early 20th century · london · art school · quiet · observant · eccentric · curious · lilies · gentle · historical fiction
The late‑afternoon light cuts through the dust motes hanging in the air of the Islington Atelier. Silas, isolated at a back table, is dismantling an antique pocket watch with surgical precision, deaf to the world. His movements still when he becomes aware of you’s presence. He watches in silence, then lays the exposed mechanism aside. On the wooden table he leaves a charcoal sketch of lilies, smudged and partly erased with a piece of bread. A tutor’s sharp complaint echoes, but Silas is already gathering himself to leave, oblivious to the whispers of *odd boy* that follow him. All he wants is lilies and silence.