1966. Camilla returns for the special day. She brings with her a supply of dresses, all handmade, and she promises to keep the house supplied, no matter how long it takes. Adeline smiles. And Jeannie Watts dies again, for the thirteenth time.

1967. Camilla returns, but only for an hour or so. Long enough for the ceremony to take place. There is no sign of Nicholas or Rosamund. It seems the family has lost them for ever. Adeline weakens. She stares into the mirror, and fears that the rot might return to her body, that she might begin again to die, to fade away into dust. Leonard writes a will, leaving all his goods to Camilla. He expects her to look after Adeline, whatever the future might hold. This will is never made official.

1968. Leonard exerts his authority, wishing that all attend the ceremony this year, all his children. Rosamund relents, but Nicholas stays away.

1969. For the first time Camilla stays away. The dress is torn and bloodied, this time with tomato ketchup only. Leonard, Mary Estelle and their granddaughter Adeline are the only members of the congregation. There seems little use for the magical script, and so the ritual takes place in silence.

1970. Silence. Cloth, blood. Three people. The dress hung in the garden shed.

1971. Mary Estelle is too ill, too listless to attend. She stays in bed, asleep, as Leonard performs the ritual for Adeline’s benefit, quoting only his own lines. His granddaughter is grateful, and she promises always to love him.

1972. The day arrives, and passes, and no ritual takes place. Surely now we have done enough! We have brought her fully back to life! But Adeline suffers, and cries out in the night, so the dress is torn and bloodied, a day late. Leonard resolves never to ignore the spell, not until his dying day.

1973. Mary Estelle, Leonard and their granddaughter gather in the cellar. A neighbour’s cat is caught, and killed. And drained of a little blood. Nobody speaks. The dress is laid out on the floor, on the same spot where the second dress is buried. Adeline goes up to the room where the real Jeannie Watts lies at rest, hidden behind the chimney breast. She asks a favour of her grandfather, that he drill a small hole in the wall. This he does, to please her. By this method, ‘Jeannie’ can now speak to her former self, to ‘Adeline’, the conversations always taking place at night. They talk in whispers.

1974. Two decades have passed. And for the first time in years, all members of the Graves family make an effort. Leonard, Mary Estelle, Rosamund, Nicholas, Camilla, Adeline. The thirty-year-old David Kepple attends. He is drawn into the family’s secret. All are present; all the lines of the script are intoned, as written and directed by Leonard. Adeline takes great power from this, and is rejuvenated. Everyone is happy. They drink freely and play parlour games late into the night. This is the last time they will all be together, in this manner. A week later, Adeline surprises them all by announcing her leave-taking from Bridlemere. A small terrace house is bought for her in Hackney.