Luckily for Annabelle, the transition had not been too difficult so far. The bed and breakfast in the countryside was so luxurious it was almost like home.

“Where are we again?” she asked Floyd for what felt like the hundredth time since they arrived three days before. They had chosen to stay put for a few days to allow the dust to settle. The fear that the Hathaway family would come looking for the pair was still very real.

“Ashbridge,” Floyd commented anxiously. “We are not far enough from London yet.”

Annabelle rolled her eyes, she did not like Floyd’s negative attitude, it upset her a little bit. This was so exciting to her, it was the wonderful adventure that she had always secretly wanted to go on. Sure, she had been very nervous at first but the more time that passed, the happier she felt to be away. Gone was her father’s oppressive gaze, wedding dresses were nowhere to be seen, all she had was Floyd and the rolling hills that stretched out as far as the eye could see.

“We need to move soon and we shall have to start looking for jobs. Have you had any thought about what you might like to do?”

“Maybe I could be a governess somewhere?” Annabelle shrugged in a noncommittal way. “I do not know, I am not sure. I will figure that out as we find a home looking for staff. Will you work in the stables again?”

“Yes, I suppose so. I am in no position to open my own stables just yet. I will need to work somewhere until I have the money.”

Annabelle did not worry too much about Floyd’s words, she knew that they would find their place in the world soon enough. With the money that they had left over, they could use that as a starting position. She did not understand his need to panic. In Annabelle’s eyes, they would be fine.

“Where would you like to go?”

“Somewhere further away from here. Maybe into the countryside. Do you think we should have gone further to start with?”

“It does not matter now, does it?” Annabelle asked with a smile. “We are here, it is only worth worrying about where we go next.”

“Yes, you are right.” Floyd wished that he could take on Annabelle’s carefree attitude, he loved the way she saw everything as fun and exciting rather than something to fear, but with his knowledge of the world, he knew how challenging the future could be. “I wish my parents were still alive. We could go and stay with them.”

As Floyd made that quiet comment, Annabelle’s ears pricked up. She suddenly realized that she had not ever asked Floyd about his family or his life. She had fallen for him without even knowing too much about him. At least they had all the time in the world to learn all about one another now.

“What has happened to your parents?” she asked in a caring tone of voice. “I am terribly sorry, I did not know that they were no longer alive.”

Floyd flicked his eyes towards the ground, he did not like talking about this. He only brought it up now because it was only fair for Annabelle to understand just why he was so afraid. “I did not ever get to know my mother,” he started with regret lacing his tone. “She died while giving birth to me. As her first and only baby, I must have destroyed her.”

“You sound guilty about this, as if it was your fault.” Annabelle was stunned, there was not any way in which she could see that as Floyd’s fault. It was clear from his expression that he carried it around with him. “You cannot help that happening, it is one of those unfortunate things.”

“I suppose so.” Floyd did his best to shrug it off. “My father always blamed me and I guess that is why I truly blame myself.” He sighed, despite himself. It was difficult not to talk about this without dredging up some very sad emotions. “There is...” he stammered uncomfortably as he readied to share a part of himself that he had not done for a very long time. He would have preferred to do this in a very different way, much sooner before they ran away, but he never seemed to find the right moment. “There is something that I never told you.”

“There is?” Annabelle felt nervous, she was not sure what to expect. The way Floyd was acting, it seemed to be something very dramatic that was about to come her way.

“I only did not tell you because I never told anyone,” he said, trying his best to reassure her. Maybe himself too. “It is hard for me to think about now.” He breathed deeply, trying to steady himself. Annabelle froze as she readied herself to hear something that she might not like. “I am not... I am not just a stable boy. Not really.”

“Excuse me?” Annabelle whispered. She hated to think that she had given herself over to someone who was not honest with her, but it seemed that was what had happened.

“I am not simply a poor stable boy. I did not grow up in that way. I am... I was an Earl once upon a time.”

Annabelle did not know how to process that, so she remained in silence as she waited for Floyd to continue.

“My father never accepted me because my birth killed my mother. He thought I was the devil, or something equally as awful.” Floyd shook his head as tears filled his eyes. “He threw me out of the house, five years ago, at sixteen years old which is why I have been working with horses ever since.”

Annabelle slid her hand into his as she listened with an open heart. She was stunned, of course. There was no way she could learn this shocking information and not be, but it was him and she still loved him. Floyd was peeling back his layers for her, and she liked to learn everything new about him. There was nothing that he could tell her that would fully put her off him. Annabelle was fully in the throes of love; this was the happiest that she had ever been.

“That is terrible, Floyd.” An idea popped into her brain and she spoke it before she could think properly. “But maybe we should go and see him now. Maybe the time apart will have changed his mind...”

“He died when I was just turned eighteen years of age, before I could make things up with him.”

“Oh, I am sorry.” Annabelle felt terrible. She had spent the last few days trying to escape her family whereas Floyd had no choice. His parents were taken away from him in a cruel way, in the midst of an argument too. Leaving him with no closure at all. “What happened?”

“From what I heard he got sick,” Floyd said simply. “It happened very quickly.” He turned and gave Annabelle a smile, proving that he had not forgotten about her in his moment of self-reflection. “It is fine, I have lived my life just fine without him. Or the money I could have had.”

“You do not think he would have called you crazy for running away with the Lady of the house?” Annabelle replied teasingly. “Even if you did still have your title, I am sure he would have thought you mad. I think you would have been in a whole lot of trouble with him, should I have ever met him.”

“Maybe you are right.” Floyd nodded, acting serious. “Maybe he would have called me crazy. Maybe that is because I am. But I have done this for love.”

“It will all work out, we will be alright,” Annabelle insisted happily. “We can leave today, I know that you will feel better once we are far away from London. We will head out and search for jobs.” She realized now that she needed to be more open minded when it came to considering just what Floyd needed to be happy too. “I do not mind what job I have as long as we can stay together and you can still work with horses. And we will aim towards your riding school too, I really want you to have that. We can do it for your father.” An idea burst into her brain like a sudden bolt of lightning. “If your father has died, then should you not have an inheritance, being the only child...”

“I do not think so,” Floyd interjected coldly before Annabelle could go too crazy with that idea. “He would have rather it gone to the poor than me. “And even so I should not want anything from him.”

Annabelle gulped, accepting Floyd’s decision readily. It was up to him what he wanted to do with his family’s money. She did not have to agree with it, just as he might not have agreed with her. “That is fine, we shall find a way to make it work on our own.”

“Thank you.” Working towards something positive helped Floyd relax, knowing that Annabelle accepted him for the truth of who he really was made him feel even better. He barely told anyone because what had happened with his father had scarred him. He did not even want to remember it anymore, it was as if it had happened in another life entirely. He always needed something to look for in the distance, and in the immediate future a steady income was the most important thing of all. “I think that will be best.”

Annabelle watched as the weight lifted from Floyd’s shoulders, which made her feel much better about herself. She would have been happy to remain hidden out in this nice place for a while longer, she felt comfortable in the bed and breakfast, but maybe Floyd was right. Maybe it was best to take action before the money ran out. The pile was shrinking quicker than she expected it to.

While he sat about packing up his things and undoubtedly thinking about what the couple would do next, Annabelle’s thoughts drifted back to her home. She was trying her hardest not to worry too much about her mother and father, but whenever she let her mind wander that was exactly where she ended up.

She could not stop herself from thinking about her father yelling when he discovered what her mother had done to help her. He would be very angry and hurt, and even though Josephine had told her that she could calm him down, Annabelle was not certain she could. This would be the worst thing that any of them had ever done to him. Of course, if he had listened to her in the first place about Lord Ashdown then none of this would have happened... but it was unlikely that he would see it in that way.

She also imagined her sister’s hurt face when she learned that Annabelle had run without even speaking to her first. Beatrice would be upset that Annabelle had not been honest, even if they were never close. After all, she had told her about the baby first. She pictured Catherine struggling to keep Annabelle’s secret locked away inside of her when everything got crazy around her. Maybe she should not have told her best friend anything, people would assume that she would tell Catherine the truth and there was a chance that the pressure might get too much for her... especially if she told Edith and Harriett. Annabelle’s other friends were even worse at keeping secrets.

Still, there was not much point in worrying about things that she could not control. Annabelle had made her decision now, she simply needed to stick with it.

“We should head further down towards Cornwall,” Floyd told Annabelle, completely oblivious to her inner turmoil. “There are lots of large country estates along the way. Someone is bound to want to hire.”

“Is that really the best way?” Annabelle questioned him doubtfully. “You think we should knock on doors and see? Is there any chance we will get lucky that way?”

“It is the best way for us to also keep our identities hidden,” Floyd confirmed. “We do not want to draw any attention to ourselves. It is a way a lot of people find work. It might not be the most efficient, but it is the easiest for us.”

“Shall we continue with the story that we told the staff here? Do we let people believe that we are a married couple?”

“It is not too far from the truth,” Floyd reassured her, just like he did the first time they were forced to be dishonest. “Well, we will be married one day, it just makes sense for us to be travelling together if that is the case. We will probably need to use some of your mother’s money to buy some more suitable clothes to keep the lie more realistic, but I believe it will work again.”

“Yes.” Annabelle glanced down at her lilac coloured skirts regretfully. If she needed to slip into this role, then she would have to. She had given herself no choice in the matter. “I think that you are right. I should get some clothes that make me look lower class. After all, that is what I am now.”

She still was not sure if she had come to terms with that yet, she still could not quite drop the ‘Lady’ title in her mind, but that would have to come soon enough. Soon she would be working in someone’s home, she would blend into the background, she would be treated with contempt and rapid dismissal once her work was done, just like the staff she had dealt with her entire life. Even she was guilty of not being as respectful as she should have been and it was time to be on the other side of that.

“But you are with me.” Floyd did not want Annabelle to feel bad, not now the steps had been taken. He expected moments of self-doubt to creep in, with the massive step they had taken there was no way she could be utterly emotionless, but it was his job to take care of her. He took that very seriously. “And I will take care of you. I will not let you down.”

“Thank you, Floyd Brewer.” Annabelle smiled through her fears and confusion. “I love you very much. I do not know what I would do without you. I am so glad that you decided to come with me.”

“I love you too, Annabelle Hathaway and despite everything, I am glad I came too. I just cannot wait until we have all our dreams come true.”

“Me too,” she replied with a smile. “I just know that everything will turn out well in the end.”