Modern Magick

The Road to Farringale: 12

'So you need this key.' Valerie tapped a pen thoughtfully against her lips, a characteristic gesture. I said nothing, letting her think in peace. I have great confidence in Val. She always comes up with something. 'I wonder why Milady has custody of it,' she said at length.

A good question, one I had not really considered. 'The Society's entire existence is about protecting rare old stuff, isn't it?'

'Might be reason enough.' She thought some more, her eyes straying to the books on the far shelves. 'The House predates Milady by quite a margin, of course. I wonder why Alban is so certain Milady is keeping the key.'

A faint suspicion entered my head. 'Predates? By how far?'

She nodded, following my train of thought perfectly — or perhaps I was following hers. 'The House's precise date of construction is not known for some reason, but a few particular architectural features have led me to conclude that it was built somewhere around the early 1660s. Give or take a few years.'

'And the decline of Farringale took place in 1657! Or so Milady said.'

Val's eyes narrowed. 'That was unusually forthcoming of her.'

'Wasn't it? I have no idea what came over her.'

'It makes sense that those three keys were hidden away sometime fairly soon after the close of the Enclave, which was probably somewhere in the 1660s. Is Milady personally keeping the third key, or was it given to the House?'

'Given... to the House?' I was sceptical, I couldn't help it. 'Come on, Val. I know it's an odd House and rather more aware than most Houses are, but still. It doesn't have a mind, exactly, or a consciousness the way we do—'

'Doesn't it?'

It might have been a coincidence, but something creaked in the library just then. I don't mind admitting that it gave me the chills. 'All right,' I said, prepared to accept the possibility, for what was ever normal about the Society? 'But if House has got it, that's a problem. If I couldn't persuade Milady to let me have it, I... have no idea how to convince a seventeenth-century country mansion.'

Valerie smiled. 'House can be very helpful, if it likes you.'

I cast a slightly trepid glance at the stately shelves nearby, and the graceful ceiling arching far overhead. 'How do I know if it likes me?' I whispered.

'I wouldn't worry, Ves. You are very likeable.'

'That's comforting.'

She sat back, eyeing me speculatively. 'I will tell you a secret about the House. Maybe it will help.'

I blinked. 'Wait. There are secrets about the House that you haven't told me?'

'Yes, but we can wrangle about that later. Is this urgent or not?'

'Sorry.'

Out came the secret. 'House has a favourite room. Few have seen it, for it is so well hidden, you really have to know that it's there in order to find it at all. And I don't think House likes visitors in there too often, so it doesn't exactly help you out if you go looking for it. But it's there, somewhere near the heart of the building. A sitting room, prettily decorated, and as far as I can tell it's unchanged since the sixteen hundreds. I believe it most likely belonged to whoever built this House, and House keeps it just the way it is.'

'Fantastic,' I breathed. 'So you've been inside it?'

'Twice.' She did not elaborate, and I didn't push. 'Anyway, if you go there, I think House might listen to you. And if it does... well, House and Milady are usually in accord with one another, but it wouldn't be the first time they have disagreed.'