Behind Closed Doors

Janice and Millie arrive for Millie’s party. Millie immediately loves the house. Jack takes all of them on a tour. Jack makes a game of asking Millie to guess which room is hers. Then they get a tour of the rest of the house. Millie asks what’s behind the basement door, and Jack tells her that he can’t show her now, but when she comes to live there, he will.

After lunch, Jack gives Millie a new yellow dress. She looks beautiful in it. Grace is worried that Millie has forgotten that Jack is evil. However, she whispers in Grace’s ear, “‘I not forgot he bad man’” (223). Then the doorbell rings and the party starts.

Soon, it is time for presents. Jack gives Millie another gift—a silver locket with her first initial. Jack says that Grace’s presents are some “lovely paintings” that will hang in Millie’s room (224). He is referring to the horrific portraits in the basement, and Grace goes pale. Millie’s present from Esther and Rufus is a red box covered in beads and sequins. Esther tells Millie she bought it to match her new room. Millie, confused, says that her room is yellow.