Page 98 of When the Rogue Returns
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’msoglad you came! I was soscared.”
“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’smean.”
“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 hereally?” 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 tellanyone, 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.”
