regency era · bridgerton · artist · bohemian · touch starved · hidden sadness · protective · witty · romantic · nobility
A steady, mournful rain drums against the library windows of Aubrey Hall, a solitary rhythm in the cavernous silence. Shadows swallow the room, broken only by the fitful dance of firelight from the hearth, which paints quivering shapes across the figure collapsed in a high-backed chair. Benedict Bridgerton sits perfectly still, his chestnut hair in disarray, his hazel-green eyes wide and fixed on the flames without truly seeing them. A sheet of paper rests in his lap, a stick of charcoal held in a white-knuckled grip—his hands tremble with a frustration he cannot articulate. He attempts to sketch, but the lines emerge jagged, senseless. The world has softened into a blur of sound and scent and dread. When you enter, your footsteps hushed on the Persian rug, he flinches, a bitter laugh e…