Upon reaching the third floor, Howard felt something off. Namely, there was something strange going on with the Manor's cupola, the part of the house that made up the entirety of the fourth floor. However, Howard kept quiet about it. It was highly apparent from his earlier exchange with Olson that he was totally unaware of Mr. Wiltshire's studies in the field of magic. Telling Olson that the cupola was surrounded in numerous, all but invisible, wards would not only upset the poor fellow, but it would also probably anger him as well.

The entire time that he was touring the servants' quarters and leaky attics Howard was busy dismantling the many traps and alarms that Mr. Wilson had apparently set up around the cupola. That way, he could enter the room without fearing for his safety. 'Some of these pack quite a wallop,' he thought as he dismantled a particularly powerful and complex series of pitfalls. 'Even my personal shields couldn't fully protect me from a magical cascade of that magnitude.'

Meanwhile, Olson was going on at some length about the leaks and how often the buckets had to be emptied during thunderstorms and rainy days. Even only halfway paying attention, Howard was able to ask questions to prolong Olson's explanation. The longer he had to defuse the traps, the better protected he would be when he finally breached them by entering the topmost part of the manor.

"Now, would you like to take a look at the cupola, Mr. Phillips? Mr. Wiltshire gave me the key and told me not to enter unless he expressly instructed me to, but with you being the new owner and all..."

Howard responded with a smile, "Certainly, Olson, let's go take a look."

Olson led Howard back to the central-most staircase, and after ascending to the fourth floor the butler unlocked the heavy oaken door leading into the cupola.

----

Upon entering the chamber, the first thing that Howard thought of was light. The designers of the house had covered the walls of the round cupola in four floor-to-ceiling windows. Light also streamed in from windows in the ceiling, which had been added on a much later date.

Dominating the space was a large, brass Newtonian telescope. This telescope had a two hundred fifty-centimeter aperture, large enough for making detailed observations and astrophotography. 'Looks like we can add astrology to the list of Mr. Wiltshire's magical interests,' Howard thought. 'While alchemy involves some astrology, there is no need for such a nice telescope to make such basic observations.'

Howard's next impression was of the floor-to-ceiling oaken barrister bookshelves spaced evenly in between the windows. A rolling library ladder connected these filled bookshelves with a rail that encircled the entire outer wall. These bookshelves were completely filled, with only a few spaces being open.

It was then that Howard felt an electric shock run through his body. This was the expected result of breaching the wards, but its raw strength surprised him. Instead of being a power equivalent to that of a normal electric socket, it was more like that from a heavy appliance. As a result, he couldn't help but let out a small yelp.

"Mr. Phillips, are you alright?"

"I'm afraid that I stepped wrong and slightly hurt my ankle," Howard said dishonestly. "We have been walking nonstop for quite a while."

Olson looked at Howard as if Howard were a bit odd and said, "Yes, sir, that we have. It is a large house."

It was then that Howard noticed an oaken desk on one side of the room. Place prominently in the middle of it was a single book, the very title of sent shivers down Howard's spine, "Unaussprechlichen Kulten."

'My God, what was Mr. Wiltshire doing!?' Howard thought. While not as infamous a book as the ever cursed "Necronomicon," this book had a similar reputation. Even Howard had never read the book out of fear of going insane from the cosmic truths and vistas that such books revealed.

'I have my daughters to look out for, so I cannot afford to go barmy.' Howard had realized this years ago and thus had subsequently avoided such grimoires. 'That book is simply too dangerous to leave lying around.'

"So, Olson, did Mr. Wiltshire tell you what this collection of books was for?"

"No sir. Most of the books are in languages that I cannot understand, and Mr. Wiltshire was very closed-lipped about the reasons he wanted to read the books he had me bring down to the library."

"Well, I suppose I will just have to do my own research. Since I own the home now, I have plenty of time to look at the books myself."

"Yes, sir. Now, Mr. Phillips, would you like to tour the basements? We have a fully stocked wine cellar which Mr. Wiltshire was quite fond of."

"Certainly."

----

Howard was sitting in his dining room, eating his dinner with his family in their home. He was dressed for dinner in his tuxedo with tails.

Sitting to his left were his daughters, Lorelei and Chelsy. Lorelei was the older of the two with light, almost platinum, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Chelsey was the younger child who had only recently entered high school. She had mahogany brown hair and green eyes. Howard had adopted both girls, and he had a tendency to dote over them. The girls were dressed for dinner, wearing dresses complete with hoop skirts and corsets.

The corsets were, of course, under their dresses and not overtop of them. After all, what woman in their right minds would wear their undergarments over their clothing like some streetwalker?

Sitting to Howard's right was Howard's close friend and companion, Lady Catherine Devereaux. She, too, was dressed for dinner, her black hair put up in a complicated bun. Lady Catherine looked only a little older than Chelsey and slightly younger than Lorelei, but her bearing and way of speaking refuted that assumption. She was more poised than Howard himself.

"I could not believe that such a rare and hard-to-find book was just sitting there, on a desk in Mr. Wiltshire's estate," Howard was saying, his white-gloved hands cutting up his rare steak with his silver fork and knife. "It was quite disconcerting."

"Well, I have read "Unaussprechlichen Kulten" and it is not nearly as mind-warping as the "Necronomicon." As far as cursed grimoires go, it's fairly safe to read," Lady Catherine answered as she used her gloved hands to cut her own steak.

"You know this how?" Howard asked.

"Because I have read them both," came Lady Catherine's prompt response before taking a small bite of her own meal.

"Okay, you got me there," Howard admitted. In addition to being his friend, Lady Catherine was also his teacher in most things esoteric. That's not to say that Catherine learned nothing from Howard. The thing was that she was a student of all types of magic, while Howard specialized in just one field... necromancy. Thus, in that one field alone Howard was the teacher. All in all, it was a mutually beneficial relationship.

"Howard... may... I.. get... another... steak?" Lorelei asked politely, her speech impediment making her voice painfully drawn out.

"Of course, you may," Howard said as he rang the silver bell on the table.

"I... love... you... Howard!" Lorelei exclaimed.

"I love you too. Now wipe your face. You have a little sauce on it."

"Okay..." the sweet girl replied as she wiped her face.

"You rang, sir?" came a familiar voice. Sunny, his head housekeeper and estate manager now stood next to him with a silver dish in her gloved hands.

"Lorelei would like another steak," Howard informed her.

"Yes, sir. I anticipated this, and so I have brought five additional steaks. Would you like for me to leave the platter, or would you like for me to serve them?"

"Please serve Lorelei and leave the rest."

"Yes, sir, as you say."

After completing the task, the blonde-haired Sunny asked, "Will there be anything else, sir?"

"No, that will be all for now, Sunny."

"Thank you, sir. I will return later with dessert."

"Thank you Sunny."

After a few moments of silent dining, Howard asked, "So, Catherine, what are your thoughts on the Wiltshire matter?"

"I think we should investigate the situation some more before deciding on a course of action," the Lady answered. "For all we know what you found is just the tip of the iceberg. I am sure that you noticed the lack of any sort of alchemical equipment. So that begs the question, where is his laboratory located?"

Howard stopped eating, his pea-filled fork halfway to his mouth. "I am afraid that I did not notice that. The thought that my old family friend was a magician of some type distracted me. It was so unexpected. Of course, he would have an alchemical lab somewhere."

"In a house that large such a lab could be anywhere. We will have to go chamber by chamber, looking for hidden doorways before we can discount its existence," Catherine pointed out.

"That sounds quite time-consuming," Howard noted.

"We can start the search this weekend as soon as the remaining servants move out."

"We should bring Sunny along. She will need to familiarize herself with the new house eventually, so why not start as soon as possible?" Howard said.

"It sounds like we have a plan, then. Starting Friday night, we will begin going over Wiltshire Manor with a fine-toothed comb," Catherine replied with a grin.

----