So narrow was the escape, in fact, that you were said to have been left behind in the confusion, and the world was told, the next day, that the granddaughter of Lord Brace had been destroyed by the flames.
"The truth, however, was not told.

My stepfather did not dare to go so far as to kill you.

It was he who caused the fire, but he had you removed to a small hotel in another part of the city some hours earlier, secretly, of course, but in charge of a trusted maid.

My mother was responsible for this.

She would not listen to his awful plan to leave you in the house.