Then, when no wonder came, there had been the thrill of the empty boxes of earth; the probing with one's fingers to see what the funny-looking bulbs would be, and watching the fronds of the pale vine.
Afterwards, there was another fascination--the fascination of some strange and sinister atmosphere that he was much too young to define.
The place, he knew, was different from the rest of the house.

It projected, conventionally enough, from the drawing-room; but the heavy door with thick windows of red glass shut it off from the whole world.
Its rather dirty and obscure windows looked over the same country that Jeremy's bedroom window commanded.

It also caught all the sun, so that in the summer it was terribly hot.

But Jeremy loved the heat.

He was discovered once by the scandalised Jampot quite naked dancing on the wooden boards, his face and hands black with grime.