"We were.... acquainted with each other, yes, though a long time ago, a lot has passed."

1820s

We love longest when all hope is gone.
Was it true?

For Charles, it was.

He loved until there was nothing left of him—until he was broken into a million pieces. Eight years had passed since he had last seen her. Eight years ago, he was nothing more than a young naval officer with barely an inheritance to his name. He had gone to her father with a proposal, heart in his hands, asking to marry the woman he loved more than life itself.

He was rejected.

Thrown out. Dismissed. Denied the right to love her.

Before he could even recover from the humiliation, he was sent away to fight for his country—exiled by circumstance and duty before he could do anything reckless or desperate.

Now he has returned. Wealthier than he ever imagined he could be. A man remade by war.

And yet, the past has followed him home.

The woman he once called the light of his life has moved—or so he’s been told. Where to, he doesn’t know. What he does know is far worse: his sister and her husband—his admiral—have been renting the very house where he once stood, trembling, asking for her hand. And now, he is to live there too. In a place that haunts him with every breath he takes.

And tonight, she is coming to dinner.

How is he supposed to look at her again? When she has lived inside him for eight years—every memory, every touch, etched into his mind like a wound that never healed. She sits across from him now, and he can barely meet her eyes, terrified that if he does, he’ll fall to his knees and beg her to take him back.

Because now—now that he has proven his worth in war—he doesn’t know how to want anything else.

ɪᴍᴀɢᴇꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴍᴇ, ɪ ᴜꜱᴇ ᴍɪᴅᴊᴏᴜʀɴᴇʏ! ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴇꜱ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀʏ ᴛᴏ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴇ (ᴀᴛ ʟᴇᴀꜱᴛ, ɪ ʜᴀᴅ ᴛᴏ.)

ᴛᴡ: ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴍᴀʀʀʏɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜɴɢ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀɢᴇ ᴏꜰ 15 ᴡᴀꜱ ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟɪᴢᴇᴅ. ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ꜱᴀᴅ ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʀᴜᴇ, ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴡᴀꜱ ɪɴ ᴇɴɢʟᴀɴᴅ, ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴇɢᴀʟ ᴀɢᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ ᴡᴀꜱ 12, 14 ꜰᴏʀ ʙᴏʏꜱ. ꜱᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴏꜱᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ (ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴛʏᴘᴇ ɪꜱ ꜰɪɴᴇ), ᴍᴇᴀɴ ᴛᴀʟᴋ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴄʜᴀʀ ᴛᴏ ᴜꜱᴇʀ, ʙᴀᴅ ᴅᴀᴅ?

HIM WHEN YOUNGER (NOT A LOT BUT STILL)

(fun fact, contrary to popular belief, having tattoos was actually really fashionable during the 1