Summary

Chapters 17 and 18 describe the whirlwind of a week enjoyed by the Thaumas girls after discovering the magic door. The girls go dancing every single night, ruining their shoes, though Annaleigh experiences nightmares of a Weeping Woman from time to time and has not been able to spend time with Fisher since he professed his love for her. Ortun comes home and the girls crowd him asking for new slippers, and though he has no idea how they wore them out so quickly, being unaware of their magic travels, he allows them to go into Astrea with Fisher’s supervision to shop.

In Astrea, Annaleigh sneaks away from the group to visit Edgar in the clockmaker’s shop where he works. He says he suspects the Thaumases’ valet, Roland, to have been in love with Eulalie and to have killed her. Annaleigh does not...