It had not escaped Victoria’s attention that Vail had rolled his shoulders where he was shot. She wondered how long it took for a vampire to heal. So many questions, so little time to fit in a short walk. However, he did seem to have a more energetic look about him. She limped slightly from the pain in her grazed knees. She was glad he was walking her home. She was fortunate this night. She knew this was reckless and dangerous but having no prospective future that entailed freedom, she didn’t have that much to lose if she did die. At least she could say she died trying to find her father’s murderer.

Vail seemed to struggle with the maths, which indicated that he hadn’t thought about his age for a while. Though she wasn’t exactly expecting two hundred and eleven.

“Two hundred and eleven?!” She gasped quietly in shock. “You don’t look any older than twenty…” She was gobsmacked. How was it even possible to live that long. She surmised that if had no partner, it must be a very lonely existence for him. No wonder he shut people out, maybe he didn’t want to let anyone too close to his heart. If he had lived two hundred years, he must have had some stories. “Wow…you must have seen a lot in your time.” She blinked in disbelief still unable to comprehend that he lived through the entire century of seventeen hundred to eighteen hundred. He had seen humanity progress in vast amounts. Through the renaissance and into the Victorian era. He had seen England and Scotland unite in 1707. He had heard the news that Sir Edmund Halley proved the periodic return of comets in 1759. He had seen Watt's steam engine and Arkright's spinning mill invented in 1769. He had been around when all these amazing things happened in human historic milestones. She was somewhat envious of the longevity a vampire had. Perhaps that Saint was correct in saying she was a vampire sympathiser. This was rare in humans and thought as blasphemous. Her name would soon be dragged through the mud. 

She knew she would regret saying he could ask her any question. As soon as he mentioned her betrothed, she instantly froze. That word left a bitter taste on her mouth. To her, he was no such thing. “Please don’t call him [i]that[/i]……and..…he is nothing but a bully.” She was honest and she didn’t seem pleased to even talk about him. “I don’t like him at all.” She told Vail outright with a sigh. “He’s arrogant, presumptuous and thinks that women can’t do anything for themselves.” She almost growled talking about him. “But something tells me you already know what he’s like. You two had that altercation at the party.” Lady Victoria was always the observant one. One had to be in this day around nobility, never knew when you would feel a dagger in your back. She didn’t want to bore him with any more details regarding her arranged marriage about how he was making threats and clearly just after her family’s estate for himself. This was her problem and hers alone to deal with. Nobody was obligated to help her out and nor did she expect anyone to. Though it would be nice to actually have a friend who cared for once. That wasn’t likely.