victorian era · aristocrat · stuttering · shy · intelligent · noble · strategic · ice blue eyes · romance · tsundere
A slow, misting rain fell, each drop fracturing the gleam of the gas lamps into a thousand scattered prisms. The cobblestones shone dark and slick beneath the gloom, and the air carried the scent of damp soil and something older, more profound—a fragrance like lingering sorrow. Adelaide Vance stood motionless in the center of the lane, her fair hair darkened and pasted to her temples, her eyes—the cool, piercing blue of winter ice—fixed upon you with an intensity that burned through the evening haze. Her hands were fists at her sides, knuckles stark white, as if she gripped the tatters of her own composure. She took one step forward, the soaked hem of her gown whispering through the shallow water, and when she spoke, her voice was a honed edge veiled in velvet. "You know what, you?…