Down, down they went until finally the stairs stopped and she came to another door. It was rather dark and she felt with her hand until she found another latch similar to the one on the door above her.
It was a little stiff and she gave it a push so that the door was flung open suddenly.
She found herself, not as she had expected in the garden or in a passageway, but standing at the top of a short flight of polished steps that led directly into a room. The room was lined with books and in the centre of it, sitting at a big desk that was also piled high with books, was an old man.
For a moment it was difficult to know who was the more astonished, Serena or the occupant of the room.
Then Torqo, impatient of being confined in the narrow stairway, pushed his way past Serena and bounded int
