these kinds of situations. I’m not so different from you, really.”
With the room half-lit with candles and my sandwich and the wine laid out on the floor, my survival instincts retreated. It seemed silly to have been so alarmed and I tried to put it behind me. “I’m fine,” said. “For a moment in the dark, it was a little unsettling.” We sat for a few minutes and had a glass of wine. I wasn’t feeling all that hungry, so I asked if we could take a tour. William smiled, clearly happy to oblige.
“I read in a real estate blog today that the castle has been sold,” he told me as we walked into the gardens. “I know the caretaker for the property, so I asked if we could pay a visit tonight before the new owner takes possession.”
We crossed the grounds, coming to a small gate that opened on to a set of steps. The steps led to an underground passage, which in turn, led into a series of caverns, some of which were filled with water. “What’s with all the water?” I asked, feeling slightly claustrophobic underground.
“It’s the reason Burnell came. The castle sits on an underground spring. It has its own source of water,” William said, clearly delighted to be sharing this with me.
I raised my flashlight and let the beam of light skim the top of the pools of water. Burnell had carved deep stone pools hundreds of feet beneath the castle to collect water from the springs. Each pool was adorned with a lion’s head, its mouth slightly open. It was a gothic spectacle and although certainly a noteworthy feat of engineering, I couldn’t see how it could ever be anything but unsettling down here, trapped beneath the surface. The room was damp, the air thick and rank smelling. I shuddered, overcome again with an unaccountable feeling of discomfort, perhaps a reaction to the energy trapped beneath in this long-forgotten place.
William gently took my hand and pulled me away. “Come on,” he said, a tinge of disappointment in is voice. “This place is bothering you. I can feel it.”
It didn’t take us long to retrace our steps and return to the main room. We sat down once again at our makeshift picnic, me with my sandwich and apple and he with a glass of wine.
“Well, this did not turn out to be the best first date ever,” William said, as we sipped our wine. “Sorry, darlin, I generally try not to alarm my companions within the first few minutes of our outing. I’ll try harder next time.”
I let out a long breath and laughed. “It’s OK, I’m fine,” I said, touching his hand with mine. “Why did you decide to bring me here?”
“This castle is almost as old as I am,” he said. “I have visited here a few times over the decades, invited to parties by various artists who have owned the property. Now though, an anonymous buyer has purchased it out of probate court. Who knows what the new owner will do.”
“Why did they stop selling beer,” I asked.
“Prohibition. All of the breweries in San Francisco shut down,” he said. “After that, it sort of languished. It was also the site of a spring water company, but the main house and grounds were neglected. As I said, a few artists have owned it through the years, but mostly it’s been abandoned, a relic out of sync with the times.”
“Maybe you should buy it,” I said. “Then you could fix it up.”
“I wish I had known it was on the market. I might have. Then I could have built you a castle.”
I took a sip of my wine. “I’m not sure I’m regal enough to live in a castle,” I said. “I might be more of a barn or bungalow kind of gal.”
“I don’t see it that way at all,” he said and then stood up abruptly grabbing my hand. In his other hand he held a candle as he led me to the mirror that had been left hanging on the wall.
“Look at your reflection,” he said, gently cupping my chin in his palm. “I have scanned thousands of faces in my time, Olivia. You were meant to be a leader. It’s etched in every line of your face.”
We were inches apart from each other as he spoke. No one had ever said anything like that to me. I wasn’t sure how to respond. As usual, my emotions around William were a mess.