My mind inched out from beneath a heavy weight as I blinked the room into focus. Beds. Rows of sleeping women. Cold hearth. My mind found solid ground and began taking baby steps forward into clarity. “What on earth—”

“It’s the tea.” To my surprise, the voice came again, clear and distinct. “But you’ll soon be right as rain,” it said, with the airiness of a lady nibbling tarts in her front parlor. “You didn’t drink it all.”

The stony gray world pulsed in and out of focus along with my exaggerated heartbeat as I sat in that chair, gathering fragments of my scattered consciousness. “Heaven above,” I mumbled. “What was in that wretched cup?”

“A bit of tincture to make you sleep. Oh, it’s meant for the patients, but they have an old under-the-tongue trick, and I’m afraid someone dissolved their capsule into your drink.”

I rotated my head toward the bed beside my chair where the cheery voice came from and studied the unfamiliar round face there. “You’re real.”

“Much as you are, love.” There was a rustle of sheets, and a rosy face appeared, propped up on one fist. “I don’t suppose you sing, do you?”

I gave a shaky laugh, rubbing my head to clear it. “Not well.”

The woman gave a dramatic sigh. “Pity. I dearly love to sing, and I haven’t found another soul here who does. I heard you say you were a musician . . . The place needs a bit of lively music, don’t you think? I’m Clara, by the way. You can call me that.”

“Clara.” I eyed the pale countenance with smiling lips, bright eyes. “Why are you still awake? It must be nearly half past two.” It was obvious by her pert expression that she had been awake for some time.

Another deeply layered sigh. “I almost never sleep, love. A curse and a blessing. I never miss a thing that way. I adore knowing things, especially what I shouldn’t.”

I raised my eyebrows in the dark. “You know a great deal about Hurstwell, then.”

She shrugged and gave a nod. “Same with every place I live. I used to be undercook at Edenwold Estate in Manchester, and I sampled every scrap of gossip worth tasting.” She sat up. “You’re a bit of a snoop too, aren’t you? Saw you poking about with your eyes when you thought no one was looking.”

“Merely looking for someone I thought I knew.” I’d hardly realized I was doing it, but I had been studying faces, peering into rooms as we passed, ever on the alert. “There’s a patient I’ve heard is here. I cannot seem to find her, though.”

“There’s a lot of us here, you know. Just look about at mealtimes.”