Page 18 of The Doctor and the Devil
Her lovely eyes widened, and she blew out a breath, apparently steeling herself for something unpleasant.
“Very well,” she said. “I am ready.”
I chuckled. “Not here. I have something else I’d like to show you, and it will make the telling somewhat more bearable.”
I held out my arm for her, and she hesitated.
“Please, Mina,” I implored. “Just trust me a little longer.”
Nodding, she wrapped her hand around my arm, and warmth bloomed beneath her touch. I smiled gratefully and led her back down the hallway.
As we passed room after room, her little gasps of delight at my home pleased me. We paused quietly so she could admire the palatial library, the frescoed ballroom, and the Roman-styled baths—the museum of my favorite paintings and sculptures accumulated throughout my travels. She stared in confusion and envy at my laboratory, filled with state-of-the art equipment and volumes of scientific literature from cultures around the world.
I urged her on until we arrived at my chosen destination, my favorite room in the castle apart from the library. We descended two flights of marble steps into a candlelit alcove facing two massive oak doors carved with reliefs of Persephone in the Underworld.
Releasing her hand, I opened the doors and ushered her in. The first thing one sensed when entering this part of the castle was the warm air, thick with humidity. The second thing was the peculiar fragrance—warring scents of damp earth, a thousand varieties of perfumed flowers, rot and decay of old vegetation, and everywherelife. Then, as one’s eyes adjusted to the low golden glow of the candlelit space, one could truly appreciate the wonder.
Mina stepped forward and turned in a slow circle.
“Rafael,” she whispered. “It’s like stepping into a jungle from a storybook! How is this possible?”
“Welcome to my sunken greenhouse,” I said, pleased that she appreciated my favorite marvel. “The glass windows above us are hidden in the grounds around the estate and difficult for those above to see, but they let in enough light during the daytime for the plants to grow. I’ve collected most of these as seeds or cuttings from my travels and have longed for a place to nurture them. Plants, you see, when tended properly, can thrive for almost as long as I can. It’s harder to keep and care for pets when their lifespans are but the blink of an eye for me.”
She faced me, something like pity on her face. Ignoring it and the twinge of emotion it elicited in me, I continued.
“The ponds on either side contain several varieties of fish and frogs, and insects do much of the pollination. Those over there are the largest lily pads in the world,” I explained, pointing to the massive leaves floating atop shallow black water.
Mina strolled along the marble paths, smiling in wonder. The tropical air condensed in small droplets on her glasses, and she took them off absently to clean them. “It’s extraordinary,” she whispered. “How does it stay so warm in here? I don’t see any fireplaces.”
“They are below us,” I replied. “Stacks of bricks and tiles are heated much like they were in Roman bathhouses. The tiles beneath us bring the heat up, and it spreads out through the marble and rises upward. The sunlight during the daytime helps to heat the space, but of course, I only come here at night. My staff light the candelabras along the walls in the evening for me.”
We walked beneath delicate trailing vines, hanging mosses, and fragrant tropical flowers until we reached a small grotto with a waterfall set back against the wall. A small table and two chairs sat in the middle of the grotto and spread before us was a sumptuous picnic.
Mina sat dutifully and waited as I poured her a cup of herbal tea—her preference from years ago. I poured some for myself and offered her a plate of sandwiches and almond cakes, as well as a crystal bowl of vibrant tropical fruits.
“Astonishing,” she murmured, selecting a sliced mango.
Overhead, something flitted close to her hair, and she startled.
“Apologies for the behavior of my bats,” I chuckled. “They can be rather greedy, but you needn’t worry. These fellows only eat fruit.”
I tossed a banana off to the side to entertain them and turned back to Mina, who was eyeing me with what I assumed were a million questions in her mind.
“Ask away,” I said.
She scrunched up her face, pointedly searching for a place to begin.
“Botany, Rafael? Truly?”
“Mina, of all the things you could ask, you cast doubt upon my secret hobby?” Amusement sparkled in my tone, like bubbles in champagne.
She sipped her tea. “Never in my life would I have thought that you would find fascination in one of the sciences.”
“You wound me, my dear. I am not the same vampire I was all those years ago, hiding from my tutors and cheating my way through exams. Besides, it was your father who sparked my interest in the subject,” I said.
“Papa?” she asked, eyebrows lifting. “How?”
I sighed. “Mina, here is as good as place as any to tell you what I must.”
