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I felt that the Middle Ages were sleeping there… a fabulous time of kings, princesses, and knights. That time is not dead; it is just sleeping… and it felt like it might wake up.
On the way to our castle, we stopped at the castles of Langeais and d’Ussé – fabulous places. Langeais is a majestic castle that remembers history: spiral stairs in towers, elegant bedrooms of high-ranking people, and medieval furniture. All this created a certain flair. It was something close to me. It is mine; it is me. I can’t explain the feeling, but it felt like I was at home. Maybe I lived here in my previous life?
Anton’s diary
10.09.2016
Check-in at Dupré Castle
We arrived in the evening, looked around a little, and made plans for the next day.
At the door we were met by the owners of the castle, the Count and Countess Dupré. Their names are Jean and Agnes… the emphasis, of course, on the last syllable. The castle has belonged to their family since ancient times.
They were an ordinary French couple: both were moderately thin. The countess pinned back her short, halfgray hair with a metal clip and smoked Marlboros as if in the good old ’90s. The count was tall; slightly bald; and wore large, round glasses. He had some sort of an acerbic smile. He was dressed in simple, country-style clothes… maybe too simple for a person of his caliber. He seemed to be kind and polite.
They welcomed us cordially; however, they stared a lot at Nora. The countess looked at Nora as if she was a bear and, therefore, did not want to check us in.
The countess repeated twice their rule: do not open the windows at night. I joked that we risked suffocation, but the owners sounded quite serious. Well, in September it is not so difficult to fulfill such a request although it seemed quite an unusual rule.
After they showed us to our room, the count and countess moved aside and began to whisper quite loudly and lively about something.
“Stop it! She doesn’t look at all like …,” the count’s voice trailed off as he tried to reassure his wife.
“She does, and it’s no good!” the countess replied firmly and excitedly.
“Not here!” Dupré abruptly cut off his wife and pulled her by the elbow to their part of the castle.
I wonder why my wife has scared them so much. It is funny because she is the kindest-hearted person I have ever known… and in general I think she is the most beautiful woman in the world.
Here I will add a description of my wife – I think it would be useful: she is of average height, about 170 cm. or about 5’7 “and was 25 years old at the time. She has a beautiful, Russian, round face; big eyes; straight nose; fair hair; and lips larger than average. Recently she got a popular haircut, a stupid bob where there is more hair in the front of the head than at the back. I don’t like that.
At the same time, she has good manners, always asking permission before taking something or disturbing someone. She feels sorry for all the cats, dogs, and children, and cries at every love story at the cinema. How could such a woman frighten anybody? Eh, nonsense!
Nora’s diary
10.09.2016
Evening supper
We bought everything we needed for our first evening at the castle: wine from the beautiful city of Saumur, my favorite brie cheese, and some fruit. The owners allowed us to use the living room for such occasions.
However, the most important thing is that the castle just fascinated me… the medieval windows and doors! This part of the castle had been finished in the 19th century according to the owners… very curious. Of course, the owners have changed a lot of things: electricity and heating were added, and at some time they changed the windows. However, despite all the modern technologies, the castle remained medieval.
Our room was small. It had a fireplace and an ancient, double bed with a sort of ciborium. It was terribly uncomfortable but impressive. A Gothic, dark wardrobe with a mirror stood at the left side of the bed. A huge window overlooked the former stable – now a garage for the owners’ cars – and a small forest surrounding the castle. A 15
-century table rested below the window.
The side room had been converted into a large bathroom. Previously, it might have been a maid’s room, for example. However, times had changed; and such a room was often outfitted as a bathroom. It had not been a luxurious restoration, which is understandable because improvements to the castle required a lot of money. Therefore, the bathroom was covered with inexpensive wallpaper. There were two sinks and an ordinary small bathtub plus a wooden chair that served as a towel stand.
Chapter 4 There Is No Castle Without a Secret
Anton’s diary
10.09.2016
We ate a late dinner in the living room and accompanied it with a bottle of wine we bought on the way to Saumur. Saumur is one of the best local wines… just an amazing taste.
“Let’s stop drinking,” Nora suggested. She was a little drunk and smiling.
“What else can we do here? I warned you it might be boring! After all, I really did warn you.”
“I’ve already had a couple of glasses of wine, and I am eager for adventure!” My wife was in a playful mood. “We must get into the tower! Come on… please! It draws me; I want to get deep inside a real hereditary castle. After all, there is so much that we haven’t seen yet. And this is the family castle!”
Suddenly she lowered her voice and looked into my eyes intensely as she spoke, “What if they’re hiding something there?”
The count made it clear that the towers were closed to visitors. Although – as we already understood – in Europe they do not close anything to outsiders. So, I thought that nothing terrible would happen if we looked around a little in the new place.
This is not the tallest castle in France that we have seen. The castle is built almost in the form of a square. If you looked at it from above, you would see a square castle with a square lawn in the middle.
The castle has four towers, one at each corner. Each tower had its own number the owners explained to us. So, if you are standing in front of the main entrance to the square, tower number one is on the left; tower number two is on the right; tower number three is on the far left; and number four is on the far right. Each tower also has four floors. Between the towers there are rows of rooms.
There is a huge ditch, a moat, behind the castle. There used to be water in it to protect the castle in case of an attack.
Initially, we went to tower number three, the one that was closest to the forest. On the ground floor there was an office of an ancestor of the Duprés, some count. This room was open for tours. Everything was clean: the cabinets with ancient books along the walls, weapons, and a coat of arms, along with a couple of hunting trophies on the wall. In the middle of the room there stood some medieval game, very incomprehensible but similar to modern table football. It was necessary to throw a wooden cap so that it hit other caps, causing them to tumble… such as table bowling.
Of course, we decided to go up to the rooms that were closed from strangers’ eyes.
We climbed up the spiral staircase and came across a small door in a niche.
“Anton, what is it? Let’s have a look.” Nora couldn’t wait to explore everything here.
I opened the creaky door, turned on our flashlight, and saw an ordinary toilet… nearly like what is in every Russian village house.
“Wow!” Nora laughed, “a medieval toilet! And I thought they had none in castles, that they used night vases!”
I have never understood why women are so amused by the toilet theme, but there is no limit to their laughter regarding it.
To the left of the toilet there was another locked door, a very old one. I easily opened it. It was immediately clear from its interior that it was the priest’s room.
“Why do they need a priest’s room in the castle? That is, why does the priest live here on a permanent basis?” Nora questioned.
“Maybe he was a relative.” I suggested. What a mystery!
It was clear that people were not allowed into these rooms since there were no funds to repair them. The room was completely shabby; however, it held a charm of antiquity! Everything was historical here. There was a huge, man-sized fireplace and a narrow, lancet window. Next to the fireplace was a real spinning wheel complete with a spindle as though from a fairy tale and an armchair with rose print fabric. A flag of heavy, red cloth with an embroidered portrait of a clergyman rested against the wall.
There was a large bed with a wooden shelter, and a Catholic icon hung above the head of it. The bed itself was all dirty and had a blanket spoiled by mice. On the right there were a desk and a chair where apparently the owner of the room wrote his letters to the Pope… or maybe to someone else.
There was also a small room in the recess in case of a siege: it had a small, narrow slot for guns to shoot at enemies. In winter, of course, it would be difficult to stay in this room since cold air would have penetrated through the cracks into the room.
The rooms in the other towers were similar: each had a bedroom with a recessed room for protection from attacks. After all, their times were cruel. People might live peacefully, but suddenly some danger such as war or other misfortune could come. It seemed that everyone living in these buildings had always been on alert.
Then we went up to the third floor. The room there looked even poorer. The bed was without linen and without a mattress.
Then there was an exit to an open roof apparently. Unfortunately, it was closed.
11.09.2016
In the morning of our second day, the owner of the castle, Count Dupré, Jean, promised to give us a tour after breakfast.
He came out into the center of the courtyard of the castle. He looked friendly and quite cheerful.
“How did you sleep? Were you disturbed by ghosts during the night?” the count asked.
It seemed to me that some form of tricky or a sort of fear was hidden behind his gaze… as if it was him whom they disturbed.
“No,” Nora simply said.
This morning she was shining… and no surprise: her childhood dream was to stay in a real castle!
“Everything is fine,” Nora added.
“Well, I found out that you looked at some parts of the castle yourself,” the count offered as he smiled cordially again. “I think I’ll have to satisfy your curiosity and tell you everything about the castle.
“So, the part of the castle above the main entrance between the first and second towers are our family rooms. To be more precise, the second floor is entirely ours; we live there all year round.”
The count waved his long, thin hands as if he was a teacher in the classroom.
“On the first floor to the left is my cabinet… that is, to the left if you face the main entrance. Here I receive tourists and groups of schoolchildren who come for a tour. I also solve business issues there.
“On the right – again, if you are facing the castle – there is a lavish, 19
-century living room. We are very proud of it. One can get there through the second tower from the courtyard. We will definitely go there.
“So, to get to the other rooms, you need to go through the courtyard. This small, square spot of land serves as a lawn. It is the center of the castle. If you turn to the left after the main entrance, you will enter the first tower and the rooms between the first and third towers. In the left part of the castle – as you have already understood – is the entrance to our side, to the bedrooms, to the second floor, and to your room, as well. Also, on the ground floor there is our modern kitchen. To the right from the entrance and immediately behind it you will find the medieval kitchen in which is a huge fireplace with a boiler and a wooden table. This kitchen is maintained for exhibition. We will see it today. There were servants’ rooms on the third floor; they are now closed as they are ruined.
“You can see the same between the second and the fourth towers. All of them, including the bedrooms, were rebuilt in the 19th century. The entrance to the first floor is through the second tower.
“As I said, if you go to the right, you will find yourself in the front part of the castle with the lavish living room and a 19th-century grand piano. If you go to the left, you will see a large living room in an authentic style. That is where you already had dinner. Then there is a large dining room where we were served breakfast. Then there is a small kitchen, where the countess cooks breakfast for the guests. There’s nothing else… just a wall. On the second floor are the guest bedrooms; on the third are the servants’ rooms which are closed.
“The part of the castle between the third and the fourth towers is the oldest part. Here on the ground floor is an open veranda with a tiled floor and a utility room where we store garden utensils. At the top there is the castle chapel, which we will visit today. The rest is closed because it is ruined.”
“What are those trees up there?” Nora asked as she looked up. We did the same.
“Yes, the trees have miraculously grown up there. This happens with old castles, especially in abandoned parts.”
The count’s eyes became sly and sparkled when he told some kind of lie that he did not believe himself. Clearly, this man does not know how to lie. Why was he so worried as if something terrible was stored in those closed rooms? We were there yesterday and didn’t see anything. Although, as for the trees on the roofs of abandoned buildings, it seemed to be true… except that I have observed such things in absolutely inhabited buildings, as well.
“So, I hope now you will feel better in our castle,” the count continued. “Well, it’s time to see all the sights of our family home. Let’s start with the tower you examined yesterday. The towers are closed to the public. Frankly, most of them are just walled up. They are ruined. It is better not to go there; it can be life-threatening.”
It was already obvious that the count himself really believed in what he was saying because he repeated the phrase about being “ruined” a lot of times. This is the way children lie: focusing on a fact that should remain unnoticed in the dialogue.
We followed Jean to the original castle kitchen, the one open for exhibition. There was the huge fireplace with a cauldron, a large cooking table, and a lot of medieval, iron dishes and pots. Previously, food was prepared here for the owners of the castle.
“Now let’s go to the office of our famous great-grandfather, Count de L*. Notice the portrait of him, painted in the 18th century. In here, there is a library inherited from our valiant ancestors. You can look through it when you are free. All the books are authentic, written in medieval Latin or in old French. The weapons and mounted animals are also real. These hunting trophies have been accumulating since the time of the founder of our family, the Count de L*, the husband of the first owner of the castle. They loved hunting and started this tradition.
“What’s on the second floor? Are we going there?” my wife asked.
“The second floor is closed to exhibition, but we do not mind your looking at it yourself. It was a priest’s room. He occupied it back in the 15th century. We don’t know who he was, but we assume that he was a family friend or some ancestor of ours who went to a monastery and left no information about himself.
“This is mysterious. Wouldn’t you like to know more about your family?” Nora wondered why the Count spoke so coldly about the history of it.
“Nora, we have lived in this house since childhood; and, believe me, there is nothing mysterious here. We are sort of guards of a museum standing in the forest… nothing more. We would have sold this castle a long time ago; but it is impossible since there are a lot of inheritors, and they would receive nearly nothing. At the same time, to live here you need to have a lot of money to maintain this antiquity.
The count looked aside again.
“Well, let’s move on. Through the second floor you can get to a medieval chapel. The owners prayed here during the siege of the castle and also baptized children, carried on weddings, and more.”
We followed the count through the kitchen to the stairs that led to our rooms. There were pictures of the family members on the walls. Indeed, they had a lot of relatives. We walked to the end of a corridor. The count opened a heavy, old door; and we found ourselves in the oldest part of the castle. According to him, it had been preserved since the 15th century, along with the walled-up towers. The rooms, which were located on three floors and connected to the four towers, were mostly rebuilt in the 18th and 19th centuries.
We found ourselves in a big room, a sort of veranda. It was made of white stone in the Catholic style. The windows faced the courtyard and were decorated with frescoes of the 15th century. On the left was a carved, wooden partition with an ancient chapel behind it, a picturesque sight. In the chapel itself there were narrow windows on the sides also decorated with frescoes of images of saints. In the middle there was an altar with a medieval tabernacle and a large portrait of Christ with a heart at the base of it. It appeared authentic.
Nora was over the moon with happiness. I was no less happy about it; it seemed that the new emotions prevented her from sleepwalking. The smile never left her face. She touched all the objects with such love and enthusiasm as if she had really returned to her long-abandoned house.
To the right and left of the chapel were separate, small prayer rooms, each of which was large enough for only one person. The ceiling was sculpted with the grimacing faces of demons. As the count explained, this was done so that the worshipper didn’t get distracted from their conversation with the Lord. Tricky!
Nora was fascinated. She came to the same heavy doors that were located opposite those through which we entered. In theory, they should serve as the entrance to the third tower. She tried to open them, but they wouldn’t budge.
“Oh, no!” the count exclaimed. “You won’t get in there. The doors are tightly closed. Even we don’t go there anymore. The tower is completely in disrepair, as I said.” The count reacted briskly as if they were hiding millions of dollars behind those doors.
“Completely?” Nora asked in surprise.
“Yes, absolutely! It’s dangerous!” The count appeared tense.
“And what was there before?” Nora did not let up.
“The rooms of the duchess’ children,” the count answered quickly.
“Duchess?” Nora’s journalistic curiosity came out.
“Ah, yes! I haven’t told you everything from the beginning. This castle was the dowry of our ancestor, my 11th great-grandmother, Duchess Louise. She was of royal blood because she came from the family of Eleanor of Aquitaine, your namesake. She married the Duc de L*, and they had four children! Actually, almost everyone in our family had many children. Except during the Middle Ages, this was a regular thing. All the rich aristocrats tried to give birth to the maximum number of children since the mortality rate was high, and the heir to the fortune and castles should be a boy.
Unfortunately, we know little about the 15th century in the history of the family. They say something happened to her children… but it is just rumors, and there is just nothing interesting in the old towers anymore!”
The count shouldn’t have said that to Nora. Now she was sure that the most interesting thing about the castle she would find in the old towers. Moreover, we had already been in one of the towers and had seen a lot of antiquities there.
Nora’s diary
11.09.2016
