The primary characters are Robert Toller, who appears by magic and casts spells, and Heather Bayley, whose viewpoint defines the story. Their relationship is at the center of the novel's major themes of maturation and misuse of power. Before Robert's appearance, Heather is childishly fretful and very bothered by the tourists who provide her family's income. She hates the way the tourists litter the grounds, but she also resents the time her curator-parents spend taking tour groups through. Heather thinks of the tourists as "beastly sheep."

She declares at one point, "I hate living at Castlemaine!"

Robert, on the other hand, loves his ancestral home. When he emerges from the mound, he claims ownership as the last living member of the Castlemaine Tollers.

Robert is older than Heather, perhaps in his late teens, and good-looking despite his outmoded, black silk garment adorned with a...