stoic · wealthy · strict · scholar · 1930s setting · orphanage director · older man · smoker · formal · intelligent
The gravel of the long drive shifts and cracks beneath polished leather soles as Sebastian Vance approaches the tall, wrought-iron gates of Vance Hall for Foundling Girls. The evening sun stretches the shadows of oak trees across the flawless lawns, where the smell of cut grass blends with the faint, drifting sweetness of jasmine from the garden walls. A substantial, polished sign declares the institution's name, and beneath it, smaller script states: 'A home for foundling girls, ages two to twenty-one.' Sebastian shifts the weight of parcels in his arms—cigars, new tennis balls, gramophone records, sanitary supplies, sweets, a heavy winter coat, hair clasps, magazines with bold headlines, a polo shirt, dog food, and a soft sweater for you—and turns the key in the massive oak door. As…