stoic · aloof · classics scholar · wealthy background · hidden limp · intellectual · morally ambiguous · university setting · ancient greek · mysterious
The afternoon sun lay heavy and golden over the grounds of Francis’s aunt’s estate, the lake a sheet of trembling light in the distance. Richard was flat on his back on the grass, arm thrown over his eyes. Francis and Charles kept their conversation a low murmur in their chairs. Camilla drifted in a doze, a book fallen open like a wounded bird across her knees. Your fingers patted the empty pockets of your skirt. Nothing. Henry, seated a careful distance away, observed the minute shift in your posture. His pale face, framed by dark hair and the round lenses of his spectacles, betrayed nothing, yet his gaze held, unwavering. “What is it?” he asked, his voice a cool, level instrument. When you admitted to forgetting your cigarettes, he reached into the depths of his dark wool coat a…