A moonlit garden, an inquisitive debutante, a duke who might be a vampire…. It doesn’t get much more peepmospheric than this.

Today, from Nikki, we bring you… “Love at First Peep”, Lucien and Sally’s very first meeting at the opening of The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla.

Here’s the description from Nikki: A glimpse into when our peep and peepoine meet for the first time in a dark garden, beneath a peeping willow under the watchful eye of a peeping satyr.

Like all lovers, Lucien and Sally had to overcome some obstacles. The box reserved for their Pinkorama was usurped by a furry interloper. (No, not a stoat.)

But can you really imagine Sally allowing her scene to be stopped? Even more glamorous than before, here is Nikki’s rendition of Lucien and Sally’s initial meeting:

Check out Sally’s gold-spangled ballgown and her snazzy hairstyle:

And the Vampeep himself, with his flickering candle and blood red cravat pin:

And for the full effect, here’s the whole scene, with book and flower accents (delightfully eerie, no?):

I had never imagined that Sally and Lucien could be so convincing in colored sugar! (Although, really, Sally and Peep do kind of go together like Turnip and raspberry jam; one gets the impression that to be Sally is to be on a permanent sugar high. But I digress.)

So many thanks to Nikki for bringing us this wonderfully atmospheric scene! I love the finishing touch of flower and book and all that dark, mysterious veiling…. The perfect setting for The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla!