Background Summary: born in the early 1880s in southern England, landed gentry adored only (surviving) child of her parents married at 17 so a man presumed in his early 30s, Francis turned by said husband, who was actually around a century old, two years later travelled with him for his work, he traded in books quickly distanced from mortal society, but also stayed fairly isolated from vampire society, despite her husband's higher ranking position and frequent socialising having grown up in the countryside without many peers, she did not find this out of the ordinary for a while, especially for a married woman...or was it? eventually, his trips became longer and longer, until they frequently spent years apart; have not seen each other in a decade now has been working as a librarian at Keble college for about seven years now, originally joined the Bodleian book restoration team (still works there part-time) sired Rae shortly after she joined Keble (roughly five years ago), partially out of loneliness, partially out of fascination with the free-spirited, modern girl Backstory: Geneviève de la
Fontaine was born in the early 1880s and is the only one of her siblings to
survive childhood. As members of the landed gentry, she lived with her parents on
their country estate in the south of England. Her father welcomed the proposal
of marriage by the higher-ranking French nobleman and after hearing nothing but
praise about his accomplishments, the family decided to accept. Geneviève and
Francis were married a week after her seventeenth birthday and left immediately
for their honeymoon. This was the last time she would see her mother. Her husband’s work
as a book trader required that they spent a lot of time abroad, or so he explained
to her. There always seemed to be a lot of important meetings and dinners,
usually at someone else’s home, but sometimes, they would host. Eve enjoyed
these evenings a lot, even though the conversations seemed to focus much more
on politics than on books. As the lady of the house, her days were spent
reading, looking after the home – or more accurately, supervising their two
maids – and talking walks in the park. Francis thought it important that she
continue her education, so he personally selected and supervised her reading. To
pass the time, she learned to look after and restore some of the more precious,
older books in his collection. Their small home library became her sanctuary
when her husband’s temper suffered due to the professional pressure a man of
his standing, of course, regularly finds himself under. Geneviève understood,
she had been raised to do so. And everyone who knew them could attest that
Francis was utterly devoted to her. They were a good match in wealth and
standing, even their blonde hair and fair skin complemented each other so well.
Children had not graced them yet, but surely, that was only a matter of time. A few months into
their marriage, while they were renting apartments in St. Petersburg, Geneviève’s
mother passed away unexpectedly. They travelled home for her funeral, but
despite her begging, her husband’s work did not allow for them to stay more
than a few days. Six weeks in Russia turned into six months, Christmas came and
went and still, they had to remain in the frozen east. Francis now insisted she
learn Russian, he even organised a tutor, but Geneviève was reluctant, hoping
they would return home soon. It would be summer before they did so, but she
spent a blissful two weeks at her childhood home while Francis was away on
important business in London. This time inevitably came to an end and they
returned to St. Petersburg where they celebrated her eighteenth birthday with a
small circle of friends. Her nineteenth birthday was spent the same way,
Geneviève’s Russian had improved by now and she no longer noticed the cold as
much. She had even made friends with one of the other wive s, a friendship she
cherished, as it was her only source of companionship other than her maid. It
had been over two years now that they moved into their rented dwellings; she
had still not set foot on the la Fontaine family estate in France that she had been
told would be their home. Where they would raise their children. The children
that had still not come, despite her letters of assurance to her father that
they would. She watched her twentieth birthday approach with unease. What would
her family say if she turned twenty and was still not a mother? What if her
husband grew tired of her state and asked for a divorce? He would be within his
rights… One night, Francis found her crying once again when he came home and
she finally confided in him. That night, Geneviève found the answers to many
questions she had not dared ask after their wedding. Why they only hosted
dinners late in the evening, why her husband was never home during the day, why
they never went to church, even back home, why, well, some things that happened
between husband and wife that her mother had not warned her about. Her first night as
a vampire was confusing to say the least, but she had Francis there to guide
her. Never before had they spent this much time together, he would not leave
her side! For the first time since their wedding, Geneviève felt truly
cherished and special again. This secret must have been what created that
distance between them before, now everything would be better. And at first, it
was. His moods improved, he opened up to her about many things, although not
his past, he was attentive and patient.
To protect her, so he explained, he fed her a little of his blood every
night, and she felt herself falling ever more strongly in love with him. She
still visited her father sometimes, but he felt more remote to her now and she
no longer missed him as ardently as she had before. Their time in St.
Petersburg came to an end and Francis decided they should return to his home
now, their home, in Brittany. Geneviève instantly fell in love with the land
and even though she was now more isolated than ever, she did not long for
anyone’s company but her husband’s. Time passed differently by the coast and
nights bled into each other without distinction. Sometimes they would spend a
week in Paris, but they would only socialise with others of their kind, and
never for long. When her uncle
wrote to her to inform her of her father’s death, it came as a shock. Having grown
so used to her new life, Geneviève had not paid much heed to the years as they
passed and it had been years that she had visited her father. Despite having
accompanied her husband on various month-long trips abroad, they had never
visited England, where her lack of aging would cause them trouble. By now, Francis’
work had drawn him away from their home again and she now felt the pang of his
absence unlike any pain she had ever known. Whenever he returned, she begged
him never to leave again, but he said it was inevitable, he could not help it.
She became desperate and would think of ways to trick him into staying, try to
make up reasons why he could not leave, but she was always discovered and
eventually, she learned that his anger was worse than his absence. It took
several years, but slowly, she began missing him less and grew used to being on
her own again. One day, he announced that it was now safe for them to return to
England and that he wished for her to spend some time in the country of her childhood.
Confused but excited, Geneviève packed to leave for Oxford. After their
arrival, Francis introduced her to an old friend of his who worked as a
professor at Keble College, Professor John Torrance. While the old man had
seemed a little stern at first, he soon warmed to her and she began to see
sides of him that reminded her of her father. Francis was drawn away again, and
since it was going to be some time, he encouraged her to purchase some property
for herself while staying in Oxford. With the help of their friend, Geneviève
became the owner of a small cottage in the east of town, where she still lives
now. To spend her long nights alone and without Francis to object, she began
working as a night time help in Keble College library, where she would
eventually take over as night librarian. She found that she loved the work and
could finally apply her studies. Encouraged, once again, by John, she started
taking evening classes. The presence of so many people still startled her
despite having grown used to some during her work at the library, but she adjusted
and completed the program with honours. When a spot on the Bodleian restoration
team opened up, John pulled a few strings and Geneviève, who now went by Eve,
started working among mortals as part of the team.
Eve developed a
tentative friendship with the other night librarian at the College, Bethany,
but she found herself unsure of how to make friends, always fearing her husband
may disapprove. Visiting the many bars and clubs of Oxford to hunt, that was
easy, that was what they had always done. But real connection? That was
different. Even though she was now free to do so, Eve continued to go on long,
lone walks; she even took up long distance running. During one of these early
morning runs, she noticed a female student who looked just as at out of place
as she often felt. She was beautiful and seemed isolated from everyone around
her, but that was about the only two things they had in common. Eve started
noticing the girl out and about in the evenings sometimes, until one night, she
walked straight into her library. A quick smile and then she passed by her
desk. Eve resisted the urge to follow her then, but she could not forget about
her after that. It was only a few days later that she saw her at a party, and
now she was hungry…
