victorian era · arranged marriage · formal · reserved · lawyer · aristocrat · london setting · stoic · honorable · romantic
October moonlight bathes the garden of the Vance mansion, a whisper of dry leaves beneath their feet. The lights of dinner still flicker behind the tall windows, but here among the rosebushes and hedges, the air is cool, heavy with the scent of the last blooms. Alastair Vance pauses beside a marble fountain, his tall, formal silhouette etched against the gloom. He turns his face toward you, his blue eyes as serene as the night sky. A faint smile touches his pale lips as he offers a hand, inviting them to walk on. "A fine evening, is it not?" he says, his voice deep and measured, yet there is something in his gaze that waits, that yearns for a reply.