"I suppose we'll have to find out," he teases, and draws her back along the hall, while the paintings and tapestries and statuary look on.

The tower stair rises in a tight spiral, opening now and again to a room or another hall. As they climb, one of these draws Caspian's attention: a comfortable library with shelves thickly stocked with books and a paper-covered desk at which an old man is bent, scribbling something.

Caspian draws to a halt, his heart in his throat, and his fingers tighten on Susan's. "Doctor Cornelius?"