How strange. I thought I felt something- No, don't be ridiculous Evelyn. You have a job the Master ordained you to complete. Now get it done.
Evelyn Poole found herself uneased after locking up her lover in that room. Though she quietly mused and worried about Miss Ives, her thoughts turned to her gallant knight. She and Sir Malcolm had danced and conversed gaily about the lives they lead at Dorian Gray's spectacular ball. How quaint… like a real couple. Evelyn would not deny to herself that she rather enjoyed Sir Malcolm's company. After her last lover, Sir Geoffrey, she had not discovered a new toy to play with that held her attention for more than a one night stand. Granted, her relationship with this man also had to do with the insurmountable mission she had to complete. Miss Ives was key to the Master. She would not fail as others had before.
Sir Malcolm had a ruggedly handsome charm to him-not to mention he had an aura of darkness and regret that perpetually surrounded him. Much like Miss Ives, that irritating Mr. Lyle, and the rest of this godforsaken city, he had lost much and suffered brutality. Evelyn could not resist the fact that this man was quick-witted and certainly had a healthy interest in the opposite sex-at least according to his conquests in Africa.
Evelyn had been alone for centuries. She had her daughters-most of them useless, and she had her lovers-also meaningless, but she did not have a companion. The Master had bestowed eternal youth upon Evelyn years ago and consequently she observed sadly the cruelty of humans. Evelyn lived forever while the world suffered, but she had no one to share this world with. Her beloved Lucifer accompanied her everywhere she went, but she had no man to dance with, no man to laugh with, no man to cuddle with. Yet with Sir Malcolm, she had all of those things.
Evelyn never once questioned her Master nor his desires for he always came before anything else in her life. But Sir Malcolm stirred something deep within the depths of her blackened soul. Something she did not know she still possessed… Love. She had no true love for her daughters for they failed her and she had little patience for incompetence. She had an infatuation and obsession with the fallen angel himself. She had delight in the Verbis Diablo. However, there was no romantic love that she could experience. Her Master kissed her and promised her greatness and eternal youth. But Sir Malcolm promised companionship. Friendship. But she could not let herself give in.
Why had he been able to break the love spell she placed on him that day? Was it because of his own willpower, his suspicion? Or was she not attractive enough? Hecate had alluded to the fact that her age showed more than it had before in recent years. Perhaps she could no longer seduce men the way she had? No. No. Lucifer granted her beauty that would not fail her just as she would not fail him.
Had the circumstances been different and he were not associated with Miss Ives, she might have actually stayed with him and shared eternity with him-never mind his estranged wife for she was fat and carried about as much grace as an elephant did. He certainly had the means to provide for her somewhat hedonistic life style and enough sex drive to fulfill her lust. There was no question, Sir Malcolm was everything Evelyn looked for in a man. But, he just had to put his loyalty to Miss Ives before his own desires.
Pity, really. What she had to do to a man who actually genuinely made her feel something. Well, the Master did not employ her skills for no reason. She alone would bring glory to His name. She would not fail him.