The spirit of the library had its eyes shut, and its head swayed along to the rhythm as Effie read. Effie had a horrible feeling that any mistake in her reading would have consequences. Somehow, she didn’t make any. She didn’t understand exactly what the poem meant, but she quite liked it.

“You will leave this book with ussss,” hissed the spirit of the library. “Yessss. This is a book we once had; we remember it, but what became of it? Sssstill, you have brought it back to ussss. We think you have brought other things back to ussss, in what you think of as the passsst. We are grateful to you. This time, and perhapssss one more time, yessss, we will let you leave. After that, we are not ssssure. But you musssst hurry. And you will not take any of our bookssss with you.”

Attracted by a tremendous force, Galloglass flew out of Effie’s hands and landed on one of the piles on the floor in front of the spirit of the library. Effie noticed scraps of paper on top of the other two piles. SHELVING, said one. REMOVAL, said the other. She turned, and the archway was there, but in a sort of haze. If it was there, then . . . Effie knew this was her only chance of getting out of here alive, so she made a run for it: through the main part of the library with its smell of wood and books, and out of the door and . . .

Effie’s heart was beating wildly. She felt both very hot and very cold at the same time. She was sweating, but somehow her sweat felt like a freezing waterfall down her neck and back. She tried to compose herself: to get herself ready to explain to Cosmo what had happened in the library. But at least she could reassure him that she had not taken out the Diberi book. He had, perhaps, been right: There must be another, more ethical, way to deal with the Diberi. Surely he’d be pleased with her. Surely . . .

But there was no sign of Cosmo anywhere. Effie checked the drawing room and the conservatory, but he was not in either of them. Effie went out into the garden and looked in the summer house: no one. Then she went back in through the conservatory and went up the many, many stairs to his old study at the top of the turret by Effie’s own room.

He wasn’t there.