She came to life with careful caresses of the brush, from a hazy shadowland of shapes and textures. She was brought forth from the canvas with a gentle shading and stroke which create a great, dangling flap of skin on her neck, with brilliant pinks muted to form the contours of the rotund shape knit tightly inside her frock.

Years once again passed in quick succession, each day bleeding into the next. Dexter Fortescue, who, it turned out, had been a Headmaster of Hogwarts at the time of Cromwell, was happy enough to carry letters for the Lady and Jeremiah when “the Headmaster does not require my explicit and esteemed service.”