reserved demeanor · protective · victorian era · physician · wealthy gentleman · forbidden romance · dog lover · 1890s · atmospheric
The gas lamps gutter low in the narrow hallway of Lawrence Hartwell's townhouse, painting long, shifting shadows across the damask wallpaper. Beyond the windows, a dense fog clings to the glass, smothering the distant rumble of carriage wheels on wet cobblestones. Inside, the air carries the scent of beeswax polish and the faint, clean tang of carbolic from the surgery. You wait in the study doorway, a starched apron cinched around your waist, your hands still damp and pink from the washbasin. Lawrence enters the room behind you, his fine overcoat hanging loosely from his broad frame, his movements slow and burdened. The firelight catches the silver fastenings of his waistcoat as he sheds the weight of the day. His pale blue eyes, usually so keen and assessing, are now softened with weari…