Page 77 of The Lady and the Footballer
“Focus on what is important right now, Lily. I was speaking with Tommy, and he saw Mickey with none other than Lord Nathaniel.”
“Pardon me?”
“You do remember Mickey?”
“Of course. He is one of the forwards. But why?—"
“Oh, Lily, I’m so proud of how your knowledge has grown,” Emmaline said, squeezing her hand and grinning at her, and Lily couldn’t help but beam at her praise.
“Tommy believes that Mickey was the player Lord Nathaniel and his father were finally able to bribe into working against the team. It makes sense. Look at how strangely Mickey was playing in their last game. You said he told Colin it was an off day, but what if it was more than that? What if he was being paid to throw off the game?”
Lily bit her bottom lip. “It is certainly possible. But then why was it made to seem Colin was at fault?”
“I’m not sure, though I have a guess,” Emmaline said, but before she could voice her opinion, Lily could have sworn she heard another voice mention Colin’s name. She looked around, but no one on their side of the room seemed close enough that she could overhear them. Besides, that had been a man’s voice, and all she could see were ladies.
Until she heard the name of the football club. She tugged at Emmaline’s arm to tell her, but Emmaline had heard it as well, for she was already leaning her head backward, eyes wide. She paused momentarily before nodding toward the potted plants that divided their corner from the other portion of the room.
It seemed the voices were coming from the other side of the plants they were standing next to. Lily leaned over, peering through the leaves, straightening when they closed with a snap that she hoped was not overly loud.
“Lord Nathaniel,” she whispered to her friend. He was standing with another gentleman she recognized but didn’t know well. She was sure her mother would know his identity, for she seemed aware of every young single man.
“These upstarts think that just because they can kick a football, they are as good as we are,” he said with a snort as both Lily and Emmaline stood frozen in silence listening and staring at one another. “One in particular even thought he could move his way up the social ladder through one of our women.”
Lily bristled. The fact that he thought he owned her – or any other young ladies – made her want to run from this party and seek out a man like Colin even more.
“But I showed him,” Lord Nathaniel continued. “It didn’t take much for him to get what was coming to him. A few well-placed inflammatory pieces of evidence and Lord Harcourt took matters into his own hands. No one would believe a factory worker.”
Lily was practically bristling as she came to an even greater realization as to why Colin would be wary of attaching his life to hers. If a possible connection with her led to his complete downfall, what would happen if they took a step forward and committed themselves to one another?
She knew, more than anything, that she had to make this right, to show Colin that even though men like Lord Montgomery and Lord Nathaniel would see him as nothing more than a pawn in their games, she saw him as so much more than that.
She turned her attention to Emmaline, whose furrowed brow told Lily she was as angered as she was.
“What are we supposed to do?” she whispered.
“You said that you searched Lord Montgomery’s mill, correct?”
“Yes.” Her cheeks flushed as she couldn’t remember the incident without recalling what she and Colin had done in the mill together.
“I think we should search his home study to see if can find any evidence of his wrongdoing.”
“What if we are discovered? There are so many people here tonight.”
“Lily.” Emmaline crossed her arms over her chest. “When did you become a coward?”
“Never,” she said vehemently.
“Exactly,” Emmaline beamed. “I knew you would never let such injustice sit unaddressed. Especially when so much is directed at the man you love.”
“Emmaline. I wrote him a note two days ago, and he still has not responded. While I am still determined to clear his name, that isn’t a good sign that he feels anything back.”
She caught Emmaline’s warning glance and sighed. “But I promised you that I would try, and I will. Once more – even if I’m not sure how quite yet. First, I’ll clear his name. Then I’ll decide if anything is left to salvage between us.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Of all the places in the world, this was the last one where Colin wanted to find himself.
Lord Montgomery’s house in Ellesmere Park.
