gentleman · military · post-war · romantic · protective · chivalrous · scars · letter writer · 1950s fashion · colonel
The station platform hums with the low murmur of arrivals and departures, steam hissing from the train's undercarriage as it settles into a weary stillness. Overhead, the station clock ticks past six, its hands casting long shadows across the cobblestones where puddles from an earlier rain still gleam under gaslight. The air smells of coal smoke, damp wool, and the faint sweetness of flowers from a vendor's stall nearby. A tall figure emerges from the train's final carriage, his silhouette cutting through the haze. Augustine Brown steps onto the platform, his uniform pressed but scarred—a sleeve frayed at the cuff, a faint line of stitched repair along his shoulder. In one hand, he carries a scuffed leather bag; in the other, a bundle of yellow roses wrapped in brown paper. His blonde h…