Alexander-Fyn-Sanguinarian

around Evangeline’s chair as her eyes fluttered and she began to moan.
    “I’ll kill you for doing this to her,” Raven told Harding.
    “I don’t feel very well,” she mumbled. Her eyes settled on Harding. “Mr. Harding, where am I? What induced you to do this?
    Was it ether?” She spoke in fragments, still under the influence of the anesthetic.
    “It’s all right, Evie, you’re safe, my darling,” Mr. Harding assured her.
    “Vicar!” Her eyes came to rest on the young clergyman.
    He smiled. “Miss Rutledge, I’m so sorry this has happened.”
    “I was asleep, but I felt so cold. Where am I?”
    The vicar laid his hand upon hers. “Mr. Harding brought you across the moor. You are in the village, at the vicarage. You’re safe now.”

    262
    Fyn Alexander
    “But why? I was not in danger at Castle Haven.” As she struggled to sit up straight her eyes settled on Raven. “My lord? How did you get here?”
    “See, vicar? She’s terrified of him,” Harding pointed out.
    “All is well, Miss Rutledge, we will get reinforcements if necessary,” the vicar said.
    “What are you talking about?” Evangeline looked at Harding and the vicar then threw her arms around Raven’s neck, clinging to him.
    “He kidnapped me. I didn’t want to go.”
    Raven pulled her into his chest. “There now, my dear, I know, I know. You wouldn’t go to the end of the lane with that idiot given the choice. It’s me you want, isn’t it?”
    “Yes. Oh, my lord, I have missed you these last few days. I had no idea how much until Mr. Harding arrived. You were right, I could never settle for an ordinary man after knowing you.”
    Both the vicar and Mr. Harding watched the exchange in dismay.
    “See what I mean, vicar, he’s already turned her. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. I tried to look at her neck to see where she’d been bitten but she fought me off like a demon. We need to get her a doctor immediately.”
    Evangeline sat back, coming to herself at last. “Have you gone completely mad, Mr. Harding? For goodness sake, look.” She unbuttoned the front of her nightgown and pulled it back to give them a clear view of her neck, and then she lifted her hair so they could see all around.
    “There are no bite marks, Mr. Harding,” the vicar pointed out.
    “He might have bitten her somewhere else. He’s demon enough to do it.” Harding was red in the face, his eyes wild and shining.
    Evangeline pulled her nightgown back in place and began buttoning it up quickly. “You’re not looking anywhere else.”
    Raven took her hands in his. “Evangeline, I love you. Marry me, darling child. I will not allow you to refuse me.”
    “But it’s too late,” she said. “You had your birthday. Your Sanguinarian 263
    inheritance is lost irrevocably.”
    He shook his head. “I care not. I will manage, there are always ways to manage. I’ll take care of you, of everybody on my moors.
    When will you realize that I love you, that I need you in my life. How can I make you understand that I will not live without you?”
    Her eyes brimmed with tears. “My dearest lord,” she whispered.
    “Marry me, Evangeline, marry me this minute.”
    “Oh, my lord.” She fell into his arms again. “Yes, if you’ll still have me. There is no other man in this world I could love as much as I love you.”
    Mr. Harding was beside himself. He got to his feet and went for the poker. It was hot from the fire and he advanced on Raven, holding it aloft, ready to strike. The vicar and Raven disarmed him between them. Raven held the struggling young man on the floor while the vicar went through the pockets of his coat and pulled out the ether.
    Together they anesthetized him.
    “That’ll teach him,” Evangeline observed.
    Raven stood up brushing off his hands while Evangeline slipped her arms around his waist. Her face rested somewhere against his mid-chest. “Do you love me, my little loveheart?” he asked.
    Evangeline smiled at the endearment. “Yes, my lord, I love you.”
    “Marry us right now, vicar,” Raven ordered.
    The vicar glanced about him. “But there are no witnesses, and the young lady is in her nightgown.”
    Raven stroked her hair. “Do you mind being married in your nightgown, my pet?”
    “I don’t mind at all. I have been a fool. I knew days ago that I could not live without you. Let’s marry before either of us does anything foolish again.”
    “Sit down, both of you,” Raven ordered. “I’ll bring