Vanessa lived still in the remote country home of her childhood. Her parents were dead and her brother had gone; she alone would never leave. Her whole life was invested in the house, the garden and the Greenhouse. The Greenhouse was a miracle of glass and ironwork, soaring towards the sky. Orchids and tuberoses, nectarines and oranges had flourished inside it while Vanessa's father had been alive. Its golden age was now long past, but Vanessa still lavished care on it and filled it with lilies in bloom. She was planting young vines, preparing them to grow strong under the Greenhouse's protection the day that her life was invaded and damaged forever.