olding its breath. The fog lay thick across the grounds, curling like smoke around hedgerows and cli
hill had crept in overnight, sinking into the wooden panels, into the rugs, in
d not
d. She had spent hours sorting them by date, by handwriting, by tone. Most were written in a
t returns, the house
now what or who the Hollow Guest was. A metaphor, perhaps. Or a code name. Maybe even a title, something u
9 twenty-three years before t
n here, it had st
re tall and warped slightly by time, fogged at the corners. A modest table had b
the fog-covered garden. The mist made him seem part of the ston
ered. "The heir is arriving
brow. "I thought h
u arrived. Supposedly to collect documents
f tea. It was weak but hot. She drank it s
ust him?"
ed. He didn't an
st. "Spent years abroad. Rumor is he refused the
d n
wick name," Leo said. "Which means
r tea. "That wo
s expression she hadn't seen before a flicker of something too careful, too gu
owed names before," Leo
the dust seemed thicker than ever, the curtains still
gold. It stretched over five generations, branching in elegant calligraphy from the first Lord Edmund Thornwick dow
r eye: Aster Thornwick
nin
cause o
igned only with an A. And two referenced so
st Hollow Guest? Cast out of
h
ed the estate at twenty-two. But there was a strange blankness between 1849 and 1852-three years
ay have been recent, but the
e in both posture and expression. Her gray dress was plain but clean. Her dark hair had been twisted into a ti
woman said. "I'm called Heddi
less?" Mi
Heddie replied with a shrug. "But
but old-fashioned, like someone who ha
"Were you here...
uth tighten
ew Toma
"He was a good man. Quiet.
... do you think he was t
ers spread across the table, then at the Tho
aid after a long pause. "This house bur
turned
e fog had b
lled through the gates. The wheels moved slowly over the stone drive. A footman
r Tho
ale, and his hair beginning to thin at the temples. He had the posture of a man who had grown
d him to gla
did
e steps. The two exchanged brief words. Mira
to the drawing room, and t
see him aga
feel it someth
through the long-abandoned halls. The fire damage was worse here-c
ircase where Tomas had
aled off now boards nailed over them, warning signs pos
e die
he been
the village. Mira wandered toward the rear
she s
uling crates toward the servant's entrance. His shoul
she cal
boy
owly. Their
Niall,"
crate. "I....I
etter," she said g
round, color drain
d softly. "I just want to under
ips parted, but no sou
, she deserves to know.' He look
what he was
was going to confront them. He went upstairs with a letter
th caught.
ered. "And angry. But Toma
still
ad. "Died the wint
n into fists. Too many sec
ired to their quarters. The hearth in the drawing roo
rned beside her. The letters were spread out like a batt
cked u
e, but carrying the same ruin. I
it thre
out Elias
out G
er they were-had never
e, the ashes had
in
ad begun to