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Chapter Thirty-Two

L ily had felt her father’s disdain as they entered the carriage to head toward an inn for a celebratory dinner, but she had no care for it. Everything that they had worked so hard for had come together, despite the few bumps along the way.

All that could make it better was her parents’ acceptance of her love, but she knew that was not a likely possibility.

She couldn’t change it, so she would just have to accept it.

“Did you hear what people are saying?” demanded her mother when she met them in front of the inn.

She had missed the game due to another social engagement, thank goodness.

Lily couldn’t imagine having to endure her mother’s diatribe on how Lily had ruined her life, in addition to her father’s disdain.

“What have you heard?” Lily asked. She could hardly imagine that her mother would have learned the goings-on of the game already, but then, gossip travelled fast.

“Lord Montgomery has become a pariah. It is said that he was behind our club’s woes.”

Interesting that it was “our club” now.

“What do you think about Lord Nathaniel now?” Lily asked, raising a brow.

“You cannot be with a man like that anymore,” her mother said, straightening her shoulders as though she was better than the family she had once considered such close friends. “Just think of what people would say!”

Lily turned around before she rolled her eyes. She had only briefly seen Lord Nathaniel at the match but, with self-preservation, he had slunk away the moment he had seen Lord Cartwright speaking with his father.

“I have also heard news about Mr. Thornton,” she said. “It sounds like you did well in recruiting him, John.”

As though her father had anything to do with Colin’s success.

“Indeed,” her father said with a quick glance at Lily. It seemed that her mother had not yet heard all the gossip. “He is quite celebrated now after sending the club to the Final.”

“I can hardly wait to see what the papers will say about the club in the morning!” her mother trilled as she waltzed toward the front door of the inn. Yes, because that was what this was all about.

Lily and Emmaline followed their parents to a celebratory dinner in the inn that Lily knew wasn’t far from The King’s Head.

“Well?” Emmaline whispered to her. “Do you think we can sneak out of this place? I promise you I can have you back before your parents even know you are gone.”

Lily met Emmaline’s twinkling eyes before her grin spread.

“Let’s go.”

Emmaline was right – they managed to leave unnoticed, but they were certainly met with a cheer when they walked through the door of The King’s Head, the atmosphere thick with laughter and pints.

Lily paused for a moment to take in Colin sitting in the middle of it all, the camaraderie easy and infectious.

He had done this. This man that was strong yet vulnerable, passionate and easygoing at the same time. Who drew people to him with an ease that she didn’t quite understand.

She didn’t feel deserving of him – and yet, she accepted that somehow she was lucky enough to have him anyway. His eyes lit up as he opened his arms to her, and she slipped onto his lap, tingling down her spine at his nearness as he held her, claiming her as his.

"To the hero of the day!" the captain called, lifting his glass high. "And to his ribs!"

Colin laughed, the sound more relaxed and genuine than he’d known in years.

"You're all mad," he says, but the warmth in his voice told them what it meant to him.

"But the true hero has now joined us. We might have been playing a game on the field, lads, but she was the one who stood up to those who truly tried to take us down.”

Lily’s cheeks warmed to what she was sure was a furious shade of red as Emmaline nodded and joined Colin in sharing what she had done. She appreciated their praise but wanted nothing more than to hide under the table from all the scrutiny – as admiring as it might be – of Colin’s teammates.

"And Montgomery?" Joey asked, curious and eager. He was making progress every day and hoped that he could return to the field one day, although he was probably still months away. At least he could now work again.

Rhys leaned in, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial rumble. "Finished," he says, savoring the word. "Heard the league won't let him have anything to do with the Athletics or any other club.”

Lily looked over at Mickey, his head hanging low.

“What about him?” she whispered to Colin.

“Rhys had a word with him,” he said, tucking a tendril of hair behind her ear.

“He knows what he did and is ashamed for it. But I understand his reasons. His wife is sick; he lost his job. He was only trying to do what I did, even if it was in a less respectable way. We’ve promised to help him, told him he just needs to let us know what is happening and we’ll be there for him, as they all were for me.

He never did much wrong, just threw the odd pass. ”

“You’re very forgiving.”

“Understanding,” he corrected her.

“What now?” she asked.

“Now, I will have to speak to your father,” he said, some hesitancy in his eyes, but determination in how his lips were pressed against each other.

Lily nodded. They had one more hurdle to cross.

And then they could truly celebrate.

Colin hesitated on the doorstep of Lily's home, each second a year of uncertainty and resolve before he lifted his hand and knocked with determination. It didn’t matter what her father said. She had made her intentions clear.

When the door swung open, it was not a butler or a housekeeper standing there to welcome him, but Lord Harcourt himself, as tall and forbidding as a monument. They stared each other down, history and possibility suspended between them.

Then the older man stepped back, waving Colin inside.

“We best do this,” he said, his words heavy with reluctance but, somewhere within them, respect. Colin took that as a lifeline, hoping that perhaps there was a chance they could get all they desired – a life together, with the support of all those who loved them.

They passed a front drawing room, and while there was no sign of Lily, Colin did catch a glimpse of Lady Harcourt. She was still a beautiful woman, but the glare she sent his way as he walked past the drawing room would have sent a lesser man running right out of the house.

Lord Harcourt’s study was a somber, shadowed place, much like the man himself. Books lined the walls, volumes of stern leather spines that watched Colin's every move. He almost felt like an intruder and had to remind himself of just what he was doing there.

“First,” the viscount began, settling into a high-backed chair, “I appreciate the lengths that you went to in order to protect the football club. As you know, Lord Montgomery has taken his punishment through societal annexation, while Mr. Pritchard has been relieved of his duties.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Colin said. “From what I could tell, however, Pritchard intended to care for his family with the bribes. I wouldn’t want to see him completely destitute.”

“Even though he helped place the blame on you?”

“Yes,” Colin said lowly, understanding the lengths a man could go for those he cared for.

Lord Harcourt eyed him with surprise. “That is kind of you, Mr. Thornton. As it happens, we found him a placement elsewhere, in a more… safe job.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“Now to more important matters,” the viscount continued. “You're the young man trying to take my daughter from me."

Colin met his gaze, the weight of the moment pressing on him from every direction, yet he sensed that Lord Harcourt would prefer directness to cowardice. "Yes, my lord," he replied, steady despite the thrum of nerves. "I am."

"You must be quite pleased with yourself."

The words were a challenge, their sharpness slicing the air between them. Colin knew he was on trial here, but something in the older man's tone carried a reluctant admiration. He seized on that, determined not to flinch.

"I am pleased only that a woman as incredible as your daughter could love me," Colin said. "I would do anything for her."

"Is that what all of this was about?"

“It started as an intention to help the team, but turned into so much more than that,” he said. “I love her, and I intend to spend the rest of my life proving that I am worthy of her.”

There was a tense pause, as if the room itself was holding its breath. Lord Harcourt tapped a finger on the armrest, his eyes never leaving Colin’s.

"You have tenacity," he conceded at last. "And a measure of honor I did not expect." The words were reluctant but solid. "Perhaps you do have a future, after all."

Colin's heart raced. This was more than he hoped. It was not complete support, not yet, but the opening of a door that he would have guessed was forever barred. He nodded, accepting the challenge that still hung between them.

"Thank you, my lord," he said, leaning forward. “I have an ask.”

Lord Harcourt lifted a brow.

“I would like to marry Lily, and I know that she loves me as equally as I love her. I would prefer to have your permission. I understand all the reasons that it doesn’t make sense for us to be together, but I love her more than I would have ever thought possible.

I might not be able to provide her the style of living she is accustomed to, but I promise you that I will spend my life providing her more love than any other man ever could. ”

Her father studied him, taking his measure, but before he could answer, the door burst open and Lily entered the room, her presence like the sun breaking through a thundercloud.

“Colin!” she said in surprise and delight, walking over to him, linking her fingers through his as she stood beside him to face her father. “How is your… conversation?”

Her father sat back, a shift in his demeanor allowing a begrudging softness that was absent before.

“Father?” she said in question.