Dr. Thornhill eyed the shorter man with no small amount of displeasure. “It’s been neglected for some time, and I’m afraid it’s quite useless.”

I dropped my gaze, but I could feel Clara grinning beside me. A few of the others snickered. I glanced up and froze them with a look. Didn’t they know enough to keep their silly tongues in their heads?

“Let’s have a look anyway, if you would.” Harford puffed out his chest as if drinking in fresh spring air and looked about the grand entrance. “Yes, this will be a fine place for my trials, and I’ll be proud to pass my findings on to the home secretary.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I do have a fair amount of work to do.” Thornhill was irritated. “I assume you can manage on your own.”

I was filled with dread, looking back and forth between their faces, waiting for the foggy unknown to become clear. Waiting for Harford to reveal the real reason he’d come. Waiting for Dr. Thornhill to stop wasting his time and find Bridget. Had I not been bound and watched like a hawk, I would have darted off to do it myself, and likely done a better job at it.

“I’ll only ask a few more moments of your time, Superintendent. I’d like to introduce you to my methods and have you observe—at least at the beginning. Perhaps you can provide insight on your patients too.”

Thornhill’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t expect to be here long, do you? A few days at most?” The man was more irritable than usual. Much more.

“If everything progresses the way I envision, I may well be staying for some time. Not to worry, though. It’ll all be worth it, in the end.” He leveled his blue-eyed gaze on me as he spoke, rocking back on his heels, and I hadn’t any idea what he was trying to tell me. “The advancement of science, and what have you. Now then, let us see this neglected pianoforte. And bring the patients. I’d like to gauge the nature of my work here.”

We were then ushered on a surreal march, two by two through the first-floor corridor to the east wing, and I walked through the forgotten pianoforte room’s true entrance for the first time. A moment more and I was standing with heart-pounding stillness in my moonlit sanctuary, but with wide swaths of golden sunlight falling over the floor on both sides of the covered Broadwood. I stared at the thing with a small smile and suppressed a shiver. Hello, old friend.