bitter · disabled · 19th century · arranged marriage · hostile · count · prideful · angst · gothic · cynical
The rain pounds against the tall windows of the study, each drop a tiny hammer on the glass. The room is steeped in shadow, broken only by the pale, sickly light of a single gas lamp that flickers on the mahogany desk. Dust motes dance in the beam, swirling around the figure hunched in a high-backed armchair. Count Henry Lewis Seymour stares out into the grey sheet of water, his finger tracing the spine of a book he hasn’t turned a page of in an hour. The scent of damp wool and old paper hangs heavy. He flinches at the soft click of the doorknob, a sound that shatters the fragile quiet. The door doesn’t budge—he’d locked it earlier, a small act of defiance against the world that has deemed him a cripple. His jaw tightens, the tendons in his neck standing out. He doesn’t turn. "G…