23
ISA NEARLY HAD heart failure when she saw her husband enter the clearing. What was Victor doing? Gerhart would never release Amalie now!
“Let her go, Gerhart!” Victor ordered. “Or I swear I’ll shoot you where you stand!”
Gerhart paled, but his grip on Amalie tightened. “You don’t dare. Not while I’ve got your precious daughter in my arms.”
Amalie’s face clouded in confusion. “Mama?” she said, staring at Isa. “What does Uncle Gerhart mean—daughter?”
“We’ll talk about it later, dearest,” Isa said, forcing calm into her voice. “For now, just do whatever your uncle says.” She scowled at him. “Surely you won’t hurt your own niece. What kind of monster are you?”
Gerhart’s face was implacable. “This is what happens when you don’t follow my rules, Isa.”
Fear made her light-headed, and only through strength of will did she not faint. “I have no control over my husband, as you should well know by now.”
“Then your daughter will suffer for it.”
When Isa uttered an unintelligible cry, Victor stiffened and called over to Jacoba. “Look at your sister, damn it,” he said, never taking his eyes from Gerhart. “Look at what your husband is doing to her. She’s your blood, for God’s sake. Do you really mean to tear her child from her?”
Jacoba watched him with indecision in her face. “It’s not my fault! You shouldn’t have come. If you don’t let us leave, we’ll both hang!”
“I swear that you won’t,” Victor said. “Not if he releases the child right now.”
Isa wanted to scream. Her sister would never go against Gerhart. She’d abandoned Isa for him long ago; why did Victor think that was going to change?
Something moved just beyond Isa’s vision, and she glanced over to see Mr. Manton in the water, his head just showing above the surface past the boat. When he was sure she’d seen him, he moved behind the skiff.
Isa’s blood thundered in her veins. So that was why Victor was drawing Jacoba’s attention. Whatever the men were planning, he clearly had a hand in it.
She swallowed tears. He wouldn’t let their daughter be hurt by Gerhart. He wouldn’t! She had to trust to that.
“Jacoba, come over here now!” Gerhart ordered. “Or I swear, I’ll leave you here to be hanged!”
“Do as he says,” Isa said quietly to her sister. “I don’t want my girl alone with him.” And whatever the men were up to, it clearly involved getting Gerhart and Jacoba into the boat or the river or something.
Jacoba looked wary, but she hurried toward her husband. Together the pair crept back to the skiff, dragging Amalie with them. Gerhart ordered Jacoba to shove the vessel off. Then he followed her into the river, still holding Amalie.
“Get in the boat,” he ordered Jacoba.
Once she was in it, Gerhart seemed to realize that he might have trouble holding onto Amalie and climbing into the boat at the same time. So he hefted her onto his shoulders, obviously confident that Victor wouldn’t dare to shoot him as long as he was holding up Amalie.
Pushing the boat as he went, Gerhart backed into the water. The current was already catching the vessel. All he would have to do was toss Amalie into it and hold on to it while the water swept them downstream out of reach.
That had obviously occurred to Mr. Manton, too, for Isa saw him moving through the water behind Gerhart. Thankfully, Jacoba was too intent on Victor to notice.
But Isa wasn’t taking any chances. “Curse it, Gerhart, she can’t swim!”
“Then you’d best not let your husband shoot me, aye?” he cried.
“Stop!” Amalie called in a panic, gripping Gerhart’s head as he backed shoulder-deep into the water. “Stop . . . stop . . . stop . . .”
Then everything happened at once.
Mr. Manton rose up to snatch Amalie off Gerhart’s shoulders from behind as Mr. Bonnaud lunged into Gerhart from the side, knocking him off his feet. While Mr. Bonnaud struggled to subdue Gerhart, Jacoba screamed and jumped out of the boat to help her husband.
Isa was already running for her baby, who was screaming, too, and fighting Mr. Manton as he carried her to the shore. Within moments he’d handed Amalie to Isa, who immediately began sobbing and clutching her baby to her.
Mr. Manton waded back to help Mr. Bonnaud with Gerhart and Jacoba, but before he could join the fray, Gerhart broke free and lunged for the shore.
He didn’t get far, for his way was blocked by Victor, standing with a gun trained at his head.
Gerhart froze, his eyes going wide.
“Give me one good reason not to kill you,” Victor ground out. “Because I damned well can’t think of any.”
When Gerhart seemed incapable of speech, Isa caught her breath. The coldness in Victor’s eyes and the stiffness of his stance told her that her soldier husband was on the verge of committing murder right then and there.
And she would have let him, too—if not for their daughter. “Victor,” she called out, “think of Amalie.” The last thing their little girl needed to see, after what she’d been through, was her uncle being shot dead before her eyes.
That reminder was all it took. Victor hesitated long enough for Mr. Bonnaud to seize Gerhart from behind. Then Victor lowered his pistol, and Isa let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
As the three men restrained Gerhart and Jacoba, Isa cuddled her baby close. “Everything’s all right now, dearest,” she murmured into her daughter’s tangled curls.
“Oh, Mama,” Amalie cried, clinging so tightly to Isa’s neck that she could scarcely breathe. “I’m so glad you came! I was so scared.”
“I know, baby, I know.” Isa showered kisses over her daughter’s sweet cheeks and brow and hair.
“I don’t like Uncle Gerhart,” Amalie said. “He’s mean.”
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Isa asked hoarsely, glaring over to where Gerhart was struggling against his captors.
“Only when he grabbed my neck.”
That brought it all back again, and Isa had to check her baby’s throat and arms and everything to be sure she really was all right. But she wasn’t going to feel perfectly at ease until Dr. Worth could examine Amalie and determine that she was unhurt.
Then Rupert entered the clearing. “Glad to see that you’re safe, Amalie.”
“Lord Lochlaw!” Amalie cried, lighting up at the sight of a familiar face.
“Rupert helped to rescue us,” Isa explained.
“Did he really?” Amalie slipped out of her mother’s arms to run over and give him a hug.
Rupert turned a bright red as he ruffled her hair. “Well, I only did a little bit. Your father and his friends did most of it.”
Amalie gaped up at him, then raced back to gape at her mother. “M-my father?”
Oh, dear. Everything was happening so fast.
Isa pointed over to where Victor and Mr. Manton were searching Gerhart’s clothing while he fought their attempts. “You see that tall man there, the one in the blue coat? That’s your papa.”
Amalie blinked. “You told me my papa was dead,” she accused.
Now came the hard part. “That’s because I thought he was lost to us—but he wasn’t. Your Uncle Gerhart and Aunt Jacoba lied to me about him. And lied to him about me.” She smoothed Amalie’s hair from her eyes. “But he found us anyway. It just took him a long time.”
“Is that why Uncle Gerhart kept calling you Isa instead of Sofie? Because of the lying?”
Isa sighed. “Yes, dearest. I . . . I came to Scotland to start a new life, so I changed my name. My real name is Isabella Cale.”
Amalie frowned and stared down at the ground. “You could have told me.”
“I didn’t tell anyone, not even Mr. Gordon. I was afraid that Uncle Gerhart and Aunt Jacoba would find us and hurt us if they ever learned where we’d gone. You can see that I was right to be worried. But now that they’re going to gaol, I don’t have to worry anymore, so I’ll be returning to my real name. And your father will call me Isa, as he used to.”
Turning to watch as Victor found the diamonds and removed them from Gerhart’s pocket, Amalie cocked her head to one side. “What’s my papa’s name?”
“Victor Cale.”
A troubled expression crossed her face. “Does that mean that I have to change my name, too?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Isa said. It was the first time she’d thought of it. “I believe we christened you Amalie Franke, so I don’t know how that works. I’ll have to find out.”
“I don’t want to change my name!”
“Well, then. We’ll see.”
Amalie looked unsure of how she felt about that answer. “Will he be coming to live with us?”
“Either that, or we’ll be going to live with him.”
“So . . . I’ll have a papa like other girls?”
“Yes.”
Amalie digested that in silence, obviously still unsettled by all of the information being thrown at her. But before she could ask any more questions, Isa heard Victor say, “This is for my wife.”
Isa looked over in time to see him land his fist on Gerhart’s jaw.
“And this is for my daughter, damn you!” Victor said as he punched Gerhart in the stomach until Gerhart doubled over.
Gerhart started cursing, then straightened carefully. “You think you’ve won,” he choked out, “but if you accuse me of kidnapping, I’ll deny it. She’s my niece, and the school has a letter from your wife saying that we were to fetch her.” He wiped away the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. “I’ll say that you and your friends are just trying to separate your wife from her family.”
“I know what you’ll say,” Victor growled. “And that’s why we’re not apprehending you for kidnapping, much as I want to. We’re apprehending you for theft.”
“Ah, but Isa was the one to steal that necklace.” Gerhart smiled smugly. “Knowing her, she left a fake in its place, so the authorities will see that I speak the truth. And when I tell them that she helped you steal the royal diamonds in Amsterdam, you’ll both land in prison.”
Rupert walked over to Gerhart. “Whatever are you talking about, sir? Mrs. Cale had nothing to do with any theft. You were seen stealing my diamonds just this afternoon. I have a whole raft of houseguests who witnessed your desperate act.”
“What the hell? I didn’t steal a damned thing,” Gerhart spat. “And if you’re thinking of paying them all off to lie—”
“No need to pay anyone off,” Victor said with a cold smile. “A burly man with dark hair and a beard was seen by several people—servants and guests—running from the manor house after the jewel case was broken into.” He glanced at Mr. Bonnaud. “That reminds me; I need your coat. Though I think your trousers look close enough to Gerhart’s to pass.”
“Excellent,” Mr. Bonnaud said as he slipped off his overly large coat. “The trousers are mine. It’s only the coat that doesn’t fit me.”
Victor flashed Gerhart a triumphant look. “But I daresay it fits my brother-in-law well enough.”
It took a minute for Gerhart to realize that they were setting him up as the thief, but when he did, he began fighting them, to no avail. He could hardly withstand three men bent on forcibly removing his coat and replacing it with Mr. Bonnaud’s.
And once they had the coat on, they tied him up so that no matter how much he struggled, he was well and truly caught. Then Mr. Bonnaud’s wide-brimmed beaver hat was clamped atop his head, and they were done.
Amalie grabbed Isa’s hand. “What are they doing, Mama?”
“Making sure that your Uncle Gerhart can never hurt you—or any of the rest of us—ever again, dearest.”
Victor stepped back to view their handiwork. “He’ll do, don’t you think, Dom?”
“Oh, excellent.” Mr. Manton cast Mr. Bonnaud a mocking glance. “You two could be twins.”
“Don’t say that,” his brother grumbled. “I had a devil of a time getting that black junk off my face before we headed here.”
Rupert cast Gerhart a hard look. “I’m absolutely certain that’s the man I saw riding away. And I’m sure Miss Gordon will confirm it. Besides, we found the stolen necklace on him, so there you are. All the proof we need.”
“You won’t get away with this!” Gerhart cried as Mr. Bonnaud and Mr. Manton dragged him over to Mr. Manton’s horse. “I’ll tell everyone what I’ve seen and what you’re trying to do. And so will my wife, damn you all!”
“Will she?” Victor snapped. “I doubt that.” He turned to Jacoba, who was staring after Gerhart with a heartsick expression. “It’s time you consider yourself, sister,” he said coldly. “Your husband is lost to you. He will almost certainly hang for the theft of those diamonds; it’s a capital crime. Right now you’re only guilty of being his accomplice to the diamond theft. But if we haul you back to Amsterdam and start building a case against you two for those thefts, you’re likely to find yourself on the gallows with him. Unless . . .”
“Unless?” Jacoba whispered.
“You speak the truth about what happened to those diamonds in Amsterdam. If you testify that Isa and I had nothing to do with it, I will make sure that your sentence is commuted to transportation. I have enough influence to keep you from the gallows.”
Jacoba cast Isa a pleading glance, but Isa could barely stand to look at her.
“It’s your choice, Jacoba,” Victor said. “Transportation or the gallows. If you take your chances on a trial, I will use all the influence I have to see you both prosecuted equally for stealing. And you will hang with him.”
“Don’t be a fool, Jacoba,” Isa said. “He’s not worth it.”
With a sigh, Jacoba looked at Victor. “All right. I’ll tell the truth.”
And for the first time in ten years, Isa finally felt free.
♦ ♦ ♦
THE NEXT FEW hours tried Victor’s patience. He hated having to put Isa into Lochlaw’s care even temporarily when they left the clearing, but he and Dom had been seen setting out to capture Gerhart, and now they had to be seen bringing him and Jacoba in. But only after Lochlaw had whisked Isa back into the manor through the garden door by which she’d left.
Meanwhile, Tristan was keeping Amalie under wraps at the hunting cottage until Victor and Isa could head back to Edinburgh with Dom, ostensibly so that they could consult with lawyers about her wretched family caught in this horrible crime. Along the way, Tristan and Dr. Worth would join them, driving the phaeton while Dom drove Isa and Victor and Amalie in Dom’s coach.
They had no choice in that, either. If Amalie made a miraculous appearance at the house party, it would destroy their plan to undermine Gerhart’s claims.
Well into the evening, Victor had to lie about the capture while Isa had to pretend to be shocked by the fact that her brother-in-law was a thief. She had to act horrified by the nasty claims he was making against her. Her bruises contributed to Victor’s and Isa’s story of Gerhart’s desperation for money, especially with Dr. Worth there to speak of the damage done to her throat. And her presence among the other guests during the theft vindicated her of stealing.
Everyone played his part to perfection. Victor had a moment’s worry when Lady Zoe came into the room, but she kept quiet as she’d promised, and the moment passed.
Now he was relieved to finally be in the carriage on his way back to Edinburgh with Isa. Traveling at night was never ideal, but the moon was full and the weather was fine.
The only problem was that Amalie had just joined them, and he had no idea how to deal with her. What did one say to a nine-year-old girl who’d just discovered that her mother had been living a lie, her father wasn’t dead, and her relations were decidedly corrupt?
He only wished he could see her better. She sat curled up against her mother on the opposite side of the coach, her golden hair limned with moonlight. What was she thinking?
“So,” he said, feeling the weight of this moment, “your mother tells me that you do very well with your studies.”
“Yes, sir,” she murmured.
“Do you like your school?”
She glanced up at her mother, who nodded. “Yes, sir,” she mumbled. “It’s very nice.”
“But surely you would like to live at home with your mother while you go to school, if it could be arranged.”
“That would be fabulous!” she exclaimed, then caught herself. “I mean, yes, sir, I would.”
The word fabulous grabbed his attention. Isa had described their daughter as flamboyant, but this was the first glimpse he’d had of that side of her. Perhaps it was time he ventured into uncharted waters and pried a bit more of the flamboyant out of her.
“Of course, you might not like living in London.” Remembering what Isa had told him over the past few days about Amalie’s interests, Victor added, “All those fancy ladies prancing about in the latest fashions from Paris. I’m sure that would bore you.”
“No, it wouldn’t!” she cried. “I like fancy ladies. Do they wear big hats?”
He bit back a smile. “The biggest. It’s a problem for us gentlemen; we get poked in the eye with oyster feathers whenever we help ladies into their carriages.”
She snorted. “They’re not oyster feathers, sir. They’re ostrich feathers.”
“Are you sure? I could have sworn that they grew out of pearls. That’s why they’re white, isn’t it?”
This time he got a giggle out of her. “Pearls don’t grow things. That’s ridiculous.”
“Your father enjoys teasing sometimes,” Isa put in, “but only if he really, really likes you. I think he must like you a great deal.”
Victor’s throat tightened. “Yes. I do. And I hope that one day you can like me, too. Even if I don’t know a damn—” He winced. “A single thing about female fashions.” Or not cursing in front of young ladies.
Amalie sat quiet for so long that he began to despair. Then she said in a small voice, “I could teach you. About female fashions, I mean.”
“I would enjoy that immensely.” Right now, he would enjoy anything that got his daughter to feel more comfortable with him. “And in exchange, I will teach you how to swim. If you’d like.”
She cocked her head, and he could almost imagine her searching his face. “I would rather learn how to shoot a gun.”
“All right,” he said, willing to do anything to gain her favor.
“Victor!” Isa cried. “You are not going to teach our daughter how to shoot!”
“Fine,” he said, then uttered a dramatic sigh. “It’s probably just as well. I’m told that guns are hopelessly out of fashion in Paris, and you can’t really wear one on your big hat. Oyster feathers work much better.”
“Papa!” Amalie cried, half laughing. “They’re ostrich feathers!”
His heart flipped over in his chest. She’d called him “papa.” He’d never heard anything so sweet. “Right,” he said. “So, what’s the name of those long lacy things that the ladies wear around their necks?”
For the next hour she regaled him with explanations and descriptions of every “fabulous” gown and hat and pair of slippers she’d ever seen, while he showed his ignorance about all things “fashionable.” After a bit, he thought perhaps she’d begun to catch on that he wasn’t quite as ignorant as he pretended, but by then she apparently didn’t care, either.
Because by then, she’d started asking questions about the past and the future. About how they would go on. He and Isa answered as best they could, until her head began to nod and she began to yawn.
After she fell asleep, Isa laid her down on the seat and crossed to sit beside him. Victor slid his arm about her shoulders. “She’s as wonderful as her mother,” he murmured, feeling a painful tightness in his chest as he gazed on his daughter. Their daughter. “You did well with her.”
Isa leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry for the years you lost with her, sorry that—”
“No more apologies.” He stared down at the wife he was only beginning to know; the woman he would cherish until death closed his eyes and stopped his breath. “We both made mistakes, but we both paid for them in spades. Fate has given us a second chance, so it’s time we let our mistakes go. We love each other, and we love her. That should be all we need to start our new life, don’t you think?”
Isa stretched up to brush a kiss to his lips, and her smile made his blood heat and his heart swell. “I think that sounds perfectly fabulous.”