Alexander-Fyn-Sanguinarian

felt exposed and angry that he stood watching her.
    “Get out,” she repeated, and when he did not move she said quietly, “Please go.”
    Raven remained where he was holding out the towel. Realizing he had no intention of leaving, Evangeline snatched it from him and stood up very quickly, covering herself as she did so and climbing out of the tub.
    “Your belongings are there,” he pointed at the small valise she had brought with her only a few days earlier. From it Evangeline took her dressing gown.
    “Will you turn your back at least?”
    “No.”
    After waiting for several more minutes in a dilemma of despair and modesty, she struggled into the dressing gown while unwrapping 98
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    the towel as best she could to show as little skin as possible. Rubbing her hair with the towel and taking her hairbrush from her valise, she went to the fire and sat down in the chair beside it.
    Since Raven had absolutely no manners she refused to display any either. She picked up the large bowl of porridge with honey and milk and began to eat. Raven watched her curiously for a few moments, and then moved back away from the fire and closer to the drafty windows. “Would you open the shutters so I can see better,” she asked.
    He glared at her, reluctantly opening one shutter.
    Wanting to anger and insult him, determined to pay him back just a little for outwitting her, Evangeline remarked, “Where are your shaded spectacles to cover your yellow eyes, my lord? Surely you need them in such powerful, bright daylight.”
    Raven’s eyes narrowed and his teeth bared slightly. “The wedding will take place the day after tomorrow at the church in the village. If you attempt at any time to run away I will thrash you. I will make you regret any such attempts.”
    “I believe that, sir. I believe absolutely any terrible thing you threaten.”
    “Until then you will remain locked up. Be grateful I have brought you some comforts while you are here. I need not have. And there is no one to come to your aid, so don’t bother screaming. You will only annoy me.”
    The bowl empty, Evangeline lifted the silver lid from a plate and found scrambled eggs and sausages with grilled ham. She set upon it without looking at him.
    “Tell me, sir,” she spoke between mouthfuls, without looking up at him. “What exactly are you, a werewolf, a vampire, or some other grotesque anomaly of nature? I should like to know what I am dealing with.”
    He took several steps toward her. “At this moment I am growing angry enough to deny you food for the rest of the day,” he said Sanguinarian 99
    through clenched teeth. “Several days.”
    Evangeline ate faster, afraid he would remove what was before her. “I suppose I cannot stop you and I most certainly would not put such conduct past you, my lord.”
    “As I said, we will marry soon. Until then you will remain here quietly. Munk will wait on you. Do not attempt any tricks of escape, I assure she is very strong and she has my permission to use whatever force is necessary to keep you quiet, including laudanum. You will not deny me my inheritance.”
    The plate empty, Evangeline poured some hot tea. “You would deny me the chance at happiness with a normal husband.” She felt much feistier now she was warm and fed.
    “Normal husband? Who?” Raven sneered. “That little man at the boarding house who wanted to take you to the Zoological Gardens?”
    Evangeline arched an eyebrow. She was not attracted to Mr.
    Harding, but it would do Raven no harm to think she was. “He seemed very pleasant to me. I thought him very handsome.”
    Raven flinched and ducked his head for a fraction of a second, stung by the remark. “He is penniless! He is a bank clerk. What use would he be to you?”
    “What use are you to me?” she demanded. “At least he is an ordinary mortal, the way God meant us all to be. I have no idea what spawned you, but it was not the hand of God.” She rose to her feet to fetch her gown, her long silky hair spilling over her shoulders as it dried in the heat from the fire. “If I wed you it will be kicking and screaming. I will not go willingly. The entire village will see you humiliated, forcing an unwilling maiden to wed you.”
    “And what if I give you no choice, Miss Rutledge?” Raven crossed the room to stand in front of her though she could see the heat of the fire distressed him. He raised a hand to shield his face from the bright warmth.
    “You would drug me