"A trip?" he asked, with a mix of amusement and annoyance in his tone. "I cannot simply depart on a whim, Tam. We've agreed-"

"There's nothing to be done about it. We must go."

William sighed. "Go where?"

Tamara paused at the bottom of the stairs. "Herefordshire. A village called Blackbriar."

William glanced back into the drawing room at Dr. Nichols, whose acquaintance he still had not made, and then looked at his sister again. "Herefordshire? What's in Herefordshire?"

Tamara narrowed her eyes. "Something terrible," she said, and then she started up the steps to begin preparing for their trip. Even as she ascended she could hear her brother's voice drifting up after her.

"Right. Wonderful," William muttered. "That's just wonderful."