Chapter 11
This is horrible,Annabelle thought sadly to herself as all eyes lay upon her.I hateit.
It was not so much the dress that was an issue, although it was not one she would pick herself. No, it was the situation that Annabelle found herself in. It was as if everything was completely spiralling out of control around her and there was not a damn thing that she could do to stopit.
Her hands ran down the lace covering the tightly laced corset bodice. The flower designs stitched into the material were lovely, a really nice touch, but Annabelle felt swamped and constricted by them. The sleeves sat on the edges of her shoulders and flowed down into ruffled, large sleeves that were challenging to navigate. The ivory gown splayed out at the waist and cascaded around her feet leaving a long train behind her. Maybe if Annabelle was not so worried about what this dress represented, she would feel the sensation that she was a princess, but that feeling was completely out ofreach.
“I think it would be lovely to have her hair tied back,” the wedding dress designer commented quietly to Josephine, completely ignoring Annabelle. In her eyes, she was only a mannequin. “With the matching wedding hat and lace choker wehave.”
“Yes, yes,” Annabelle’s mother, the traitor, agreed. “I think that will look lovely. It will offset her red hairwell.”
Annabelle rolled her eyes and kicked her foot lightly against the bottom of the dress, taking her frustration out on the material. She kept trying desperately to plan her way out, but it was not as easy as she first thought. For a Lady like her, with all the restrictions in the world, what could she do? She did not have any money, she could not get any help, if she left her home and her name behind then what would she have? It feltimpossible.
“What do you think, Annabelle?” Josephine asked with a bright grin. “Is this the dress you would like to wear on your weddingday?”
No, I do not want a wedding day,Annabelle wished to scream back, but she could not. Embarrassing her family in public would only anger her father further and since he was already very displeased with her she did not want to make it worse. There was a horrible atmosphere clinging to the air of the Hathaway household at the moment, one which no one wanted toencourage.
“Yes, sure, it is a fine dress,” she replied in a monotone voice. “Thank you verymuch.”
“Right.” The dress designer looked a little confused by Annabelle’s less than happy reaction. She had been in the textiles industry for years and she had never come across anyone who looked so displeased. Usually the girls getting married liked the dress even if not the husband. “We shall work with this then. Where is the weddinghappening?”
“At the house,” Josephine shot back quickly. “We are having ithere.”
Josephine had insisted that they not throw such a large party, like they did with Beatrice. It was not necessary, coming so close after their eldest daughter’s wedding, and as Annabelle did not want the same as Beatrice, it did notmatter.
Otto was not too pleased, he liked to get the most out of every situation, he preferred to do his business wherever he could, but since this wedding had already caused him so much trouble he did not want to encourage more. He just needed it to happen now. Since Lord Ashdown was happy for it to happen in any way it could, Otto could notdisagree.
Annabelle had no concerns with how the wedding happened either, she certainly was not about to argue that she wanted a ceremony in a church. The more informal it felt, the less she needed to worry. If it was about to happen in her home, then maybe she could still escape...somehow.
“Oh well that sounds lovely. You have such a wonderful home; it is the perfect place for a wedding. What do you have planned for the interiordesign?”
As Josephine started to talk about flower arrangements and colour designs, Annabelle turned her mind off to the conversation. She did not want to listen to it, the less she knew the better. With the dress still clinging to her body it was more of a concern that she could hardly breathe. The bodice was tied far too tightly which did not help, but it was not justthat.
Without even waiting to be told to do so or waiting for someone to come and help her, Annabelle reached behind her back and she started to untie the dress as best as she could. It was challenging, there was a lot to the dress it was designed in a very complex way, but she needed totry.
Annabelle did not have much control over her life anymore, this was all shehad.
“Would you like help?” the dress designer asked as she spotted Annabelle struggling. “I am sorry, I did not see youthere.”
“I will help her,” Josephine jumped in with a smile. “I am sure you have lots to pack away now. We are finished here now, are wenot?”
There was something about the way she said that which left the dress designer with no option. She nodded, but looked a little awkward as she did so. “Right,yes.”
Annabelle felt her lips curl down into a frown once she no longer had to keep up the charade. Her expression relaxed into one of sadness which cut deeply into Josephine’s heart. She desperately wanted to keep her plan to herself while she got everything together, but she also wanted Annabelle to know that there was hope. It was not for credit, that was not what drove Josephine, but she could not say nothinganymore.
“You do not have to worry too much,” she commented idly as she unlaced the dress bodice with expertise. “This will all be over soonenough.”
Annabelle’s eyes slid closed to keep the tears inside. It did not feel like it would be over soon enough because as soon as the wedding was done, the marriage would begin. This was only the start of a terrible lifesentence.
“I know you are worried,” Josephine continued, trying her best to keep her tone as neutral as possible. “But soon enough you will not haveto.”
“Mother, please,” Annabelle whispered. “It is not just the wedding day. It is all of it. You knowthis.”
“I know.” Annabelle felt taken aback as her mother said that. “I understand that much. What I am trying to say is that you will not have to worry about it for muchlonger.”
Annabelle tried to turn around to see what was going on in her mother’s eyes, but her fingers laced around the bodice tighter and kept her in place. “What do you mean?” she pushed desperately. “What are you trying to say to me,Mother?”
Josephine’s stomach twisted in knots. Maybe she should not have started this conversation after all. She only wanted to let Annabelle know that she did not have to worry, she should have known that she would prod with questions. “I am just trying to tell you that you do not have toworry.”
