A smile crept up onto Annabelle’s lips as she made her way indoors. That went much better than she expected to, and it made her even more certain that she needed to leave. It was the right thing to do. Running away, being with Floyd, it was all that she needed to be happy. He liked the idea, he just needed to make that brave step and he would see. Annabelle was not at all worried that he would back down now. He loved her, that was enough.

Now she just had to make that happen.

Her mother had told her that she would arrange a carriage if only she would let her know that was what she wanted. She needed to do that now while the determination was still fresh within her. She had to get her mother’s assistance without alerting any attention to herself. Preferably, she needed to do it without even being in the same room as her. Annabelle was not sure how closely her father was watching her now, and she did not want things ruined at the last moment.

On a whim, she decided that a note was the best way to go. She would write something that could be interpreted a number of ways and send it with the butler. Admittedly, it was potentially troublesome, but it was the best idea she could think of quickly.

Mother, as discussed, I would like things to happen at five a.m. Thank you, Annabelle.

If her father questioned her, she could act like it was something wedding related. Maybe she could pretend that is the time she wanted to get dressed. It mentioned nothing that could be taken badly, so that was the best that she could do.

She nodded to herself, pleased that she had been so smart, and she continued to ride off that confidence as she handed the note to the butler. Maybe her pulse raced and her stomach twisted up in nauseous knots, but on the outside, she looked calm and that was all that mattered.

Once her mother received that note, things would move rapidly. Annabelle only had one thing left to do. She needed to get her things packed as quickly as possible so that when the time came she was ready. It was far too quick to leave the following morning, but it was the only way that things would work. If she left it any longer, there was a chance that everything would go wrong.

Right, she thought to herself as she entered the room. What do I need? Looking at the clothes that she had owned for years, the one’s that she never really looked at before, Annabelle felt uncertain. Maybe it would not matter if people knew that she was once a Lady, there were many horror stories about women being left with nothing and forced to take on work, but she would have to appear down on her luck. She could not leave this house with her best dresses with her. She was going to have to only take the ones that made her look simple.

The only issue with that was her father always made sure she had the best dresses. The way that the Hathaway girls appeared in public was a reflection on him, and everything that represented Otto had to be wonderful.

Her fingers ran down the soft material as she wondered what sort of things she would have to wear in her new life. The maids only seemed to wear plain, brown and beige dresses. She had never seen anyone without money wear anything eye-catching. Would that be her from now on? Would she have to blend into the background for the rest of her life?

And most importantly, did she mind?

She folded a light blue number in the best way she could. It was not easy to flatten down this dress, even without all the ruffles of her usual attire, but she did her best. She only had a small case, so she needed it tiny.

No, I do not think I shall mind, Annabelle thought idly to herself as she grabbed hold of another dress. I do not think I shall mind at all. Better to be hidden and with Floyd, than be seen and Watson’s wife.

“Lady Hathaway?” Annabelle jumped as an unexpected voice rang out behind her. She turned quickly, trying to hide her packing behind her back, but fortunately the butler was not paying any attention to her. “I have a letter from your mother.”

“Oh, of course.” She had not been expecting that. Was Josephine about to tell her this was not going to happen? “Thank you.”

Her fingers ran along the edge of the paper as she stared at the butler. He seemed to be waiting for her to read and reply to the note, but that was not going to happen. If this was bad news, she wanted to see it alone, and if she did need to reply she would simply find him again.

“That will be all, thank you.”

As he finally left, Annabelle pulled the paper apart eagerly with her heart racing in her chest. The words spun in front of her anxious eyes for a second, before they settled down.

That is all sorted for you, five a.m. is all booked in for you. Lots of love, Mother xx

She clutched it to her chest as emotion flooded her. This was such a sweet gesture, she could not believe how lucky she was. Without her mother, none of this would happen. She needed to find a way to thank her at some point...

* * *

Annabelle’s heart pounded heavily in her chest as she grabbed hold of her bag to leave. The night air still clung to the world, but the small thin lines of light peeked through. Morning was coming and before it did Annabelle needed to be gone.

As she dressed and left her bedroom, Annabelle did her best not to look behind her. She did not want to examine the life that she was leaving behind. She loved her bedroom a lot, it had always been a sense of comfort for her, but she had to go. However emotional she felt about it, this was still the right move.

Keep moving, she told herself firmly. Think of Floyd, think of a new life... think of leaving behind Watson, nothing else.

The positive thoughts rolled through her mind as she tiptoed down the stairs. Annabelle did her best to think about what was going on inside of her rather than the strangeness of the empty home around her. She did not usually get to see things this way, usually the house was really busy, it left Annabelle a little scared. So, did the fear that her father had found out, and he was going to jump out on her at any moment.

Father does not know, she tried to convince herself. If he knew, he would not have let things go this far.

Still, every single time her toes creaked on the wood, she froze stiff and listened intently, trying to hear anything else other than the hammering of her heart.

By the time Annabelle reached the top of the stairs which would take her down into the servant quarters, she could hardly breathe. Her lungs felt tight, despite the looser fitting dress than she was normally allowed to wear, the bag on her shoulder felt like a boulder it was so heavy, her knees knocked together in fear.

I have my mother supporting me, she will make sure I am safe. That is all I need to worry about.

Soon the brass fittings and golden décor was gone, Annabelle quickly left behind the floral wallpaper and the expensive artwork hanging. The entire building transformed in to something wonderful to something very plain and beige. Annabelle had not ever been in this area of the house before and she could hardly believe it was the same place.

She continued moving on her tiptoes, drinking everything in with awe. A long hallway went off in every direction into little rooms. Small bedrooms with plain white, uncomfortable looking beds filled every single one. Some of the staff members even had to share a room with someone else, and still they only had a tiny brown bedside cabinet for storage. Some of the maids had clothing hanging above their heads as they slept.

It was nothing like what Annabelle was used to. She had expected there to be a big divide between the rich and the poor, it would obviously not be the same, but witnessing the difference in such a quick space of time shocked her.

Can I do this? She thought desperately inside her brain. Can I really give up everything to live like this? She knew that she would have to work eventually, even with her mother’s money, which meant soon one of these beds would probably be hers. No, I can. I can do this. For Floyd.

Eventually Annabelle spotted the room with Floyd’s sleeping body inside of it. She paused at the door frame and watched him breathing in and out deeply as dreams came for him. With the innocent sleeping expression on his face, he looked even more appealing to Annabelle. He was definitely the one for her, there was no doubt about it.

With her hand outstretched, Annabelle moved forwards. She did not want to wake up Floyd, but since she had not had time to warn him, she did not have any choice. She would simply have to push this guilt down to shake him.

“Floyd,” she whispered as she rocked his body gently. “Floyd, wake up.”

“Nugh,” he grumbled, only slightly opening his eyes.

“Floyd.” She got a little more frantic. “Floyd, wake up.”

“Huh?” He bolted into a sitting position with ice cold terror racing through his veins. “Annabelle, you are here?” He rubbed his eyes, wondering if this was merely an extension of his dream. “Has something happened?”

“We need to go now,” she insisted quickly. “We have to leave. The carriage is waiting outside for us. My mother has sorted it.” She glanced around his bed, noticing that there was no packed bag there. “Did you still want to come?”

Disappointment crushed her chest. Even without Floyd she still needed to leave for herself, to escape Lord Ashdown, but the prospect was much more terrifying alone.

“You wish to go now?” Floyd whispered in shock, waking up fully now. “Today? Right now? In the middle of the night?”

“It is almost morning time, it has to be now.” Annabelle’s tone grew frantic. Floyd was not moving as rapidly as she needed him to. He was giving her too much time to find doubt within herself. “We need to move before my mother gets discovered for helping us.”

“Oh my goodness.” Floyd banged his feet on the ground as he tried to get out of bed in a hurry. “I did not think it would be so fast.”

“Have you packed?” Annabelle’s heart beat faster as she spotted Floyd reach under his bed to grab out his bag. At least he seemed ready to go. “So, you are ready?”

“I am... are you?” He gave Annabelle a searching look. He just wanted to check that she was not having any second thoughts. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“I am going even if you do not,” Annabelle replied firmly. “I need to leave before my father makes me marry Lord Ashdown. The carriage is waiting outside and I intend to get on it.”

With her heart thumping in her chest, Annabelle turned on her feet and she walked back towards the stairs. Her eyes slid closed for a second and she prayed for Floyd to follow her, but she would not force him to do so. Luckily it was not long before she heard his feet tapping behind her.

Floyd no longer knew what he was doing, even after all of his deliberation, he had no idea what he wanted to do. Even as he packed his bag he had no clue as to what would happen. He certainly did not expect things to happen so quickly, he had not expected Annabelle to burst into his bedroom in the middle of the night demanding that he leave right away. The sleep was still thick in his eyes, even thought it would not normally be long until he rose to tend to the horses anyway, the shock of waking up in such a rapid way left him dazed and confused.

Maybe he should have expected that, falling in love with a fiery red-headed Lady who only wanted adventure in her life. Floyd had absolutely no idea what would happen when he got on the carriage with Annabelle, he had no clue as to where his life would take him next, but it was going to be very exciting.

Or so he hoped.

As the fresh air hit his face, he grabbed onto Annabelle’s arm just to check one last time. He did not want to upset her, but he needed to be certain.

“This is what you want?” he asked as he stared deeply into her eyes. “You are certain?”

“I have told you, I am certain,” Annabelle replied with utter conviction. “I promise you, this will be the best thing we ever do. This is the start of a new life for us.”

Floyd nodded hopefully. “Right, let us do this.”