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in frustration, sometimes avoiding their eyes in embarrassment. Evangeline had been unwilling to marry him from the start. She found him alien and ugly. He admitted to kidnapping her twice. He admitted to frightening her on purpose. He had locked her in the east tower, yes, but he knew she needed warmth, which he had seen to. He had ensured she was supplied with foods which he personally found disgusting. What more could he do?
    “Did you rape her?” Ethella persisted.
    “No!” he said.

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    “Is that the truth, Raven?” Rory asked looking into his eyes.
    “It is true. I did not rape her.”
    Ethella reached out to rest her hand upon his. “Then why does she say you did?”
    Raven emptied his cup and filled it again. “I threatened to ruin her if she tried to escape me again, and she did. Last night at Court everything was going so well, I was so happy. Dominica was at her best. Munk told her the wedding would be announced and she seemed to accept it. Then Munk saw Evangeline. She had escaped the tower. I suspect now that Dominica had something to do with it. I wanted to frighten Evangeline into obeying me, so I told her I would ruin her if she tried to escape again. Then no man would have her and she would have to marry me.”
    “That was wrong, Raven,” Rory told him sternly. “You behaved very badly.”
    He moaned, his head in his hands. “I know, but I was desperate.”
    “What happened last night?” Rory persisted.
    “I threw her on the bed and lay on top of her,” he said quietly.
    “She fainted because it seems I disgust her beyond measure. I suppose when she awoke she thought the deed was done, but it was not, I swear.”
    “And if she had not fainted?” Ethella asked.
    “I don’t know,” Raven admitted. “Once she fainted I left her alone and came back to Court . I sent Munk to see to her. I was desperate to make her obey me, at least until after the wedding. After that, after she had a child, she could do as she wished. I was prepared to give her anything she wished to make her happy. Now the whole village thinks I am a monster.” He sank his head into his hands. “I have only a few more days and my fortune will be lost. I need my fortune, our people need it. What can I do?”
    “Court her,” Ethella said. “You have some time left in which to court her.”
    Raven looked up sharply. “Court her?”

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    “Yes, woo her, seduce her.”
    “What? You mean bring her flowers and sweetmeats?” He shuddered.
    “Yes, but more than that, you must apologize for your behaviour.”
    “Apologize?” Raven burst out so loudly that every head in the taproom turned round. “She has defied me, she has run away from me. She has told me I am ugly and overly tall, she called me unnatural. She has assaulted me twice. She said she despises me.”
    “She really does need a good whipping,” Munk joined in. “To treat such a man as his lordship so shabbily! I wanted to thrash her myself.”
    “The child must not be thrashed,” Rory said. “Ethella is right, Raven. Threats and coercion are not our way. You must win the girl’s heart. There is no other way. You must court her.”
    Raven spread his hands helplessly. “How? How does one court a lady? I have never done such a thing.”
    “You have known ladies over the years, Raven. You are nearly thirty.”
    “I have never courted one, merely taken what was on offer,” he said reasonably.
    “If you do not know how to approach Evangeline as a lover then we must assist you,” Rory said.
    “Most important,”—Ethella looked straight at Raven, waiting like a mother until he met her eyes—“you must not lose your temper. You have always been quick to anger. You have always been hotheaded.
    Now, I know you have had a lot of responsibility thrust upon you. A family name to preserve. A fragile sister to look after. An estate with hundreds of tenants to see to. And you are a leader in the vampiric community, but still, that is no excuse.” She shook a finger at him.
    “Now, let us make a plan of approach. You must win Evangeline’s heart.”

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Chapter Eleven
    Evangeline sat in the tiny parlour of the vicar’s little cottage, having finally got rid of the vicar himself, who had gone to tidy up the church after the fiasco of the wedding. The landlady and young Mr.
    Harding had gone at last to rent rooms at the Ravenscroft Inn.
    “I thought I was seeing the angels themselves when you all