The next night the four children and Mademoiselle walked across the castle lawn.
The moon had not yet risen.
They walked until they reached a hilltop where there was a circle of huge stones.
One had an odd-looking hole near the top.
"This must be the Temple of Strange Stones," thought Gerald.
Lord Yalding was already sitting there.
He told Mademoiselle to leave.
"Never!" she cried, kneeling next to him.
"If you are mad, then I am mad too.
I believe the children's tales.
I'm here to see whatever the rising moon will show us."
Lord Yalding put the ring on her finger, and they stood together.
A faint grayness touched the top of the rock with the hole.
Then the hole was a disk of light as a moonbeam shone through it.
Suddenly a fountain of light was released.
All sorts of statues—dinosaurs, dragons, angels—began to approach the circle.
Last of all came the gods and goddesses from the island.
Each stone statue came quietly into the circle of light.
Hermes had told the children to ask about the magic at the Temple of Strange Stones.
But no one said a word.
The light started to move away.
"I want to go to the passage on the island," Mademoiselle said suddenly.
The two adults and the children rowed to the island and found the steps.
Guided by candles they walked through the darkness toward the glowing statue of Psyche.
They were in the Hall of Granted Wishes.
"I realized something at the Temple of Strange Stones," Mademoiselle explained to Lord Yalding.
"The ring is the magic ring given long ago to a mortal.
It was given to your ancestor by one of my ancestors.
She wanted him to build her a house.
So this place was built partly by his love and partly by magic.
But she never lived to see it.
That was the price of the magic."
"The price?" asked Lord Yalding.
"Whenever you use the ring, it requires a payment," said Mademoiselle.
"Your price for wishing for me to appear was to go mad."
"What's our payment?" asked Gerald.
"Children don't have to pay," said Mademoiselle.
"For us adults only one wish is free, and that is the last wish.
Shall I wish it?"
"Yes!" they all said.
"I wish that all the magic done by this ring will be undone."
She turned to Lord Yalding.
"And that this ring will be just a charm that binds us together."
The enchanted light surrounding Psyche instantly went out.
The scenes of granted wishes went dark.
Then Psyche's statue disappeared.
In its place was a stone.
"It is my ancestor's grave," said Mademoiselle.
They returned to the castle.
The next day Mademoiselle awoke and found a plain gold ring clasped in her hand.
More than half the jewels in the treasure room were gone.
Large pieces of the castle itself were missing.
The children realized that Lord Yalding's ancestor had used the ring to help him build it.
But there were enough jewels left to pay for anything Lord Yalding wanted.
And what he wanted was to marry Mademoiselle.
By the end of the summer, he had his wish.
The ring was slipped onto Mademoiselle's finger and she became Lady Yalding.
They lived happily ever after.
And each year during the holidays, their young friends visited them at the castle.