In any event, the ruse was successful. Mr. Archer left his Grace's dinner party intrigued with the notion of revamping the grounds of Grotte Cachée in accordance with the picturesque ideals in vogue in Britain, and ten days later he sent a Barouche to fetch me here.
The occupants of the château, aside from Seigneur des Ombres and Mr. Archer (who actually lives in a hunting lodge in the surrounding woods with his wife and infant daughter) are one female and three males, all evidently unrelated. At dinner this evening, I was introduced to the woman and two of the men by first name only—Lili, Elic, and Inigo. The third man, Darius, who was described to me as “something of a hermit,” was not present. During our postprandial conversation, I overheard a brief, whispered exchange in French between Lili and Elic—you have remarked yourself on my acute hearing. Their words, which concerned myself, had clearly not been intended for my ears. When asked whether I understood French, I replied misleadingly that I had never taken a course in the subject, which is true. I declined to mention that my father was from France, as were my nanny and nursery governess, and that I had a thorough command of French before I was speaking full sentences in English.
As for the castle itself, it is of a quadrangular configuration with corner towers, and appears to have been built several centuries ago of dark lava rock. It is tucked deeply into a heavily wooded valley beneath an extinct volcano that houses a cave which I am eager to explore despite Mr. Archer's admonition that I not venture too far within. When I do so, I will of course attempt to locate the curious little bedchamber described by Serges Bourgoin.
Given my disinclination to entrust my correspondence to the hands of strangers, this will very likely be the last communication your Grace receives from me until I return to England to make a full report in person.
Until then, I remain
Your Grace's devoted and humble servant,
David Beckett Roussel
BOUND IN MOONLIGHT
A Bantam Book / December 2007
Published by
Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
either are the product of the author's imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2007 by Louisa Burton
Bantam Books and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks
of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Burton, Louisa.
Bound in moonlight / Louisa Burton.
p. cm. — (Hidden grotto series ; bk. 2)
1. Castles—France—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3602.U7698B68 2007
813'.6—dc22
2007020379
www.bantamdell.com
eISBN: 978-0-553-90440-6
v3.0
Bound in Moonlight Page 26