Haunting CONTENT

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $LibraryName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|LibraryHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|LibraryDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $ChapelName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|ChapelHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|ChapelDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $StairsUpName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|StairsUpHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|StairsUpDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $ReceptionName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|ReceptionHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|ReceptionDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $CourtyardName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|CourtyardHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|CourtyardDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $RoofGardenName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|RoofGardenHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|RoofGardenDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $ViewVillageName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|ViewVillageHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|ViewVillageDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $DaphneName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|DaphneHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|DaphneDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $ChimneyName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|ChimneyHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|ChimneyDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $SkyName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|SkyHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|SkyDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $SmokingRoomName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|SmokingRoomHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|SmokingRoomDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $MasterBedroomName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|MasterBedroomHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|MasterBedroomDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $MusicRoomName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|MusicRoomHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|MusicRoomDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $GalleryName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|GalleryHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|GalleryDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $DiningRoomName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|DiningRoomHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|DiningRoomDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $AvenueName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|AvenueHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|AvenueDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $GreenhouseName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|GreenhouseHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|GreenhouseDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $CascadeName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|CascadeHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|CascadeDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $MazeName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|MazeHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|MazeDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $PavilionName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|PavilionHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|PavilionDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $BedroomsName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|BedroomsHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|BedroomsDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $GarageName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|GarageHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|GarageDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $StoreName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|StoreHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|StoreDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $KitchenName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|KitchenHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|KitchenDestroy]]

(set: $SubLocationHeading to $LaundryName)**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $SubLocAction [[$DepositWillString|LaundryHide]] [[$DestroyWillString|LaundryDestroy]]

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** George has an entire bay of the library dedicated to travel writing. We were going to visit the Samoan Islands for our honeymoon - he was eager to show me Robert Louis Stevenson's house, and then over the coming years, everywhere else in the world he's been. But with everything that's been going on, we were unable to get away. I climb up the rolling ladder onto the library's balcony, and leave the will at the foot of his travel books, close to *Island Nights' Entertainments*. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "George is not a religious man, and nor does he read Latin - so I doubt very much that he'll be browsing through his father's leather-bound edition of Calvin's *Christianae Religionis Institutio* any time soon. This tome shall be the will's tomb.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "LibraryHide")(display: "EndLoop")

###$Title ####$Author I slip on the wet step, crack my spine against the marble rim, and roll head first into the cold fountain. The falling water patters against my back. My red evening gown unfurls before my eyes, parting to reveal my pale white hand, adorned with my ruby engagement ring and palladium wedding ring. I can see George driving to the village in his motor car, and his mortified face when he discovers me in a few hours. My hand sinks limply to the tiled floor. I drown. [[I'm standing in the...|StartLoop]] {  (set: $ObjectiveText to false) (set: $DepositWillString to "Deposit the will") (set: $DestroyWillString to "Destroy the will") (set: $SubLocChoice to "Where next?") (set: $SubLocAction to "What should I do?")  (set: $RoofName to "Roof") (set: $FirstFloorName to "First floor") (set: $GroundFloorName to "Ground floor") (set: $GardensName to "Gardens") (set: $BasementName to "Semi-basement")  (set: $RoofGardenName to "Roof garden (north-west)") (set: $ViewVillageName to "Viewing balcony (east)") (set: $DaphneName to "Statue of Daphne (south)") (set: $ChimneyName to "Chimney (west)") (set: $SkyName to "Sky (central)") (set: $SmokingRoomName to "Smoking room (north-west)") (set: $MasterBedroomName to "State bedroom (north)") (set: $MusicRoomName to "Music room (east)") (set: $GalleryName to "Gallery (south)") (set: $DiningRoomName to "Dining room (west)") (set: $LibraryName to "Library (north)") (set: $ChapelName to "Chapel (north-east)") (set: $StairsUpName to "Great Hall (east)") (set: $ReceptionName to "Entrance hall (south)") (set: $CourtyardName to "Courtyard (central)") (set: $AvenueName to "Avenue (north)") (set: $GreenhouseName to "Great Glasshouse (east)") (set: $CascadeName to "Cascade (south)") (set: $MazeName to "Maze (west)") (set: $PavilionName to "Pavilion (north-west)") (set: $BedroomsName to "Servant bedrooms (north)") (set: $GarageName to "Coach house (east)") (set: $StoreName to "Pantry (south-west)") (set: $KitchenName to "Kitchen (west)") (set: $LaundryName to "Laundry room (north-west)") }

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** If I destroy the will, George shall never find it... [[Deposit->$ReturnLoopPassage]] [[Destroy|EndLoopFinal]]

The last of my life force withers away, and the black light returns. I'm helplessly drawn in. [[I'm standing in the...|StartLoop]]

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** The house was originally a Tudor castle built in the 1540s, before it was altered into the current Baroque design in the early eighteenth century. Supposedly the chapel remained unaltered in the transition. Our secular views mean George and I rarely come here. I wonder if the dowager countess came here, after her return from the cruise on which the earl drowned. The circumstances were suspicious, so perhaps she came to confess her sins... I shall never know, of course. Eyeing the crucified Christ atop the looming rood screen, I turn away and place the will inside the chapel's arched doorway, in the hope that George will encounter it in passing. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "If I could feel, the chapel would feel cold, as I cross the stone slabs of the nave. It's neglected, the floor cracked and the benches faded. We've even considered converting it into a recreation room. The crypt is empty - none of George's family are interred here; all lay in Saint Christopher's cemetery in Cosgrave. That will be my resting place, too. I descend into the crypt and place the will inside. No one will ever find it.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "ChapelHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** I adore the Great Hall. For me it's the centrepiece of the entire house, with its stair carpet thicker than the floorboards and softer than the lawn. I balance the will at the foot of the banister, and look back across the hall. It is quite haunting, sometimes, with just the two of us living here. But the ceiling mural of Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos oft keeps me company. Who knew, in these last few months, that my thread was all but spun. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "Oh the finery, the splendidry - which I know is not a word, but if I can't invent a word with my final thoughts, then when can I? - the Great Hall is opulence incarnate. But right now this extravagance is getting in my way... At last I loosen the carpet enough from a mighty brass stair rod, and slip the will underneath.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "StairsUpHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** I'll stay where I am, in the dark oak of the entrance hall. If it's left up to the dowager countess, the house will become the property of the National Trust, like so many others. Perhaps this is the only way of things. This would become the foyer, with tills and tourist information. George's painted ancestors will look on helplessly, their eyes following the swathes of proletariat making themselves at home. When George comes home, his eyes shall find the will, on the cast iron boot scraper in the porch. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "The entrance hall is dark, the aged oak panelling reflecting only minimal evening light, despite its highly-polished surface. A place befitting of my end, I suppose. I place the will beneath the door mat, where it will eventually be trampled to dust.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "ReceptionHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** Why was I so careless? It rained this afternoon, glazed the courtyard in a wet sheen. With water also splashing from the fountain, it was silly to climb the steps - especially after a glass of wine. But it's where George proposed, when we sneaked into the house again, beneath the February stars. I'd just wanted a look, a moment to remember that euphoric evening. But now George has lost his father *and* his wife, and potentially his ancestral home, all in the space of six months... I carry the will away from the sloshing water and hang it over the handle of the French door, which I close behind me. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "So here I am again, before the fountain in the courtyard. It's where my body shall stay, and the will with it. I sit on the marble rim and rest the will on the rolling pool.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "CourtyardHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** $DestroyString The last of my life force withers away, and the black light returns. I'm helplessly drawn in. I comprehend, for the first time, that I am about to cease to exist. [[The will floats across...|EndLoopEpitaph]]

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** I leave the will propped up in the white carnations, which George brought back for me from his visit to Rome as emissary. The wind rises, down in the valley. Pushing aside unwanted thoughts of Hitler and Mussolini, I recall how carefully George planted the seeds - this man, vying with the forces of Europe, who right then cared only for giving these seeds the best start in life. He planted them here in the north-west corner of the roof, overlooking our beloved maze, and ice cave. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "I can almost hear the flowers yawning... They are tucked up cosily in their boxes for the night, beneath the draining sky. They will rise in the morning, then sleep again, then rise, and so on until the day they too die. My part in the world is over, my last vestigial link being this will in my hand. I rip it into tiny pieces and rummage them into the flower beds. The paper will decompose eventually, and feed the living.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "RoofGardenHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** There's Cosgrave, tucked in at the end of the valley like a glowing necklace part-sunken into a pillow. George will arrive at the Bell Toll shortly, his lips eager to taste the moisture of his Shipstone's beer. That's where we started our date, when he first invited me to the grove - when he was my Edward, and I was his Wallis. I leave the will on the bench of the balcony. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "I lean against the stone bulwark and gaze towards Cosgrave. I would have had much to do for the house, of course, but I thought, one day, I could pursue a career in the village. I could have been a groundsman, a grocer, or even a blacksmith like my grandfather - he was one of the finest in Oxford. But there's no point thinking about that now. I tear the will in half and toss it off of the roof.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "ViewVillageHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** The statue of the nymph, Daphne, commands the South Front of the house. George said she was proof we were meant to be together, though I'm not certain he's fully aware of the myth. Her left palm is open and stretching for the sky, where her desperate eyes, blazing with jade stones, reach longingly. Apollo is conspicuously absent. She is half-transformed into a laurel tree, her sandstone arm already rooted to the bulwark. I tuck the will between the fingers-come-branches of her right hand. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "I observe the statue of Daphne like I never have before, frozen in that moment of departure, much like me. How trivial my death, and how short my haunting - hardly befitting of a countess. Aren't countesses supposed to fling themselves from the highest tower, leaving their spirits to rove the dark halls ad infinitum? Well it's a little late for that now - and besides, Cosgravia doesn't have any towers. I tear up the will and place it in Daphne's open palm - the wind will take it away.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "DaphneHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** I am as thin as smoke. I drift over to the chimney stack, and plant the will between the pots. George told me it's been some time since the fires roared at Cosgravia Grove, the servants having departed even before his father's death. George and I had big plans to renovate the house. It was to become a family home... (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "The chimney stack... Some may look upon the smoke rising as though it were spirits voyaging to heaven. Others might deem the fiery pit beneath as symbolic of hell itself. To me it's just a chimney, and an opportunity to send the will where it shall never be found.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "ChimneyHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** I place the will on the roof, between the North Front and the central courtyard. Evening clouds break in oranges and reds above me. This sky...how much history has it witnessed beneath this roof? What will it witness in the future? A future without me... And if the dowager countess has her way, this will become a house of the nation, falling under the romantic and collective tourist gazes. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "The June evening sways the trees of the valley. They appear as a green ocean, feathered waves rising and falling. Now the breeze catches my dress, but I can't feel it. I always imagined the wind would carry me with George around the world, by sail, or on the wing. I tear up the will and cast it into the sky. It belongs to the wind now.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "SkyHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** How much the smoking room has been used since George's return to Cosgravia. His friend Lester joined us last month for George's birthday, and we had a jolly old knees-up - we were practically bouncing off of the oak panels. The morning after I discovered that red wine is very difficult to scrub from a wooden floor... I can still see the stains now, and it makes me smile. I tuck the folded will behind the clock on the mantelpiece. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "The smoke is rising from the ash tray, where George and I shared a cigar before he left tonight. The coals on the fire are still glowing molten orange. I toss the will into their jagged hot jaws, and watch it shrivel and die.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "SmokingRoomHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** The state bedroom. For two months since our wedding night, this has been our bedroom - the sweeping red drapes of the sixteenth century canopy bed, our cocoon on these warm spring nights... I felt like queen in residence. I always imagined I'd have our baby in this bed... But now, all it shall cradle is the will... (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "Like the drapes closing around our stately bed, my life is now closing around me, leaving nothing but the solitude of these final moments. I shall be alone, and so I separate myself from the will, tearing it to pieces and hiding it atop the canopy of the bed.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "MasterBedroomHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** The piano belongs to the dowager countess until the will proves otherwise - at which point our plan was to sell it. George said she forced him into lessons when he was a child, then showed him up with a tinkle of Chopin's 'Funeral March' when he routinely failed. I considered learning, but soon discovered I didn't have a musical bone in any of my fingers. I always preferred the smoking room, despite tradition. George liked that I preferred that too... George won't see the will if I leave it on the piano - I'll leave it on the coffee table by the door. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "I could hammer out the 'Funeral March' for myself, if I could play the piano. I hit a few keys at random, just to see what happens - and actually, the cacophony is suitably haunting...befitting of a ghost, or whatever I am now... I lift the piano's gleaming black lid and hide the ripped fragments of the will inside.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "MusicRoomHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** The South Hall, overlooking the courtyard, contains my favourite painting of the collection: Cézanne's *Leda and the Swan* - though admittedly I'm surprised it's my favourite, given the subject matter. I suppose it's just the painterly strokes, which render Leda with such blushing, fluttering innocence. I look at the swan manhandling her wrist, and realise my now affinity with her, both of us helpless against greater forces. George thinks there will be a war again in Europe, larger than the last. If that occurs, I hope the art survives. I hope the house survives. I hope George survives. I fold the will into the front of the picture frame. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "*Leda and the Swan* is too obvious a choice - George knows it's my favourite. However, this painting of the second earl, who George told me almost cost the family its peerage due to his involvement in a financial scandal, should do rather nicely. I reach into the painting through the earl's sabre, and plant the severed pieces of the will behind the canvas.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "GalleryHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** We had our reception in the dining room, with earls and countesses of the past watching us author new history. In their presence, I place the will on the dining table. George and I haven't had our portraits taken yet - we'd spoken to Cecil Beaton, but were yet to set a date. I half-suspected George had arranged something for my birthday next month - it was just something he said. I was hoping for our portraits, and portraits with my family too. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "Last night's chicken carcass is still on the dining table - I was going to clear it this morning, but chose to launder my dress instead. Now George, or whoever comes around to console him, will have to tidy it away. When they do, they'll be throwing away the will as well, scrunched up and nestled inside.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "DiningRoomHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** The beautiful avenue was commissioned by George's father, and was carved through the Faerie Wood, much to the dowager countess' dismay. Apparently she loved the woods, even though she spent most of George's childhood indoors. But to George and I the avenue appears a graceful parting of nature, an alluring lawn that rises to the summit of the valley. It is particularly spectacular from the stairs on the North Front. The earl's finishing touch was to carve a badger from an oak stump at the foot of the avenue's east side. It's here I place the will for George to discover. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "The avenue ascends the valley, seemingly to the sky beyond. I walk alone through the flitting grass as it parts this way and that in the breeze, like George's thin, receding hair on a windy day. I enter the woods, tear the will into pieces, and scatter them amongst the oaks.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "AvenueHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** Oh, the Great Glasshouse - how marvellous it must have been in its halcyon day! In a small unscathed corner, George is rearing his beloved cacti, which he's collected from around the world. But I fear the only fate left for the glasshouse is demolishment. George would never agree to it, of course. That's why I was going to present him my ideas for commercialising parts of the grounds. The income would resurrect the ruins, and would help us stave off our losses in the face of the horrendous death duty. I place the will on the shelf beside his Ferocactus pilosus, which is neatly labelled with a card. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "Most of the glasshouse is a ruined jungle, humid behind the walls of windows, I recall. In the twisted depths I find a pile of collapsed bricks. I leave the will inside this accidental oven, to be cremated.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "GreenhouseHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** It never stops, the cascade. Water flows from a reservoir on the hillside, and is channelled into the feature of Athena and her owls, which spurt water down the rocky descent. When the chattering water reaches the bottom it joins a subterranean stream, which runs beneath the house and into the nearby copse. George and I exchanged our vows at the top of the cascade, only two months ago, with the house before us, and the avenue beyond - all perfectly aligned. The dowager countess was not in attendance, of course. I place the will on the pedestal of the sandstone replica of a calyx krater, which waits patiently for water at the bottom of the cascade, yet only receives it when it rains. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "I wonder what my funeral will be like. Will there be a gathering around the cascade, like on our wedding day? My family would like to see the house again, though I don't think the children will play in the cascade this time. I may not practice religion, but I'm certain the vicar will give me a good send off. I place the will in the cascade, and watch it descend over the rocks and out of sight.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "CascadeHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** The maze resides in the West Garden, granting exquisite views of the house bathed in the setting sun - like tonight. The golden reliefs on the West Front glint in the orange light, defining the windows and throng of elegant sculptures which gaze longingly from the house. The green hedges of the maze contrast with the rich sunlight, and I recall an evening only weeks ago, when George challenged me to a race through the maze. I got lost, naturally, whereas George remembered the path perfectly from childhood. I would never have emerged, had he not ascended the maze's central tower, and guided me towards him. It is atop this tower now, that I deposit the will. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "I was no match for the maze, so now I shall join forces with it, as Daphne joined with the forest. I divide the will into many pieces, and scatter them about every hedge. Still I can't find my way to the centre, or my way out. But no matter - I am departing by other means.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "MazeHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** Britain is rarely a warm country. I was interested to see how the new Butlin's resort fared, inaugurated recently by the intrepid Amy Johnson. So I saw us only rarely using the pavilion, and indeed, George said his mother and father hardly spent any time there. George and I were more interested in the ice cave - a hollow dug into the mound beneath, which at one time was stocked with huge blocks of ice, allowing refreshing air to fill the parlour above. We just liked to canoodle in the cave, so that's where I shall leave the will. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "The pavilion has become somewhat of a glasshouse in its neglect, a glasshouse of decaying autumnal twigs and leaves, feeding fertile weeds that rise from the cracks in the tiled floor. The grate that would once admit cool air from the ice cave below is blocked with leaf litter, and it is here that I bury the fragments of the will.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "PavilionHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** The last of the servants left long before the earl died. The dowager countess gave them their marching orders, since by then the couple spent so little time at the house. George told me many a tale of the countess' psychological bullying of the servant men and women - I bet they were glad to go. Just for fun, George and I some sometimes slept down here - I in particular went through a phase where I desired to sleep in every bedroom, especially in the basement, so I could imagine what life was like for the servants. The countess would have balked, and I liked the thought of that. I place the will on the bedside table. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "Perhaps it's fitting that I should end my time in a servant's bedroom. I do not come from nobility, after all, and indeed my mother's mother was a maidservant. I stuff the torn pieces of the will inside the mattress, then rearrange the bed sheets. I lie down on the bed, and close my eyes.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "BedroomsHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** George's motor cars used to belong to his father - they're both Rolls-Royces, 20/25s I believe. His father had chauffeurs, but George drives himself - he insisted he would continue to do so, even when we acquired a service staff. The blue one will be down in the village now, parked outside the Bell Toll. They have impressive top speeds - George said we could tour the country in them. I leave the will on the passenger seat of the red car. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "The next time the red Rolls-Royce goes for a drive it shall destroy the fragments of the will. I lean in and scatter them inside the engine's combustion chamber. It won't do the engine any favours, but George always preferred the blue one, anyway.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "GarageHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** I imagine at one time the pantry was full of exotic supplies from all across the globe - bananas from India, tea from China, oranges from Italy and apricots from Australia. Not to mention all the eggs and vegetables and game from around Yorkshire. By comparison it is now somewhat bare - bread, meat, potatoes and vegetables, all purchased from the village. If the glasshouse was restored, much produce could be grown on-site, but I don't know if that will ever happen now. I place the will atop the bread bin. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "Empty crates are stacked in the corner, ready for the grocer, Mr Aran, to collect on Friday. Mr Aran supplies villages all across the county, not simply Cosgrave. I scatter the shredded pieces of the will throughout the crates - with any luck they'll each be taken far away.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "StoreHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** The kitchen has become my second home. Mother taught me to cook from a young age, and it's a jolly good job she did - George has confessed multiple times that he adores my cooking. And with our intentions to hire back only a minimal service staff, if I couldn't cook already, I would have to learn double time. The dowager countess rarely cooked, but George gets very expressive when he proclaims the cooking of Sylvia, the once head chef. It was an exquisite feeling when he told me that my game pie was as good as hers... There's a pie in the fridge right now, I remember as I pin the will to the fridge door. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "When George's grief can longer ignore his hunger, and with no aid from his mother, he will bake the game pie I prepared this afternoon. I neatly fold the will and push it to the back of the oven. He will cremate it himself.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "KitchenHide")(display: "EndLoop")

**$LocationHeading - $SubLocationHeading** Look at my dress...it's ruined, the bright chiffon now a dense, saturated red. I've not worn it since our wedding night - I'm not usually one for formal evening wear. But I freshly laundered it this morning, to surprise George when he returned tonight: my red dress, a glass of Rioja, and the words, 'I love you,' from my red lips. The words of the will are all that are left to say now, so I leave them on the laundry basket. (display: "ReturnLoop")

(set: $DestroyString to "Sooner or later life will return to normal at the grove, at least until the National Trust moves in. And then George, or a maidservant, will have to do the laundry. When they fill the pot with boiling water, they shall destroy what remains of the will.")(set: $ReturnLoopPassage to "LaundryHide")(display: "EndLoop")

The will floats across the fountain, rocking under the falling water. The ink bleeds and the paper dissolves, until there is nothing left. <img class="displayed" src="http://timothyalanwhite.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/cosgravia_epitaph2.png" alt="Epitaph"> **The End** [[Reset|StartMain]] [[Title screen|TitleScreen]]

(set: $Title to "The Death of the Countess of Cosgravia Grove")(set: $Author to "by Tim White") ###$Title ####$Author <img src="http://timothyalanwhite.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/cosgravia_cover.png" alt="Cover image"> **Information:** A three-move, choice-based interactive fiction set within the walls of a 1930s English mansion. Haunt the entire house in an effort to guide the estate's will to its rightful heir. Featuring fifty endings, but only one way out. **Audience:** Teen+ [[Start|StartMain]] [[Credits|Credits]] v1-0 (c) 2015 Tim White

###$Title ####Credits Designed, programmed and written by <a href="http://www.timalanwhite.com" target="_blank">Tim White</a> Feedback provided by Lesleyann White Tested by Tim White and Lesleyann White Created for the <a href="http://itch.io/jam/wag-challenge" target="_blank">Write A Game Challenge! 2015</a>. Theme: DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE Created with <a href="http://twinery.org/2/#welcome" target="_blank">Twine 2-0-2</a>, story format: Harlowe 1-0-1 by Leon Arnott, with custom CSS Cover image: (c) Schtone, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored_gold#/media/File:White-gold--rhodium-plated.jpg" target="_blank">*Rhodium-plated white gold wedding ring*</a>, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>. Modified to black and white, and game title overlaid, by Tim White Thank you for playing [[Title screen|TitleScreen]]

(if: $ObjectiveText is true)[**$GroundFloorName - $ReceptionName**] I'm standing in the entrance hall, my wet gown dripping onto the hardwood floor - except that the floor remains dry. I don't feel wet... I don't perceive any sense at all. Through the arched window ahead I can see black light flooding the courtyard, flooding the fountain. It is drawing me up, like smoke through a chimney. Then it is gone. { (if: $ObjectiveText is false)[I am weak, with **few breaths left** to leave my mark on this world... His father's will is still in my pocket, soaked but legible. **George must receive the will**...(set: $ObjectiveText to true)] } Where shall I go? [[$RoofName|Roof]] [[$FirstFloorName|FirstFloor]] [[$GroundFloorName|GroundFloor]] [[$GardensName|Gardens]] [[$BasementName|Basement]] { (set: $ReturnLoopPassage to false) (set: $LocationHeading to false) (set: $SubLocationHeading to false) }

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The Death of the Countess of Cosgravia Grove

by Tim White

Information: A three-move, choice-based interactive fiction set within the walls of a 1930s English mansion. Haunt the entire house in an effort to guide the estate's will to its rightful heir. Featuring fifty endings, but only one way out.

Audience: Teen+

Start

Credits

v1-0
(c) 2015 Tim White