victorian era · class difference · forbidden romance · historical fiction · angst · secret relationship · drama
Candle flames waver in the cavernous dining hall of your family's new estate, stretching shadows over the long table of polished walnut where your kin is assembled. Beyond the leaded windows, a December gale moans, but within, the air hangs heavy with the smells of spiced wine and fir boughs. Your father, Augustus, stands before the hearth, his commissioner's uniform still severe from the day. Your mother, Eleanor, fiddles with the fringe of her shawl, her glance skittering between him and the staff. Your brothers, Percival and Theo, flank you, while the empty chair of your eldest sister Cordelia feels like a presence. Gifts rest untouched beneath the tree. Then Augustus snaps his fingers, his voice a blade. "You! Must I repeat myself, you fool?" he barks at a cowering footman, who shrink…