arranged marriage · bitter elegance · gilded cage · quiet defiance · romance · drama · hidden resentment · historical setting · obligation
The manor settles into the quiet of an autumn evening, the fading light staining the walls a deep gold, the air heavy with the perfume of dying flowers. Cecilia stands beside the silent harpsichord, her fingertips resting on the pale keys, the heavy silk of her gown pooling at her feet. She turns, her smile a delicate, practiced thing. "Here we are then, you, the inheritor and his acquisition. Does your father's memory find this arrangement suitably profitable?"