It is the 1830s: Two men who have not seen each other in decades encounter each other quite by chance on Advent Sunday, many miles from where they both grew up. Moving their conversation to the home of the younger man, discussion soon switches to the small bronze carriage on his friend's mantelpiece. It has a strange tale, one that goes all the way back to the 1750s and the tale of a young newlywed couple heading to Oxford to spend time with the new groom's extended family.

Vince is stranded at a bus stop one cold and wet stormy November evening when a mysterious stranger offers him a lift and a room for the night. The stranger is one Michael James, a local aristocrat, and owner of The James Hotel in the nearby town of Execombe. It's an old hotel of mysterious figures and strange voices. It's a place where the owner and his equally mysterious reception manager repeatedly states "Nobody ever wants to leave!" What is the secret of The James Hotel? Who are the residents? And more importantly, what secrets lurk within the fabric of its historic walls? Now contains bonus short tale: Henrietta's Story