The moment he opened the book, the strange wall tapping sounded, louder than it had ever been before.

This time he was going to find it!

He jumped to his feet and strode as quickly as he was able to the narrow portion of wall from which it sounded. He expected the sound to cease, but instead it grew even louder as he approached.

He leaned his ear to the wall. It was very clear now. It was coming from right behind the wall where he stood.

“Hey!” he called, curious to see if whatever it was would respond to his voice. If it was a rat or other animal, that would scare it off.

Instead he heard the muffled sound of giggling. The tapping stopped.

Before he had the chance to contemplate the meaning of the new sound, suddenly beside him a wardrobe began to move.

Matthew jumped back. But almost before his heart had a chance to climb up into his throat, out from behind it stepped Sabina, laughing now in earnest.

“You!” he exclaimed. “Have you been the mysterious noise-maker all this time?”

She continued to laugh, nodding her head.

“But… I don’t understand,” he said. “Were you… did you sneak in and get behind—”

He never finished the sentence. As he spoke, Sabina took hold of his arm and pulled him forward. Behind the wardrobe that had swung out into the room, Matthew now beheld a doorless hole in the wall, opening into a dark corridor behind it.

“I thought you said you had things to do!” said Matthew, now entering into the joke that had been played on him.

“I did—hiding from you! Come on,” she said, still pulling his arm and leading him inside.

The passage was very narrow, and after a landing no wider than could be stood upon, where lay a thick stick of wood, a tight, stone, circular staircase led down into blackness.

“This is what I was knocking with against your wall,” said Sabina, picking up the piece of wood. “Just let me get my candle here.” She stooped down and picked up a candle, whose odor Matthew suddenly realized he had smelled. “I blew it out just before I shoved open the wardrobe,” she said. “I’ll light it and show you how I got here.”

She pulled a match from her pocket, struck it, and lit the candle, then proceeded to carefully wind her way down the stairs, with Matthew following awkwardly close behind her.

“You told me there were hidden staircases,” said Matthew. “But this is unbelievable! This is really hidden, behind a moving wardrobe no less!”

“A house of intrigue, as Papa told you and your father last weekend!”