Adam recovered from his ordeal faster than either Adela or I would have thought possible, as children do. There were nightmares at first, but they gradually ceased, as did his tendency hang around Adela’s skirts all the time. He was very quiet for about two weeks, which worried us, but then his voice came back and our peace was shattered. Luke loved him and screamed with laughter at his antics, a devotion which annoyed Hercules so much that he returned to his old loyalties and became my dog once again. (I tried not to feel too pleased, but human nature being what it is I didn’t quite succeed.)
Mistress Callowhill and her children left the house in Wine Street and went no one knew where. The house in St Peter’s Street also stood empty. Ursula went to live with a distant relative in Malmesbury and Margery Dawes with Lawyer Heathersett and his mother.
One night towards the end of November, as I climbed into bed with Adela, I said, ‘I’m really looking forward to Christmas.’
As she slid into my embrace, she laughed. ‘That’s a bad sign. When you look forward to something, it invariably goes awry.’