He may not entirely trust Evie right now-- but in any case she deserves to be treated as more than a precious bauble. "I'll keep that in mind."

"And now I'm a thing that's his and is broken. Because I-- I'm with child, and it's someone else's-- and so I'm not his all the way through-- I'm scared he's going to kill me."

"I will do my best to make sure that doesn't happen. If you need a place to stay, where he doesn't know where you are--"

Sniff sniff. "I would like that. He almost never leaves his house, but he goes for a walk on the full moon, all night long-- he likes it, says it helps him think--"

(Probably a bit too exposed for a successful murder, though.) "I can find you a hotel, or if you don't mind living cheek by jowl with an eccentric academic..."

She laughs. "I like academics. I can make sure Coombs isn't there, on the 27th-- so you can talk to him alone or, or--"

"...how are you planning on doing that?"

She smiles without humor. "Well, I can't exactly get pregnant twice."

"If it works, it works."

She kisses his cheek. "You're so sweet. Not-- possessive, like some other men. I'm not a thing that belongs to you."

"--You're a person and that's important."

"I hope it all works out so that I can marry you."

"I'll do my best."

She puts her head on his shoulder. "Depravity has a lot going for it, hm? In theory or in practice?"

"Surely you know the answer to that one."

"Well, I know you practiced it with me, but not how experienced you were before."

"I was... reasonably experienced, I'd say."

"You seemed a bit inexperienced with the vagina, although certainly a quick learner."

"My experience mostly lay in other forms of depravity."

"Opium?"

"...That, but also men." If she wants to be a lesbian vampire, presumably she is fine with that? Also pretending he has never interacted with a penis that was not his own for the rest of his married life would probably not be a sustainable plan.

She laughs. "I liked women. What is the saying? 'My father warned me about men and booze but he never said anything about women and cocaine'?"

"I got more warned off, but that only made me more interested."

"There's a certain pleasure in doing things you're not supposed to. Let's not get in the way of each other, in our marriage."

"I'd be happy to do that, if you honestly wouldn't mind." He doesn't want to be possessive, but if Evie would feel more comfortable with him being only hers... he can work with that.