Eve was happy to be back in the Moriarty mansion, teaching Allie in the piano room. But the same couldn't be said about Marceline. The young vampiress was internally freaking out that her brother had chosen a lowly human to be part of their prestigious pureblooded family, ready to sully it.
But that wasn't the issue anymore because Marceline's words were taken with consideration of a grain of salt. The young vampiress asked her mother, Lady Annalise,
"Are you not going to do anything about it, mother?"
Lady Annalise sat in front of the dressing table and in front of the mirror, while a maid combed her long tresses. She replied calmly, "Vincent only said it to irritate you, Marceline. There's no need to fret over such a simple thing."
The smile on Marceline's face had washed away, and she walked to where her mother sat. She tried to make her mother understand, "I know when Vincent is joking and when he isn't. And this time, he is being serious. He introduced that woman, who belongs to Meadow and a low status to be by sister-in-law! Believe me, mother!"
Lady Annalise's lips set themselves in a thin line. She said in a crisp voice, "I will talk to your brother and your father about it. Now, if you will get ready and in your finest dress. You wouldn't want to disappoint the young man now."
Marceline had hoped that this little information would stop her mother and her from leaving the mansion because the place where they were going was where the man her parents had picked for her would be present. She asked,
"Why don't we speak about it now? What if it it true an--"
Lady Annalise gave a stern eye to Marceline and said, "Don't you have faith in me when I said that I will talk to them about it, Marcie? Unless you are trying to get out of this soiree?" The older woman raised one of her thin and fine eyebrows at her daughter.
Marceline bowed, not wanting to disappoint her vampire mother, and she said, "I will get ready right away, mother."
"Excellent," Lady Annalise responded, watching Marceline leave the room.
Lady Annalise shook her head. It was because since she had married Viscount Eduard Moriarty, Vincent and Marceline enjoyed poking and dragging each other with their words. She was sure this was one of many other things going on, and right now, she wanted to focus on Marceline's suitor.
Seeing the maid staring in the direction where Marceline had walked out of the room, Lady Annalise ordered, "You can start working on the hair now."
"Yes, milady," the maid bowed without uttering her thoughts that what Lady Marceline mentioned could be true.
As hours passed in the Moriarty mansion, the women of the Moriarty family had already left to attend the soiree, while Vincent was out at work. During lunch, Allie was taken to the dining room by the mansion's butler, while Eve quietly finished her lunch in peace.
It felt as if nothing had changed since she had visited Berkshire, and somewhere she was glad it was so. Sometimes, no change was better than a bad one, she thought.
Stepping out of the piano room, Eve walked through the corridors, making her way to the library. But on her way, she noticed the Viscount standing at the end of the corridor. She took a small peek, wondering what he was doing as the man didn't move but stood in front of the wall. Only after a moment did she realise that the man stood in front of his first deceased wife's portrait.
"Whose there?" Viscount Eduard questioned after two seconds, and Eve carefully stepped from behind the wall. She bowed, half in greeting and half in apology.
"Forgive me, I didn't mean to spy on you, Viscount," Eve apologised.
The man stared at her and questioned, "Did you finish your work for the day?"
"Miss Allie has gone to have her lunch. I will be continuing it once she returns," Eve replied, feeling his gaze turn heavy on her. She then asked, "Is this Lady Katherina?"
"Yes," the Viscount turned to look back at his deceased wife's portrait, "It is her. It is often rare to find beauty in humans, but she was beautiful in every word. She was taken away too soon.
"I heard about it from Mr. Moriarty. I am sorry for your loss," Eve's words were soft, quick to dissolve in the quiet corridor, as there was no one but them here. She realised that she hadn't come to pass a single servant on this side of the mansion as if they knew not to disturb the Viscount.
"Vincent told you?" Viscount Eduard didn't turn his head to look at Eve, but his eyes did move to the corner on the side where the governess now stood.
"Yes," Eve replied, and she heard the man hum.
For several seconds, the man didn't utter another word, making Eve believe that she should quietly walk away not to disturb him. But just when she had decided to take a step backwards, she heard the Viscount say,
"The supernatural creatures and the humans have been in a never ending cycle of war. Sometimes it is the loss of the supernaturals, or sometimes the humans. Most of the time it is the innocent people who have nothing to do with it. Not the ones who die, but the ones whom they leave behind," his voice sounded grave, barely rising or falling in volume.
He was talking about Vincent and Marceline, Eve thought to herself.
"May I ask you something, Viscount?" She didn't know if it was alright, but it was something she wanted to know.
Eduard Moriarty turned to look at Eve over his shoulder. He said, "What is it?"
Eve pushed the slight nervousness and asked, "Do you regret it?" She then added with a bow, "Forgive me for my impudent question."
"You seem to be as forward as my son with your words. Is it because you have been spending a lot of time in his company or you have always been like this?" The Viscount questioned Eve, while she didn't dare to raise her head. She then heard a soft sigh escape from the Viscount's lips, "Though I lost the first woman I loved, and as selfish as it may sound, if time presented itself back to what we were going to go through, I would do it all over again without hesitation," he then stared at his first wife's portrait.
Eve then excused herself from there, walking back to the piano room. For the rest of the hours, she couldn't help but think about the Viscount and his lost wife. The pain he might be carrying all these years, she wondered how deep the wound could be.
When she finished her work, she stepped out of the mansion and noticed Vincent leaning against the carriage, as if he had been waiting for her.
Eve asked him, "When did you return?" Coming close to where he stood. It was good that he was here, she was yet to mention about the cat.
"A few minutes ago. How has your day been so far?" Vincent questioned her, stretching his hand for her to take and when she did, he kissed the back of her hand. He led her inside the carriage.
"Better than I thought," Eve answered and saw Vincent get inside the carriage with her. "How was your day?" She asked him.
"Good. You have changed me, Eve and I decided to do something good for the families who live in the middle and lower class society," Vincent stated with a solemn face. "The children and a few youngsters will be taken to a little picnic in Harlequin Woods for a two days."
Eve looked at Vincent in doubt and asked, "You don't mean it as a sacrifice, do you?"
Vincent chuckled before staring at her, "The Council will keep an eye on them. You should have some faith in me. False ones will do too. I thought it would be a nice gesture. Besides, Clayton has been on fire as someone tattle tale about how I punished the pesky humans. This will win me points."
After they stared at each other, where Vincent grinned, he ordered his coachman, "Briggs. Take us to Darhtmore."
"Darthmore?" Eve questioned with a frown. Did something happen there? She heard Vincent say,
"There is something you need to know. And see."
