‘I’m so glad,’ Lou said. ‘Really I am.’

‘But you think nothing good will come to you. I can see it in your eyes.’

‘I don’t know …’

‘Be patient, Louisa.’

Lou glanced at the clock on the chimneybreast. It was three o’clock.

‘I’ve kept you talking too long,’ Elizabeth said. ‘Will you return to 1913 now? Tell me, does the tradition of the Christmas Eve Ball live on?’

‘It does.’

‘Oh, Louisa, what a treat you are in for. Drink it all in, savour every experience Hill House has to offer. When the time comes to leave, let it be with a full heart for the experience you have had. Promise me you will.’

Lou smiled. ‘I’ll try.’

‘Good. Now, how are you getting back to town?’

‘There’s a bus in ten minutes.’

‘Then, you must leave. But before you go, I have something to show you.’ Elizabeth eased out of her chair, crossed the room and took a box from a cupboard in the dresser. She removed the lid and with great care, handed it to Lou.

‘I kept them all this time,’ Elizabeth said, stroking the threadbare stomach of a little teddy bear with one button eye and a nose rubbed bald. It was nestled beside a small scent bottle and a pale brown luggage tag bearing the words “Elizabeth Goodwill” in pencil so faded it looked like the ghost of a name. ‘When I arrived at Frank’s flat, I found them in my handbag. I had no idea how they got there. I hadn’t seen my teddy bear or tag since the day I arrived at Hill House. The scent was the gift I had chosen for Lady Mandeville that final day.’

‘You managed to take things with you?’ Lou said. ‘I lose everything when I go back and forth.’

Elizabeth’s eyes fairly glittered when she said, ‘Hill House has its own rules that are beyond anything we can understand. It works its magic and shows us that what we consider to be impossible can happen every day. While we’re not watching, marvellous, inexplicable things are at work. We – you and me – are living proof that miracles can happen.’

Elizabeth closed the lid and returned the box to the dresser. She paused with her back to Lou, then turned to face her once more. ‘I probably shouldn’t ask this, I imagine it’s breaking every rule, but if the opportunity arises, would you tell Leo that I have lived a good life. Reassure her. Let her know that every day I count my blessings that she was – is – the best friend I have ever had.’

27

All the way back to town on the bus, on the short walk from the High Street and past St Mary’s, Lou felt like a tiny rowing boat buffeted on a wide and endless ocean. Each piece of information, each fact she had learned that afternoon and over the last few days, became waves crashing over her bows. Years before, Elizabeth had captained her own little boat to deliver Mrs Hart from her loneliness, shaping her into the strong woman she had become.