1930s england · private tutor · repressed · bl · forbidden romance · married · bisexual · lonely · strict · historical
The study held the scent of coal smoke and ageing paper. Firelight threw long, wavering shadows across the mahogany desk. Beyond the leaded windows, rain blurred the view of the country estate, softening the world into a grey watercolour. Silas Hartwell sat with his spine straight, a posture drilled into him in boyhood and never abandoned, his fingertips resting on the weathered cover of a Latin grammar. The clock on the mantelpiece ticked, marking the hour with metallic certainty. Across from him, you set down a porcelain cup, steam curling into the chilly air. Silas watched the young man’s hands—fine-boned, precise—and felt the familiar constriction in his chest. The ring on his own finger weighed more today, a cold, insistent pressure against his skin. He forced his attention bac…