Eva's Sins.

XIX

  "A young fire melted the glacier in my heart and I am not afraid of being completely burned by its flames"

  With the arms crossed on his chest, Brain continues to stay in front of the window, while looking at the group of black crows that are flying in circles below the weak sun of January.

  He was much more worried now than he had been when he came home and this restlessness was something that he disliked. He always tried to keep his love affairs far away from this house, but this time it was inevitable. And also, he felt guilty with Sophie, because he knew that he was betraying her, in some way, and this was something that he couldn't avoid anymore.

  When he started to court Eva, three months ago, he thought that this would be just something that he lived and before, but it turned out to be more important than he could imagine and this something was scaring him too. The feelings in his chest were growing up as days went by and he didn't know how to manage all this. He felt kept in a carousel of fate and this carousel wasn't the path toward achieving his goal of taking revenge on Alfred Stonebridge. It was the path of foolishness that each in love had taken at least one time in his life and this also made Brian be weak.

  The one who had much to gain was Christine as always. She knew what Brian was trying to do, but she decided just to sit on the sidelines and to wait, and her wait bore fruit soon.

  One day, while she was participating in a meeting organized by a certain Madame X, Christine found out in amazement that Brian Beneath has a new love affair and it couldn't be anyone else than Eva.

  Even if Brian tried to keep everything a secret, the XVIIIth Century Society wasn't blind, and sooner or later his secret had to reach the ears of the one who had to listen to all this. So, Christine listened to it, smiled and right after arriving home that day, she sent a letter to Brian, asking him to accomplish his word and not to participate in the reunion where will be discussed the new owner of the Cuban Tobacco trade. And Brian saw himself forced to do it, only not to disrupt Eva's future, but he failed.

  The same rumors got at Edward's ears too, and his father-in-law wasn't too happy to hear that Brian was involved in such intrigues only for having feelings for another woman than his daughter. They argued that day and Edward even threatened Brian with an affair of honor, but Edward's hands were also tied because he accepted Brian's conditions when he married his daughter and one of those conditions stipulated that Brian is free to have any woman he wants if Sophie won't be able to give him a son.

  After the quarrel was finished, Brian left Edward's house in a hurry, but all of a sudden, he saw himself forced to meet John Evan's anger too.

  John was just arriving at Edward's house when Brian exited it and was walking toward his carriage. Still being in the carriage, John madly yelled at Brian to stop and Brian couldn't just turn his back and leave.

  "You stabbed my back, Brian Beneath," shouted John Evans, and his eyes were spitting fire, of so much anger he had inside. "You know that I won't stay still while you and that mad Christine Bircham are trying to ruin me. I better kill you both first, than to see myself ashamed and kneeled". Saying these words, John entered the house and Brian decided that it would be stupidity to follow him. So, he got in the carriage and demanded Bardain to go to "Red Ants". He wanted to see Eva and he wanted it because he knew that only by seeing her, he would calm down and would be able to think about what to do.

  But he changed his mind on the road and asked Bardain to bring him back home. And his decision was related to his feelings: he decided that he shouldn't involve Eva in this. She's too young and too innocent to pass through it. He didn't want her to feel guilty and also, he didn't want her to know about his wife.

  Eva was in love and she wasn't listening to the loose tongues whisper. She was too blind to hear anything around and she trusted Brian, and only because of this Brian didn't want to deceive her.

  Their meetings were always secret, at least at the beginning. He took her to visit Paris and Amsterdam, and other important European cities, and he was doing it while he was traveling for business. But the too naive Eva thought that he was doing this only for her. In time she found out that she was only accompanying him and she cried in silence. She felt betrayed, but she also quickly found an excuse for him: "he's a business person, he's too busy, but he finds time for me too. It's because of this he is taking me with him".

  One day, when one of Beneath's accountancy called her Miss Anderson, Eva didn't understand what was going on. She answered quickly that her name is Eva Stonebridge and she doesn't know any Miss Anderson and that he probably confused her with someone else. And the man quickly retreated his words when he saw Brian approaching them and he understood that he made a mistake and just saying a simple "please, excuse me, Miss," he left.

  At her question "who's Miss Anderson?" Brian felt that he got flustered and mumbled that he doesn't also know who that person could be. And Brian felt guilty after saying this. He didn't want to lie to Eva, but he also didn't want to lose her. And because of this, they started to show up together at many social events, and in time the whispers stopped and Eva was accepted only as Brian's lover. Nothing more.

  Some of the older women were sad because of the poor 17-year-old girl. They were sorrowful because she hadn't a mother to teach her about the world and she hadn't a father to protect her for shame, and they also were blaming Brian for taking advantage of Eva's youth, of her beauty and innocence, but something in their voice was telling to the world that they were simply envious with the position that Eva was occupying in Brian's heart.