Page 65 of When the Rogue Returns
That roused his temper all over again. “Damn it, Isa, you can trust me not to do anything that might hurther.”
Just then Betsy came in, frowning as she overheard his cursing. “Rob says he’ll stick to the woman like a barnacle, he will.”
“Good,” Victor clipped out, his eyes still on Isa’s ashen face. “Thank you, Betsy.”
When the servant nodded and then looked expectantly at her mistress, Isa said, “Forgive me, Betsy, but my husband just found out that he is a father, so he and I have a few matters to discuss.”
To say the least.
“Oh, Lord, that’s right!” Betsy cried. “Poor little Amalie! She thinks her da is dead. She’ll be so happy to hear she’s got a father.”
Isa swallowed. “I certainly hope so.”
So did he.
“You’re a lucky man, sir,” Betsy said earnestly. “That girl is a dear, has been since she was a wee thing. Rather rambunctious, if I do say so myself, but clever as can be. She’ll make you right proud of her.”
Regret roiled in his belly. Even the servant knew more about his daughter than he did. He was never going to get those years back, never going to see her as a baby. He would be a stranger to her.
It made him want to throttle Jacoba and Gerhart. How dare they steal his chance to see his daughter grow up? Howdarethey?
With a worried glance at him, Isa said, “We’ll be in the parlor if you need us, Betsy. But for now we really need to be alone.”
“Of course, madam, of course. I’ll just go make sure dinner stays warm for you.”
His mind racing, Victor followed Isa as she headed back into the parlor.
She closed the door, then faced him warily. “I know you must have questions—”
“Oh yes, wife of mine, a great many.” He scowled. “Like why the hell didn’t you tell me about my daughter when I first got here?”
She tipped up her chin. “At that point, I thought you were a thief, remember? I wasn’t about to let you anywhere near her. In my mind, you were as bad as Jacoba and Gerhart.”
And he would make them pay for that. Thanks to them, his daughter had been fatherless for nine bloody years! They’d stolen those from Amalie, too.
Amalie. He had a daughter named Amalie. How would he get used to that?
“Everything I’ve done has been to protect her, to save her,” Isa whispered. “I came here so she would be as far away from my family as I could manage. I kept the truth from you so you wouldn’t be able to corrupt my child—”
“Ourchild!” he cried.
“Whom I raised alone!” With a shuddering breath, she turned to pace the room. “Try to put yourself in my place, if you can. I was carrying your child, and I thought you had abandoned me for the illicit riches my family had paid you off with. When Mr. Gordon took pity on me and hired me, Amalie was the only thing that kept me going through the pain of... of your abandonment.”
“The abandonment that I didnotinstigate,” he said in a hollow voice.
“I know.” She faced him again. “But I didn’t know that when you came here. All I knew was that you had left us to fend for ourselves, and now you thought to step back into our lives as if nothing had happened. Except that I also knew that English law always awards custody of a child to the father. So does Dutchlaw.”
Her breath came in hard gasps. “I couldn’t risk the possibility that you would try to take her from me. Not when I thought you were a thief. Surely you can understand that.”
He supposed he should be glad that she was such a fierce protector of their daughter, but resentment of all that he’d lost still beat a bitter tattoo in his veins.
So did the words of his inquisitors all those years ago.Your wife is no fool. Why would she trust a bumbling oaf like you to take care of her?
He thrust the memory back with a curse. “What aboutafteryou knew I wasn’t a thief? Last night, you didn’t say a word about her. And today, when Lochlaw mentioned her—”
“I had to be certain that you weren’t here for vengeance, don’t yousee? Because taking my daughter—our daughter—would be the best revenge you could ever visit upon me.”
Pain made it hard for him to breathe. “You thought me capable of that?” he choked out through a throat gone raw. He strode up to her. “You truly believed I could rip our child from the only home she’s known, out of some desire to strike at you?”
