Two impoverished children, Edred and Elfrida Arden, inherit the decrepit Arden Castle and search for the lost family fortune that will allow them to rebuild it. With the assistance of the magical Mouldiwarp (mole), they travel back in time to earlier periods of English history, searching for clues. During their journeys into the past, the children encounter several historical events: 1807: Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom, the British military response, and the smuggling around Dymchurch Bay (called "Lymchurch" in the story) ca. 1705: a visit from the "Chevalier St. George" (the Old Pretender) during the reign of Queen Anne 1605: the Gunpowder Plot and a meeting with Sir Walter Raleigh in the Tower of London, from which the children escape using the same stratagem Lady Nithsdale would use in 1717 ca. 1535: a May Day celebration with Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, with premonitions of Anne's execution. The final episode, in which the children rescue their father from a lost civilization in South America, is reminiscent of the legends of El Dorado and other Cities of Gold. 10% of all profits will be donated to charities. ================ KEYWORDS/TAGS: House of Arden, edith Nesbit, childrens fantasy, children’s story, tales, fables, children’s book, Edred, Elfrida, arden’s lord, mouldiwarp, mole, boney’s times, Bonaparte, landing of the French, highwayman, secret panel, key, parlour, guy fawkes, prisoners in the tower, tower of London, white wings, brownie, developments, films, clouds, may-blossom, pearls, find, treasure, Hat, bow, flourish, walk Slowly, Red-Brick, Sidewalk, pavement, Aye, Turning Pages, Quick, Anxious, Carrier’s Cart, Hoity-Toity, Old Lady, witch, gnarled, wizened, Severe; Manners, gift, Tea And Sugar, Mouldiwarp, mole, magic, Little Run, Jump, Catch, invasion, Landing, Fleet, Lymchurch Bay, white clock, Sit Down, Line Of Daisies, New Scarf, Modish, modern, mod, Shoot, Betty, Candle, Voices, Truth, Little Miss, Shake, Big Chair, Fall, E. Talbot, Circling Wings, Lady In Crimson, Ermine, Gold Crown, Tremble And Shake, Crooked, Train, Parrot-Nose, Occupy, Armed Guard, Coach, Nurse, Stream, Low Arch, Stone, Soldiers, Mrs Honeysett, Back Door, Plucking, White Chicken, Old Neale, Admire Busting, Book-Larnin, Twenty One, Richer, Minute Hand, Houses, Great Blocks,

They were not railway children to begin with. I don't suppose they had ever thought about railways except as a means of getting to Maskelyne and Cook's, the Pantomime, Zoological Gardens, and Madame Tussaud's. They were just ordinary suburban children, and they lived with their Father and Mother in an ordinary red-brick-fronted villa, with coloured glass in the front door, a tiled passage that was called a hall, a bath-room with hot and cold water, electric bells, French windows, and a good deal of white paint, and 'every modern convenience', as the house-agents say. There were three of them. Roberta was the eldest. Of course, Mothers never have favourites, but if their Mother HAD had a favourite, it might have been Roberta. Next came Peter, who wished to be an Engineer when he grew up; and the youngest was Phyllis, who meant extremely well. Mother did not spend all her time in paying dull calls to dull ladies, and sitting dully at home waiting for dull ladies to pay calls to her. She was almost always there, ready to play with the children, and read to them, and help them to do their home-lessons. Besides this she used to write stories for them while they were at school, and read them aloud after tea, and she always made up funny pieces of poetry for their birthdays and for other great occasions, such as the christening of the new kittens, or the refurnishing of the doll's house, or the time when they were getting over the mumps. These three lucky children always had everything they needed: pretty clothes, good fires, a lovely nursery with heaps of toys, and a Mother Goose wall-paper. They had a kind and merry nursemaid, and a dog who was called James, and who was their very own. They also had a Father who was just perfect—never cross, never unjust, and always ready for a game—at least, if at any time he was NOT ready, he always had an excellent reason for it, and explained the reason to the children so interestingly and funnily that they felt sure he couldn't help himself. You will think that they ought to have been very happy. And so they were, but they did not know HOW happy till the pretty life in the Red Villa was over and done with, and they had to live a very different life indeed.