Annabelle Enchants the Rejected Earl: A Historical Regency Romance Novel Read online

  He is a terribly handsome man, she thought to herself with a smile playing on her lips. I am terribly lucky that he has shown an interest in me... especially considering what I have been through.

  When James first began courting her, Annabelle told him an edited version of her past. She explained to James about the unwise engagement to Lord Ashdown and how it made her feel, she even gave him a little bit of information about Floyd, but she played down the finer details of their time together. For instance, she told James that she left home to escape her engagement, but she did not let him know that she was not alone when she did. She informed James about her attraction to the stable boy, but she did not tell him that they kissed.

  She just did not want him to judge her for being ruined. She also wanted to keep everything that she had with Floyd all to herself. It was like a delicious secret or a dream that only she could access. After everything that she had been through, she felt like she deserved to have a little something that was just for her.

  "I am terribly sorry, I do not mean to give you a funny look," she replied coyly. "I do not know what is wrong with me today. I feel very out of sorts.”

  James walked over to where Annabelle was sitting and he lightly brushed his finger along her cheek. He was so careful not to touch her in a way that was considered inappropriate that she could hardly feel his fingers at all. It was delicate and sweet, nothing like the way that Watson had touched her, but it also meant that she could not work out just how she felt because of it.

  “You do not look unwell,” he commented with his head cocked to one side. “You look just as beautiful as ever.”

  Annabelle’s chest swelled. The compliment affected her greatly. It was lovely to hear that he still found her just as pretty when she had been busy at work all day. He meant it too. James was a man who only spoke words that he truly believed.

  “Thank you very much, that is kind of you to say.” She tucked a stray strand of red hair behind her ear and stared up at him with curiosity in her gaze. “Is everything alright with you? You do not seem quite like yourself either?”

  James instantly shrank in on himself as he took a step back. His entire body language changed in a way that had Annabelle absolutely petrified. She could not help fearing that something awful was about to happen. She gripped tightly onto the chair underneath her, trying her best to keep herself steady.

  James ran a hand through his dark hair and he shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. His shoulders hunched up around his ears and he took in a deep sigh as he tried to prepare himself for what was clearly something very challenging that he had to say next.

  “There is something that I wish to discuss with you,” he said cautiously. Annabelle sucked in and held a breath as she waited to see what he would say to her next. “And it is something that I find difficult to express.”

  Annabelle’s knuckles turned white, her brain started to spin, her imagination immediately took her to the darkest places possible. She immediately started to think that James was about to break off their courtship, which was a horrifying thought that would immediately send her back into loneliness.

  Maybe he has met someone who can give him more of herself than I can. Maybe he has met his true love. Maybe I am about to end up all alone again.

  “Y... yes?” she stammered awkwardly. “What is it?” When James did not immediately answer her, the panic gripped her wholly. “James, please tell me. What is going on?”

  James bit down on his bottom lip and he sat in the seat opposite her. He held out his hands for her to hold and with a tremble and a shake she forced her palms towards his. The look that James was giving her was utterly unreadable, which did not help Annabelle with her nerves at all.

  “Lady Annabelle Hathaway, I was wondering...” He gulped noisily as he scanned his brain desperately trying to find the right words. “We have been courting for a while and I believe it might be time to make that official.”

  Annabelle’s heart stopped dead in her chest. She had not been expecting that at all. She had steeled herself, waiting for the worst to happen so this was a completely unexpected turnaround.

  “What do you mean, official?”

  Logically, she understood, but her brain had not yet processed the words to allow her to fully understand yet.

  “I would like to marry you,” James eventually asked gruffly. “I would like you to be my wife. I do not have a bejewelled ring for you which I know is what you deserve, I just thought it better to spend the money on a wonderful ceremony instead.”

  His cheeks tinged with a pink embarrassment as he slid the band over Annabelle’s finger. She had not even answered him, but it seemed that he presumed it would be a yes. James was so busy worrying that he could not afford quite the luxury that the Lord who she was engaged to before him, that he did not see the shock and fear in Annabelle’s eyes.

  I should marry him, Annabelle thought to herself. This is a wonderful offer and he is a great man. I should be lucky to be James’s wife.

  She did not even glance down to see the ring, not that it would have mattered. Annabelle knew better than anyone that material possessions did not mean a thing. It would not matter if James had proposed with absolutely nothing. That was not causing her to pause.

  He is not Floyd, she could not help thinking despite herself. He is not the man I thought I would marry.

  Even though five years had passed, even though she presumed that she had completely recovered from their ill-fated, badly timed affair, she could not stop him from cropping up into her brain at this monumental moment.

  Stop it, she cursed herself. No one will ever be Floyd, but that does not have to be a bad thing.

  Yes, her feelings for Floyd were more intense, but she had already worked out that was due to her youth and naivety. It certainly needn't be something to affect her decision now.

  I am older, wiser, smarter, and James is truly wonderful.

  “Are you...” James finally seemed to realize that Annabelle had not yet said anything. “Is everything alright?”

  Annabelle knew that she needed to say something, but her lips would not even part. Doubt filled her, she could hardly control it. Everything that she had felt was secure fell apart in her mind. Courting James was one thing, but committing to him forevermore was something else entirely. She had been down this road once before so she knew just how serious it was. Just because this was a completely different situation, and James was another person, nothing like Watson at all, something about the situation felt very similar.

  This engagement will have nothing to do with my father, she tried her best to bring herself around. I will be in complete control of everything. This will all be on me.

  “Please, say something, Annabelle,” James continued, starting to sound really worried. “I am concerned now. If you do not wish to get married, please let me know. I shall understand...”

  Annabelle knew that if she turned James down now, it would end things completely leaving her completely alone. She might not have said it before, but she really did like the idea of having children someday. What if this was the only chance that she was given and she threw it away over a man who left her years ago with no indication that he ever wanted to see her again?

  "I... I am terribly sorry," she eventually gasped while clutching her hand to her chest. The ring had newly been placed there and felt like a weight upon her. “I am just very shocked, this is very unexpected.”

  “It is?” James screwed his face up in confusion. “I thought it was the next logical step for us.”

  “No, you are right,” Annabelle had to agree. “That is the truth of it, I guess I just was not expecting it.”

  "Does that mean you do not want it?" James sounded a little stressed now, this was clearly not going to his plan. In his mind, he had envisioned this moment being a much happier one. He had spent the last few weeks planning for it, hoping that it would be the start of the rest of his life. He knew that Annabelle had a past when it came to
the idea of marriage, but he still did not expect her to be so unhappy at the idea of marrying him. He was nothing like that brutish Lord, after all. "You can tell me if that is the case.”

  “Yes,” Annabelle blurted out as rationality got the best of her. She would be absolutely silly to turn down James, he was the best thing to happen to her in a very long time. "Yes, of course, I want to marry you."

  “You will?” He still did not sound sure.

  “Yes,” Annabelle said with a nod and a much more decisive tone of voice. “Yes, I shall marry you, that sounds lovely.

  James’s face lit up, he was delighted. He squeezed Annabelle’s fingers tight and smiled brightly at her. “We should start making the arrangements soon, send out the announcements. Your family will have a long journey ahead of them if they are to come here for the ceremony...”

  My family. As James talked about all the things that the couple needed to do now, Annabelle panicked about what her family would think. Her father would approve of James when he met him, or Annabelle assumed that he would, but she could still imagine them whispering about her, wondering if this time her relationship would stick. They might assume that this would be just another mistake. She could not stand any more humiliation, she had suffered enough of it to last a lifetime.

  It does not matter, she finally told herself with a shake of her head. It only matters what I think... and I think that marrying James will be the best decision I ever make.

  There was a gnawing sensation in the pit of her stomach, but Annabelle was sure that had much more to do with the idea of planning a wedding and stepping back into a white dress. It was not James that was the issue, it was the wedding, that was all.

  Absolutely nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.

  Chapter 28

  The last few years had not been easy for Floyd, in fact, every single day had been a challenge for him, but it was all worth it now. Finally, after all of his years of putting in every scrap of effort, after giving his blood, sweat, and tears, he had achieved his dream.

  Floyd Brewer was no longer just a stable boy. In fact, he was a very successful riding school owner with many wealthy, well-known clients, and a list of people requiring his services that grew every single day.

  Taking himself from a very poor man to a wealthy one was almost unheard of, but he had done it, and for that reason alone he was proud of himself. Maybe he had been forced to shove down his pride and visit his father’s lawyer as a part of that journey, but it had been more than worth it. Maybe his father had not wanted him in life, but he had at least left him something in death. The will money was not enough to get his riding school, but it took him a long way towards it. Without that, he never would have been able to do it.

  He would never take on the Earl title, he gave that up long ago, but he was still glad that he had listened to Annabelle’s advice about fighting for his title... even if he did it a little too late.

  Now it was time to finally get the ultimate reward that he had always been working towards, even if it was something that he pushed to the back of his mind.

  Lady Annabelle Hathaway, he thought with a smile as he scanned his eyes over the quaint little village she now lived in, not too far away from the Brentwood household where a lot of their history had occurred. I have finally come back for you; I am just sorry that it has taken me this long.

  Learning that Annabelle had been forcefully taken from Mr. Brentwood’s home was the day that Floyd’s heart absolutely shattered into pieces. Deep down, he supposed there was a part of him that was expecting it to happen – after all, Otto Hathaway was not the sort of man to simply let things go – but somehow it still managed to shock him. He felt the foundation of the world fall out from underneath him as their life of happiness had been taken away. When Violet gave him all the details, he could barely hear her words. He could barely think at all.

  Then, he ran. He did not even wait for Mr. Brentwood to fire him, he took off at the speed of light with one goal in mind. He needed to get back to London. Even though he was aware that it would be nearly impossible, he needed to find a way to communicate with Annabelle, to let her know that he would find a way to make it right.

  During his turbulent journey back to the city with minimal money to help him, Floyd had plenty of time to think and one thing became acutely clear to him. It was something that he already knew, it simply became even more apparent. Otto Hathaway did not want him anywhere near his daughter because he was not worthy of her. He knew that he would be, once he opened his riding school, but at the time he was nothing but staff.

  Floyd intended to let Annabelle know that he would come back for her as soon as he had his riding school, so Lord Hathaway would finally approve.

  Unfortunately for Floyd, the day he arrived in London was the absolute worst day ever. He did not even manage to get anywhere near Annabelle’s home, everyone in the whole of the city seemed to be visiting, and he very quickly found out why.

  It was Annabelle’s wedding day, she was marrying Lord Ashdown.

  That was dreadful, it was the last thing that Floyd wanted. Even if he did not end up with Annabelle himself, he did not want her to end up with that brute, but what could he do? He had already tried to go up against the powerful head of the family and he had failed... there was no way that he could do it again. There was no way he could break up a wedding, not without facing serious consequences. Floyd was so much in love with Annabelle that he would have suffered anything for her, but he could not get inside.

  It took him a while, but eventually, Floyd had to admit defeat, he had to accept that he had lost Annabelle forever. It was not a nice thing to consider and it left him utterly devastated. Heartbroken did not even begin to cover it. He left the city rapidly to try and create some distance between himself and his sadness.

  Throwing himself into his work and his business plans was the only way to keep himself going. If he did not have that, Floyd did not know what he would have done. Every time he was alone without something occupying his mind, his brain would instantly drift back to Annabelle. He would wonder what she was doing, who she was with, if she had managed to make something positive of her marriage to Watson. He would also wonder if she was thinking about him, which was challenging. It made it absolutely impossible for him to move on.

  Still, he survived. Even if it was only just. After five years, Floyd truly believed that he had gotten to a stage of his life where he was actually doing better. Annabelle was still there in the back of his mind, but he had come to terms with the fact that she would always be there. She was such a large part of his life, such a big piece of his history that she would not ever go. But that was all there would be to it...

  Or so he thought.

  That all changed the previous week when a new customer walked into his riding school with her young child in tow. She wanted to discuss signing her son up for riding lessons as early as possible, by request of her husband, but as it turned out they did not discuss that much at all.

  “Are you... Floyd Brewer?” she had asked in a shocked voice. “Were you once a stable boy?”

  He was stunned, no one ever knew about his past life which was just the way he liked it. He nodded silently and waited for her to continue with his heart hammering against his ribcage.

  “Did you once know a girl called Annabelle? I am... I was her best friend when we were younger. My name is Catherine...”

  Floyd could remember a Lady named Catherine, Annabelle had spoken as her best friend. It was then he knew that the connection to his old life had finally caught up with him, and he was incredibly happy for that.

  From there, the whole story came spilling out. Floyd took the Lady to one side where they could talk privately and she filled him in on everything that he had managed to miss over the last five years.

  The wedding did not happen. Floyd did not even need to do anything to prevent it and save Annabelle because as it turned out, Lord Watson Ashdown revealed himself to be a horrible bruti
sh man, Catherine was not certain on the details. Lord Otto Hathaway ensured that everyone knew the wedding could not happen because it was Watson’s intention to ruin the good family name.

  As expected, that was a scandal for a while, it was the subject of gossip... but only until the next big thing happened. It was not long until someone else broke the rules and ruined themselves, causing all the attention to swing around to them instead.

  If Floyd was not already frustrated with himself for missing out on the opportunity to be with Annabelle again when her wedding fell through, Catherine then informed him that Annabelle came to find him. She went back to Mr. Brentwood's home, but of course, he was not there. He had left, he was ready to start his own life, he was trying his hardest not to fall apart under the stress of losing the love of his life. She was searching for him just as he was trying to hide. It would have been laughable if it was not such a tragedy.

  That was when she made the brave decision to start a life of her own. Floyd was a little surprised to hear that, but also proud. Annabelle’s character was too much for the stifling life in London. Getting away from all of that was the absolute best thing she could have done for herself. Floyd felt decidedly proud of her.

  Unfortunately, Catherine was not too sure about the details of Annabelle’s life right now. They still maintained a friendship, but could only communicate with letters. They could not gossip in letters the way that they could face to face because anything written down could be read by anyone else. Catherine believed her to be happy, but she could not be completely certain. With her own busy life, parenting her young son and baby daughter, it was challenging for Catherine to find time to actually see Annabelle.

  Floyd did not mind about the lack of details; through Catherine he could get the one that he needed. He now knew where Annabelle was, which was the most important detail of them all. Now, after five years of separation, he could find her once more.

  Knowing that he could finally find her again made all the feelings come flooding back inside Floyd. He realized in that instance that he still loved her dearly, that he had never let her go, which was the reason he had never moved on.