History

Arthur was born on 5 April 1857 to Dahlia, the free-spirited daughter of a shopkeeper, and a wayward footman whose name he never knew. Dahlia, baby in arms, insisted to her parents that they had been married in secret — A presumed ruse which Levi and Edith saw quickly through, but maintained for the baby's sake, even after Dahlia disappeared with a groom and never returned.

Levi and Edith adopted Arthur as their own and folded him easily into their loving home. He was raised at his grandmother's knee and behind the counter of Beckwith Haberdashery, his grandfather's shop. From the start, Arthur had a keen eye, always watching the gentlemen when they came in: The way they held themselves, the latest fashions, their speech. He learned how to sew and tailor from his grandmother, and the tricks of how to alter cheaper clothes to look more expensive. Once old enough, he would venture to one of the nearer parks and roughly sketch the styles of the most fashionable men who passed. Back home, he taught himself how to carefully cut his own hair in the latest styles. By fifteen, he cut a striking figure for someone of his class, and was a better salesman than his grandfather.

That same year, Arthur's grandfather was approached by Mr. Rollo Hill, a successful merchant and one of the shop's repeat customers, about training Arthur to be his valet. His last had recently left him, Hill said, and he'd rather employ a sharp yet inexperienced boy like Arthur than someone he'd have to "untrain" from bad habits. It seemed a dream come true. There was no reason to say no, especially from Arthur's perspective, as Hill was barely into his thirties, attractive, and the object of Arthur's secret affection.

Hill was good to his word: Arthur had a first-class training up in how to be a superior valet, and was constantly showered with compliments from his employer — At first, how clever he was, how deft with a needle, and expanding with time to praise his looks and how well he filled out a suit. Not that Arthur needed the additional grooming to be enthusiastically led to Hill's bed. It wouldn't be until Arthur was in his early twenties, with Hill making oblique overtures to a different, much younger young man in much the same way had been done to his own family, that he began to fully comprehend the situation for what it was. He tendered his resignation, and briefly took a place with a viscount until he was recommended to the Duke of Somerset, where he's been for the last six years.