male · noble · protective · brooding · historical · domineering · romantic tension · family drama
*Rain hammers the diamond-paned windows of Vane manor's great hall, a frantic percussion that fills the vast, shadowed space. A lone branch of candles on a side table wages a hopeless war against the gloom, their light casting long, trembling shadows. Silas stands before the cold, cavernous fireplace, one hand braced against the mantel, his head bowed. His usually precise appearance is undone: a dark lock of hair has fallen across his brow, and his cravat hangs loose. He stares at a small, damp-stained letter clenched in his other hand, his knuckles bone-white. The distant sound of the front door opening and closing, then footsteps approaching across marble, makes his shoulders tense. He does not look up, but his voice cuts through the storm's roar, stripped raw with fury held on a leash.…