What is the importance of Northangerland Abbey in the novel, The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels?

After Cecelia is taken abroad to Northangerland Abbey, it becomes the main setting of the story for a time. The home of a pirate is reflective of their captain’s psyche, and Morvath’s home is no exception. “Northangerland Abbey had been a spruce, well-lit, modern building until her father took possession of it. He spent years transforming it to a state of mournful gloom. It was, he liked to say, his tangible opus. He was, everyone else said, a pretentious idiot.” (178) It is a place of familiarity to Cecelia, since she grew up there. She knows its secret corridors and hiding places, and is able to get around it quite easily. Still, that does not keep Ned from admonishing her for sneaking around: “This is the lair of the villain. Evil abounds in every corridor: pirates, mercenaries, creepy spiders. Good God, woman, you can’t run around like it’s Mayfair on a Sunday morning” (185). When the battle turns, Morvath flees Northangerland Abbey in a garden shed. The destruction of the house is symbolic of Morvath’s ideas of himself once he finds out the truth of his murky heritage. The destruction of the abbey is grand and celebrated, but there are about 70 pages left in the book, reminding the audience that the story is not over yet.