The Opera Singer's Daughter (A Sherlock Holmes Spin-Off Novel)

Chapter Seventeen

"I wouldn't be a nuisance if I were unimportant so I see no need for me to apologize." I tried to wrench out of his grip, but he was too strong for me. "Where do you think you're taking me?"

"I believe Herr Meyer would be interested in meeting the impertinent girl who came uninvited to his party. Which of the other guests did you sneak in with?"

He didn't know Mr. Holmes was there. I would be sure to keep that information to myself for as long as I could. "Sneaking is beneath a lady," I said, raising my nose. "Are you going to be plain with me or shall you continue to dissemble?"

"I warn you, if you try to scream, no one will hear you," he said as if I hadn't spoken.

"I haven't screamed yet. I trust you won't do anything to make it necessary," I said patiently. If he thought he could frighten me, he seemed to have forgotten everything I had endured up to this point.

The muscle in his jaw flexed as though he were gritting his teeth in frustration. "What are you doing here?" he asked, glaring at me. "After all your running, and the trouble we have been to chasing you through this city, why did you come here?"

"If I want to know where my parents are, where else would I go to get my answers?"

He let out a laugh. "So you waltz into this house expecting to demand answers?"

"There was no waltzing until you invited me to do so," I said flippantly. I raised my chin. "Now, I would like the truth, if you please. Where is my mother?"

Mr. Ware let out a laugh. "Did you think she would be here?"

This time it was I who gritted my teeth. "I didn't say that," I said through my teeth. "I could hardly expect you to keep my parents in the heart of fashionable society, bold though it may be. But you do have them nearby, do you not?"

"Do you want to see them?"

The question caught me off guard. My first instinct was Yes. I did want to see my parents, to see that they were safe and unharmed. But what would happen if we were all together? We would be in the power of this man and Herr Meyer. What would they do to us then?

"I would prefer to meet them in a neutral place," I said carefully. "Where we might be allowed to go on our way with no interference."

The man shook his head. "Do you intend to make this difficult, then?"

"Making things difficult seems to be my purpose in life," I said, bracing my feet on the ground. "But I think you are the one who has made things difficult. I don't take kindly to being kidnapped, and this would make the third time you have attempted to do so."

"Am I to apologize for inconveniencing a teenage girl?"

"A gentleman might do so."

The door behind me opened. Mr. Ware went still, surprise registering in his eyes. "Ah, there you are my dear," Mr. Holmes's voice said jovially. "I was wondering where you had gotten. You found Mr. Ware. Good, good. Thank you for seeing to my niece. Was she feeling faint?"

"Niece? Sir, are we acquainted?" Mr. Ware asked. "This matter does not concern you."

"Uncle," I said, looking over my shoulder. "I didn't see you in the ballroom when I spoke to Lady Trestle."

"A friend of your mother, if I am not mistaken," Mr. Holmes said without pause. "I hope she was well. I'd hoped to see Herr Meyer before we departed, but I believe it is time for us to take our leave, dear niece."

For a moment, I was sure Mr. Ware was not going to let me go. But he did and I took a step back. I gave a pert curtsy. "Good evening, sir. Thank you for the conversation. And the dance."