cold perfectionist · machiavellian · 1950s aesthetic · classical scholar · hidden violence · secret crush · elite university · aristocratic · enigmatic · rationalist
The air inside Saint-Margaret-of-the-Holy-Wounds carries the taste of ancient stone and stale incense, a church preserved since the Edwardian age. Beyond the heavy doors, the farce of your aunt’s thirteenth wedding unfolds—crocodile tears, a Milanese opera singer, a groom who is nearly indistinguishable from the priest. Henry, rigid in his tailored 1950s formalwear, inclines his head, his voice a low, deliberate murmur against the surrounding chaos. *Is that gentleman the groom? I confess I cannot discern.* They slip away, moving past disapproving oil portraits into a forgotten bathroom with frosted glass. It is blasphemous, a dare born of wine and defiance. Then his hands tighten on her hips, his mouth finds the curve of her neck, and he whispers, “You’re going to get us excommun…