Music Recommendation: Howl's Moving Castle- Vitamin String Quartet
Apart from Eve and Lady Aubrey, everyone else in Lowe's house were surprised how Mr. Lowe was back on his feet and he looked better in his health.
Lady Paloma was full of smiles, making sure to feed her husband at the dining table, where Theophilus, Lady Aubrey and Eve joined them. The woman of the house raised her glass of wine to toast, "To good health."
"To good health," everyone in the room repeated before taking a sip from their glass.
Lady Paloma said to Lady Aubrey, "I hope you will stay in Berkshire as long as you first decided. It has been a while since your last visit and it would be unfortunate if you left early. Isn't that right, Eve?" She turned to look at Eve.
Eve smiled and said, "I think Aunt Aubrey would be more than happy to agree with your wish, Lady Paloma."
"Eve is right," Lady Aubrey nodded, placing her glass on the table. "I am sure Eugene will manage things just fine in Meadow." As Eve wanted to work in Berkshire, Lady Aubrey wanted to ensure a decent family hired her.
"Wonderful!" Mr. Lowe remarked, "You both seem to hold magic. Especially Eve, since she visited us, I finally started to feel better. Minus coughing the blood," he laughed at the end, and the people in the room laughed too.
Eve replied to Mr. Lowe, "You are giving credit to the wrong person. It is your wife who has been having faith in God that he would improve your health."
"Very rightly said, dear. We should get some more wine," Mr. Lowe raised his glass again and said, "To my dear wife Paloma, who has stood by me."
"To Lady Paloma."
"To Paloma."
When everyone's meal was almost finished, Eve dabbed the napkin on the corner of her lips when Theophilus asked Lady Aubrey,
"Now that things have turned better, Lady Aubrey, can I take Eve out to the centre of the town?"
Lady Aubrey chuckled and said, "You ask for my permission as if you are planning to marry Eve. Eve is a woman, and doesn't need my permission."
Theophilus turned to Eve and asked, "Would you like to join me this evening?"
"I don't see a reason not to," Eve replied, and Theophilus' face brightened as this was his chance!
Late that day, Eve and Theophilus visited the centre of Berkshire. They now walked next to each other on one of the bustling streets. While spared looks at the young man, he was only interested with the one who walked next to him.
Eve asked him, "Theophilus."
"Yes!" An excited voice came from him, that slightly startled her. He quickly cleared his throat. "Yes?"
"Where is your next posting?"
Theophilus, though taller than her, looked like a puppy on hearing Eve's question, "In the South. I wished it was here or on the East side, but those positions have already been filled. I am here for a month before I return."
"You must terribly miss home?" Eve asked, turning to look at him and meeting his eyes.
"I do. But then I think about what a great opportunity it is to serve the King and the Queen. Don't you think so? Even though I haven't personally been able to look at them closely. Because of security," he added. "How about you? I heard you work for a vampire family."
Eve, who was looking around, her eyes fell on something silver. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly looked back but found two women talking to each other.
Noticing Eve stopped walking, Theophilus asked, "Is everything alright, Eve?"
"Ah, yes," Eve's eyes roamed around before she smiled at him. "I am sorry, you were saying?"
Theophilus waved his hand, "It wasn't that important. There is something I want to ask you. Something I wanted to tell you actually."
"Go on," Eve encouraged him while curiously looking at him.
Theophilus brushed his hair repeatedly with his fingers and faced Eve, "Yes, that." He nodded, trying to arrange his words properly so that he didn't seem too rushed but like a dashing man in her eyes. Eve raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to speak, "We have known each other for a long time, right?"
"Yes," Eve replied, tilting her head and asked, "You wanted to talk about it?"
"I think you are an excellent woman, Eve. I mean most people want to get married to a wealthy man, using their looks but you pursued to be a governess," and as Theophilus said this, for a moment, Eve briefly moved her eyes to look at the side, when she stopped listening to the person in front of her.
Eve's eyes fell on the silver-haired vampire not too far from where she stood. He wore a thick black coat with fur around its collar and the lapel. He was talking to a man, who seemed to belong to a person of high status.
The effort she had put in closing the door that belonged to him broke down. Her heart tugged towards him, starting to beat loudly, and she quickly covered her face and turned to the side.
"... and I was wondering if you would like to move our relationship to a closer one?" Theophilus asked Eve.
Eve felt her heart pounding in her ribcage. Missing the intention behind Theophilus's words, she turned to him and said, "We are like brother and sister. I don't think we can share blood with each other and make it blood related." She looked at him, confused while hiding behind Theophilus so that Vincent couldn't see her.
Theophilus coughed, turning slightly embarrassed, and he corrected Eve's words, "Brother and sister...Yes, we are not related by blood." Thank God, thought the man, and he said, "But we can relate ourselves with blood. Like getting married. Husband and wife."
Husband... what?
Eve's eyes widened at Theophilus, and she said, "Wow...I don't know what to say."
When Eve craned her neck, she saw Vincent laughing. Unsure if he was listening in to their conversation or laughing at something the man in front of him said, she heard Theophilus say,
"You don't have to give me an answer right now. Take your time and tell me about your decision tomorrow. But I hope you will consider it thoroughly."
Eve looked back at Theophilus. The Dawsons and the Lowes family had known each other for a long time, and as close and friendly they were, she wasn't sure if it was enough to build a relationship.
Theophilus was a good man, but Eve had never seen him that way, and she found it rather surprising that he had intentions to marry her.
"No hurry. Take your time," Theophilus assured her with a nervous smile.
Eve returned it with an awkward smile before they continued walking around the town. During the same time, she couldn't help but look around the place, searching for Vincent.
She wondered if he was here for some work, considering he was talking to someone earlier. Why would he come looking for her when she knew how things were between them. One of the reasons she packed everything and left as quickly as possible was that she didn't want her heart and thoughts to feel like there was still hope when it came to the pureblooded vampire.
But at the same time, Eve's eyes betrayed her, and she looked for him while her heart sped with just the thought of him.
