"Lilith, don't think I've forgotten that it's your birthday," said Christopher at dinner that night. He was smirking at her over a glass of wine.

Lilith paused in lifting her fork to her mouth. "Oh?" she said. "And why does that matter?"

"Because I've bought you something, my darling wife," he said, and his tone mocked her.

"You bought me something last year, and the year before that, Christopher," she replied, taking her time to chew and swallow before she went on, relishing the expression of frustration on Christopher's face as he was forced to wait. "How is this any different?"

"You bought those other things for yourself and said I'd bought them for you, to 'keep our cover' and show them off to other people. This is something I've thought of all by myself. Have a little gratitude, won't you, Lilith?" he said. Leaning back on his chair, he waved to Thomas.

The android nodded and suddenly the lights in the dining room dimmed. Above the table, projected from Thomas's eyes, a hologram appeared.

"Well, do you like it?" asked Christopher when Lilith did not speak.

"Is this a house?" she asked, staring hard at him. He was illuminated only by the bluish light of the hologram, the starlight from outside the huge windows not nearly enough to light his features. He took on an almost eerie, otherworldy look in that light, his fine bone structure highlighted until he looked inhuman.

Now he smiled, and his face became sweet. "It is. A villa on the Côte D'Azur."

Lilith eyed him very carefully. "Why have you bought me a house, Christopher?"

"You know, 'thank you' works very well," he said. "Especially when someone's bought you something as expensive and opulent as a-"

"Why did you do it?" She cut him off. She would often indulge his desires to tease, but now she rose to it to try to get a straight answer out of him.

"Good God, Lilith, why don't you have some gratitude?" he snapped. He nodded to Thomas, and the hologram disappeared as the lights came back up.

"Gratitude? For what?" retorted Lilith. "You seem to forget that I owe you absolutely nothing, Christopher. I'm your employee, not your-"

"Don't you see?" he cried, and now his peevishness was gone. His eyes were alight with eagerness instead of with anger as he leaned forward, insistent and excited. "Don't you see what I've given you, Lilith? This isn't one of your clever schemes to keep our cover, this isn't my house! This house if for you, Lilith, for you, and one other!"

Lilith paused for a moment. For once, she was not quite sure what to say.

"I will never go there, darling. It's for you and whoever you want to take with you," he pressed, and he looked so genuinely besotted with the idea that Lilith wondered if he was actually being honest.

She paused once more. "Christopher," she said.

Even he, even wilful Christopher, paused and was silent at the commanding, threatning tone of her voice, of the power that she conveyed in that one word.

"If you're going to divorce me, and giving me this house to provide for me in some sort of way out of a sense of guilt or obligation, however foolish that might be, please give me some warning so I can-" she began.

Christopher interrupted her, a look of confused relief on his face. "Divorce you, Lilith? Why the hell would I do that?"

"I don't know; I can't say I understand you or your capriciousness. I was only trying to prepare for it," she said. "I'm not like you, Christopher, I'm not wealthy."

"I'd say that's one of the least ways you're not like me," mused Christopher, tossing her a smile. When she graced him with a small smile of her own, his grin increased tenfold in brilliance until it very nearly glowed. "Anyway, Lilith, I'm giving you this present just because I would like to. It's a house for you to entertain whoever you want. Even his Lordship, if you want."

Any feeling of camaraderie Lilith felt with Christopher evaporated as the last sentence left his mouth.

He must have noticed how she now glared at him, her eyes flashing and her lips set in grimace.

"What?" he said, and his eyes were too wide, his brows too raised. He was trying for an innocent expression, and perhaps could have fooled anyone other than Lilith.

"I have already told you this, more times than I can count, and I don't want to say it again - I won't take a lover. Despite your bizarre fascination with that, leave it alone. That's my business and none of yours," she told him, and her voice was even, controlled, and flat, but full of menace.

He stared hard at her and she glared right back, irritated and unhappy with Christopher's now-perpetual nagging at her to have an affair.

"I'm just trying to make you happy," he said.

Now Lilith threw back her head and laughed as scornfully as she could. "Trying to make me happy, Christopher? Forgive me if I don't believe you. No, you're trying to get something out of this, out of me. You're incapable of acting in someone else's interest, it's just not in your nature. So what are you getting out of it?"

"Nothing," he replied.

"Liar." The retort was sharp and biting.

"How do you know?" he challenged. He wasn't glaring, quite the opposite; his eyes were alight and he was smirking just a touch.

"Because I know you. You're a creature of hedonic selfishness, Christopher. Your entire life is about pleasing yourself, and you do it in such an unashamed way, but you have no interest in anything that doesn't bring you some sort of self-serving enjoyment," she said.

"You make it sound as though you hate me." His voice was soft, and he smiled so sweetly that Lilith knew that had there been another person in the room, they would have promptly thrown themself at Christopher.

"I don't hate you, Christopher. As a matter of fact, I think I admire the brashness with which you conduct your affairs. You've no regrets, you never think twice," she returned, and toasted him with her wineglass. "You're so unashamedly, brazenly selfish. It's magnificent, really."

"As I admire you, Lilith. You're so terribly cold and distant." He toasted her in return.

Lilith gave him a terse little smile, which he returned with a dazzling one.

After dinner, they retired to the parlour, where Christopher perched on a sofa, a tumbler of scotch in his hand. Lilith, taking up a place by the window, had a cigarette and stared out into the night.

Christopher did not really try to engage her in conversation, and that made their interaction peaceful. He, a creature easily bored, took a book down from a shelf and began to read and she sat by the window and stared.

 "Lilith, have you read this?" he asked, and held up the book.

His high spirits now meant that he was unbearable in different way, and so it was with tolerance that Lilith turned her attention to him now.

"I have," she said.

There was a pause, during which time Lilith lit a cigarette and sat in quiet contemplation. Her thoughts had drifted out of Bancroft and back to the city, all the way to Henry's dinner on the fifteenth. She hoped Henry would behave in Christopher's company, hoped both could be relied on to be amicable.

She did not imagine either of them could. Unlike her, neither cared to act their roles in public. She played the charming, happy woman, all smiles and wit, but neither of them altered their personalities the way she needed to.

Christopher would, no doubt, be acerbic and sweetly sarcastic with Henry, he aloof and haughty.

And then she would be forced to sit between them, and cover up their poor behaviour. Giving a soft sigh, she stubbed out her cigarette and rose.

"Where are you going, Lilith?" asked Christopher.

"To bed," she said.

"May I come with you?" he asked, and his eyes sparkled.

"It's your bed, Christopher, I dare say you can go there any time you want," she replied, and left without another word. As it turned out, Christopher did not end up following her, instead leaving her in peace to get ready for bed.

Alone with Mary and her thoughts, Lilith undressed, donned a nightgown that was the most indecent piece of clothing she owned - save her lingere - and climbed into bed.

"Tell me, Lilith dearest," Henry had said one day when he'd visited her late one night and had been party to her in one of those nightgowns. "That's not for Christopher, is it?"

"Appearances' sake, Henry," she'd replied, and donned a bathrobe to cover herself. "I ran into one of Christopher's associates when I was buying it."

Henry snorted into his scotch. "Do you plan everything, Lilith?"

"Mostly," she conceded, and had been party to Henry's buoyant laughter; light, full of joy, and utterly charming.

It was on the thought of Henry - mainly how to curtail his behaviour at dinner on the fifteen - that Lilith drifted into sleep. She awoke once, opening her eyes only a little to see Christopher climbing into bed next to her, tucking himself into the sheets, and going still.

Her sleep was not free from interruptions for after what must have been several hours, there came a voice that roused her out of slumber. 

"Madam?" said a soft voice. There was a seven-fingered hand on her arm, shaking her awake with the utmost gentility, and that confused her. "Mrs. Farrar?"

Lilith's eyes were open in an instant and she was immediately alert and on edge. There was Peter, bending over her, his smooth, featureless face only an inch from hers. It was he who had laid his robotic hand on her arm.

"What's the matter, Peter?" she asked. If something needed her attention, it ought to have been Mary who woke her, not Peter. At any rate, what could possibly be so wrong that Peter needed to wake her in the middle of the night?

"Come with me, madam," he said, and held aside the blankets for her to get out of bed.

Now Lilith's wariness kicked up a full gear until it was full-blown worry. Her brows drew together and she demanded of the android, as she was getting up:

"Tell me what has happened."

Peter inclined his head, as though about to speak, but promptly he gave a jerk and straightened up once more. He did not reply except to say, "Come with me, Mrs. Farrar."

Lilith took one step back from him. "Mary!" she called. And then she noticed that a light was glowing in Peter's artificial skull. He was transmitting a message to another android?

"Fetch Mary, please," she said, and the deadly tone in her voice would have commanded any human to obey her.

Peter ignored her. He did not obey. Again, he twitched as though about to act, but he then jerked back up straight and did not respond.

Now, two other androids joined them - Paul and Thomas. Both approached the bed, the same lights glowing in their skulls. To whom were they transmitting? Other androids? Lilith, when she tried to take one step forward, found herself blocked by Peter. "You will stay here for now, madam."

She watched in mute shock as Thomas went to Christopher the way Peter had gone to her. Thomas tried to rouse Christopher, but had less success with Christopher than Peter had had with Lilith.

"Go away. Bother Lilith," snapped Christopher, and retreated into the blankets.

"Mrs. Farrar is already awake. Get up," said Thomas. There was no respectful address for Christopher in his voice as Peter had had for Lilith.

"Fuck off," retorted Christopher.

Paul and Thomas surged forward in one synchronized motion and ripped the blankets off the bed. Then, fixing their hands about his arms, they threw him out of bed. He landed on the floor with a thud, fully awake and evidently in a tumult of fear, indignation, surprise, and anger.

"What the hell are you doing?" he shouted as they hauled him to his feet. "Stop this now, I'm ordering you!"

Neither one obeyed him, holding him fast as he struggled. "Lilith, what's going on?"

She did not look at her husband as she spoke. Instead, she fixed her gaze on Peter's unblinking eyes. "I don't know," she said.

"Let go of me!" shouted Christopher, struggling in the grasp of the androids. When he thrashed, Thomas backhanded him with a shocking amount of strength, causing Christopher to sag to his knees, a red welt appearing on his cheek.

Something was terribly wrong, Lilith knew. But she did not know what it was. She could not explain what was happening

"If you would come with us, madam," said Paul to Lilith, holding one hand out. It was both an invitation and something of a threat - obey, or he would hit her as he Thomas had struck Christopher.

"Lilith!" cried Christopher as she obeyed, going ahead of the androids as Peter directed her through the house. On the way, she watched how he took her coat from the rack and set it as tenderly as an android could about her shoulders. When they reached the hall, he also laid out her boots, letting her step into them while Christopher was left shivering in his bare feet, t-shirt, and underwear.

"Where now?" she said, her voice perfectly level, sounding quite like an android herself as she turned to Peter. As she spoke, she noted that the other androids, all of them, including Mary, were assembled in the hallway. All stood stock still, unmoving, their lights glowing.

"Outside, madam," said Peter.

Lilith turned and stared out the window. Then, turning back, she stared at Peter once more. "And if I refuse?"

Peter twitched again. "Do not, madam," he said, and his voice was close to a plea as Lilith had ever heard.

"Come along, Christopher," she said, and turned back around. With Peter ahead of her, leading the way, and Christopher alternating between moaning in pain and threatening the androids, she followed him out into the night.

She did not protest as Peter led her down the steps and onto the path. There was no point in that. Based on the way Thomas and Paul were dragging Christopher, whose struggles were getting weaker and weaker, if she resisted, she would be similarly incapacitated and dragged along.

Lilith was a pragmatist, she was truly "sensible, sensible Lilith", and so she walked behind Peter, following him, not putting up any fight. But as she walked, she made sure to slowly lag, to slow down the pace of the androids. It would give her time to think, to plan, before they got her wherever they were going.

"Lilith," moaned Christopher from behind her.

She turned her head to him. He, with the welt on his face going purple, his eyes wide with fear and pain, looked quite pathetic, stirring her to pity.

Besides, this would be a good experiment in what level of control she still had over the androids in their state.

"Peter, please stop," she said, making her voice the gentlest and least assuming as she could.

She noted how he stopped immediately, how all three androids obeyed her, bowing their glowing heads before twitching as Peter had been back into upright positions. From that, she noted that she still had some measure of control, that their first instinct had been to obey her, but there was something overriding her control.

She also noted that they obeyed her and not Christopher. She did not know what to make of these observations, but taking stock of this small amount of information soothed her somewhat.

"Mrs. Farrar, I'm afraid I must insist that we move on," said Peter.

"Very well, Peter. But please release Mr. Farrar," she said.

Christopher gave her a sidelong glance as the androids all paused.

"Please, Peter," she said, and now she poured every ounce of charm she possessed into making her voice as winsome as she could, given the circumstances of having been kidnapped in the middle of the night. "He's smart enough to know that he can't run away - the three of you would simply incapacitate him and carry him."

After a moment, Paul and Thomas released Christopher. He shook them off as they did, glowering and snarling wordlessly, some of his fear replaced by anger.

Lilith nodded, thanked them, and off they went again. Christopher, stumbling somewhat, bumped into her as Peter led them onto the service road.

"What's happening, Lilith?" he murmured in her ear, terror making his voice hitch on her name.

"I'm not sure," she replied, keeping her voice low. "A kidnapping, I'd imagine. Given your wealth and your status, I'd say one or two options."

"Christ almighty, you're still sensible even like this," he muttered, and a bit of his natural, teasing humour leaked into his voice. "Well, go on."

"Either it's a political group trying to make a statement, or it'll be someone making a ransom demand. Either way, there'll most likely be money involved," explained Lilith. To keep the androids from sensing anything amiss, she spoke directly into Christopher's ear, her mouth an inch from his neck.

"What, the androids haven't just-" he began, giving them all a scorching look.

"Developed sentience and decided to rebel? No. First of all, that's impossible - look how they're being controlled. Second of all, had this been of their own volition, they would have taken you and not me," replied Lilith.

Christopher gave a high-pitched laugh that was strangled with terror. "You've thought of everything, it seems," he said, his voice hysterical.

"What else can I do?" she replied.

He didn't say anything. After a good half hour of walking in silence, in which Lilith endured Christopher's alternations between frightened whimpers and angry swearing, and tried desperately to soothe her own fear, they came to a stop by a stand of trees.

From somewhere in the woods beside them, Lilith heard a male voice speak.

"Blindfold them."

Peter took a scrap of cloth that was hanging from a tree and tied it around Lilith's eyes, his seven fingers nimble and gentle, as though he were caressing her instead of restraining her.

Based on Christopher's shouts and cries, she could assume that Peter and Thomas were not so gentle with him.

Once they were blindfolded, Lilith heard the androids step back. Something pushed her and she stumbled into Christopher. Reflexively, she grabbed a hold of him to steady herself and felt his hand close around hers like a vice.

"Lilith," he breathed, terror in his voice.

"We're going to be fine," she told him, and her voice was calm and did not waver as his did.

Now human hands tugged on her, and they had none of Peter's gentility. She felt herself pulled up and into a vehicle of some sort, crashing against the side as she went headlong into a small compartment.

Christopher was tossed in after her - she felt it when he slammed into her - and there was the slamming of a door. With a rumble, they began to move, Christopher giving a soft grunt of pain and fear.

Reaching up, she noted that they had not bound her hands, and so lifted her blindfold. It was pitch dark, the blackness enveloping the two of them like an inky blanket.

"Take your blindfold off," she told Christopher. There was a rustle, and then a gasp.

"Lilith," he said, speaking over the rattle of the vehicle.

"Yes?" she replied, and was ashamed of how small her voice sounded.

"I'm frightened."

"I am, too," she confessed, though her tone was steady. And, reaching out, she felt around until she grasped Christopher's hand. He took it and clutched it desperately, causing her to flinch at how he squeezed her slender fingers.

As they rumbled off into the night to God knew where, all she could feel was Christopher's hand gripping hers very tightly.