“The intelligence of a woman can be compared with the breath of Nature: softly and sharp”.

“Why are you here, Mister Beneath?” Ms. Evans asked Brian.

“To seduce you,” was Brian’s simple answer and this produced on Ms. Evans’ face a sweet smile.

“What for and to whom is convenient this Romance?” said Beatrice, while chatting up Brian.

“I’ve been sent here by Christine Bircham. She is interested now to enter the elections for the bishop and this way also to control the Church.”

“And what is your reason for being here, Mister Beneath?”

“Freedom. For me and for what is mine, but she has power on that person and I’m weak in front of her right now”.

“And that person’s name is Eva Stonebridge, isn’t it?

“And you are right. As smart as you always have been, Beatrice, but what you don’t know is why I did what I did to John and why he lost control over the Cuban Tobacco trade. The one who…”

“I know to whom it was convenient that business ...” said Beatrice and getting up from her chair she approached the window. “... but it isn’t something that bothers me right now. I never liked that business for the simple reason that Emma Foster was there and now, when John isn’t involved in this anymore, I’m so calm. But it doesn’t mean that I’ll stay calm and wait to see how Christine is trying to destroy my husband and this way to destroy me” and now Beatrice was piercing Brian with her dark-brown eyes.

She’s a beautiful woman, even if she’s about 45 already, with curling blonde hair and a sexy silhouette even at that age. In time, her blonde hair got a reddish hue, without spoiling her former beauty, but it wasn’t a reason for her to not be afraid to lose in front of another woman.

Beatrice’s biggest regret was and is that she couldn’t be a mother, and because of this she understands why Brian is so interested in Eva right now: she can give him the child he so many desires and she was seeing her husband, at the same age, in this young man's presence. But despite John’s attempts with other women, he never succeeded to have an heir and he never accepted that it wasn’t his problem. He always blamed women for being barren and even if he was already about 50 and more, he was still attempting it, but without success.

“Does she know why are you next to her? I mean, does Eva know why you chose her? About your revenge,” asked Beatrice after a short silence.

“This isn’t revenging anymore, Beatrice and it stopped being one at the moment I had that girl’s head touching my chest. I apologize if it sounds rude, but it’s the truth”.

“But she won’t think the same if she finds out about it. You know that women are sensitive to such things. It will be better if you tell her about…”

“I’ll tell her when she will be my wife,” answered Brian.

“Your wife? I don’t think Sophie thinks the same,” said Beatrice and she again sat down in front of him. “Don’t do something you can regret later, Brian. Sophie for you is the future, while this Miss is only the present”.

“But I love her! And…”

“Love is something untouchable, Mister Beneath, while fortune is. Tell me, are you ready to leave everything behind you only to be with the one that makes your heart tremble like a leaf in the wind?”

“You can’t compare the benefits of living with the ones of death, Miss Evans. And you are the last person who can recommend me this because you lived the same next to John Evans. I was always dreaming of being someone’s beloved person, to have a child, to have a family, and not returning home as if I entered the kingdom of Iceland and when I’ve tasted this sweet drink, I don’t want to stop drinking it”.

“But you will be forced to do this, Brian: by society, by Sophie and in the end by yourself, when you will understand that you can’t live this life only feeding yourself with illusions,” answered Beatrice and she fixed her glance on a blind spot on the wall. “Do you think I never intended to leave all this, to leave it behind me and to run? I did this so many times, especially after understanding that it wasn’t me the guilty one for what was happening, but I always came back, because I understood that the one who abandoned his home is the one blamed, and not the real criminal”.

“But I am ready to take this risk, Miss Evans, because I know that it has already been so long since I’ve just waited for a miracle, and if I step back now, I won’t ever have the chance again to live it and Eva doesn’t also deserve to live like this. I don’t want a future for her like my mistress. I want her to be next to me, as my wife, but I can’t fulfill this until she's out of Christine's power”.

“Christine, Christine, Christine. I’m so tired of hearing this name so much these days. And … with what she’s controlling Miss Stonebridge this time?”

“Eva is her slave, we can say since she was sold by her father to the “Red Ants”.

“Sold?” asked Beatrice and in her voice was heard a trace of misunderstanding. “I knew that Alfred Stonebridge was a jerk, but I never knew that he’s so miserable. How could he …”

“He did this because of me. And of course, because he needed to pay his debts at poker.”

“Is it because of what happened between your father and Helen Walker so many years ago?”

“Partially, but the rest is because he doesn’t want to accept me as part of his family. For him, it was much more acceptable to see his daughter as the lover of many, than as being my wife, but I am determined to kneel him and to take her from him.”

“But you don’t know how to defeat them both: Alfred and Christine”.

“I must accept this as being the truth,” said Brian while looking at his shoes. He feels guilty for telling such things to Ms. Evans, but he hasn’t any other person to whom to talk to about all this and being a woman, he waited of her that she could find a method to destroy Christine because right now his dream wasn’t anymore only to be released of her power: he wanted her dead and to kneel her and he wanted this right now.

“All right then. If this is your last decision then let's kneel Christine and if possible, get rid of Luis Chesterman too, because this devil is breathing down my neck for so long and I’m tired of bearing him anymore”.