by K C Norrie
"How did it get unlocked anyway," I asked. "Is someone down there?"
"I don't know. I've been watching all this time. No one has gone in or come out that I could see. Bates is outside sweeping the snow from the kitchen windows. Madame Anders says she wants to see out whether there's anything to see or not."
I nodded. This was good to hear. I was worried that Bates had had a heart attack or a fall and was lying at the bottom of the dungeon stairs. Then I wondered whether the door had been left unlocked all night and I shuddered. We crept a little closer.
"I think we should tell someone," I said. "We should run and tell Bates."
We crept closer.
I reached for the doorknob with one hand while Aubrina held tightly to my other. As I pulled the door open, I caught movement in the shiny brass knob. When I turned around to look behind us, nothing was there. I looked down to the bottom of the stairs and then made a quick decision. I grabbed Aubrina, clamping my free hand over her mouth so she could not scream or talk and dragged her away from the door. She struggled and tried to bite my hand.
"We were being watched," I told her once we were out of sight. I removed my hand from her mouth. "I saw them in the knob's reflection!" I whispered.
"Who!" she whispered. "Charmaine?"
I shrugged. I wasn't sure. I was frightened. I had to push and pull her all the way to the servant's dining room while she half-struggled to turn back around and investigate.
The other servants barely acknowledged us as we took our seats. I poured water from a pitcher and drank heavily. My mouth was dry. I ladled stew into my bowl and tried to act naturally.
Charmaine and Rondonna arrived very late to the table. The meal was nearly over, and everyone looked at them as they entered—Madame Anders in particular.
They were upset and disheveled. Something was wrong. Something had happened. Had they gone down to the dungeon? I intended to find out soon as we were alone in the common room.
"You are very late. Where have you been?" demanded Madame Anders. The girls did not answer, but kept their eyes cast downward on the floor.
"You will clean the dishes and pots tonight while everyone else enjoys a night off. I will inspect. You may be seated."
They sat down and went through the motions of eating as I was doing. My appetite had fled in the disturbance. Charmaine and Rondonna were shaken and frightened. Did no one notice? They must have gone down to the dungeon. What did they find? What happened to them? The same could have happened to Aubrina and me if we hadn't run away. I noticed a large bandage on Rondonna's wrist. She had hidden it under a long-sleeved sweater, but it peeked out where I could see it, when she reached for something.
Suddenly Bates came rushing into the room. Bates never rushed. He whispered something into Madame Anders ear and they both left the room. I wanted to talk to Charmaine and Rondonna. Enemies or not I wanted them to tell me what happened.
Everyone got up and headed towards the common rooms after dinner. Charmaine and Rondonna began clearing the dishes. I helped. Aubrina helped as well.
"What happened?" I asked Charmaine. "You must tell us."
There was no one around. Neither of the girls could stop crying, so the story came out between sobs. They had been following us. It was a game. By chance, they discovered where Bates hid the key to the cellar. They knew it frightened us. They borrowed it and unlocked the cellar door, leaving it ajar. Then they returned the key and hurried back to watch what would happen. They watched us approach the door and open it. They hid as I started to turn around. When they looked back, the door was open, and we were nowhere to be seen. They assumed Aubrina and I had gone down the cellar stairs. They followed intending to scare us. It was dark. There were a few lanterns to light the way at the bottom of the stairs, but only darkness after that. They didn't see us and were about to turn back when they heard a noise from deep in the darkness. They thought it might be us. They crept closer to investigate. Something snarled from the dark and they jumped back. Rondonna had backed against a dungeon door. She felt bars at her back. Then something grabbed her arm and held her. Something that had come through the bars. It bit her. They screamed and screamed, but no one heard them. Charmaine managed to free Rondonna, and they fled up the cellar stairs. They closed the door behind them but did not lock it because Rondonna was bleeding. Blood dripped on to the floor in front of the door. They hadn't time to go back and clean it. Bates must have seen the blood and the unlocked door. That must be what he whispered to Madame Anders and why she left the table with him to investigate.
They entered one of the unused bedrooms and Rondonna lay on the bed while Charmaine went to find soap, water and antiseptic for the wound. She cleaned and bandaged as best she could before they came to the dining room.
"We could have used your skill with the needle. The wound should have been stitched together and will leave a bad scar," said Charmaine. "I am afraid we will have to tell Madame Anders about this. I don't think we can hide it." She began to cry again. So did Rondonna.
"What was down there? What happened to us? What bit me?" asked Rondonna.
None of us had any answers.
We entered the common room. We were friends now and sat together a little apart from the others. I grabbed a few cookies from a tin in the cupboard and brewed us a pot of the red tea they used at the Chateau. After a while, we all felt a little better.
Suddenly, the door flew open and Madame Anders charged in. She gathered up Charmaine and Rondonna and marched them away. We watched the two girls walk out of the common room never to be seen again.
****
Two days later, the weather broke, and the snow began melting.
Three more days and we were packed up into the carriage and brought home—except for Charmaine and Rondonna. No one knew what happened to them.
Life went on. My mother was proud I had been elevated to the seamstress for the Chateau de Riene. I didn't mention Lucas. I didn't tell her about the dungeon or Charmaine or Rondonna. Would she have kept me home?
Spring arrived. I went to the Chateau during the day and was home with my family in the evenings. Lucas returned to Paris with his father.
Aubrina and I listened for word of Charmaine and Rondonna, but no one seemed to know what happened to them.
Spring turned to late summer. Lucas had been gone from the Chateau since spring. I was restless. Sewing was dull work, and I had nothing stimulating to occupy my mind these days.
One afternoon Madame White sent me on an errand.
"Be quick," she scolded me as if I were a child. "If you don't hurry, I will keep you here late."
So, I was rushing down a long hallway when I ran head on into Lucas's chest. He held me captive in his arms as he said, "My goodness what is the hurry?"
He grinned as I blushed with embarrassment. Before I could answer he said, "I was about to step out to the garden for a few minutes respite from the tedious bookwork they insist I do. You must join me."
He took my hand. It was warm and strong.
"But Madame White," I prattled. "She will never let me out again, if I take too long." I explained about the errand I was on.
"Are you her prisoner then? I could help you escape if you like."
He opened the door, and we both stepped into the sunny fresh air. A blue butterfly hovered near, curious of us, and then flew away.
"Of course, I am not a prisoner," I told him. "My work is simply so dull at times. I like when Madame White gives me errands. If she thinks I am too slow, she may keep me in and send Marianne."
Suddenly he was kissing me. We had walked a distance from the Chateau, and I hoped we weren't seen.
Lucas walked back with me into the sewing room and spoke to Madame White. He explained that he had interfered with my errand and would be most upset if I were to be in any trouble.
Despite the reassurance to Madame White, I traveled home that evening in a whirlwind of emotions. I was in love. I worried about my family. The Chateau could stil
l let me go once Lucas returned to Paris. Would I see him before he left again?
****
Thereafter, Lucas walked with me, once or twice a day. He made some arrangement with Madame White. During our walks, he told me the history of his family; about the "Wizard Gabel," whom he was named for. If the weather was severe enough, and we were not averse to walking in the rain, we walked the Chateau floors while Lucas pointed out the architecture. He showed me all of the rooms of the Chateau, except for the locked door that led to the dungeon and his mother's room.
Soon, I became bold enough to ask questions.
The weather outside was dreadful that day. You could hear the heavy rain and wind. We walked up the long hallways with a lantern, and we had come to the cellar door which was securely locked.
"What is beyond that door?" I asked innocently, though I knew somewhat.
"That is a family secret," he answered gravely. "You would need to be a family member to be given the answer to that question. There are only a few trusted servants who have been given access to the key."
He stopped and looked solemnly at me. "If you work here long enough, perhaps you will be elevated to Madame Anders or even Bates position." He grinned at my expression.
"On the other hand, you could marry a Montrell which would allow you access to everything, including the keys to the locked doors. In fact," he paused again but my mind had wandered to that day last winter when Aubrina and I had looked down steep steps leading into darkness.
"... it just so happens that I am available."
I missed his meaning as he kissed me. Every walk had ended with his kissing me. Suddenly he dropped to one knee, holding both my hands.
"Louisa Marie Charpentier, will you marry me?"
I smiled and said yes, and all the thoughts of the dungeon fled.
Chapter 38
Friends and relatives were told the news. I was surprised to learn that Lucas had visited my father and asked for my hand.
Things went quickly after that. Madame Anders took over.
There were parties. There was a wedding with Aubrina as my maid of honor. I worried that I would be snubbed for marrying so far above my station, but these were considered modern times. Everyone accepted me as I was.
"It has always been the Montrell way. We marry for love," Lucas explained to me. "And we Montrell men are known far and wide for our exquisite taste in women."
I thought about Monsieur Traver and Madame Merena. He had loved her fiercely.
We honeymooned on the Mediterranean Sea and returned to the Montrell Paris residence instead of Chateau de Riene.
My family had been relocated to the Paris residence while we honeymooned and so my own happiness was complete. But not Lucas's.
He was surprised to find that his father had returned to Saint Ange during our absence. Gwendolyn accompanied him. "My father is a deeply troubled man, I like to keep an eye on him," he explained to me. He didn't say more, but I understood. I knew him little, but he seemed to me, a man who only went through the motions of life; a life that excluded joy. It was only in the presence of Lucas that Monsieur Traver cheered at all.
I was delighted to see Charmaine working at the Paris residence, and she was just as surprised to see me. She avoided meeting me for as long as she could.
I sought her out. While we may have been childish enemies at first, I felt we had parted as friends. I invited her to have refreshments with me on a sunny terrace when I knew she was off duty. I waited until we were comfortable and I then I asked her directly about that night.
"What happened to you that night Charmaine? We never saw you again. I always imagined they set you out into the cold and you froze to death. But here you are, fit and fine. It is truly good to see you."
Charmaine laughed nervously and sipped the iced lemon tea that I prepared and served. They did not have the red tea here. "I am surprised they did not tell you, with you being the Madame of the House now."
It was my turn to laugh. I hadn't thought of myself that way. "You must tell me," I said. "What about Rondonna? Is she here somewhere as well?"
Charmaine's expression fell. "Rondonna is dead. You truly did not know? I thought everyone would have known the way news spread at Chateau de Riene."
We were both silent for several minutes as we gathered our thoughts, which for me, had scattered in the shock of the announcement of Rondonna's death.
Charmaine got up and looked around to make sure we were alone. It was a very large residence, and we sat on my own private terrace. Once she was convinced, we were alone, she began her account of the events of that evening that began after Madame Anders led them away.
****
"They took us up to a bedroom on the farthest side of the Chateau. The opposite side of where the staff resided. Monsieur Traver was waiting and opened the door to usher us in. I was beyond terrified when I first saw him. Like you, I assumed we would be turned out into the cold to fend for ourselves. Instead he was very gentle and kind. He skillfully re-cleaned and re-bandaged Rondonna's wound. He had Madame Anders give her something for the pain and then give both of us something to help us sleep.
"As he cleaned the wound, he explained that the bite was very dangerous. 'It is a creature I have found in the wild. It is a night creature and very beautiful. I don't have the heart to kill it, but it's too dangerous to set free. So, I keep it in my dungeon. Only Bates, Madame Anders and my sister know of its existence. Even my son Lucas does not know. He is young and would not understand.'"
I thought it curious that Lucas did not know—that they kept things from him. How could he not know? I refilled our lemon tea and Charmaine continued.
"When I awakened and dressed the next morning, Madame Anders came in with a breakfast tray. Rondonna was still asleep. We tried to wake her and found her burning with fever. Madame Anders was alarmed and went to fetch Monsieur Traver. He came back with an elixir that he spooned into her mouth. This seemed to help. She revived and sat up in bed a short while later. I sat with her and read to her. She told me she was glad they hadn't sent her away. She had no home to return to. Her parents died when she was much younger, and she was raised by an aunt who barely scraped by. Her aunt had died from pneumonia just last year. This past winter was the best few months of her life. She was warm and fed and had a soft comfortable bed to sleep in every night. She felt she belonged, like a part of a family. She gave me a smile. 'Thank you for being my friend', she told me. Then she passed out, unconscious. I thought she was asleep.
"I continued watching over her. Her breathing became loud and, raspy. She was hot to the touch. Madame Anders had instructed me not to leave the room. There was a pull bell I could ring to call them, so I used it. When she came up, she brought Bates and Monsieur Traver. He brought more elixir."
Charmaine paused. She was thinking as she looked at me. Her expression held fear.
"I couldn't see her that well, but I saw. Bates and Madame Anders stood in the way. Monsieur Traver sat her up. He opened her mouth a little, so Madame Anders could spoon in some elixir. First, Rondonna opened her eyes wide. Then she opened her mouth and sat up straight. The spoon and the elixir flew into the air as Madame Anders let them fly to clamp her hand over my mouth, to stifle my scream and drag me from the room. They thought they got me out of the room in time, but I saw.
"She locked me into another bedroom. I couldn't get out. I shouted and screamed. No one heard me. No one came. I lay on the bed and cried myself to sleep.
"Hours later they came to get me; Bates, Madame Anders and Monsieur Traver. They told me Rondonna was dead. The bite killed her. They said they would send someone to notify her family. I told them she had no one. She had no family.
"Madame Anders brought all of my things from the common room and a tray of food. She sat with me while I ate it. She gave me something that put me to sleep.
"A few days later when the thaw came and everyone went home, I stayed on. They had asked if I could take a position in Paris. I had onl
y my mum and little sister at home. They said my family could come along. They had little cottages for the families of the household help. I agreed. Our lives would be better in Paris. So, we went. And here we are.
"But I saw, Louisa, I swear I did not imagine it. Rondonna had grown fangs. She opened her mouth wide, and I saw them. Fangs large enough to tear flesh. Fangs! And her eyes! Her eyes had lost all of their blue color! Two white eyeballs and with two black pupils."
I told her that I was sorry about Rondonna and I that believed what she had seen; but I thought she must have been mistaken.
****
In the coming days, I thought about Charmaine's story and fought for a rational explanation. I wanted to ask Lucas, but Charmaine said Lucas wasn't told.
I brought it up at dinner a few days later. There was just the two of us.
"Now that I am your wife," I said letting the phrase take a bow before continuing. "You should probably tell me about the Chateau de Riene's dungeons. I was led to believe I would receive a key."
I watched the expressions on his face register the question before deciding how to answer me. He took my hand.
"I am afraid I have deceived you Mon Cher'e." He paused watching my face at the word deceived, and he smiled a wicked smile.
"I have never been down to the dungeons. My father has always forbid me."
"But aren't you curious?"
He smiled again. "Are you?"
"I am," I answered firmly. He removed his hand.
"Do you know what I miss?" he asked changing the subject. "I miss the walks we used to take at the Chateau de Riene. The night is cold, but the wind is calm. If we dress warmly, it should be like old times."
I laughed because we hadn't been together long enough to have old times. We've only had new times.
It was a beautiful night, the stars were out, and we walked beneath a bright crescent moon. We held hands just enjoying.
"I love night walks. I have often walked at night with my father at the Chateau de Riene. In high summer, we hike up the mountain whenever the moon is full. He gathers up the vines he calls 'Wizard Vines' and brings them back to Chateau de Riene to make the red tea we serve there. The tea is found nowhere else you know. My father thinks the family's old "Wizard Gabel," has enchanted them somehow. He uses the same vine to make that syrupy potion we spoon out whenever someone is ill. I must take you up there when we get back. The flowers from the vine are beautiful and glow beneath the moonlight."
