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“Colin!” Lily couldn’t help but shout, but of course there was no way for him to hear her, nor did her warning matter, for it was just one more voice in the din of them yelling at the field.

The constables took off at a run toward the bench, but they were not alone – fans jumped over the stands as they took off after them, trying to thwart the malicious effort.

“Emmaline, I can’t look!” Lily cried out, even as her eyes remained glued to Colin while she clutched Emmaline’s arm, wishing she could run across the field and try to stop them herself. They had known that Montgomery would try something; they just hadn’t imagined this.

As the team began to fend off their attackers, a fight broke out in the stands as well, shouts echoing across the pitch, distracting the officials, but thankfully they continued on to the bench.

Even the Athletics players had joined in, only, from what Lily could see, they were not fighting against Manchester Central – they were, shockingly, defending them.

Tears of joy sprang in her eyes when the two clubs and the constables finally had everything under control.

The ruffians were gone. Colin was safe.

She looked up at her father with watery eyes, wondering just what he was going to do about it.

His arms were crossed over his chest, his brow furrowed as he looked on, and when he turned and met Lily’s gaze, he gave her the slightest of nods, and she only hoped that he was telling her that he was on her side, that he would be there for her in this fight against Montgomery and all that he was trying to do to them.

He should be – she was looking out for his club, his mill, after all – but she also knew what it meant for a proud man like her father to admit that he was wrong.

She only hoped that his acceptance also meant acceptance of her and Colin, but that remained to be seen.

“That was foul,” Emmaline cursed. “Do you think it’s the last of it?”

“We can only hope,” Lily said, her lips pursed together as she rocked slightly back and forth, unsure if she could take this any longer.

"The game's ruined!" a man shouts near her. "Call it off!"

"No!" Lily stood abruptly, her heart pounding. Montgomery could not have his way, not when Colin and the team were so close to proving themselves.

The murmur, however, started to move through the crowd, and she realized, then, what Montgomery’s intention was.

If he hadn’t been able to hurt any of the team – and it looked like they were all still standing upright, at least – he would halt the game and wait for another day, one that would come after he had ensured Colin’s arrest.

She would not let that happen.

Before her father even realized what she was doing, Lily stood and pushed through the spectators, urgency driving her. She had to stop this before it ruined everything.

Lily reached the man who started it all, the pockmarked-faced man laughing as his mischief spread like poison through the crowd. He hadn’t spotted her yet, too busy creating havoc to notice a determined young woman slipping through the fray, even as she heard her name being called from above.

The man, along with those with him, began shoving a few of the fans, and she knew what he was doing.

If they couldn’t rile the players, they would rile the crowd.

The constables, sensing a disturbance, began to return to their former places, and Lily knew she had to act before Lord Montgomery’s brutes had achieved his aim.

Through all of this, one tool had saved Lily more than any other – her hair pins.

She slipped them out, testing the weight of her formal hat in her hand, before flinging it like a gauntlet into the midst of the men, satisfied when it caught the ringleader in the face, and he started, stunned as he looked around for his attacker.

“He’s the troublemaker!” she called out, pointing him out to the constables. “Stop him!”

Her command carried the tone of someone used to being obeyed, and as the man eyed her with suspicion before attempting to flee, Lily couldn’t help but smile. The constables closed in, halting any escape route, and after what seemed like forever, the unrest subsided.

It was only then that Lily caught Montgomery staring at her with undisguised resentment in his eyes, and a shiver ran through her.

She stepped back carefully, seeing her father running down toward her.

“Father,” she said, stopping him before he could say anything, “do you still have the book?”

“Montgomery’s?”

“Yes. Did you bring it as I suggested?”

“I did.”

“Good,” she said. “I thought we should wait until after the game, but I have a feeling Montgomery might be gone before then.”

“Wait for what?”

“Where is the FA President?”

“At the top of the stands, two rows above where we were sitting.”

“Will you introduce me to him?”

“Lily, I hardly think?—”

“Please, Father?” she said, meeting his eye imploringly. When he sighed, elation rose through her as she felt his resistance crumbling. “Thank you,” she said softly, before he placed his hand on her back and led her up as word rang out that the game would resume in five minutes.

“Lord Cartwright, might we have a word?” Lily’s father said to a tall, lean gentleman who had likely played a fair bit of football in his own day. Long white sideburns added a distinguished air to his face, his clear blue eyes seemingly piercing through her. “This is my daughter, Miss Lily Evans.”

“Miss Evans, a pleasure,” he said. “I have a moment, but only that. I am rather invested in this game.”

“Aren’t we all,” Lily’s father said before he looked at Lily expectantly.

She took a breath before, as succinctly and matter-of-factly as possible, she explained to him the pertinent information they had discovered, finishing by handing him the book she had stolen.

“Well,” Lord Cartwright said with a look to her father. “That is quite the accusation. Lord Harcourt, do you substantiate all of this?”

“I do.”

Lily’s heart swelled at her father’s belief in her. He had come through when it mattered.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Lord Cartwright said. “I must have a conversation with Lord Montgomery.”

“And Lord Cartwright,” Lily said before he could go too far. “Would you mind also having a discussion with the constable regarding Mr. Thornton? We wouldn’t want one of our best players being falsely accused when so much is at stake.”

“Of course,” he said. “Thank you, Miss Evans.”

Her father took her elbow as he led her back to Emmaline.

“We have much more to discuss,” he muttered. “But first, we will win this game.”