“Watson is a terrible man,” Annabelle whispered. “He has been awful with me.” Her eyes wetted again. “He called me a...dollymop.”
“A dollymop?” Otto did not understand this word. It was a term he had not heardbefore.
“A streetgirl.”
A redness filled Otto from his toes to his head. The anger was back, it consumed him entirely. Only this time it was directed at the right person. For all this time, he should have seen Watson for what he really was but he was so consumed with being right that he did not want to seeit.
He had been manipulated, and he did not like that at all. It made himseethe.
“I am sorry,” he said sincerely as his head fell forward in shame. For the first time in his entire life, Otto felt the need to apologize for what he haddone.
“What for?” Annabelle actually took a step backwards, she was so shocked. Her father had actually apologized to her. Something had to be going on. She could not work out what she had missed because she could not see into her father’smind.
“I should have listened to you. You have been trying to tell me all along.” Otto tucked his hands behind his back as he continued to pace up and down. All the mistakes that he had made with Annabelle flooded his mind, overwhelming him with regret. “You told me that he said terrible things to you, you said that he put his hands on you, your mother warned me that he is known for seeing courtesans and I paid no attention. I was too stubborn to hearit.”
“Right.” Annabelle’s whole body pounded. It was weirdly wonderful to be validated, but unfortunately, it came far too late. "Yes."
“You warned me, Josephine warned me, even my friends warned me. Old man Thomas told me that he saw Lord Ashdown with a courtesan only the other day and I chose not to hear him.” Guilt racked Otto’s bones as the realisation dawned on him. “He asked me to come outside, I followed him. I saw Watson with a very painted young lady, who he insisted it was the daughter of one of his business associates.” He looked at Annabelle with nothing but regret in his gaze. “I let him manipulate you as well asme.”
Annabelle did not know what to say to that. She could not believe that her father had fallen for such a foolish trick. It must have been utterly obvious to everyone that the woman was a courtesan. Her father must have been stubborn andblinded.
Otto felt shame as he recalled the memory. He was so taken in by Watson that he would have believed any lie that the man spun him. It was not Annabelle that threatened the family reputation, it was not even Watson really. It was him and his foolish determination to have everyone follow hisrules.
“You would not have run off like that if you were not serious. There is no way your mother would have risked everything to help you if she did not feel strongly.” Otto continued to stare at Annabelle, seeing her as if for the very first time. “And this Floyd, he gave you something else to focuson.”
Oh my goodness, he is really listening! Annabelle felt very excited. I cannot believe it, this is my one chance to let my father know everything. The truth at last. “Yes, he was wonderful tome.”
“It is just unfortunate that he is only a stable boy.” Otto shook his head, visibly disappointed that there was not even a suitable alternative to the horrible Lord Ashdown. “He cannot be the one foryou.”
“He is an Earl...” Annabelle blurted out, revealing Floyd’s secret without thinking about it too much. “Or at least hewas. Hisfather...”
Otto shook his hands in front of his face, silencing Annabelle. “Wasis not good enough, he still does not have the money he needs to supportyou.”
“But I love him.” It was now or never. Annabelle needed to give it her all while her father’s walls were finally down. There was no telling when they would shoot back up again. “I love him dearly. He has been nothing but wonderful to me. He might only be a stable boy now, but he has ambition. He wants to open a ridingschool...”
“That is not something he can do without money,” Otto replieddismissively.
“I know, but he is working forit...”
“It will take toolong.”
“He deserves a chance though.” All pretense fell away from Annabelle. She gave it everything that she had, she opened up her heart and allowed everything to spill out. “He will do it, I believe inhim.”
“Belief will get him nowhere. Moneywill.”
Annabelle was silenced, she did not like to accept how right her father was. Of course, Floyd needed money to get going. Money that he did not have. He had a dream, one that she desperately wanted to come true, but want did not always make things happen. Life simply did not work thatway.
“I know,” she finally admitted quietly. “I know all of that. I am sorry, I know I have damaged the family reputation. I did not mean for any of that tohappen.”
Otto considered the reputation of the Hathaway name again. It had been the centre of his focus for such a long time, he had become blind to anything else. Maybe it was not as important as he once thought. Maybe if people did not want to do business with him because of the actions of his child, they were not important. Maybe he did not care if he was not invited out in polite society anymore. Josephine had already told him in the middle of a heated discussion that it did not bother her. It was only him that clung onto it... and now it was he who had almost destroyedit.
His wife put her children first always, even when it meant risking absolutely everything. Now it felt like the perfect time for him to do thesame.
“I will help you,” he finally said decisively. “I will help you to avoid this marriage toWatson.”
“What?” Annabelle stumbled, she grew dizzy with her father’s words. There was no chance she was actually getting away with this, he would notreallylet her leave this wedding day behind, would he? That felt like a dream toofar.
“Yes,” Otto continued decisively. “I will explain to everyone why you do not wish to be his wife, I will tell others what he said to you. I will tell them what I saw, they will know about the courtesan who I saw with my very own eyes.” The humiliation still burned brightly in Otto. He should have known. “His reputation deserves to be tarnished for what he hasdone.”
