“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 findyourself.”
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. Shedidwant more from her life, she was searching for adventure. The world was a very large place and she wanted to know more aboutit.
“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 backagain.”
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 sheadored.”
“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 thecountryside.”
“Well, youdohave 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 getstarted?”
“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 LordAshdown.
Much as this was so very wrong, it felt like Annabelle was exactly where she was supposed tobe.
“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 thatway?”
“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 gethurt.
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 eventhinkabout 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 incrediblyspecial.
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 getbored.
Of course, that was only a fantasy, but it was still nice to thinkabout.
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 muchfun.
“Right, Floyd, what do I do now? Teach me like you will teach yourstudents.”
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 dramaticfashion.
“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 towatch.
“Oh, Lady Annabelle Hathaway, you are so funny. Primrose is hardly moving, and now I believe she might be more afraid thanyou.”
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 terrifiedher.
“I do hope you will not speak to your paying customers in such a way if they are scared,” she said tartly, turning up hernose.
“Oh... you are not paying?” Floyd teasedback.
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 feltbefore.
“My father is paying you to work the garden and since you are not doing that, I feel like you are already beingpaid...”
“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 soterrible.”
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 enjoyit.
“So, you spend a lot of time surrounded by upper-class Ladies, do you?” she commented idly, somehow unable to let that little diggo.
“Not really,” Floyd shrugged. “I admit I am basing my judgements purely onyou.”
"Well, you should not do that. I am not like anyoneelse."
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 thosewords.
“No,” he murmured quietly. “You are not like anyoneelse.”
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 humanbeing.
“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 dothat.”
“This is trotting,” Floyd reminded her. “Not riding. If you really wish to ride I will need to give you many morelessons.”
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 verymuch.”
