The Wrong Girl

by CJ Archer

  ***

  "I can assure you Lady Violet will be quite safe," said the little man with ruddy cheeks and several chins. He sat on one side of a very broad desk, his younger assistant beside him. Jack, Sylvia and I sat opposite. "Mr. Gladstone is very good at inducing a state of hypnosis in—"

  "Your assistant!" Jack shook his head. "No. I want you to do it, Dr. Werner. Someone with experience."

  Dr. Werner's glasses slid down his nose but were rescued by the upturned tip. He pushed them back up and gave Jack what could only be described as a practiced professional smile. "I can assure you, Mr. Langley, Mr. Gladstone is very good. He may be only a young man, but being a youthful gentleman yourself, you'll know that age is not necessarily a good indicator of a person's abilities. Mr. Gladstone has never failed to put my patients into a hypnotic state. Never."

  Jack narrowed his eyes at the assistant, a handsome sandy-haired man with clear blue eyes and a mischievous mouth that hadn't stopped smiling since we entered Dr. Werner's medical rooms. Mr. Gladstone's happy countenance was in stark contrast to Jack's dark mood. He hadn't stopped peppering poor Dr. Werner with questions since our arrival.

  "Is he a qualified hypnotist?" Jack asked.

  "I'm studying medicine at University College here in London," Mr. Gladstone said, speaking for the first time. "I'll graduate next year."

  "We're neurologists," Dr. Werner added. "Hypnotist is not a medical occupation."

  "You are a neurologist," Jack said. "He is not yet qualified."

  Dr. Werner sighed. "Mr. Langley, will you allow your friend to undergo treatment or not?"

  "It's a little late to have doubts now, Jack," Sylvia said, checking the small pocket watch she kept in her reticule.

  "It won't hurt," Mr. Gladstone said to me. "There won't be any ill effects after you come out of hypnosis." His smile was so warm and genuine that I couldn't not believe him.

  "It's what will happen during hypnosis that concerns me," Jack said.

  "Then you're welcome to stay and watch as long as you keep out of the way."

  "I intend to."

  "It's settled then," said Sylvia. "Begin, Mr. Gladstone."

  I suddenly felt like I wanted to run out of the room. I knew nothing about hypnosis. Did it hurt? And what if they discovered the truth while I was in a hypnotic state? What if I said something I shouldn't, something that would lead them to the truth of who I was?

  "You may wait for me outside," I told Jack and Sylvia.

  Jack blinked then leaned closer. "Violet, I don't think you should be alone with these men. We don't know much about them."

  "Dr. Werner came highly recommended by your uncle," I whispered back. At his troubled look, I added, "You don't trust your uncle?"

  "I don't make a habit of it." He squeezed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He looked like he carried the weight of the world, and I desperately wanted to touch him in some way, tell him that he needn't feel burdened. But I dared not. Could not.

  "Jack, please. I'll be all right."

  "I give you my word that she will be unharmed," Mr. Gladstone said, coming out from behind the desk.

  "As do I," said Dr. Werner, rather irritably. "Indeed, I can ill afford to upset my patients now, can I?"

  Jack gave a single nod, albeit a reluctant one.

  Mr. Gladstone held out his hand for me and I took it. Jack glowered and stalked off toward the door. "Are you sure, Violet?"

  "Yes."

  Sylvia took his arm and steered him out then shut the door.

  "Lie down on the sofa," said Dr. Werner. I did, with Mr. Gladstone's assistance. "Now, it would help if you told us what is being blocked."

  I glanced at the door. "Memories."

  "Of what?"

  "Of..."

  "Go on, Lady Violet," said Mr. Gladstone in a soothing voice. "Whatever you tell us will remain in confidence if you wish, as will our findings from the hypnosis itself. If you don't want anyone else to know, then we'll not divulge a thing."

  Dr. Werner patted my hand. "Tell us what you know of the memories that are blocked, Lady Violet. Indeed, what makes you think you have some missing memories at all?"

  "I fall asleep with no warning," I said. "At least, I believe there's no warning. That's the part I can't remember. Whatever happens just before I fall asleep is lost to me."

  "You're a narcoleptic?" Dr. Werner said. "Interesting."

  "Not from my point of view."

  "From a medical perspective it is. You're unique. Memory loss is not normally a symptom of narcolepsy."

  "Then it would seem I'm not normal."

  Mr. Gladstone smiled. "Let's see what we can discover during the hypnosis." He picked up a gold disc attached to a chain. "Concentrate on this object and my voice, Lady Violet." How could I not? The disc was right above my nose and his voice slid against my skin and melted through to my bones. I felt like I was sinking into it, surrounded by it, lost in it. "Your body is feeling heavy. Your eyes want to close. Close them, Lady Violet. Listen to my voice."

  I heard nothing more as I slipped away.