Alexander-Fyn-Sanguinarian

the fear that had held them in their places was suddenly unleashed.
    They ran at him down the narrow central aisle, others climbed over the pews to come at him from the sides, the women beating him with their fists, the men tumbling over one another to take a clout at him.
    In the mayhem Mrs. Brackett grabbed Evangeline by the hand and dragged her toward the vestry, Mr. Harding hard upon their heels.
    They stood in the vestry doorway watching the assault.
    “He had it coming.” Mrs. Brackett nodded wisely.
    “Serves him right, the great bully.” Mr. Harding looked at Evangeline, his eyes brimming with tears. “Oh, Miss Rutledge, I’m so sorry he harmed you and I was not there to protect you.”
    “It is hardly your place, Mr. Harding. You are not responsible for me. We are all but strangers,” Evangeline said.
    “I don’t feel that way at all.” He grasped her hand and held it to his lips.
    “That’ll do,” Mrs. Brackett stepped in. “Let’s get Miss Evie out of here before that madman comes to his senses and tries to get her back again.” She nodded in the direction of the melee. Raven was starting to get the better of the crowd.
    The vicar rushed toward the vestry at that moment and ushered Sanguinarian 151
    them through, locking the door upon the vampire. He led Evangeline through to his cottage which was attached to the church and into his tiny living room, saying, “There, you’re safe now, Miss Rutledge.”
    Evangeline burst into tears.

    * * * *

    Bent double protecting his head from blows for the last few minutes, Raven managed to struggle upright. After their initial surge of outrage had passed, the villagers began to remember who was the lord and who the vassal.
    “Get back, all of you, do you hear me? Get back!”
    When at last the church stood in silence and Raven looked about him, all that remained of his wedding party was the faces of his two dearest friends and elders looking at him with searing disappointment in their eyes. “I can explain,” he said lamely.
    “I think you had better,” Ethella reproached him.
    When Raven and the Dancers entered the Ravenscroft Inn with Munk following behind them, the landlord stood stoutly with his hands on his hips as if he were about to refuse them service. Then remembering that his lordship had in fact given him ownership of the pub many years ago and at a very good price, too, he bobbed his head at them.
    “Will you sit by the fire, my lord?”
    “No!” all four said at once.
    “Bring red wine,” Raven ordered. They headed toward a scarred old trestle table in the farthest corner from the blazing hearth. There was an open shutter beside the table and Raven leaned across to close it. When their wine was before them Rory raised his clay goblet aloft.
    “Strength in unity.”
    “Strength in unity,” the others intoned.
    “Now, Raven, what has gone wrong here?” Ethella looked him in the eye like a mother demanding answers from an errant child. “What 152
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    did you do to that girl? You disappeared from the gathering last night for quite some time.”
    “I get the impression that the girl has been in castle for a while,”
    Rory joined in. “And is it true that you bought her?”
    Raven looked into his wine cup, suddenly ashamed. “Yes,” he mumbled. “You know how it is with Dominica. I had to marry outside the blood. How else could I get a respectable woman to marry me but to pay for her? Life moves forward, we forget the passage of time. I was thrown into a panic around the Winter Solstice when I received word from my London solicitors that our thirtieth birthday was upon us and I had to marry in order to inherit. The estate has fallen into ruin over the last eight years since our parents died and I have had to deal with Dominica’s increasing madness. You know what my parents were like, they spent and spent with no thought to the future or anyone but themselves. They died and then their bills started coming in, money for this and that, always more than I had to pay out.” He looked at Munk. “I could never have managed without you, Munk.
    Quite suddenly I had to get married at once, so I advertised.”
    “Are you still working for the British government?” Rory whispered.
    “Yes, I have had to,” Raven admitted. “They pay extremely well.”
    “The girl,” Ethella prompted. “You kidnapped her? You raped her?”
    Raven told the entire story from the beginning, sometimes banging his fist on the table