Page 79 of The Lady and the Footballer
“This is what we need!” Lily said excitedly. “It has everything that can implicate Lord Montgomery. And nowhere on here does it say anything about you, Colin, which means we can also clear your name.”
“Don’t worry about that right now,” he said, as he tried to tame the flicker of hope that lit in his belly. “We’ve found this. We need to get you out of here. Now.”
“I would say to come with us, but you cannot be seen walking the halls of Lord Montgomery’s house, or they will know something is amiss,” Lily said urgently.
“I do not like you in here withhim.”
They both knew he was referring to Lord Nathaniel.
“We will feign an illness and be gone in minutes,” Miss Whitmore promised. “My mother is here, but she will allow us to take the carriage home. We will meet you down the drive in ten minutes.”
“Very well,” he reluctantly agreed. “Ten minutes.”
His return out the window was much easier, and he waited below to make sure that they exited the study without any issue.
It wasn’t until he saw the door close behind them that he finally took a breath and started back through the gardens.
“Emmaline, I?—”
Lily had just closed the office door behind her and was about to speak to Emmaline but stopped in her tracks when she turned around and saw what awaited them.
For it wasn’t just Emmaline standing there, but Lord Montgomery, Lord Nathaniel, and two other men who she didn’t recognize but were very tall, very broad-shouldered, and appeared willing to do whatever Lord Nathaniel bid them to do.
“Miss Evans and Miss Whitmore,” Lord Montgomery said with a raised brow. “You might have been invited to this party, but you were certainly not invited into my study. Care to tell us just what you were doing within?”
Lily’s heart beat hard in her chest as the ledger she had stolen pressed against the top of her thigh where she had hidden it beneath her clothing, securing it in the band of her garter.
“We were looking for the powder room,” she lied.
“And you confused it with my study?” he scoffed.
“We were looking in each door for it.”
“Each unlocked door?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that is interesting, for my study door is always kept locked.”
Oh, yes. Emmaline had picked the lock with her hair clip. Lily really needed to learn that skill. It had proven useful on two occasions now.
“Someone must have left it unlocked, for that is how we found it,” Emmaline said cheerfully. “You have a beautiful home, Lord Montgomery. Thank you so much for having us.”
She looped her elbow through Lily’s and started leading her down the corridor, and for a moment, Lily closed her eyes, wondering if they had gotten away with it.
“Not so fast.”
Perhaps not.
Lord Nathaniel advanced on them. “How interesting is it, Miss Evans, that I have now found you inside my father’s office at his mill and his home? I wonder, whatever could you be looking for?”
“Simply misunderstandings, Lord Nathaniel,” she said, forcing a smile. “If you will excuse us, our mothers will be worried about us.”
“Would never want to see either of them come to harm, now, would we?” Lord Nathaniel said, and all he needed was a cackling laugh to make his sinister menace complete.
“Your threats are only that – threats,” Lily said, rolling her eyes. “Now, leave me be!”
She and Emmaline exchanged a glance of understanding before they turned as one, lifting their skirts and hurrying down the hall.
