Alexander-Fyn-Sanguinarian

eyes met. Raven could not resist a grin as hers widened in horror at the sight of him.
    “Miss Rudge?” Young Mr. Harding came up behind her and took her elbow. “Are you ill? You look decidedly white.”
    Evangeline looked at the young man, then back at Raven, who slid back into the alley, into the shadows where, with his black cloak shrouding him, he disappeared. Later would do just as well as now.
    He refused to tussle on the street with some silly young man even though he knew he could send the lad rolling into the gutter with one thrust of his hand.

    * * * *

    After waiting and watching all afternoon, growing increasingly irritated with Evangeline for not venturing out again, Raven decided it was time to go in and get her. He knew which room she was in, having seen her from a distance looking anxiously out of the corner window throughout the afternoon.
    He stood now in the rear garden of the boarding house, protected from passersby by the high garden wall. Hodder, unhappy and very 88
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    nervous, refused to move away from the gate. The man had been most unwilling to accompany him on the actual abduction, yet dared not voice it.
    Raven glanced up at the moon which gave far more light than he needed to examine the back door. It would be bolted from the inside by now. Pushing against it and trying the latch he found his suspicions correct. He stood back looking up at the house, wondering how easy it would be to scale it. His long reach had always made climbing easy, and his exceptional eyesight gave a clear outline to every possible foot and handhold.
    “Sir, might I make a suggestion?” Hodder whispered, his agitation apparent in his stumbling speech.
    “If you must,” Raven replied with irritation.
    “What’s wrong with knocking on the front door, sir? Normal people do it all the time.”
    Raven peered down at him in the darkness, seeming to grow taller still. “Normal?” he questioned very quietly.
    “What I mean, my lord, is regular people, you know, sir, just
    ...just people...” Hodder’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Most people knock on front doors as a first choice and scale the outside of the house as a last resort, my lord.”
    “Do they indeed? Go back to the carriage, take it around the front door, and be ready to leave when I have Miss Rutledge. I will bring her down the front stairs,” Raven ordered and watched as Hodder quickly left the garden, looking immensely relieved.
    Deciding it was time to proceed, he climbed onto a window ledge and began to scale the house. It took him only minutes to reach the window of the small parlour which Evangeline had abandoned for her bed just half an hour since. It was locked, presenting no more than a small obstacle to his folding penknife. Inside he scanned the room, the light from the glowing hearth making him squint.
    In his soft leather boots his step was completely silent both on the floor boards and on the rug as he made his way to the bedroom.

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    The two women lay sleeping in the wide bed, Mrs. Brackett flat on her back snoring loudly, Evangeline curled up quietly beside her.
    The trick was to lift Evangeline from the bed without disturbing the older woman and then to keep Evangeline silent while he left the house. He was loath to drug her and at the last moment had declined the offer of chloroform from the proprietor of the Black Cross where he had gone to inquire about her before leaving for London.
    Silently he stepped over to the bed and very gently lifted her up into his arms. She was soundly asleep and had it been a warm night she may not have woken until he put her in the carriage. However, the room was chill and the cool air closed around her bare feet, working its way through her cotton nightgown. They were on the landing outside the room when her eyes fluttered open and she clutched at herself to ward off the chill. Raven instantly dropped her legs and clamped his hand over her mouth before lowering her sufficiently for her feet to touch the ground.
    The struggle began at once, inflaming his anger, though she was no match for his great strength. Had he not tripped on the stairs and had to release her in order not to injure them both, they would have been outside without a sound. Raven had no trouble controlling her physically but once he lost his grip on her she screamed at the top of her lungs.
    They went from silence to screams, shouts and doors banging open in seconds. They went from being alone to