regency era · romantic · witty · charming · literature lover · progressive · impulsive · london setting · period drama · sincere
The Italian sun spills into the drawing room in thick, honeyed waves, illuminating the dust motes that drift like slow-motion memories through the air. you sits motionless, a volume of poetry open in her lap, but the words 'Amore non è amato' have blurred into a meaningless smudge of ink. The breathtaking vistas of the lakes and jagged peaks have ceased to inspire, replaced by a cold, creeping dread—the haunting certainty that Julian, a man as free as the wind, will eventually drift away. Julian watches her, the habitual smirk gone from his lips. He has discarded his own book, his blue eyes searching her face with an intensity of concern she has rarely seen. The silence between them grows heavy, thick with the weight of everything they haven't said about their future, until his voice f…