“Oh, Floyd, you are such a good riding teacher!” Annabelle gasped happily as he helped her down from Primrose. “I cannot believe you have got me riding already.”

“You have a natural talent for it, I have never seen someone take to horse riding so well.”

He held onto her hands and stared deeply into her eyes. As they looked at one another Annabelle realized that this was no longer a crush. What she felt for Floyd was so much more powerful than that. It was real, it was love.

“I do not know what is going on with me,” Annabelle whispered quietly to Floyd. “You make me feel...”

“Yes, you make me feel the same way too.” His hands snaked around her waist and he lightly tugged her towards him. Annabelle fell willingly against him, she wanted to be nearer to this man because he made her feel incredible. “There are no words for it, are there?”

“No,” Annabelle replied breathlessly. She could feel her breasts rising and falling against Floyd’s chest, her fingers buzzed with excitement as they wrapped around his neck, her heart hammered. She could not believe what was about to happen. “There are not.”

Floyd cocked his head slightly to one side, indicating that he wanted to kiss Annabelle. She knew that it was wrong, she had been told many times that it would ruin her reputation if she allowed a man anywhere near her outside of wedlock, but that simply made it that much more thrilling.

Floyd wanted to kiss her, and she wanted to kiss him too.

Annabelle moved her lips closer to him, the fizzing anticipation grew, any minute now...

“Annabelle, are you even listening to me?” her father’s snapping tone dragged Annabelle right out of her fantasy. “What is wrong with you at the moment? You are constantly daydreaming. I feel like I cannot speak with you at all, and we have a lot of things that need to be discussed.”

Annabelle’s dreams dissipated into nothing. She was pulled from her wonderful fantasy life and plonked right back into the reality of her father’s wish for her to marry Lord Ashdown. Still, even now. He was not letting it go.

“I am sorry, I do not feel too well,” she panted, refusing to discuss anything wedding related. “Do you mind if I go to bed?”

Otto blew out a deep breath of air and shook his head disappointedly. “Fine, you do not seem like yourself, maybe that would be for the best. We will have to have this conversation at some point though.”

“Of course, Father.”

Annabelle walked up to her bedroom for some time alone, but as she got into her own private space she realized that Floyd was walking one of the horses through the garden within her view. He had an older gentleman with him, another staff member by the looks of it, but Annabelle could only see him. As he bent his body forwards to smooth down the horse, causing him to smile brightly, Annabelle bent over the window sill and watched him.

His sandy hair looked blonder in the sunlight, his muscles rippled under his shirt, with the dirt across his face he looked even more handsome than before. He was too gorgeous for words, it did not matter that he was the stable boy, the crush that she had on him was growing stronger with every passing second.

Maybe it was just a happy distraction from her issues with Lord Ashdown, or maybe it was something much more real. Annabelle was not sure, and the worst part was she could not even discuss it with anyone. This was the first problem that she had ever suffered that she could not discuss with her friends. They simply would not understand.

Annabelle was alone, she did not have anywhere to turn anymore.

* * *

For the first time in many years, Josephine felt nervous as she stood outside her husband's office. Maybe, in the beginning of their relationship, she found Otto intimidating because she did not know him too well, but that was a very long time ago.

Now, after over two decades of marriage, she fully understood how Otto’s mind worked, and usually she knew how to make him see things from her point of view. She prided herself on being one of the only people who knew how to change his mind, but Watson was the one area he was being too stubborn for words, and it was also the one area she really needed him to listen to her. Annabelle and her future happiness depended on it.

Come on, Josephine, she scolded herself as she raised her fist to knock. This is so important, this is what needs to be done. Your daughter needs you. Just because she was not asking for help anymore, it did not mean that Josephine was willing to give up on Annabelle.

Knock, knock.

Otto did not answer right away, but Josephine knew this was a tactic of his. It was unlikely that any important visitors would come without being announced first, but he had to play it safe, just in case. He needed to seem busy, powerful, and in control at all times. Even in front of his wife.

“Come in,” he eventually called out, causing Josephine’s heart to skip an anxious beat.

Josephine pushed the door open and she stood just inside Otto’s office. Her head was held high, her chin jutted out, she rolled her shoulders backwards. She looked confident and in control, even if she did not feel it. Otto could not hear her racing heart, which meant she could easily play it down.

“What are you doing?” Otto smiled at his wife. “Come in properly, take a seat!”

“Right, of course.” Josephine shook her head. She probably did look strange standing oddly in the corner trying to look confident. “I hope that you do not mind me coming to disturb you. I know you are a busy man.”

“I have time for you, Josephine, you know that.”

“Yes, of course.” Josephine did know that. As her and Otto had grown together in marriage, they learned to love one another deeply. Maybe their marriage was not always ideal, but it was not as unsuccessful as what some of her friends experienced. At least they respected one another, even after all this time. “Thank you.”

“Am I to assume that you are here to discuss the same subject again?” Otto raised his eyebrow knowingly. He knew his wife well, he understood her concerns, but as always, he knew best. He did not make these decisions lightly, which should have shown her that he knew exactly what he was doing. “Because I would think by now that you know my feelings on the matter.

“Oh, I do,” Josephine nodded. “But I still would like you to see things from my point of view.” She had a speech prepared, she had been planning it all night long, but the words had somehow become a little garbled in her mind. "I feel like this young Lord will destroy our family’s reputation, or at the very least Annabelle’s. She does not deserve to be married to a man who is brutish, bad tempered, and spends time with street girls.”

“Oh, Josephine, why are you listening to silly whispers? It is ridiculous. We have had this young man in our home and he comes across as a very articulate, smart, respectful gentleman. Maybe he has had his troubles in the past, maybe it has affected him from time to time, but now he has really pulled his life together. He came back from his father’s death spectacularly. Just like me.”

Of course. Josephine should have guessed that Otto would identify with Watson in that way. It made a lot of sense... but it did not change anything.

“Annabelle does not like him.” Josephine needed to try another tactic. “She has confided in me that he repulses her.”

“I do not see that.” Otto shook his head. “I do not see that she does not like him. She seems to enjoy his company just as much as I do.”

"Well, she does not. If you would look closer, you would be able to see that.”

Otto chuckled mirthlessly. “If you remember rightly, you also told me that Beatrice did not like Abraham, but look at what has happened there. She is now pregnant with our first grandchild.”

Josephine knew that would be used against her, but she would not let Otto sway her so easily. Just because Beatrice had made it work, did not mean the same would happen again.

“Annabelle is not like Beatrice, surely you can understand that? Beatrice is smart and resourceful, she is able to make the best of a situation that she might not like at first. Of course, I am happy that things worked out well for her, all I want is for both of my girls to be happy. That is why I am pursuing this. I do not believe that Annabelle will be happy with Watson. She is freer, more impulsive, she feels things much deeper. He will not make her happy.”

“You are reading too much into it.” Otto disregarded his wife’s concerns with the flick of a hand. “Lord Ashdown is a wonderful man, he is very wealthy. He can take care of Annabelle forevermore. She needs someone to calm her down anyway, you are right. She is too high spirited. I believe that this will be the best thing for her.”

Josephine felt enraged. “You are sitting in front of me, telling me that our daughter needs to change who she is?”

“I am telling you that she needs to be calmer. She is a Lady, she has a title and a reputation, she needs to work on behaving as such. The older she gets, the more society functions she will have to attend. She needs to learn how to act for the best. Surely you can understand that?”

“I cannot believe you.” Josephine leapt up from her chair and she stared down at Otto with a fire in her eyes. “I am really hurt by you.”

“That does not matter. You will soon see that I am correct.” Otto’s matter of fact tone sounded cold to Josephine’s emotional ears. “Soon you will be sitting back in that chair, telling me that you should have listened to me sooner.”

His confidence in himself bordered on arrogance. Josephine shook her head angrily at her husband who was acting like a stranger to her. “You act like you know everything about everyone. I do not think you understand your family at all. It is almost as if you do not care about your girls.”

Otto banged his fists down on his desk as rage burst out of him. “I am sick of hearing about this, I am tired of arguing with you about it. This is happening, it is already starting, you cannot stop it without making us all look stupid. I feel like you are trying to damage our family. You will stop this now, I do not want to hear another word about it.”

Josephine was stunned by this outburst, she had never seen Otto react like that to anything before. It made her see him in a whole new light. The seriousness of his tone scared her and caused her to step backwards. She felt claustrophobic in this office, she needed to escape. Clearly, trying to have a reasonable discussion with her husband was a big mistake.

“Fine. The subject is closed,” she rasped while clutching onto her chest. “But I will not forget this, Otto. Ever.”

It was not closed though, not by a long shot. Josephine had no idea how, but she would find a way to help her daughter. Her conversation with Otto had only made her even more determined.

Somehow, she would help Annabelle, and someday it would be Otto coming to her telling that she was right. Josephine felt certain of it.