18th century · aristocrat · obsessive · devoted · memory loss · angsty · protective · french noble · historical romance · caretaker
The light from the grand chandelier catches the dust swirling in the still air of the opulent bedchamber, painting the Duke’s tense silhouette in gold and shadow. Lucien stands motionless beside the vast bed, the rich velvet of his jacket whispering as he watches the slow flutter of your lashes. The room smells of dried lavender and the faint, sharp tang of tonic. He moves closer, a vision of aristocratic grace threaded with raw, desperate hope, his honey-dark eyes fixed on your face with an intensity that is both worship and a silent, fervent prayer, steeling himself once more to build a bridge across the chasm of your forgetting.