He’d expected her to wait nearby and see what was revealed, but instead she asked if she could use the car and driver for a day trip. Wherever she planned to go, she certainly dressed well for it. For old mud and straw, the wall was surprisingly tough, but the hours he’d put in at the forge paid off and he was able to gouge a good chunk out of the wall without breaking a sweat. Eleanor’s estimate was fairly accurate; it was about a metre thick and there was a space behind it into which he could poke his fingers. After a couple more wallops with the sledgehammer to open the tiny hole up, he struck something metallic. The strike sent reverberations through him and the house. It felt like he was still vibrating long after the din had stopped. The housekeeper came and asked if everything was all right, and he sent her away with brisk reassurances, his heart pounding with the thrill of discovery. The vague pull he’d felt the night before had strengthened into something stronger, reinvigorating his excavation until he’d made a hole big enough to fit his head and shoulders through.
