A thin, winding path led through a densely wooded area, which Nory knew to be bright with bluebells in the spring and liberally strewn with pink rhododendron flowers until early summer. Now, lit by the yellow gleam of Isaac’s torch, she could see clumps of ruby-red holly berries, glittering like jewels in the frosty air.

“So, what finds you out prowling the grounds at this time of night?” Nory asked, trying to make conversation.

“I always do a lap, last thing, to make sure everything’s in order.” And then he added, “You never know when you’re going to find some DFL wandering lost around the grounds half-drunk and half-dressed.”

“DFL?”

“Down From London.”

Nory balked. “I hardly count as a DFL, and I was not lost!” she said indignantly.

“Why were you going to the folly anyway? A clandestine meeting?”

“If you must know, I was trying to avoid someone. I thought I could hole up in the folly for a while and go back to the castle when he’d gone to bed . . . or passed out.”

Isaac didn’t answer.

“And also, I am not half-drunk. At the very most, I am a quarter-drunk; the cold is very sobering. And this is a whole dress! Or at least it was, before you made me rip it.”

Isaac laughed quietly. “You’re still as mouthy as I remember,” he said.

Nory couldn’t argue with that.

The path opened out into a perfect English country garden, complete with a carved stone birdfeeder and wrought iron picnic set on the patio. An arbor was wound around with the skeleton of a rambling rose. Wisteria climbed the stone walls of the cottage. In the center of the lawn stood an ancient yew tree, its trunk twisted with age, arthritic branches stretched beseechingly toward the stars while keeping a tight hold of its needles. The fruit trees that ran along the garden walls had long since shed their leaves, their frames shivering in the breeze.

At the back of the house, the wall was lower on one side, and it was from here that Isaac’s dad used to shout at them to “get back to school!” as Nory and her friends crept out from Robins Wood in search of adventure. Robins Wood marked the boundary between the school grounds and the castle and served as a perfect cut-through for truanting students.

One of the leaded windows of the house glowed golden, as did the little stained-glass panes above the front door. Nory felt the thrill of anticipation. All those years of wondering what the inside of the enchanted cottage at the edge of the woods would look like were about to be satisfied.