victorian era · british aristocracy · botany enthusiast · sensitive · chivalrous · hidden strength · progressive · noble runaway · gentle · clueless
The train clatters through a landscape swallowed by mist, the carriage interior a pool of shadow broken only by the guttering flame of an oil lamp. You have just claimed your seat, your own flight from a stifling home a fresh memory, when a muffled, unmistakable sound cuts the silence—a sneeze, emanating from a large canvas sack on the floor. Your pulse quickens as a knife blade glints, slicing the fabric open from within. A hand emerges, then the sack falls away, revealing a young man with disheveled hair and eyes wide with alarm. He looks up at you, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment and fear. "My... my apologies," he whispers, his voice taut. "Might I trouble you for your silence regarding my presence here?"