Eglantine Hereward

****E******glantine Hereward** is an old woman that arrived at Greenglass House to search for one of Julian Roamer's relics. She is a descendant of Lucy Bluecrowne.

## Biography

### *Greenglass House*

Mrs. Hereward and Dr. Gowervine arrived to Greenglass House at the same time, sharing a ride on the *Whilforber Whirlwind*. The railcar was full of luggage and the guests looked very angry. Milo began to welcome the two as they disembarked the railcar, but Dr. Gowervine took something off the pile and all the luggage came down. Mrs. Hereward and Dr. Gowervine shouted at each other, and Milo eventually managed to quiet them. Milo pretended this had not happened and led them up the path to the inn. Mrs. Hereward gathered up her things, and asked Milo if he could carry some of them, and when he agreed she seemed happy.

When Milo returned to Greenglass House, Mrs. Hereward and Dr. Gowervine were shouting at each other in the middle of the living room. Mr. Pine was trying to calm the two down, without success, but eventually Mr. Pine screamed at them and they quieted. Mr. Pine said that they could only stay if they acted like adults, and each guest gave their names, though neither knew how long they planned to stay. Milo picked up Mrs. Hereward's things again and led them up the stairs. Mrs. Hereward chose a room, and Milo brought up the rest of her luggage on her request.

In the morning, Dr. Gowervine and Mrs. Hereward continued to find things to argue about. When Georgie was talking about the camera she was building, called *Lansdegown*, Mrs. Hereward expressed the desire to see it. When Milo suggested telling stories, having gotten the idea from a book he was reading, Mrs. Hereward asked if he was reading *The Raconteur's Commonplace Book* or *The Holly-Tree Inn*. She told Milo some interesting facts about *The Raconteur's Commonplace Book*, and when Georgie asked she said that she did know a little about folklore, as she has always loved to read. Milo noted that it sounded slightly like she was lying.

Mrs. Hereward seemed flustered at the idea of telling as tory. He suggested that she tell the story of why she was at Greenglass House, but she said that story was not interesting, as she had wanted a winter holiday trip and chosen Greenglass House. Milo thought this also sounded like a lie, or perhaps not the whole truth. When Clem suggested Georgie tell how she came up with the name "Lansdegown" for her camera, Mrs. Hereward wished to know as well.

Mrs. Hereward agreed to tell a story, and chose one her father told, called *Only a Fool Scoffs at Destiny**.* Dr. Gowervine interrupted, to her annoyance, but eventually she began the story. In it, a boy called Julian Roamer receives, through wishes, magical items. Georgie and Dr. Gowervine interrupted a few times, much to Mrs. Hereward's annoyance. Georgie apologized afterward, though Dr. Gowervine did not. Mrs. Hereward continued each time, and when she was done, she made a slight bow. The guests clapped.

Meddy was of the opinion that the story *did* tell about why Mrs. Hereward was at Greenglass House. Mrs. Hereward told Milo that she did not know what had happened to Julian's things, and then went to get more tea. Meddy thought that Mrs. Hereward did not think it to be just a story, as what a grownup would usually say was that it was just a story, and the things did not exist. She also thought that Mrs. Hereward thought there was a connection between the story of Julian and Greenglass House. When a thunderstorm began, all the guests seemed unnerved, and Mrs. Hereward went upstairs to get a sweater. She later returned with a bag, and Meddy showed Milo the embroidery on it: an image of Greenglass House. When Mrs. Hereward saw him looking, her face went impressively red and she turned the bag around. Milo recognized that image too, an iron gate.

In the morning, Meddy informed Milo that something had been stolen. Milo guessed Mrs. Hereward, Dr. Gowervine, and Clem were the ones yelling downstairs, but when he arrived he found that he was right about Mrs. Hereward but wrong about the others. Mr. Vinge and Georgie had also been stolen from. Mrs. Hereward, face crimson, announced that she had been robbed. She insisted that it had not been replaced, she had been robbed; her ditty bag was missing. Mrs. Hereward began to pace.

The Pines spoke with the burgled guests. When they returned to the first floor, Dr. Gowervine asked if anyone had come up with a connection between the missing things. Mrs. Hereward was very angry at this. Clem commented on how they must have been sound sleepers, and Mrs. Hereward suggested that the thief was instead someone very quiet. Milo's parents checked the guests' rooms to make sure their things weren't hiding in plain sight, and Milo noted that they did Mrs. Hereward's room first (they didn't find it). Mrs. Pine made Mrs. Hereward some tea.

Milo sat down next to Mrs. Hereward, and asked if her bag had turned up (it hadn't). Milo suggested that he look for the bag; he was good at finding thisg, he said, and knew many hiding places in the inn. Mrs. Hereward seemed to be slightly hopeful, and Milo asked about the bag, as the more he knew about it, he said, the better his chances were of finding it. Mrs. Hereward agreed, as she herself wasn't doing a very good job of finding it. Mrs. Hereward revealed that she'd inherited the bag from a distant ancestor for whom Greenglass House was built. She told him that, according to one of her ancestral stories, her ancestor had bought one of the relics of Julian Roamer. Mrs. Hereward admitted that yes, she'd thought Julian Roamer and his relics real and thought one could be hidden in the house. Milo did not think it sounded silly, and she told him that she thought the ancestor had bought Julian's knife. Mrs. Hereward thanked Milo. Milo later found Mrs. Hereward's bag in the Emporium.

Mrs. Hereward, Dr. Gowervine, and Clem argued loudly about the stolen things, Mrs. Hereward accusing them and they insisting that they had not done it. Milo and Meddy decided it was time to return the stolen things. The things were returned anonymously, as presents under the Christmas tree, and Mrs. Hereward got back her ditty bag. She began to cry slightly, saying that she'd thought it gone. Milo told the story of how he'd found them, and said that he hadn't taken them. Mrs. Hereward squeezed Milo's shoulder. She clapped at the end of his telling. Mrs. Hereward stayed on the couch with her bag, running her fingers over its stitching. Milo asked about the symbols on the house's door that looked like Chinese writing. As soon as she was sure no one was listening, she told Milo that it was the original name of Greenglass House, and in her family they always said it "Lansdegown". Mrs. Hereward was not sure whether she was going to tell Georgie this.

There was a crack outside, and Mrs. Hereward shrieked. The power later went out, and Milo found Mrs. Hereward and Dr. Gowervine shouting. They got even louder when they spotted Fenster, demanding to know who he was. Milo turned on a lighter in between them, startling them into silence. Milo made Mrs. Hereward and Dr. Gowervine put out candlesticks, and Milo thanked Mrs. Hereward when she finished, to her surprise. Mrs. Hereward then knitted quietly on the sofa. Mrs. Pine assured Mrs. Hereward that the night would be fine without the power.

When Georgie mentioned Lansdegown in her story, Mrs. Hereward looked at Milo and put her finger to her lips. Mrs. Hereward expressed tenderness toward Georgie, and at the end of the tale, Mrs. Hereward cried. She joined Meddy in expressing doubt at Fenster's baking abilities, and smiled politely at Fenster but questioned what he'd meant as soon as he left. Mrs. Hereward was reluctant to reveal to Georgie what she knew about Lansdegown, feeling it might hurt her, but Milo suggested that she tell Owen. Mrs. Hereward told Milo she would think on it.

Mrs. Hereward made Dr. Gowervine tell a story to cheer Georgie up, enticing Georgie to come, and Dr. Gowervine told a story about Skellansen. Mrs. Hereward interrupted during the tale to mention Greenglass House's windows, angering Dr. Gowervine, but he continued anyway. Mrs. Hereward asked about the story's ending.

In the morning, Milo found Mrs. Hereward and Fenster attempting to bake a cake. She was attempting to convince Fenster that one did, actually, need to measure ingredients when baking. Fenster thought the cake had needed more cinnamon, and was only adding "a pinch" (Mrs. Hereward revealed that he was adding pepper), and when Milo arrived, she expressed doubt about the cake's future. Mrs. Hereward seemed very annoyed by Fenster's antics. Eventually, however, the pans were gotten into the over, the Caraways, Milo, and Meddy clapped, and Mrs. Hereward followed Fenster's lead and gave an awkward bow. Mrs. Hereward later helped wash dishes.

Milo wrapped up a lantern he'd found, which he suspected was Julian's, and gifted it to her. Mrs. Hereward wondered at the lantern and the flame symbol on its bottom, and after confirming with Milo that she could really have it, she thanked him profusely and went to put it in her room. Mrs. Hereward told Owen of his ancestry and Lansdegown, explaining how they were related. Mrs. Hereward told of how her ancestors, Lucy and Liao, for whom Greenglass House was built, had translated their last name Bluecrowne into Chinese, and Lucy had written it down phonetically as "Lansdegown". Mrs. Hereward said that she had been convinced by Milo to tell him.

Mrs. Hereward told Owen that he and Mr. Vinge might be called upon to tell stories. Milo noted that even Mrs. Hereward seemed unsettled when Mr. Vinge was calling smugglers criminals. When Mr. Vinge showed his customs ID, she demanded to know what it was.

Before she left, Mrs. Hereward gave Milo a box, inside which he found a beautifully knitted hat and set of mittens. She thanked Milo for all he'd done for them, then asked him to help her with her things, which he did. Mrs. Hereward patted Milo's shoulder before she left.

### *Ghosts of Greenglass House*

Meddy named Eglantine's Patent Blackthorn Wishing Stick after Mrs. Hereward; there had been a wishing stick in the story of Julian Roamer that had been important to her. Owen noted how grateful he was for the information about his past Milo and Mrs. Hereward had given him, and had put it to good use.

## Personality and Traits

Mrs. Hereward had quite a temper, blowing up at the smallest things. She often argued with Dr. Gowervine. However, she was often very nice to Milo and Milo mused that despite her temper, she was actually a nice person.

## Physical Appearance

Mrs. Hereward was very tall and angular. She had white hair, knotty hands, pale skin, and blue eyes. She wore glasses, a wool coat, a dressing down, and many bracelets, which sometimes rattled. She often had powder on her cheek.