She opened a door and I followed her into a dimly lit room with more carved paneling, a stained-glass window, and an enormous stone fireplace with a large oil painting of Queen Elizabeth I hanging above it. A long table with a dozen or so high-backed chairs on either side of it like a dining room table in a palace or a grand English country home occupied most of the room. It felt like a place where we might drink mead from golden goblets, minstrels would play, servants would bring platters piled high with roast pheasant or wild boar for us to dine on, and candles in tall silver candelabra would gutter if a draft of air swept through the room.

“Please have a seat,” Tana said, moving to the other side of the table and pulling out one of the chairs. “You’ve never been here before, have you?”

“How did you know?” I sat down across from her.

“The awed look on your face. We may be off the beaten path for a lot of tourists,” she said, “but the Folger contains the preeminent collection of material on Shakespeare in the world, thanks to the foresight and generosity of Henry and Emily Folger. And, yes, I know, it’s like stepping back to the 1600s in here—always a surprise after the Art Deco exterior, especially if you don’t know what to expect.”

“Busted.” I smiled. “Thank you for seeing me.”

“Not a problem. Anything for a friend of Francesca’s. And now tell me more about what brings you here.”

I told her as much as I could without bringing Prescott into the story. She listened attentively but I could tell by the spark in her dark, intelligent eyes that she’d heard this story before. And more than once or twice. Shakespeare didn’t write Shakespeare.

When I was finished, she folded her hands and leaned toward me. “There have been Shakespeare doubters for years, Lucie. Centuries, even. Among the more notable were Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and James Fenimore Cooper, so you’re in excellent company.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I think.”

She grinned. “Are you familiar with what a First Folio is and why it’s so important?”

“It’s a book containing all of Shakespeare’s plays,” I said, “that he had published by members of his company. I do know that these days a copy sells for a fortune.”