If she failed in her mission to escape and she was about to be forced into a life of misery, then she wanted to at least have some fun memories to keep her going.
“Hello, Floyd,” she practically whispered to herself. “I would love to take you up on your offer... no, I would like to try horse riding... no, remember what you offered me the other day?”
No, none of it sounded right. She did not know how she was going to form the question, but she needed to find a way somehow. She had tried to ignore her crush on Floyd, but now it felt like the perfect way to get something just for herself. Horse riding was the perfect way for her and Floyd to spend some very innocent one-on-one time together. No one needed to know, it was the boost of excitement that she so desperately needed.
Determination flooded Annabelle as she walked through the gardens to see Floyd. Anger and excitement boosted her forwards, she almost forgot to be nervous at all, but the moment her eyes fell on his back, all of that caught up with her. The confidence that she had spent all morning building up completely zapped from her body, leaving her with nothing. She almost shook with anxiety as she tried to decide what to do next.
Oh my goodness, her panicked mind raced. What was I thinking? I need to get out of here...
But before she got the chance to even think about moving her legs, the prickle on the back of Floyd’s neck alerted him to her presence. It was as if he could feel her eyes upon him.
“Oh, good morning, Lady Hathaway,” he said with surprise as turned around and spotted her. “You look radiant today.”
What are you doing? He cursed himself angrily as his mouth ran away from him once more. You cannot speak that way to an upper-class Lady. Remember your place!
But in all honesty, Floyd had spent so much time daydreaming about the stunning red-haired beauty that accidentally captured his heart during their random meeting, that he felt like he knew her a lot better than he should. His imagination controlled his brain for just a moment and allowed him to forget all the society rules that surrounded them.
For a split second, Floyd almost thought that they were equal.
“Oh well, thank you.” Annabelle loved the compliment, it felt genuine and sweet. His kindness warmed up her heart and made her feel coy. “That is very kind of you to say.”
Oh, thank goodness. She was not offended. Floyd blew out a relieved breath as Annabelle responded nicely to him. “You are starting to become a much more common presence in the gardens,” he smiled widely. “It is lovely.”
“Actually, I am out here for a reason today.” Annabelle looked at her feet as she sucked in a few, calming breaths. This was much harder than she had anticipated. “I would love to try those riding lessons you talked about the other day.”
“Ah!” Floyd’s whole expression lit up with excitement, he was hoping this would happen. “My very first customer, I would be honoured to help you.”
“Customer? What do you mean?” That word felt out of place in their conversation. Annabelle wondered what she had missed.
“One day, when I have earned enough money, I am going to open my own riding school,” Floyd announced with pride. It was a dream he had been working towards his entire life. “So, technically, you will be my very first customer.”
His words completely shocked Annabelle. She was surprised to hear that he had such high reaching ambitions. She was not sure why, but she did not imagine anyone working for her family ever wanted anything more. It showed just how sheltered her existence had been. “That is amazing. I am very impressed.”
"Does it shock you?" Floyd could see right through Annabelle’s expression. She was totally blown away by his suggestion that he would be a riding teacher one day. “Are you surprised to learn that a mere stable boy has dreams?”
“No, I just...” Annabelle wanted to defend herself, but when Floyd burst into laughter, she did too. It was nice not to have to worry too much about what she was saying. Floyd seemed to enjoy speaking with her whatever silly statements she made. “Yes, I suppose it does. Does that make me a terrible person?”
“Not at all! I suppose most people in my position feel like they should live with what they have been given, but I am not like that. I have always wanted more for myself.”
“I am impressed.” Annabelle’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much. “It is wonderful for you to want to do more.”
“And what do you want to do with your life?”
Annabelle’s breaths became ragged and stressed. She had never been asked that question in her life. She did not even think she was allowed to have dreams. In a way, she had similar restrictions to Floyd, but in a very different way. “I am a Lady, I have to do what Ladies do.”
“What is that, exactly?” The lives of the upper-class had always baffled Floyd. He was such a busy person with a very active mind. He did not understand how rich people filled their time without growing bored. “What do Ladies do?”
“Hmph.” Annabelle looked away from Floyd, she felt too embarrassed to meet his eyes as she answered him. He had exciting ambitions, she had nothing but a bleak future stretched out in front of her. “I am supposed to marry a Lord and give him children.” Her whole body flamed hotly as she thought about getting pregnant. “Then I will be expected to attend boring society functions with boring society women for the rest of my days.” Even saying the words out loud made Annabelle’s heart sink. “We will all have to pretend to like one another, just because of our family names and our husbands’ connections. What fun!”
“I cannot see that.” Floyd leaned back on the fence behind him and examined Annabelle closely. “I cannot see that of you.”
“You do not think I have it in me to be nice?” Annabelle teased playfully. “Sometimes I doubt that myself.”
“Well, I did not mean just that,” Floyd chuckled at her honesty. “I simply cannot imagine you boxed into that life. I cannot see you as a wife of a Lord with children attached to your hip already. I think you would prefer to explore the world a little more, I think you would like adventure and fun. I feel like you would like to find yourself.”
Maybe Annabelle would have been annoyed at this virtual stranger dissecting her personality as if he knew her, but he was very accurate. Annabelle could feel the words stirring and whipping up her emotions. She did want more from her life, she was searching for adventure. The world was a very large place and she wanted to know more about it.
“I have thought about running away,” she admitted quietly, without really thinking about what she was saying. “Only once, but I love the idea of just chasing off into the distance and never coming back again.”
There was something about the way that Floyd was looking at her as if she was the most amazing thing on the planet that made her feel comfortable enough to speak with him honestly. He made her happier to simply be herself than anyone ever had before, and that was a sensation that she adored.”
“That is a very romantic notion, but probably much more challenging in reality,” Floyd replied with a moroseness to his tone. “Unfortunately, the world is designed in a way that runs off of money. If it was not, I would already have my own riding school and I would be living somewhere beautiful, in the countryside.”
“Well, you do have a student,” Annabelle reminded him with a smile. The conversation was getting a little too heavy, it was not helping her forget which was the aim of her coming out to see Floyd. “Shall we get started?”
“Yes, let’s.”
Annabelle’s heart raced frantically as she walked with Floyd to where Primrose was waiting for them both in the stables. She was not sure how well she would take to riding a horse, but she felt desperate to give it a try. The thrill of doing something she knew she shouldn’t with someone that she felt such a deep, illicit connection with, made it very exciting. It was the best way possible to rebel against her father and Lord Ashdown.
Much as this was so very wrong, it felt like Annabelle was exactly where she was supposed to be.
“
It is traditional for women to ride side saddle,” Floyd told Annabelle as she scaled her eyes up the beast who now appeared utterly ginormous to her. “But I have a feeling you will not want to learn that way?”
“Primrose will throw me off,” Annabelle replied with a false decisiveness. “I think I would feel much better with a leg either side.” He said that for a reason, it had to be easier to ride like a man. She did not mind if it was not traditional, she just did not want to get hurt.
Floyd felt a warmth in his chest as Annabelle agreed with him. He had spent his entire life working hard, trying to earn enough money to achieve his end goal. He had been too single minded to even think about romance. No woman had ever caught his eye before... until he bumped into Lady Hathaway on her land only a short time ago. Now, she utterly consumed him, he was absolutely fascinated by her. She was not like anyone he had ever met before, and that made her incredibly special.
He knew that he should not think of her, he was acutely aware that she was well out of his league, but he could not seem to stop himself. He wanted to know everything about her, he felt like he could spend every waking moment of the rest of his life with her and not get bored.
Of course, that was only a fantasy, but it was still nice to think about.
Annabelle did not wait around long enough to give herself time to get scared. She pulled herself up onto Primrose rapidly and swung her left leg over the horse. She had to pull her dress up a little higher than she would have liked to make that possible, but she had bloomers underneath covering her dignity. She did not mind too much anyway, it was all too much fun.
“Right, Floyd, what do I do now? Teach me like you will teach your students.”
As she spoke, her feet accidentally bumped against Primrose’s side which caused the horse to start moving. This was her usual cue to get going, which Annabelle did not know. The sudden movement shocked her and caused her to scream in a very dramatic fashion.
“Oh my goodness, Floyd, help me. Help!”
Floyd could not help himself, he doubled over with laughter. Primrose was moving as slowly as she possibly could, it was almost as if she could sense Annabelle’s fear, but the Lady yelled as if the horse was racing across the field. She certainly was not used to riding, it was very endearing to watch.
“Oh, Lady Annabelle Hathaway, you are so funny. Primrose is hardly moving, and now I believe she might be more afraid than you.”
Annabelle felt flushed and hot all over. Maybe she should have been embarrassed by her obvious overreaction, but she felt very justified with it. She did not like the lack of control as Primrose moved, it absolutely terrified her.
“I do hope you will not speak to your paying customers in such a way if they are scared,” she said tartly, turning up her nose.
“Oh... you are not paying?” Floyd teased back.
Annabelle blushed, enjoying the way Floyd did not back down no matter what she said to him. It made her feel bolder and braver, it brought out something inside of her that she had not felt before.
“My father is paying you to work the garden and since you are not doing that, I feel like you are already being paid...”
“I cannot believe that you would drag me away from my work and then blame me!” He rolled his eyes and laughed. “Honestly, you upper-class Ladies. You are all so terrible.”
Floyd put his hand on Primrose’s mane and he guided her across the grass at an even slower pace. With him controlling where they went, Annabelle felt much more comfortable. She could almost feel herself starting to enjoy it.
“So, you spend a lot of time surrounded by upper-class Ladies, do you?” she commented idly, somehow unable to let that little dig go.
“Not really,” Floyd shrugged. “I admit I am basing my judgements purely on you.”
"Well, you should not do that. I am not like anyone else."
Floyd turned back to look at Annabelle, and he gave her a very intense blue-eyed stare, one that she felt was filled with all kinds of wonderful feelings. She wished that she could just ask him what was going on inside his mind, but she felt too shy to actually say those words.
“No,” he murmured quietly. “You are not like anyone else.”
The wind breezed through Annabelle’s hair as Primrose trotted through the gardens, the sun beat down on her back, her dress fell behind her ensuring that she was not bogged down by its weight. She felt positive, excitable, happy. Considering the mess that she currently found herself in, it was a miracle that she could be so happy, but that was the power of Floyd. He truly was a wonderful human being.
“Thank you for teaching me to ride,” she told him softly, leaving any teasing from her tone for the time being. “It means a lot that you would take the time to do that.”
“This is trotting,” Floyd reminded her. “Not riding. If you really wish to ride I will need to give you many more lessons.”
That was all Annabelle wanted, she yearned to be closer to Floyd and this was the absolute best way to do that. “Yes, I think I would like that. I would like that very much.”
Chapter 10
“What have you been up to?”
Annabelle was so lost in her thoughts, so involved with everything that was spinning through her mind, that she almost didn’t hear her father calling out to her. Floyd consumed her entirely, their riding lesson had only heightened her feelings for him, almost uncontrollably so. Her cheeks flushed with excitement when she thought about seeing him again, her body buzzed with a thrill as she imagined herself back up on Primrose. Everything felt perfect...
Until her father’s booming voice burst through her brain, bringing her back to reality with a thump.
“Erm, I...” she stammered anxiously. “I was just outside...”
Wait, I was not doing anything wrong, she decided rapidly. I was only learning to ride. There is nothing wrong with that.
“I was having horse riding lessons.” Annabelle jutted out her chin and stared her father down. She could not see him discovering any issues, he certainly did not know the inappropriate thoughts that were running through her mind.
“Why?” Otto folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes at his daughter. “Why now? You have not ever cared to ride before. That does not make any sense?”
“I have... always wanted to.”
“Do not lie to me, Annabelle. Your mother has been trying to get you up on a horse for years. Do not tell me that you have suddenly developed a desire to do something that you have been fighting for years.”
“Why not?” Annabelle did not feel ready to back down just yet.
“You think I do not see what is going on?” Otto was angry now, he had given his daughter a chance to explain and she refused. That made him madder than the situation itself. “You do not think I know about you and the stable boy?” He said that with such disgust it made Annabelle want to weep. Floyd was worth so much more than that, if her father took a moment to speak to him he would learn that. “You think I do not see the way you look at him?”
Annabelle’s heart stopped dead in her chest, she thought that she had been discrete with her emotions. She parted her lips, racking her brain desperately to find the right words to make this situation right, but there was not anything there.
“You will not spend any more time with him...”
“But I really do want to learn how to ride.”
“No, Annabelle.” Otto placed a hand on Annabelle’s shoulder. To an outsider it might have appeared that he was trying to comfort her, but she knew better. It was a threat. She had to do what he wanted or else. “I will not hear of it. Once you are married you will have all the time in the world to do what you want. Lord Ashdown has quite the stable, so I hear, and I am sure he will be willing to get you proper riding lessons from an actual teacher.”
“Floyd wants to be a teacher; he has dreams to open his own...”
“I do not want to hear it,” Otto yelled. He could not stand his daughter’s obstinacy for another second.
“I have heard enough. The stable boy can have as many dreams as he likes, he will not make them come true. Do you understand how much money it takes to start your own business? Can you even begin to imagine?” Otto shook his head looking disappointed and disgusted. It pained him to have to explain such things to Annabelle, it meant he had failed as a father. She should understand the sort of man that she needed to be spending time with at eighteen years old. “Annabelle, you cannot understand, your immaturity still allows you to believe in unattainable dreams. I have been around for a lot longer than you and I have seen much more of the world. I suggest that you listen to me with this one... keep away from the stable boy. Focus on your marriage instead.”
A crushing sense of hopelessness washed over Annabelle. Her one moment of rebellion and freedom had only sunk her deeper into the mess that she really wanted to keep away from. It was a nightmare. She only had one tool left and it was honesty and love.
“Father, please,” she begged desperately. “Please do not make me do this. You know I cannot.”
“Annabelle,” Otto warned. “I strongly suggest that you stop this now.” He clutched onto his forehead wearily. Otto felt utterly sick of listening to this. “It is decided.”
“You can stop it though. You are powerful, you could make sure this does not happen...”
“And who would want to marry you then?” he exploded. “People know that you are betrothed to Lord Ashdown, if that ends people will wonder why. Men will wonder why. Do you think any Lord worth anything will want to betroth himself to the woman who cancelled her last wedding? It will be assumed that something is wrong with you, your reputation is ruined, or you are a nightmare. You will end up unwed forever.”
“I would prefer that!” Annabelle shouted back, accidently letting too much of the truth out. “I would prefer to be alone than be with him.”
“That is only your childishness coming out again. You will not feel the same way in a few years.”
Annabelle Enchants the Rejected Earl: A Historical Regency Romance Novel Page 7
