Page 81 of The Lady and the Footballer
“Drive!” Lady Daughtry said with a cry of her own as Emmaline and Lily cheered on Colin, and the carriage started down the lane at a good clip. By the time they had made it halfway down the drive, Colin had outrun Lord Montgomery’s men, charging back up the hill to meet up with the gravel drive, and with an impressive flying leap, hauled himself up onto the side of the carriage when Emmaline opened the door and helped him in.
He landed in a heap on the carriage floor, taking a moment to catch his breath before he flipped onto his back and looked up at them with a slightly pained expression as a curly brown lock flopped over his eye.
“’Evening, ladies,” he quipped. “And thank you ever so much for the ride.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“My house is just up the street,” Colin said. His ribs were on fire as he had received a fist to them while trying to get away from the men, but he hadn’t wanted to show his pain, as he sat beside Lily in the squab, aware that he looked entirely out of place in the small, elegant carriage. “There.”
Lily peered out of the window, likely eager to see his house. He hoped she didn’t expect much. Lady Daughtry called for the driver to slow, but as she did, Lily placed a hand on her arm.
“No,” she said urgently. “Keep going.”
“But—”
“Please!”
Lady Daughtry complied before sitting back and looking at Lily with question.
“There is a man in front of your house,” she said in a low voice to Colin, as though her voice would carry. “Do not look out the window, but it looks to be the constable.”
“By God, you’re right,” he said as he moved so he could see through an angle. “How could Lord Montgomery have gotten word out that fast?”
“A rider, I suppose,” Lily said. “We are a fair distance away from Ellesmere Park. There would have been enough time to send one of his men or servants. He could have done so before confronting us in the garden.”
“Where to, now?” Lady Daughtry asked, and Colin quickly recited Tommy’s address. He would take him in, no matter the circumstance or his lack of extra beds.
Colin wished he could reach out and haul Lily into his side, but now was not the place or time – not with Emmaline and her mother looking on.
“I will stay with Colin,” Lily said as they pulled in behind Tommy’s house. He lived in a small one-bedroom apartment above the blacksmith shop, where he worked as an apprentice.
“Lily, I know I offer you much leniency, but you know that even I cannot allow that,” Lady Daughtry said, although her pitying expression told Lily there was hope.
“Just a few minutes?” Lily pleaded. “Perhaps your carriage could return for me?”
“Mother, I can promise you that nothing is going to happen that has not already,” Emmaline said, to which Lily hissed, “Emmaline!” and Lady Daughtry sighed as she rubbed her temple.
“Fifteen minutes,” Lady Daughtry finally relented. “We will do one long circle around the neighbourhood, and then we must return to Ellesmere Park. And, Lily, please never tell your mother I allowed this.”
“Of course not,” Lily said, before she took Colin’s hand, allowing him to help her to disembark. The moment the carriage clattered away, she threw herself into Colin’s arms, and despite the ache that raced through his body, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against him, wondering if this would be one of the last times he would ever do so.
“What’s wrong?” she said, pulling back urgently as her eyes roamed over him, and he realized he must have let out an audible grunt.
“I think I hurt a rib while wrestling myself away from those men,” he said. “But it’s fine.”
“Oh, Colin, it’s not!” she exclaimed. “I am so sorry. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t?—”
“Hush,” he said, running his hands over her face, to her shoulders, and over the tops of her arms, drawing her in close, attempting to blanket her cold body in his warmth. “It is not your fault at all, Lily. I sought you out there and insisted on joining you in the study. Not everything ill that happens to me is on you.”
“Your life was fine until you met me,” she mumbled miserably into his chest.
“Yes,” he agreed, drawing back to look her in the eye. Those blue eyes swam with tears that he wished he could completely erase. If nothing else, he needed her to understand how he felt, what she meant to him. “My life was fine. But that’s it. It was only fine. Since you entered my life, it has been full of joy and hope and utter gladness that I have never known before. I love you, Lily.”
She gasped and began blinking rapidly, as though concerned that the tears were going to wash over and fall down her cheeks. He didn’t want to be the reason for her to cry unless they were happy tears.
“Say that again?”
He smiled despite the glimmer of pain radiating through him, for she brought him nothing but joy.
