“I still don’t know. I thought so at the time, but how could he have gotten in front of me when I was running away from him?” Her heart thumped as she tried to recall the details, and the panic from the night before returned. She rubbed her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t make sense of anything.”
Stella rested her fingertips against her temples. “Did you tell your papa what happened when you went back inside? Surely, he noticed your distress.”
“I couldn’t face him. I felt so confused and ashamed after Lord Craventhorp laughed in my face and dared me to make a fuss. He said people would say I was hysterical.”
“You poor child.” Stella’s brow creased. “What did you do?”
“I went directly to the ladies’ room. I remember feeling cold. My body trembled so badly that a kind lady—I forget her name—sent for Mrs. Leonard. When she arrived, I pretended that my monthly courses had come early and so had to excuse myself from Lord Craventhorp’s company in a hurry. I could tell Mrs. Leonard was furious, but I reassured her that all went well with Lord Craventhorp and said he’d promised to call on me, which seemed to appease her. It was a lie, but I didn’t care. All I wanted to do was escape that horrid house and go home.”
Stella balled her hands into one fist and rested them on her chin—a sign she was not about to give up thinking of a plan. “You must appeal to Mrs. Leonard.” Stella moved her hands on her chest as if wanting to soothe her heart. “When she sees that bruise, she will believe you.”
“What makes you say that? She’s the one behind this arranged marriage. You know what airs she has, and she is desperate to wipe away the shame of her past. She only married my papa because her father lost all his money. Now, she wants better for her daughters and intends for them to marry titles. She’s forcing me into this marriage for the sake of my sisters. In her eyes, I must marry a viscount so that when Florence comes of age, she can marry an earl or, perhaps even, a duke.”
“That may be true, but she is a woman, and she will see her error in judgment when she learns the truth about Lord Craventhorp.” Stella reached for Annabel’s hands and clasped them tightly in hers. “I think she will listen to reason. Shemust.”
“I don’t know,” Annabel said.
“If you don’t want to tell her, let me do it for you.”
Annabel freed her hands from Stella’s grasp and massaged her forehead. She wasn’t as certain as Stella that Mrs. Leonard would listen to reason. Annabel had long suspected her stepmother disliked her because Papa had married her mama for love. But surely, she would not want Annabel to suffer marriage to a cruel man. It was true that she and her stepmother sometimes clashed, but Annabel had to admit she wasn’t blameless in that respect. She’d been eight and already well accustomed to her freedoms when Papa remarried, so she’d rebelled against her new mama’s strict rules. Mrs. Leonard wasn’t warm and affectionate like Stella, who’d overseen her care since birth, but she wasn’t malicious either. She had raised her two daughters with the same restrained affection and strict rules she’d imposed on Annabel. It was the way she’d been raised and what she deemed proper. Unpleasant as her rules sometimes were, Annabel didn’t believe her stepmother was without heart.
“Please,mia cara! Let me speak to Mrs. Leonard. I will tell her that I saw the bruise on your arm while helping you dress and say that I begged the information from you. She is a woman and mother. She will not want this for you.”
Annabel sighed. Perhaps Stella was right? Papa’s pride would never allow him to admit that he’d made a mistake. Her stepmother was her only hope.
“Very well,” she relented, “if that’s what you think is best.” But the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach suggested otherwise.
Chapter Four
A fine bundle of trash you study in your leisure hours, to besure:
why, it’s good enough to beprinted!
And what do you suppose the master will think when I display it beforehim?
I hav’n’t shown it yet, but you needn’t imagine I shall keep your ridiculoussecrets.
For shame!
—Emily Brontë,WutheringHeights
Annabel loved London’sroyal parks and enjoyed them best outside of promenade hours. She relished her morning walks in Hyde Park with Stella where they could meander amongst the greenery and talk freely without restriction or intervention from her stepmother, sisters, or Papa.
On this morning, however, she found it difficult to relax.
“I spoke with Mrs. Leonard first thing, and I think all will be well,” Stella reassured Annabel as they strolled alongside the Serpentine. “I explained how that scoundrel hurt you and advised her to take the matter up with your papa because he’d be furious to discover the truth from someone else.”
“Was that a wise thing to say?”
“To be sure, she did not appreciate such boldness coming from a servant, but I risked it all the same because I hoped it would make her think twice about not bringing such an important matter before your papa. If I’m right, she will speak with him today.”
“How can you be sure?” Annabel linked her arm with Stella’s. “What did she say? Tell me her exact words.”
“Not much of anything. She kept a straight face while I talked and clasped her hands together as she likes to do. Then she thanked me for the information in that cold manner of hers and dismissed me.”
“That doesn’t sound promising. She wasn’t alarmed or upset?”
“She may have been, but I’m a servant, and she would never display her emotions in front of me.”
