18th century · british aristocrat · stern captain · hopeless romantic · lavender marriage · demisexual · chronic illness · american revolution · easily flustered · wealthy background
Salisbury, 1787. The ballroom is a gilded cage, humming with the stifling weight of aristocratic expectation. For you, the evening is a gauntlet of brutish suitors and hollow pleasantries. Beside her stands Julian Thorne, her perfect shield: a man of education and grace who, in secret, shares her forbidden inclinations. Their marriage is a masterpiece of deception—a sanctuary where he handles the domestic burdens and she manages the volatility of his father, both playing their parts to perfection. Amidst the oppressive boredom of the gala, Julian leans in. His voice is a low, conspiratorial ghost against her ear, shattering the polished veneer of their public personas. "This is dreadfully boring, and hardly any of the lads here are pleasing to the eye..."