from her son with wide eyes.
"I wasn't sure if what I saw was true," Patrick said in a doubtful voice.
"How can you not be sure? Either you saw a man with Genevieve or didn't," his mother glared at him.
Patrick's mind quickly raced at the thought that Eve was the only one who knew in this town that he worked for the Quintin's. Now that her characterless character was out, he didn't see a reason to take her side but save himself.
Not wanting to admit that he was drunk the previous night and had visited Eve's house, he quickly covered by saying, "There was someone whom she met past midnight. It was in one of the streets here."
Mrs. Humphrey scoffed at this, "I cannot believe that I was hoping to have a woman like her as my daughter-in-law. She behaves as if she is above us, not accepting your proposal and behaving immorally!"
Marceline watched the duo talk to each other, and she decided to blaze the fire she had started. She said,
"My Mistress had her doubts before she found out what this woman, who poses to be governess, did to my master. I am not one to gossip, but I came here so that this governess could stop working for us for good. I heard from another woman that she tried to do something similar with her husband too."
Patrick couldn't believe that Eve would do something so low. It seemed like she was rejecting his proposal only because she wouldn't be able to earn money by sleeping with men. Right now, the very thought of her disgusted him. He would never marry a woman sleeping around, like a dirty piece of cloth being passed from one man to another.
Marceline covered one side of her face with her hand and expressed her sorrow, saying, "I don't know how to save my Mistress's marriage. They have a little son, who is no older than a year. Only if she could quit working in the mansion."
Mrs. Humphrey's face held a deep frown and he placed her hand on Marceline's shoulder, making the vampiress grit her teeth in disgust. The older woman said,
"You don't worry about it. Me and the other few respectable people of Meadow will make sure she will never step foot in your Mistress's mansion or break anymore marriage. A woman of that character needs to be severely punished for adultery."
Marceline took a step backwards so the lowly woman could drop her filthy hand from her shoulder. The vampiress looked at the mother and son and said,
"Thank you. My Mistress will be forever in debt for your kindness and for saving her marriage."
As Marceline walked away from the duo, with her back facing them, she heard the human woman's words,
"Genevieve has been throwing mud into our eyes, behaving as if she is innocent and pure, when this is the truth. A woman like her has not just brought shame to her family but our entire town! And one would think why Meadow isn't as sought as the other towns," harrumphed Mrs. Humphrey. "Let me see what to do about it."
Hearing these words, Marceline smiled and walked towards the edge of the town, where her carriage was waiting for her.
She had fulfilled the purpose of coming here. Now it was time to wait. If there was one thing she knew, the ire and lack of respect of the society could chase one out of the town.
Patrick asked his mother, "We should inform Lady Aubrey about it and write--"
Mrs. Humphrey shook her head and said, "You won't be doing anything as such." Because Eve was educated, the woman looked down upon the Humphrey family. Mrs. Humphrey wanted to ensure this one was worth it and said, "I will be visiting Mrs. Edward's house."
