I turned away from the mirror, but my blood was coursing. I sifted through what I had gleaned so far. My father had once worked with the countess, and there was bad blood between them now. The countess was an artist. Her husband had died, years ago. The duke was fabricating nightmares and seemed far too interested in Phelan. Phelan had been wounded by something he was afraid to name and the duke was desperate to know. Lennox wanted Hereswith for reasons I had yet to learn. The seventeenth of November may or may not be a date of importance. But I didn’t quite see how this all worked together or how I was going to regain control over my ability to return home.

My thoughts broke when Deacon arrived, wide eyed with delight. He made a beeline to the game cupboard, rustling around its shelves for a deck of cards. Mrs. Stirling joined us, bringing in a tea tray with sugar cream pie, and the three of us gathered around the card table.

I watched as Deacon expertly dealt five cards per player between a spoonful of pie.

“Do you know how to play, Miss Neven?” he asked, crumbs falling from his mouth.

“No, I’ve never played this game, Deacon. Why don’t you explain the rules to me?”

“You know the legend of the mountain duchy, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course I do.”

“Then you know about the seven members of court who were cursed when the duke was killed?” Deacon queried.

“Yes. . . .”

“You know what they were cursed with, Miss Neven?”

“They cannot die or dream,” I said.

“Right,” he confirmed with a mischievous smile, as if this were a delightful fate. “So we call them wraiths. Anyway, there are seven wraiths in this deck. They’re bad—if you draw one, you’ll want to find a way to get rid of it by trading with one of us.”

“Why don’t you explain the game from the beginning, Deacon,” Mrs. Stirling suggested.

“Oh, yes,” he said, sheepish. “You have five cards in your hand, Miss Neven. Don’t let me or my grandmama see them. You want to be able to discard one of your cards here, but it has to match in suit or in number. If you can make a match, you don’t have to draw from the deck. If you can’t make a match, you have to draw a new card, or you can try to trade a card. The goal is to be the first person to get rid of all your cards, but it’s tricky, because you might have one of the wraiths in your hand. And that’s the last thing you want at the end of the round. If you lose, you’ll have a terrible nightmare when you fall asleep.”