ALLURE OF THE NIGHT (C)

Chapters 211-220

Like many other guests in the mansion, Eve and Vincent walked to Quintin's family dining room.

On their way, Eve saw Allie with her mother and sister. The little girl slightly bowed in greeting and Eve returned it. Lady Annalise only glanced at them, while Marceline offered a sweet smile while taking note of the governess's bland clothes.

The women of the Moriarty family walked past them, which was when Eve's eyes fell on a couple and she quickly stepped behind Vincent. It was the Walsh's whom she had threatened to hit in her umbrella.

Eve turned, ready to walk away, when Vincent caught hold of her wrist. She asked him,

"What are you doing?"

"Thank you for asking my question. Now the answer," Vincent waited for her to reply and uncurled his fingers around her wrist.

"I don't think I am hungry," she replied, subtly looking at Walsh's couple talking to Henry's parents.

Vincent said, "You came here to have lunch, it would be rude to leave. Whom are you trying to avoid?" His curious eyes fell on the Walsh couple. He hummed, "Ah, the man you were going to hit with your umbrella."

It seemed like Vincent knew about this incident too, Eve thought. She would just have to avoid the couple and stay away from their sight.

"What can I say, you are so popular in your catastrophe, that you make me proud," Vincent's eyes twinkled, while she looked slightly worried. "Though it is unfortunate that you didn't whack him with that umbrella of yours. It would have been a sight to remember."

When they stepped into the dining room, Eve heard Henry call her as he approached where she stood.

"Ms. Barlow. I have reserved a seat for you. I would be more than pleased if you would join me for lunch," said Henry, who wanted to spend time with her.

Eve turned to ask Vincent, when she noticed him walking to the right and around the table. She turned back to Henry and nodded.

"This way, please."

Henry led her towards their seats, slightly away from the centre of the long table. The dining room and the table was big enough to accommodate more than thirty people in one sitting. Though Walsh's family sat on the opposite end of where Eve and Henry sat, she felt at ease when Vincent chose to sit in front of her while the other members of the Moriarty family sat at the centre of the table.

With most of them, who had taken a seat, Henry's mother, Mrs. Quintin, turned to Eve and said,

Mrs. Quintin said, "Henry has spoken quite a lot about you, and I can tell that his words did little to no justice to your beauty. Though I must say I am curious how a woman such as yourself was not courted by men."

Vincent picked up his blood wine as if the conversation didn't concern him when in truth, his ears and attention were right there.

"I am passionate about my job and it's what makes me happy," Eve politely responded to the lady of this mansion.

"Only a person who cannot marry would think like that. You must be the only person working in your house, and money obviously doesn't come easy for people in Meadow," Mrs. Quintin stated with a knowing smile, as her son had informed where she came from.

"My employer pays me generously," Eve said, feeling Vincent's eyes on her.

"I do not doubt it," the lady of the house murmured, "Have you attended any soiree before this, Ms. Barlow?" she asked as she picked up a napkin and spread it on her lap.

"I have, Mrs. Quintin," Eve's words were polite.

Mrs. Quintin then leaned towards her son and whispered, "You can have all the fun you want with this one like the others, son. But let us get real, she cannot be part of our family," the woman then smiled, and she picked up her glass to drink the wine.