Hello. Thanks for your questions. I'm really glad you enjoyed LSB. As I don't want to give too much away, I'm going to do that author thing of partly leaving it up to you. However, a lot of what happens at the end of the story is to do with alchemy - the quest for eternal life and for the ability to turn base metals to gold. Lilian seems to have achieved both. The secret tunnel out of the house is what the molten gold flows down, toward the chapel. I hope this explains something, at least. Best wishes, Toby