‘I’ll need some light,’ Alice said carefully. There was a gas lamp in the hall, but it only provided a sliver of illumination through the doorway. ‘Please bring me a lamp, and some matches.’

‘Right away, miss.’

Emma sprang into motion, animated by the words as if by a magic spell. She curtsied politely and went out, only to be replaced in the doorway by a scowling Mr Black. He dropped Alice’s trunks to the floor a bit harder than she thought was necessary, inclining his head the tiniest fraction in acknowledgement.

‘The girl tell you about meals and such?’ he said, in his deep, rumbling voice.

‘She did.’ Alice hesitated. ‘Has my uncle said anything about what I’m supposed to do here?’

‘Not to me.’ The big man smiled, his teeth a patchwork of grey and brown. ‘I’m sure he’ll send for you when he wants you. Meantime, you can ask the girl if you need anything. And you remember what the master said about the library?’

‘That it could be dangerous?’

‘Right. That goes for the basement as well, ’cause if I catch you down there, then I’ll stripe your hide. Got it?’

Alice nodded. Mr Black grunted, looked around the room for a moment, then turned away and shut the door behind him. His heavy footsteps made the floorboards in the corridor pop and groan.

Alice felt, suddenly, very tired indeed. She decided that unpacking could wait until morning, and sat down on the bed. The mattress was stiff, and the sheet was splotchy and fraying at the edges. She undid her laces with a sigh and kicked her shoes across the room, then swung her legs onto the bed and put her head on the lumpy pillow without bothering to undress. Only the faintest light came from the gaslight in the hall through the crack under the door, and the ceiling was invisible in the gloom. Alice closed her eyes and pretended she was in a cave, some hermitage at the top of a mountain a thousand miles from anything.

Chapter Four: The Empty House

CHAPTER FOUR

THE EMPTY HOUSE

When she opened her eyes again, daylight was filtering in through the grimy window. The fading remnants of a dream chased themselves around her skull for a moment, the fairy laughing at her and gibbering incomprehensibly. Then it was gone, and she was staring at the spiderweb of cracks across the ancient plaster ceiling.