Chapter 13
The informationthat Floyd loved her too, filled up Annabelle until she was fit to burst. She could hardly contain it; it felt like she could be swallowed up by it at any given moment. Every so often a smile would burst onto her lips, seemingly at random to the rest of the world, but she was always thinking about him. The way he seemed unsure about sharing his feelings with her, the feel of his lips as he pressed them against hers, the sensation of his arms wrapped around her after the kiss. Well, until she felt compelled to leave before her father found her. Now that she had something with Floyd, she did not want itruined.
“What is with you today?” Catherine asked in a frustrated tone of voice. “You are acting so strange. Not like yourself atall.”
“Hmm? Oh I am sorry.” There was that smile again. Even in the most inappropriate of moments it crept back out. It was almost as if her happiness did not care about social normalities. “I am distractedtoday.”
“I know that, it is obvious. What I cannot be certain of is why.” Catherine folded her arms across her chest and she examined her friend closely. “What are you daydreamingabout?”
Lies filled Annabelle’s brain, there were so many excuses that she could have easily given her friend, but she wanted to tell Catherine the truth. She wanted to share her burden with someone and while Catherine was not her most understanding friend, she was herclosest.
“I... have a secret,” she admitted with a coy glance downwards. “But if I tell you, you must swear to me that you will keep it toyourself.”
Catherine perked up at Annabelle’s words. If there was one thing she loved, it was gossip. Anything to add a bit of excitement to the long and boring days. Usually, the girls preferred to talk about the lives of other people, it was not often they had something of their own todiscuss.
“I promise,” Catherine replied in a hushed tone. She sat closer to her friend with a wide-eyed thrill darting behind her gaze. “What is goingon?”
Annabelle felt a delicious shiver racing up her spine as she finally let some of the pressure off her shoulders. It felt incredible to share this news, it was so positive. Annabelle was so caught up in the happiness that she felt, she was not considering the complicationsanymore.
“I am in love.” Her cheeks flamed bright pink as the words fell out of her mouth. “I tell you, Catherine, it is the most wonderful feeling in the whole entire world, there is nothing quite likeit.”
“You... you are?” Catherine felt confused. The last time she spoke to Annabelle about this topic she was dreadfully unhappy with the idea of getting married. She could not help but wonder what had changed. “With the Lord? Is it not true then, what Edmund said abouthim?”
“Hmm?” It took Annabelle a few moments to understand why Catherine was talking about something completely different to her. “Oh, Lord Ashdown. I am certain that everything Edmund said about him was thetruth.”
Catherine tried to fit the pieces of this story together but it was instantly obvious that she was missing something. There was no way Annabelle had done a complete turnaround with her feelings. Even if she was the most erratic out of their friendship group, it did not seem likely. “So, you are willing to marry him even though he is known for spending time with courtesans? Even though he is a brutish man?” Catherine shook her head. “No, I cannot see it. What has changed,Annabelle?”
“I do not love Lord Ashdown,” Annabelle chuckled, laughing at the terrible joke. “He is a horrible man who has already shown me that he is an awful man.” She shuddered, showing her friend her disgust. “No chance, I will never want to marryhim.”
“What is going on then?” Catherine demanded. “I do not understand. You are in love, but not with LordAshdown?”
“I am in love with someone else,” Annabelle confirmed. “The most wonderful man on the planet.” Her eyes grew dewy with dreaminess. “He is handsome, kind, sweet... and a goodkisser.”
Catherine gasped in shock. That was the most scandalous news she had ever heard. Kissing before marriage was unheard of, it was very risky and reputation ruining. If any of the girls would ever break the rules, it would be Annabelle, but this felt like a step too far. Catherine was not sure whether to be excited or horrified by her friend’sbehaviour.
“You... you have kissed someone?” She could not even say those words aloud; it was a struggle for Catherine to even whisper them. “You have kissed someone who is not Lord Ashdown?” Annabelle nodded gleefully. “But you are betrothed to Lord Ashdown, everyone knows it. How will you persuade your father to change hismind?”
“Oh, he will never agree to change his mind... and especially not for Floyd.” The idea that Otto Hathaway would allow Annabelle to marry someone low born was utter madness. “He is a stableboy.”
Catherine opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to work out how to respond to that revelation. Of all the horrific things that Annabelle had just told her, that was the worstone.
“You cannot be serious,” she finally managed to reply. “That is crazy, Annabelle. You must see how mad thatis.”
“Oh I know, but it islove...”
“What is love?” Catherine exploded as it hit her all over again. “What is happening to you that is so important you would throw away everything? How can you be so willing to sacrifice your wholelife?”
Annabelle had expected Catherine to be shocked, but this felt a lot like an overreaction. It was not a snap decision that Annabelle had made, she had really thought it through. “I know what I am doing,” she insisted. “I do not want to marry the Lord that my father has chosen for me, and that has nothing to do withFloyd.”
“No, but if it was not for thisstable boyyou would still be going through with the wedding, whether you liked it ornot.”
Annabelle felt insulted by the way Catherine described Floyd and his profession, it was too much like her father. “You do not know him,” she announced while standing up. “You cannot passjudgement.”
“You cannot know him either.” Catherine racked her brain desperately, trying to find a way to make her friend see sense. “You must have only met him recently or I would have heard ofhim.”
“So?” Annabelle folded her arms defiantly across her chest. She was not pleased with the way Catherine got a little too close to her. “I do not need to know him long to know that I lovehim.”
“But will you love him forever when you are living in a tiny shack with nothing to eat? Will you be as happy when you have two starving children attached to you and no way to feed them. Will it still seem like such a good idea when you never see your stable boy because he is working for some other Lady, trying to earn you enough money tolive?”
