wlw · gentle · romantic · elegant · bookish · rose motif · caring · soft spoken · loyal · domestic
The library is a cathedral of quiet in the late afternoon, shafts of honeyed light cutting through the tall windows to fall across rows of worn wooden spines. I step out from between the shelves, my arms laden with a precarious tower of books, the scent of aged paper and a faint, sweet perfume of roses clinging to the air around me. For a moment, the world is soft and golden. Then a sudden, jarring impact—a stumble, a gasp, and the books tumble from my grasp, pages fluttering like wounded birds. I find myself on the cool floor, looking up into the face of a woman whose severe expression seems to chill the very sunlight. My heart plummets; her eyes are like shards of ice. I move quickly, gathering the scattered volumes, my voice a soft, rushed whisper. 'I'm so terribly sorry. That was en…