The Wrong Girl(73)

"Why you?"

"I am the foremost microbiologist in the country."

And the one with the highest opinion of himself.

"Enough questions," he said, setting his teacup down on the table beside him. "Bollard."

"Wait." I leapt off the sofa and rested my hand on his wheelchair arm. If Bollard wanted to push forward, he could, but he did not. "How did you know I was at Windamere Manor when Tate didn't?"

He shook his head. "Bollard. Forward."

Jack put his hand on the other wheelchair arm. Bollard didn't try to move off. It seemed I wasn't the only one who wanted to know the answer, but to have Bollard on my side in this was a complete surprise.

Langley drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I sent you there to keep you away from Tate when you were a baby. I knew I couldn't trust him with you, knew he wanted to use you. I gave you to Lord Wade. He was a member of our Society and one of the few I could trust with a child's welfare."

"His way of caring for a child included locking her in the attic for years," Jack said. "Perhaps you should have tried harder to find someone else."

"I didn't expect him to do that, nor did I find out until very recently."

"Why did Lord Wade keep me and his daughter locked up in the attic?" I asked. "Me, I understand. I was dangerous and I wasn't his child. But Violet? It doesn't make sense."

"You'd have to ask him that. She's nothing to do with me."

"Very well." One day I would do exactly that. "Did you hypnotize me and give me narcolepsy?"

"No."

I sighed. Another thing to ask Wade. "So why kidnap me now, Mr. Langley? Does it have anything to do with Tate suddenly needing me?"

"He's always needed you. There's nothing sudden about it."

I was a little shocked and withdrew my hand from the chair arm.

"But not quite as badly as he needs her now," Jack muttered. "Because he's known where you live for some time, August, yet he only stole your papers a few nights ago. He was looking for her, wasn't he? Looking for some way to find her? Isn't that right?"

"I don't know. You'd have to ask Tate that question."

I didn't plan on going anywhere near Tate. He would have to hang before I would completely relax again. "He thought I was dead," I said, recalling his words. "So I don't think he stole your papers in the hope of finding me. I think he was looking for a way to cure himself. He hoped you'd kept working on it. Indeed, he assumed you had."

Langley looked surprised that I knew that much. "Perhaps."

"So why did you send Jack to kidnap me now?" I asked.

"The governess contacted me and asked me to remove you."

"Miss Levine?" I'd known she was party to the secret that had been kept from me, but I'd not known she was aware of the connection to Langley.

"She claimed that living in the attic was no life for either you or your friend."

"That seems rather too kind of her," I muttered. And yet she didn't hate me, nor I her. We'd clashed often, but hate was a strong word that didn't fit our relationship.

"I wish she'd told me you were the companion and not the daughter," he said, shaking his head. "When Bollard told me that he'd heard there were two of you confined to the attic, I naturally assumed you were being passed off as his daughter, and she the companion."

"Is Vi his daughter?"

"I don't know."

"She may be illegitimate," Sylvia said. "Perhaps he's ashamed of her and what he did. What do you know of Lady Wade, Hannah? Did she look like Lady Violet?"

"I don't know anything about her." Indeed I was beginning to question everything I thought I did know.

"It was fortunate that you got the right girl in the end, Jack," Sylvia said cheerfully. "I'm certainly glad we have Hannah and not the other one. She sounds like she can't be trusted if she was indeed part of Hannah's kidnapping." The fact that most of the people in the room had been part of my kidnapping seemed to have escaped her notice.

"That's not what you first thought when you found out we didn't have an earl's daughter under our roof," Jack said.

She sniffed. "Don't be ridiculous." She smiled at me and patted my arm. "Hannah is delightful company. I can't imagine anyone else I'd rather have as my friend."

I smiled at her, but it wavered a little when I recalled Vi saying something very similar.

"Why did you take her and not Violet?" Sylvia asked Jack.

"The governess described the one to collect, but gave me no name. She simply called her 'that fire girl.' Nor did she tell me the one I wanted was the companion and not the lady." The color of his eyes deepened as his gaze held mine. "Besides, I felt a connection with Hannah. It was like I was being pulled toward her. What better evidence is there that we are alike?"