Page 8

Chapter Eight

T he entire day had been filled with one near-disastrous miss after another.

Colin prayed for a reprieve after he fixed the loom and returned to his workshop, hoping he could have a few moments to continue on the minor repairs he needed to make to a few pieces of equipment before returning to the factory floor.

He was about to turn toward his workbench when a small figure caught his eye – one that he instinctively knew, before even looking at her, was not supposed to be there.

Then, a wooden shutter splintered, and the entire machine went awry.

Colin was moving before the machine malfunctioned, but he was too far away and slow to do anything.

He sprinted forward, his stomach sinking as he realized with each quick step that the woman trapped was none other than Lily Evans.

If there was one woman he would wish with all his might was not here, caught in this machine, it was her.

He arrived at the machine just as the metal captured her in its embrace. He reached forward, one hand on each piece of metal, as he tried to pry it apart wide enough to release her.

It barely moved.

Her eyes met his, desperate, pleading, and as much as he wanted to curse her for being here and for putting herself in danger, he wanted even more to be able to do so after he saved her, when she was free from the clutches of the machine.

He groaned as he tried to pry the metal apart, but it was useless – until one of the workers, James, patted him on the back to capture his attention before handing him a crowbar.

It was heavy, made of iron, and Colin worked it into the space between the metal far enough away from Lily to not hurt her before he heaved on it. Workers helped on the other side to force the metal apart until it finally loosened just enough that she could slip underneath it and out of harm’s way.

Colin yanked her free just as the machine sparked, and he yelled out as loud as he could for everyone to back up as the machine collapsed in front of them.

His breath was heavy as he held her close against him, her heart racing fast against his chest.

For a moment, he allowed himself this time to keep her close, to assure himself that she was well, that she hadn’t been harmed.

She clutched him in turn as she shook in his arms, and he could only imagine the fear that had rushed through her.

He realized he could have happily held her forever, but the murmurs and concern around him diminished the yearning as he stepped back abruptly, although he kept his arm out in case she needed to lean on it.

“It’s all right,” he called out. “Stay back from the machine, and we will fix this.”

He turned to look at Miss Evans, whose face was white, her eyes horrified.

“Come to the breakroom,” he said in her ear as he led her through the floor, finally sitting her down in one of the chairs, taking another chair and turning it to face her, his knees wide so she was practically sitting between them.

The looms still hummed around them but were slightly quieter on this side of the building. “Are you all right, Miss Evans?”

“Yes,” she said, her eyes finally settling on his, holding his gaze. He hoped he could ground her, bring her back to the moment. “I think I’ll have some bruises that will take some time to fade, but I feel all right otherwise. Just… scared.”

“Of course you do,” he said, shaking his head as he muttered, “if that machine had collapsed a moment earlier?—”

“Then you would have had to answer to my father. Yes. I know.”

“I would have,” he agreed, noting the hurt crossing her face quickly before she could mask it. “But that was not what I was going to say. I was going to say that you were in grave danger, and I do not want to think about what could have happened to you.”

She turned those wide blue eyes upon him, so large in her petite face.

“Why would it matter to you?”

“It shouldn’t,” he said, swallowing and looking away. “But I care about… people. I would not want to see you hurt. Even if you should never have been on the factory floor.”

She looked down, her fingers laced together, her knuckles still white. Colin would have liked to have seen to her injuries, but it would never have been proper, given that they were all likely around her middle.

“I saw a girl struggling from the window of the office I was working in,” she said, pointing up to the window that overlooked the floor.

“I tried to call out for someone to help her, but from what I could tell, no one had seen her. By the time I made my way to where she had been, however, you must have already come to her rescue. You do seem to have a particular talent for it.”

He couldn’t help but laugh slightly at that. “I call it doing my job.”

“You do it well,” she said, standing, their knees brushing together.

“I’ll walk you back to the offices.”

“You do not need to do that,” she protested, but he was already shaking his head.

“I must do it,” he said gruffly, and she nodded, although he was likely seeing this as a task from her father and not because he felt the inner need to see her safely to where she was supposed to be.

They walked in silence through the building to the overseer’s office, which led to stairs behind.

“Where is the overseer? And my father?” she asked.

“I believe they are in a meeting discussing the next steps for the mill.”

“I hope it is increased ventilation,” she said, waving a hand before her face. “I could barely breathe in there.”

“Trust me, I understand,” he said with a sigh, not wanting to tell her there was no point hoping – it would never happen. The cost would be far too great, and the mill owners refused to acknowledge the human cost of not making the change.

“We have returned to your office,” he said, waving a hand inside. “Please be more careful next time.”

“I will try,” she said, turning to face him in the doorway, and she was close – so close that he could once again smell that distinct perfume, one that reminded him of his mother’s garden on a summer day, when all of the flowers were blooming, and the sun was shining.

“Thank you, Mr. Thornton. Truly, thank you. I know you went above and beyond your usual duties, and I will never forget this.”

“Actually,” he said, “I think it would be better for both of us if you did.”

Dinner that evening was silent.

Tension covered the table as Lily lifted her gaze to her mother’s raised chin and her father’s furrowed brow as she slowly swirled her potatoes around on her plate, her appetite still lacking after her near-miss that afternoon at the mill.

When she had returned home, she had taken Mrs. O’Connor into her confidence. The cook had been shocked to see the bruises covering her body, but had helped her tend to them, although there was not much she could do besides place ice upon them again.

She had remarked that this was not a habit she wanted to become accustomed to. Lily had also asked her maid not to lace her tightly, grateful that they had nowhere to be this evening.

“How was your day, Father?” she asked, wishing she hadn’t done so after his eyes met hers.

“It was not well, Lily,” he said, his tone icy. “Tell me, how was yours?”

Did he know what had happened? She had hoped that Mr. Thornton would omit mentioning her involvement in the machine’s malfunction, for she knew her father would not be pleased that she had ventured onto the factory floor.

“It was… enlightening,” she said carefully.

“How so?”

“I, um, discovered some things in the account books that I would like to review with you – after dinner, of course. I did see some… accidents in the mill as well.”

“Yes, Lily, there were accidents,” he said, his nostrils flaring as he placed his fork and knife down with a clatter.

“There I was, in a meeting with Lord Montgomery, refusing his offer of a merger and defending the success of my mill, when meanwhile, not one, not two, but three of my machines are malfunctioning. I hope he didn’t hear about it as he left. ”

“Lord Montgomery came to see you?” her mother asked, her brows raising.

“Yes. And once again, I declined an allegiance between our families to protect my daughter.”

The way he directed the last bit at Lily made her feel like he was angry with her, but she hadn’t done anything to deserve it – of that, she was certain.

“Thank you, Father,” she said, biting her lip. “But I do not understand why he is so determined that I should marry Lord Nathaniel. We hardly know each other.”

“He hasn’t said as much, but I believe he is concerned that Lord Nathaniel will never marry based on how he treats women,” her father said. “I, for one, refuse to put my daughter at risk.”

“I daresay he would not be quite so dreadful as all that,” her mother interjected. “His mother is the loveliest woman.”

Lord Harcourt fixed his glare on his wife.

“I know many men who have lovely mothers,” he said. “That does not make them ideal husbands for my daughter. Now, that being said, Lily, we must discuss something.”

“Yes?”

“I have declined the offer from Lord Montgomery and his son, but you are four-and-twenty. You asked for time to find a love match, and we have given you that time while still encouraging you to find an ideal husband. We have suggested many young men, and you have repeatedly turned them down. At some point, you will have to find one of them acceptable.”

“It is not that they are not acceptable ,” she said, biting her lip. “But when I say I want a love match, Father, I truly want to fall in love. I have not yet found that.”

“Well, you’d best find it soon, or we will find it for you. Life is not like your silly books.” Her mother sniffed.

Lily’s shoulders drooped as she sank back into her chair, deciding that all she could do at this point was change the subject.

“Can the machines be fixed?” Lily asked.

“One can only hope,” her father said with a sigh, running his hand through his hair.

“When is the next football match?” Lily asked, trying another topic as she forced herself to eat a bite of peas. At least her mother would be happy if she couldn’t eat much.

“That’s the other thing!” her father exclaimed, tipping back on the chair’s two rear legs and raising his hands in the air.

Lily suddenly wished she hadn’t asked the question.

“We were supposed to have an exhibition match this weekend, but no, now the club we were supposed to play is playing the Athletics instead.”

“Why?” Lily blinked.

“I don’t know. Montgomery probably bribed them or promised some additional perks. He’s messing with me because I denied him.”

Lily looked down at her plate, uncertain what her response should be. While she appreciated her father not marrying her off for his own gain, she also didn’t like how he seemed to blame her for something that wasn’t her fault.

“I’m sorry to hear it,” she finally said.

“We’ll find another team to play, but it will be a working-class team that will not be as challenging. The next thing you know, our first Cup series will begin.”

“What is this Cup again?” her mother asked, waving her fork in the air, and Lily wasn’t certain if she was trying to annoy her father or if she did so accidentally.

“The FA Cup,” he said between gritted teeth. “It is what we are playing for.”

“What does FA mean?”

“Football Association. It follows the rules of football that were put in place four years ago,” he said. “The ones that everyone is to follow – except Sheffield, who tries to get away with playing their own rules, but they can’t when they play us.”

“I see,” her mother said, clearly uninterested as she returned to her plate, taking two more bites in silence before she pushed back and excused herself from the table, leaving Lily and her father sitting alone.

“Well, what did you want to talk to me about?” he asked. “Might as well ask now that your mother is gone.”

“It can wait,” Lily said hastily. It didn’t seem the right time to bring any more concerns to him.

“Now I’d like to know even more.”

“It’s just that I’ve noticed some discrepancies in the account books,” she said, “as though money has gone missing, just a bit at a time every month.”

“Missing?” he said with a raised brow. “As in stolen?”

“Perhaps,” she said. “The bank account does not match the ledgers.”

“I’ll talk with the bank,” he said. “No one on the committee would dare do such a thing.”

She nodded, hoping she wouldn’t be blamed for this.

“May I be excused?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said, and she rose and began walking out of the room, pausing and looking back over her shoulder when he called her name.

“I saw you walking off the factory floor today. Do not go down there again.”

She nodded before walking out of the door, head held high.

She wasn’t sure if she would be able to keep that promise.

But she could promise to try.