Page 4 of The Hellion and the Captain
“Oh, Lily, it will be wonderful,” Emmaline reassured her. “It is mostly Colin’s friends in attendance, is it not?”
“Yes,” Lily nodded, although her eyes were still rather wide with concern. “Most of the footballers.” The very footballers Emmaline had spent some time with recently. “The few that are married will bring their wives. Then you will be here, of course, as well as Minnie and Ada.”
“Are they coming alone?’ Emmaline said, lifting a brow. The daughter of a baron, she was one of the few young ladies of her social standing who was not closely chaperoned. Her mother, the daughter of a businessman, had seldom been chaperoned in her youth, so she saw no reason to do as was expected with Emmaline. She was also an advocate for women’s rights and had always said she would only provide Emmaline with the same strictness as she did her sons.
Of course, it had caused most other women to prevent their titled sons from ever offering for Emmaline, but that didn’t matter to her.
“Their parents know that they are attending a gathering in my home,” Lily said, biting her lip. “I am respectable, being a married woman and all of that now. However, I believe they left out that a group of single footballers would be joining them.”
Emmaline laughed at that, as well as how delightfully guilty Lily looked.
“If only they knew you were much more respectablebeforeyou met Colin.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, now that you’ve found Colin, you haven’t hesitated from exploring all of the?—”
“Emmaline!” Lily finally understood Emmaline’s line of thinking.
Emmaline couldn’t help the loud laughter that escaped her, until an added presence caused a hush to fall over the room.
A looming figure in the doorway caused Emmaline’s breath to stall.
“Rhys, you’re here!” Lily said, jumping from the couch and crossing the room toward him, greeting him with a smile. A few other players followed behind him, telling Emmaline they must have arrived together, which made sense, for most of them lived in Salford, near the mill and the practice field, a few miles from Ellesmere Park.
“Thank you for inviting me,” he said stiffly as he walked through the door and took a seat on the opposite end of the room from Emmaline, his teammates surrounding him.
Emmaline busied herself with the drink before her, concerned about coming too close to any of the football players. She could only hope that Lily had invited other gentlemen, for avoiding the majority of the men in the room all night would be a sad state.
“Minnie! Ada! You’re here!” Emmaline cried when they entered, embracing them with pleasure. It had been some time since she had seen her friends, and she was looking forward to a night where they could be themselves and not worry about what anyone else thought. These footballers didn’t judge in the way gentlemen did.
“It’s good to see you,” Minnie said, tossing a few stray tendrils of her fair hair behind her shoulder. She was a beauty, and despite receiving multiple marriage offers, she had yet to accept any. Meanwhile, Ada had been in love with one man for years, the one she was betrothed to marry, yet nothing had come of it yet.
Emmaline didn’t miss the way Rhys watched them, and she could only imagine that he was appreciating Minnie – not that it mattered. For Rhys was nothing to her but either an advocate or an impediment to her joining Manchester Central. Which one remained to be seen.
Soon, the drawing room was alive with chatter and the soft glow of gas lamps as guests mingled. The women were still separate from the men, as though both sides feared approaching the other, likely more so because of the contrast of social classes rather than gender. The few wives from the football team sat with the women, but still kept themselves separate.
For once, Emmaline sat back and watched the room. She had decided that tonight was about more than just enjoying herself. She needed to perfect her disguise if she wanted to pass as Emmett. Her appearance was fine, as far as she could tell, but she knew her mannerisms would eventually give her away if she wasn’t careful.
Since she didn’t want to draw attention to herself tonight, anyway, she would take the opportunity to observe the male footballers’ interactions, noting their mannerisms and storing them deep in her mind for her own use.
“Emmaline, how are you?”
“Tommy!” she said in true pleasure, greeting Colin’s best friend. Truth be told, Tommy had asked her to dinner once before, but they had found that while they enjoyed one another’s company, there was nothing more between them than friendship. Emmaline supposed her mother would be happyto know that, for as much as Lady Daughtry encouraged Emmaline to follow her heart, their lives would be much easier if Emmaline married within their own class.
“You haven’t found a young lady to accompany you?” she asked him now with a grin.
“No,” he said in mock sadness, “for the most beautiful woman I have ever met turned me down, and now I find myself unable to find another to fulfill my heart’s greatest longings.”
Emmaline laughed at that, but before responding, she felt eyes on her and turned to find Rhys Lockwood watching her so carefully that she stiffened. Did he suspect her secret? Was that why he was staring at her so intently?
He slowly began walking toward her like a hunter stalking his prey, and Emmaline found her heart beating faster with each of his footsteps.
“Miss Whitmore,” he said, coming to greet them. He sipped his drink, although his face soured at the taste before he stared at the glass as though it had personally insulted him.
“Mr. Lockwood,” she said, careful not to call him by his first name. “How are you?”
“Fine,” he said, looking back and forth from Tommy to Emmaline, as though waiting for an explanation of some sort. Let him wait. If he had something to say, he should say it.
