“But... but... people will hateme.”
“I will protect you.” Otto smiled, finally feeling like he was doing the right thing. This was the first time in his life that he actually felt very good about his choice for his daughters, there was no doubt in his mind at all. “I will make sure that no one can get toyou.”
“It will be toomuch...”
“I will send you away.” It hit Otto that his daughter had actually been through many adult experiences during her time away from home. Maybe it was best for him to let her make the choices for her future. He clearly did not know best, whatever he had previously believed. “I will give you money, a carriage ride, I will help you to escape the city for a while. Until everything dies down.” He could not help himself, he had to let Annabelle know his opinion on the subject. “I would prefer it if you stayed away from the stable boy, I think you deserve someone who can take care of you better, but it is up toyou.”
Letting go of the control felt surprisingly good. Otto felt like a weight had been lifted from him. Of course, he would worry about Annabelle for the rest of his life, just like he did with Beatrice, but something in his gut told him that he needed to simply trust that she would do what was best forher.
Annabelle was utterly overwhelmed with emotion. Without even thinking, she went with the flow and she flung her arms around her father in a very overt show of affection. “Thank you, Father, this is toomuch.”
Otto peeled his daughter’s arms off of him. That was a step too far, he could take only so much. He did not even know how to respond to Annabelle’s grab. Affectional displays had never been something that he was very goodat.
“We better get back to the house, we both have a lot of work to do.” Seeing Annabelle’s panicked expression, he realized that was not possible. He shook his head and started again. “I will not make you go back inside, I will send you away now. You do not have to worry about anything in the home again. Trust me to sort it foryou.”
Annabelle gulped, trying desperately to keep her emotion inside. “Thank you, Father. I do not know what to say. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done forme.”
Annabelle’s heart skipped a beat, this was incredible. Somehow, this had transformed from the most horrible day ever, resulting in her having the worst husband ever, to her having the freedom to do whatever shewanted.
She did not even feel bad about breaking her father’s wishes. Ofcourse, she was heading straight to Floyd again, there was nowhere else in the world she belonged. He would see soon enough. He had seen that she was right about Lord Ashdown, soon he would see that she was right about her stable boytoo.
