For the rest of the day, Henri offered to show me around the castle to better acquaint me with my surroundings. Blanche, unwilling to be left out, invited herself along for the tour.
The first thing we did was climb the stairs to the ramparts. It was pleasantly warm, and looking out past the castle, I gazed on the forest of pines and rugged landscape. It was a breathtaking view. I had dabbled in painting before my father had died and thought that perhaps I would pick up the brush again. I would have no end of inspiration here. Looking behind me, I could see mountains loomed over the castle. I had to crane my neck to take in their full majesty.
“See?” Henri said, sliding his arms around my waist. “Not so bad.”
I smiled, leaning back into him. “Maybe.” The truth was, in the daylight, the castle retained its air of dread and gloominess. However, superstitions and fears that plagued people at night were chased back to the shadows. I wasn’t afraid of the castle, and that was important for my happiness and comfort.
I eyed one of the gargoyles with interest. It was round and vaguely owlish, with a devil’s tail and a snout, but it was actually kind of cute. Less scary and more curious.
“See that turret?” Henri asked.
I glanced up and followed where he was pointing, to the east wing, near where my bedroom lay. A thin, spindly turret rose from the surrounding castle like a volcanic plume. “Yes, I see it.”
“We’ve never been in there. The only place we haven’t been able to explore.”
“Oh?”
“It’s not for lack of trying,” Blanche helped. “It’s locked. And even when we’ve forced the lock and gotten into plenty of trouble for doing so, it’s reinforced somehow.”
“Won’t budge at all,” Henri agreed. “I’d like to find a way in, though. Maybe during our stay this time.”
I gazed up at the turret again, shielding my eyes from the sun. “What do you think is in there?”
“Probably nothing at all. But I intend to investigate that nothing if it’s the last thing I do.”
I grinned at him. “So adventurous.”
“That’s me,” Henri said, puffing out his chest. “Adventurous, daring, charming …”
I rolled my eyes, earning a chuckle from him.
“How was the red room?” Blanche asked casually, leaning out over the stone to assess the sizable drop below.
“Why is it called that?” I asked, frowning and pulling away from Henri. “And why was Bertolino so startled that I was to stay there?” I turned to watch him fidget.
“It’s just …” Henri scratched the back of his neck.
“It was our parents’ room,” Blanche blurted. She looked away. “They were very happy in that room. It’s isolated from the other rooms, but they preferred it that way.”
I nodded slowly. “Did anything … strange happen in that room?”
“What?” Henri frowned. “No. Why?”
Blanche tilted her head. “It’s where father …” She looked up and caught Henri’s eyes, then glanced away.
Even though she’d let her voice trail off, my mind filled in the blank for her. It was where their father had killed himself. I wasn’t sure how I felt about sleeping in a room where a man had died, but I didn’t believe in ghosts. It was only a room.
“You promised to show me the library,” I reminded Henri, changing the subject.
Henri smiled gratefully. “You’re going to love it.” He pulled me to him and pushed a strand of hair out of my face. “Just don’t get so wrapped up in books that you don’t have time for me.”
“Never,” I promised, gazing up into his eyes. It was strange how easy things had become between us. My misgivings about him seemed insignificant to the peril of my current environment, even if I did feel like he was holding back. If he was wise to what his uncle had been doing back at the château, I couldn’t fathom his reasons for protecting those secrets. I wondered, not for the first time, if there was a chance of a future with him. I wasn’t sure how that could come about. I would need to secure my inheritance before even pondering next steps, but I thought perhaps that would be worth pursuing. I wasn’t trying to steal Henri’s inheritance anymore, and likely never would have considered it if I’d seen Udolpho beforehand, so I didn’t feel like my life with him would be built on lies. And yet, there was still a mystery shrouding him that I felt needed to be unraveled.
The library was impressive. It was two stories with a winding staircase leading up to the second floor. I’d never seen so many books in one place before, everything from histories of obscure African tribes to first editions of rare novels. I pored over the spines for nearly an hour, despite my fear that Henri and Blanche were growing bored. I set a small stack of books I’d selected onto a desk on the first floor, before a globe that was half as tall as me.
“I’ll come back for these,” I said, patting the books lovingly. I still had a quarter of the book on lunar goddesses to get through, not that it was a long book—it was just tedious, so I could only bare small chunks at a time. But I figured if we were going to be here for several months, it wouldn’t hurt to stock up on reading material now.
Blanche blinked lazily at me. “No, please, why not read them now? I want to see exactly how boring a tour Henri can possibly give.”
