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Chapter Fifteen

T he air was thick with the scent of roasted meat and ale. The long wooden tables were crowded with boisterous patrons, clattering tankards, and the occasional burst of laughter as a roaring fire cast flickering shadows across the well-worn floor.

When Colin had first walked into The George Hotel, his hope that Lily would be present seemed ridiculous when he looked around the public room, for, of course, there was no sign of her nor anyone else of her station.

While he had been impressed with the club buying them a meal at such a respectable hotel, this would still be far too commonplace for her presence.

Despite the bustle around him, teammates, food, and servers providing ample distraction, his attention was drawn toward a glass door across the room – his gaze coming to a halt when he could have sworn he saw her.

Yes, that was her. It had to be.

She was sitting in his direct line of sight, her gaze upon him.

She wore a high-necked navy-blue dress adorned with lace that had been covered when he had glanced upon her in the stands, although she no longer wore the cloak over her shoulders.

Her hair was pulled away from her face and piled on top of her head in a simple yet flattering design, her blue eyes stretching across the tavern toward him.

But that wasn’t what captured his attention.

His focus was drawn to the man sitting next to her, the one leaning into her space, the one from whom he could have sworn she was silently asking for rescue.

The jealousy that had flared when he first saw the man’s proximity fled the moment he realized that Lily was trying so hard to sit away from him that she was practically sitting on top of her friend Miss Whitmore.

The man was bothering her. Colin wanted nothing more than to march into the room and tell him to leave her alone.

But that was not his place. Her father was there, and protecting his daughter was up to him. Colin could only hope that he would actually do so.

“Ho, Thornton!”

Colin had to wrench his gaze away from Lily when his captain called his name.

“We need a toast from our game winner!”

Colin nodded, and while his attention was elsewhere, he tried to return to the moment and find the words to express his feelings about the game, this club, and the Cup.

When he finished and retook his place at the table, he turned and looked through the glass, but he could no longer see Lily.

She must have moved – hopefully away from the man she was trying to avoid.

As they waited for their food, Colin took the opportunity to visit the privy, and he pushed away from the table and started down the back corridor – coming to a halt when he saw the couple standing in front of him.

The man who had been sitting next to Lily was leaning over a woman, one he couldn’t see – but he had a sinking feeling he knew her identity.

As he was trying to decide whether he should take a step toward them or away, feminine hands reached out and tried to push the man off her – which told Colin more than he needed to know, especially when her admirer didn’t back off but instead leaned in closer toward her.

“No one denies me,” Colin heard as he approached. “I get what I want, one way or an?—”

He couldn’t finish his sentence before Colin wrenched him off of Lily with so much force that the man bounced into the wall behind him.

“Why you?—”

Colin stood up as tall as he could, his shoulders twice as broad as the man before him.

“I’d think about what exactly you are about to say,” he said, “and turn the other way. Leave this young woman alone.”

“She is my betrothed.”

“I most certainly am not!” Lily exclaimed from behind Colin, and when he took a moment to glance behind him, he saw the color had risen in her cheeks, her fists were at her side, her jaw clenched.

“My father denied you, Lord Nathaniel, and now I am as well. I will not marry you. Not now. Not ever. I ask you to leave me alone and not bring this subject up again.”

The look he gave her made Colin’s skin crawl, but with one more glance at Colin, he finally shrugged his shoulders and walked away, though not without a look back, as though telling them that they were both going to regret this conversation.

But it was worth it – even if the man was a member of the nobility – if it meant keeping Lily safe.

Once Lord Nathaniel was finally out of sight, Colin turned around to see Lily standing there, her shoulders drooped, the fight in her dissipated.

“Are you all right?” he asked softly, touching her elbow.

“I am now,” she said with a small, grateful yet wry smile. “Could we sit somewhere – alone?”

He nodded, looking around, trying to determine where they should go. She took his hand in hers, and he jumped at the spark of their bare skin upon one another.

“There are private rooms this way. I accidentally opened the door to one earlier,” she said, leading him through a door at the end of the corridor.

The room was dark and cold without a fire in the grate but was, blessedly, empty.

Once they walked into the room and he closed the door behind them, she leaned against the wall, her shoulders slumping.

“Thank you,” she said, closing her eyes. “I know he wouldn’t have done anything, not in a public place, but it was still rather disconcerting.”

“I can imagine,” Colin said slowly.

“I am worried,” she admitted, “for what if he traps me alone somewhere much more private?”

“You have to be careful,” he said, wanting to beg her not to go anywhere alone but knowing it wasn’t his place to do so. “Why did he think that you were to be married?”

“His father is Lord Montgomery. He owns the Montgomery Mill and sponsors the Manchester Athletics. His father approached mine with an offer for our families to merge our fortunes through marriage, but, fortunately, my father declined him. He is aware of Lord Nathaniel’s…

proclivities, and while I do not see much of my father, at least he cares enough not to allow me into such a marriage. ”

“Thank goodness for that,” Colin muttered, wanting to say more but uncertain how much he should.

“Of course, my mother wouldn’t care at all and continues to suggest that I reconsider the match since she and his mother are such good friends. She seems to think Lord Nathaniel is now beyond whatever sins he committed in his youth.”

She rolled her eyes as though it was a slight inconvenience, but it was apparent how much her mother’s disregard upset her.

Colin stood before Lily, wanting to lean over her and show her that he cared, that he would do what he could to ease her concerns, but he also didn’t want to remind her of how Lord Nathaniel had trapped her.

Instead, he reached out his hands, his palms upturned, and she slipped her hands on top of his.

“You are right not to give in to what feels wrong to you,” he said. “Do not allow anyone to take away your smile. That’s yours to keep, not to give away.”

“But to share, perhaps?” she asked, tilting her head as she gazed up at him.

“To share, yes,” he said, his breath catching. “With those who deserve it.”

“Do you have any suggestions?” she asked, her voice so low that it was near a whisper.

Oh, he had suggestions all right, but none of them were any that he should be voicing aloud. Even to admit them to himself felt wrong.

“I only want you to be happy,” he said, drawing closer to her despite his better judgment. “You deserve all that you ever wanted and more. I hate seeing a man like that cause you any distress.”

“Do you know something?” she asked, her blue eyes glinting. “When I saw you through the glass panel, I knew I would be safe. That you would look out for me. You bring me… comfort. You make me feel that everything will be right with the world, no matter what else is happening.”

“You give me too much credit.”

“I think not enough,” she said, her eyes crinkling in the corners as she dropped her gaze to their joined hands.

He desperately wanted to kiss her, and when she lifted her head toward him, he could tell by the way she tilted her head, her lips parting, her eyes meeting his, that she wouldn’t turn him away.

But he didn’t want to take advantage of her vulnerability after he had only just rescued her from Lord Nathaniel minutes before.

“What is it that you need?” he murmured. “What would make you happy?”

Her eyes widened as she bit her lip. “I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that before,” she said, her fingers tightening around his.

“You know, the truth is, I have been searching for happiness for some time. I know it’s ridiculous, for so many people would give anything to be in my place, but I have never felt content just sitting and waiting for life to happen to me.

I do not fit with those of my station. I do not have the same dreams. I have always felt that I should be doing something else and require more purpose.

This work with the club, as minimal as it is, and as much as my parents are only trying to show me that work only makes my life harder, is the one thing that has brought purpose to my day. ”

“There is nothing wrong with speaking your truth.”

“I also…” She swallowed, dipping her chin, and he lifted their joined hands, using his index finger to tip it back up again.

“You also what?”

“I have also always wanted to find love. I know that sounds ridiculous, for so many marry for other reasons, but I have seen it before. In Emmaline’s parents and some people working in the mill.

In the books I read, as fanciful as that sounds.

I want that for my life. How sad would it be to miss out on that? ”

“So sad,” he murmured, mesmerized by her eyes, her face, the slope of her lips, the curve of her shoulders. “So very, very sad.”

He couldn’t have said who moved first. All he knew was that he was no longer thinking about what he should or shouldn’t do, what was right or what was wrong. Whether he was acting too quickly or not quickly enough.