Page 90 of The Other Lady Vanishes

“Tea with a crazy woman in the gardens of an insane asylum.” Jake shook his head. “Sounds like a scene out ofAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

Adelaide smiled ruefully. “Yes, it does. But I considered the Duchess a friend. She, on the other hand, was convinced that I was a member of her family. A cousin. Once I tried to explain that we weren’t related but she got very upset so I never mentioned it again.”

“Did she realize that she couldn’t leave the mansion?”

“Oh, yes. In her own way she had arrived at a very clear understanding of her situation. She said that she could never leave the mansion because she was crazy. She explained that respectable families like ours had to keep their mentally unbalanced relations hidden away.It wouldn’t do to have other people knowing that there’s a streak of insanity in the bloodline.”

“Did she think that she had other relatives besides you at the asylum?”

“I asked her that from time to time. She always said no, that it was just the two of us. But she insisted that I didn’t belong there. She said it was fine for me to visit occasionally but that I must not stay there forever because I wasn’t crazy like her. She told me that it was high time I did my duty by the family.”

“What was your duty?”

Adelaide smiled. “I was supposed to go out into society and entertain on a proper scale. I was also instructed on my responsibility to beget a few heirs to the family fortune.”

“Did she ever say which family the two of you were supposedly descended from?” Jake asked.

“No. I asked that, too. She just winked and told me that I knew the answer and that we mustn’t mention the name of the family because the servants might overhear us. I’m sure her family came from San Francisco, though. She talked a lot about her past. It was clear she had grown up in the city.”

Jake turned thoughtful. “Conrad Massey’s family would certainly qualify as an old, established San Francisco family.”

Adelaide looked at him, startled. “You’re thinking that maybe I wasn’t the first person the Massey family had tucked away at the Rushbrook Sanitarium, aren’t you? That maybe the Duchess is a Massey relation?”

“That would certainly explain how Gill and Conrad Massey knew each other and how Gill might have been aware that Massey was desperate for money.”

“Yes, it would. It also explains why the Duchess took such a personal interest in me. She knew me as Adelaide Massey.”

“Massey is headed for bankruptcy, so it’s very likely that he was thinking of cutting a few corners in his financial affairs. Keeping a crazy relative tucked away in a high-class asylum is expensive. Maybe Massey told Gill he was going to stop paying the bills for the Duchess.”

“And Gill suggested a way that he could solve his financialproblems?” Frustrated by the unknowns, Adelaide swept out her hands. “It’s all speculation at this point.”

“Which is why I agreed to meet Massey tonight,” Jake said. “We need whatever information he can provide.”

“I’m terrified that you’ll be walking into a trap.”

“Knowing it’s a trap gives me an edge.”

“How?”

“It allows me to set a trap of my own,” Jake said.

“Did you learn that sort of thing in the import-export business?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“In that case, I’d say it’s a very good thing you got out of that line—except that now you’re back in the business, aren’t you? All because of me.”

He crossed the room to where she stood, and closed his powerful hands very firmly around her. His eyes were no longer enigmatic. They were very fierce.

“We’re in this thing together. Don’t ever forget it.”

“Right. We’re partners. I should come with you tonight.”

“No,” Jake said. “I’m going to take you to the safest place in Burning Cove.”

“Where is that?”

“The Paradise Club,” Jake said. “Luther has a small army working for him. You’ll be well protected there.”

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