"The Curtain"
- Just in case you've been wondering how all of this action look from a bird's-eye view, we start off this chapter from the perspective of the robin and his mate. They are watching Colin suspiciously in case he does something to their eggs.
- They can't figure out why Colin doesn't behave the way the other kids do, but gradually they realize that he is learning to walk, the same way their children will learn to fly.
- On days when it rains, it seems like Mary and Colin can't continue the good work they are doing in the Secret Garden. But no… It suddenly seems to dawn on them that they live in a giant, amazing mansion.
- They decide to go exploring (after ordering the servants to stay away, of course—these kids and their secrets).
- They run around the picture galleries and play with the weird things they find in the distant rooms.
- All in all, they realize that it is pretty fun to live in a house with a hundred richly furnished rooms. (We find this less surprising than they seem to…)
- Back in Colin's room, Mary notices that the curtain is gone from the portrait of Colin's mother.
- Colin notices her noticing, and he explains that now he likes to look at her portrait.
- A few nights ago, he woke up suddenly to feel his room full of Magic.
- When he looked at her face in the portrait, it seemed as though she was laughing from joy over his improved health. Now Colin thinks that she is happy for him, and he wants to see her portrait all the time.
- Mary observes that Colin looks more and more like his mother.
- Colin wonders if that resemblance will make his dad love him. Colin wants to tell his father about the Magic to cheer him up a bit.