I glanced about the place with a grimace. My head ached. “Deplorable.”

“At home, that is.”

“Lovely.” My voice took on a tone as distant as my normal life.

“Parents’ mental state?”

“Quite at peace in their graves.”

His lips twitched beneath his beard. “I meant, when they lived. Siblings similarly afflicted with—?”

“None.”

“Other relatives?”

“Deceased.”

He jotted. It didn’t take long, for the entirety of my family could be summed up in one word: dead.

“If you would only let me send word to—”

“Your condition is of no concern to anyone outside the asylum. It is a private matter.”

Chills climbed my spine, although I couldn’t say exactly why. “Allow me to send for my manager. He’ll—”

“Out of the question. We don’t allow contact with friends or relations—it’s bound to excite, and we can’t have that, can we?”

The chill deepened. No letters. No contact. He scribbled a bit more as I began to sense the quicksand into which I’d fallen, drawing me into a pit I would not escape without a fight.

Very well, then. I knew how to do battle.

“Occupation—none, I assume?”

“I am a concert pianist. And my name is not Cora Fletcher, it’s Vivienne Mourdant.” I edged my chin up. “You’ll find my name on the local playbills.”

He sat back with a steady gaze upon me. “I’ll warn you, we don’t indulge delusions at this institution.”

“I’m not delusional.” I looked him in the eye.

“I’ve heard witness from several people here at Hurstwell that you hear music playing at night. Nocturnal hallucinations are, in fact, delusions.”

“My life is full of music because I’m a concert pianist. I’m surrounded by it all the time, and it has become part of my subconscious.”

“I see.” His look of pity soured my belly. “Now then, let’s talk about your true occupation, shall we?”

“How, pray, can you possibly know that I’m not what I say?”

“Because you are Cora Fletcher. Many people know you as such. A great many more than you can find to say you are someone else.” He lifted my hand and I snatched it back, holding it close.

“I don’t believe you.”