“Ah. Quentin,” Bolkonsky said. “Is he a friend of yours?”
“Yes.” May’s face hardened into a mask of defiance. “You aren’t my friend.”
This went far beyond remarkable behavior for a girl who feared nearly everyone and everything. Johanna hid a triumphant smile. This would not be such a one-sided battle after all.
“Is there a place where I might have a word with May?” she asked Bolkonsky.
“Certainly. Just through the door behind you.” He smiled again at May. “Take your time.”
Johanna took May’s hand and led her into the bedchamber Bolkonsky indicated. She closed the connecting door between the rooms.
“May, I must ask you a question. Please answer honestly. Why do you dislike Dr. Bolkonsky so much?”
May stood rigidly against the wall, her fingers curled into fists. “Do we have to talk to him? I’d like to go home now.”
Johanna rested her hand on May’s dark head. “I know you would. Think of this as a sort of play, with you and me as the actors.”
“Like Irene?”
“Perhaps not exactly like Irene. But I like Dr. Bolkonsky no more than you do.” She smiled encouragement. “I need your help to make the doctor think that we are both happy to be here. I wouldn’t ask you without good reason.”
“He knows Quentin, doesn’t he?”
The odd certainty in her voice took Johanna aback. “Only in the way he knows of you, as a resident of the Haven. Why?”
She began to shake. “I’m afraid.”
It wasn’t an answer, but Johanna could see that May had reached the end of her endurance. Damn Bolkonsky—and her own failure to find some alternative to bringing May to town.
“I’ll speak to the doctor and tell him you are not well.” She cupped May’s cheek in her palm. “You remain here until I come for you.”
For the first time May smiled. “Thank you, Johanna.”
“You’re welcome.” She left Johanna in the room and opened the door to the sitting room.
Bolkonsky was no longer alone. Another man stood beside him, head bent toward the doctor in hushed conversation.
Johanna stopped, misgiving blooming into alarm. The man was tall, large-boned, and well, if loudly, dressed; his features were heavier than May’s, the eyes a muddy gray rather than dark brown. But Johanna knew who he must be.
“Dr. Schell,” Bolkonsky said, stepping in front of his co-conspirator. “I… something unexpected has happened. May I introduce Mr. Chester Ingram, May’s father. Mr. Ingram, Dr. Johanna Schell.”
Barely inclining her head to the intruder, Johanna fixed Bolkonsky with a cold stare. “I thought we had agreed—”
“Yes. But Mr. Ingram has expressed a reluctance to wait to meet his daughter again. It is understandable, after all…”
Understandable—or planned all along? Johanna turned her gaze on Ingram. “Mr. Ingram, May has been under my care for the past two years, as you know. She is subject to hysterical fits if exposed to upsetting conditions.” She fortified herself for the unaccustomed lies. “I brought her today with the expectation that she would have the necessary time to adjust to the prospect of returning to your care. I was to speak with Dr. Bolkonsky, and arrange a later meeting between you and your daughter.”
Ingram pushed past Bolkonsky. He carried himself with the air of a man who was used to command, and did not like being so addressed by a woman.
“So Dr. Bolkonsky told me… Miss …Dr. Schell,” he said. “But I have been wrongfully separated from my daughter, whom I love, for two long years.” His eyes narrowed in calculating assessment. “I know that my wife brought May to you with crazy stories born of her own madness. I don’t blame you for believing her; she is very persuasive. But now it’s time for May to come home, for us to be a family again. I will brook no needless delays.”
“Needless?” Johanna fought to control her anger, and the instant hostility she felt for this man. Hostility, and fear—for May’s sake. This was a man from whom a woman might flee in fear for her health. Or her life.
“You do want what is best for your daughter, Mr. Ingram?” She stepped closer to him, looking up into his face. “I have worked long with May to overcome her fears—the fears she has shown ever since she came to me. If you wish her to become hysterical again, then by all means proceed as you have been.”