Music Recommendation: Piano Sonata in C Major- Ludwig van Beethoven
When the Lowe's servant took Eve's trunk and bag from Noah's coachman, she said to him,
"Why don't you rest a bit and eat something before you ride back?"
"Thank you, milady, but it would be best to return to Woodlock. The Duke would be worried if I didn't return as expected," the coachman politely replied, and he bowed, "If you give me your permission to leave, milady."
Eve gave him a nod, "Thank you again, Kieran. Please convey my thanks to the Duke and Lady Anaya."
"I will, milady," the coachman turned and climbed back on the driver's seat.
Theophilus stared at the fancy carriage leaving the front of his house and commented, "I didn't know you had such high connections, Eve. You must be close with the Duke for him to lend you his carriage."
"He's a good and considerate man," Eve responded.
At Eve's words, Theophilus looked at her with a slight frown and asked, "Is he courting you?"
Eve chuckled at Theophilus's words as they stepped inside the house. . She replied, "Noah and I are good friends for quite some time now. He is just a caring person, and wanted to make sure that I reached Berkshire safely."
The young man nodded, hoping Eve's words were true. As he was already aware, many men were trying to win her affections, and he didn't want to ruin his chance with her. This time, he had decided to ask for her hand in marriage. He said,
"It's so good to see you, Eve. I hope you are going to stay here longer than the last time?"
"Many more than the last time," Eve responded, and the young man beamed in delight. "How are you doing? How is work?"
"Oh, you know. Just the usual. Being a soldier isn't as easy as I thought it to be," Theophilus pushed his brown hair backwards, staring at the beautiful and kind Eve. "You should see me in my uniform."
Eve smiled at the young man's words and asked him, "How is Mr. Lowe doing now?"
Theophilus's smile fell, and he said in a low voice, "Truth to be told, not that good. The physician's gave the medicines they thought may work, but there has been no improvement."
"I am sorry to hear it, Theo," Eve offered her sympathies.
They headed to the room where Mr. Lowe was now resting on the bed, and in the room sat Mrs. Lowe and Aunt Aubrey. Aunt Aubrey looked surprised.
"Father, look who is here. It is Eve," Theophilus said to his father, who looked tired and covered in sweat. The older man turned to look at Eve, and a feeble smile appeared.
Eve quickly walked near the bed and sat on the edge of the bed. She picked up his hand and heard the older man say,
"Feels like you haven't changed since the last time we met. Still the same little girl who Lady Aubrey had got home," there was warmth in his words. "I am happy to see that you are well."
"It is time for you to get well soon, Mr. Lowe," Eve gently squeezed his hand.
"Of course, how can I not feel better now when both you and Lady Aubrey are here," Mr. Lowe replied. "What did you do to your forehead? Fell somewhere again?"
This was something the other people in the room wanted to question too. Eve smiled and gave a nod, "Something like that. I will let you rest."
Lady Paloma had stood up from her chair, and Eve walked around to greet her. The woman hugged her and said, "Why don't you go to your room and change? You must be tired from the journey." She then turned to look at her son and said to her son, "Theo, tell Ann to prepare something for Eve to eat, will you?"
"Right away, mother," Theophilus nodded and left the room.
Aunt Aubrey walked Eve outside Mr. Lowe's room and went to the guest room where Eve's things had been kept. On reaching the room, Aunt Aubrey turned to look at Eve's forehead with concern.
Eve stepped closer to Lady Aubrey and hugged her while placing her chin on the woman's shoulder. She closed her eyes, and silent tears fell from her eyes. Lady Aubrey's dress absorbed some of her tears and some turned into pearls.
Lady Aubrey knew Eve long enough to sense if something was wrong and could hear the young woman's heartbreak.
She quickly placed one of her hands on the back of Eve's head, stroking it gently, "What happened, Eve? Who hurt you?!"
Eve wiped some of her tears with the back of her hand. She could only rely on Aunt Aubrey and Eugene because they were her only family.
"I cannot go back to Meadow. I cannot live there," Eve replied to her aunt's question, who's eyes widened.
"Did they--Did they find out?" Lady Aubrey questioned, and Eve shook her head before pulling away from the woman's embrace.
"No," Eve whispered, and Lady Aubrey wondered what worse could happen. "Rumours spread in the entire town. They thought I was sleeping with men to make money." This was something Aunt Aubrey would eventually find out once she returned to Meadow. Eve wanted to let her know, before she found out about it from another source.
Lady Aubrey's eyebrows deeply furrowed, not liking what she heard and she asked, "Was it Mrs. Edwards?"
Eve gave a nod and said, "She and Mrs. Humphrey and a few others."
Lady Aubrey pursed her lips before placing her hand on the side of Eve's face. "I am sorry that I wasn't there beside you when it happened. Those townsfolk are idiots for not being able to see the truth. We should go to Meadow right away so that I can deal with each of them! How dare they harm you!" the older woman's usual calm face turned disappointed.
"No," Eve shook her head, "They have already been dealt."
Surprised, Lady Aubrey asked, "So fast?" It was the first time a rumour was dismissed this quickly.
"Mm. Mr. Moriarty stopped them before things could go further out of control. He dealt with all of them," Eve assured her aunt, not wanting to go back to Meadow when Aunt Aubrey's friend's husband was ill.
"Oh, bless his soul!" Lady Aubrey remarked, "I am so glad that he's your employer and he's been helping you."
Lady Aubrey felt unsettled at the thought that the townsfolk did something like that to Eve. Eve said to her aunt, "I feel better now that I have seen you."
The older woman smiled, "Me too." Noticing Eve wanting to say something, she asked, "What is it?"
"Because of me you will--"
"Oh, hush now. There's nothing to worry about. What happened wasn't your fault, and you aren't responsible for the thoughts of the townsfolk. People who can't think, it is on them," Lady Aubrey continued to smile at Eve and leaned forward, kissing her forehead.
Eve asked the older woman, "If I say that I want to work in Berkshire, will that be okay?"
She had thought long and hard about it during her three days in the carriage. There were too many benefits when it came to moving away from Meadow. Not only would she be able to start afresh with her life, but she would also be able to keep Lady Aubrey and Eugene out of trouble if she were ever exposed one day.
The townsfolk had been quieted by Vincent, but once they would find out about her secret, they would tear her down with revenge, Eve thought to herself.
Lady Aubrey stared at Eve, before she gave her a nod, "If that is what makes you happy."
Four days passed since Eve had arrived at Berkshire, and her mood started to get better outwardly, but internally, she couldn't let go of some things. Like her feelings for the pureblooded vampire, whom she had run from and it felt like she continued to drown in his abyss.
Eve had been spending time with Mr. Lowe, trying little by little to make him better. One noon, Mr. Lowe's sickness turned to the worst where he started to cough blood. Eve turned to her aunt, who nodded.
Lady Aubrey went to her friend, and placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. She said, "Paloma, why don't we step out of the room a little and pray for his health. Eve can look after him."
"I worry that his time is near," Lady Paloma sounded distressed and softly blew her nose against her white handkerchief. After two minutes, the two older women stepped out of the room, closing the door behind them, leaving Eve alone with the sick man.
Eve quickly pulled the curtains and poured water into two glasses of water. She placed it on the ground so that if someone burst through the room, they wouldn't notice it. She placed her hand on Mr. Lowe's arm and patiently waited for the water droplets to rise in the air where the man lay. The water wasn't as much as the water in the bathtub, but she hoped it would be enough.
The water droplets continued to rise one after another until all of them hung above the man in the air. Soon the drops of water descended inside the man's chest. Eve used her other hand to pull out the illness such that when the clear droplets came out, it was black in colour.
Pulling the droplets one after another, while also paying attention to the footsteps that moved on the other side of the door. The black drops fell into the glasses, one after another until it was filled with black water.
Eve took the glasses out of the room, and poured the black water into one of the flower pots and noticed the plant wilted and dried in seconds.
As expected, when night fell on Berkshire, Mr. Lowe woke up feeling far better than he felt hours ago. The dark circles beneath his eyes had disappeared, and the colour on his face had returned.
