The White Lady

I had gone to Devon specifically to show a woman I was greatly attracted to the ruins of Berry Pomeroy Castle, presumably one of the most haunted castles in England. We had only wandered through the crumbling stones twenty minutes before she sighed and stopped me in the middle of my describing the White Lady, who led travelers to their doom.

“Dear Sebastian, I really don’t go in for this kind of thing. I confess, wandering through ghostly halls makes me feel a bit uneasy. Couldn’t we leave this oppressive ruin and go and enjoy a pint of Guinness in that charming pub we saw in the village?”

“You surprise me, Annabel. Don’t you trust me to protect you?”

“Not exactly. I think of you more as a man with an ulterior motive, and it has nothing to do with wafting spirits. And my name is Annabel Lee, which you seem to keep forgetting.” Her long black hair streamed out behind her in a sudden gust of wind that rose up from the valley below.

“Yes, of course. ‘A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling my beautiful Annabel Lee.’ ”

“What?”

“Don’t you know the poem by that American, Edgar Allen Poe, his ‘kingdom by the sea’?”

She stopped walking and glanced around. Near us were the vestiges of a fading grape arbor on a sinking trellis.

“No, I don’t know it. And we are miles inland. Why did you really bring me here, Sebastian?”

If I answered her truthfully, that would be the end of our romance, at least, of the romance I was hoping for. But I had the feeling it was already game over.

“My intentions are honorable. I’m sure that sounds old-fashioned. I simply wanted to share my passion for secret passages and hidden chambers, and both have been discovered in this castle, with more added across the centuries. I thought you’d enjoy a trek through them. I’ve got torches for us to use. Please say you’ll give it a go, yes?”

Annabel Lee studied me as if I were a specimen under glass, but then she smiled. “I do find my interest has increased.”

I rubbed my hands together. “Perfect!” I said. “We’ll start at the entrance hall and see what we see. I did get a guidebook that purports to have a map of some of the hidden rooms. Here, look at this.” I pulled out a folded pamphlet and was opening it when a voice startled us both.

“You are taking quite a chance with your exploring. Some get lost so easily.”

I stared at the man who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. He was tall and dressed in motley like a harlequin. Seeing our expressions, he apologized. “I’ve just come from the village after attending my sister’s costume party. I didn’t expect to find tourists out here on a Monday so, well, I didn’t bother to change.”

Annabel Lee seemed mesmerized by his presence. “Have we met before?” she said to him.

I looked at her, astonished. “Hardly likely,” I said.

“I’d have remembered you, if so,” the man said to her, giving a slight bow. “I’m Robyn Grayson. The local surveyor. Anything you want to know about this wretched but charming building is mine to tell. And you both are?”

“I forget my manners. I’m Sebastian. This is my, uh, friend, Annabel Lee.”

“An evocative name. As I recollect, ‘we loved with a love that was more than love—I and my Annabel Lee.’ ” Robyn stopped when Annabel let out a slight gasp. “Have I said something wrong?” he asked her. “I would not offend you for the world.”

“Here now,” I intruded, suddenly feeling something had shifted, and I didn’t like it very much. “Perhaps we’d best be going after all. Come along, Annabel.” I put my hand on her shoulder to guide her back to my car.

She shook me off. “My name is Annabel Lee,” she said softly, but her whole attention was on Robyn. Why? I was feeling somewhat annoyed. After all, he was an interloper and had completely disrupted the mood I’d been trying to foster with her.

A wisp of white appeared in my peripheral vision but when I looked to my right I saw nothing. The day was ebbing and the thought of a drink in the pub seemed infinitely preferable to talking to Robyn Grayson.

I was about to insist we leave when again I saw something. This time I knew what it was—or rather, what it was supposed to be. The White Lady of the castle who haunted its walls in her flowing, ghostly gown.

Robyn smiled. “You see her, yes?”

I spun around to face him. “See what?” I wasn’t going to confess to such a thing. Moments later there came a wailing and crying echoing loudly against the stone walls. It startled me so much I grabbed hold of a branch of a nearby tree and looked wildly around.

Annabel looked at me strangely. “What’s got into you, Sebastian? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.” Then she smiled. “Have you? Is that what this visit is about? To convince me there is such a thing so I’ll run to you for protection?”

“Don’t you hear her?” I said. “You both must have heard her crying for help.”

Robyn grinned. “He sees Lady Margaret Pomeroy, imprisoned in this very castle by her envious sister Eleanor, locked in a dungeon, left to die of starvation—or was it terror? Her story always reminds me of Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado.’ Never fear, Sebastian. If the ghost gets you, I’ll make sure Annabel Lee is safe,” he said to me.

“Really. Well, it’s been nice to meet you,” I said. “Please, Annabel, it’s getting late. We really have to leave now.”

“I feel as if we have known each other in a time before,” she said to Robyn, ignoring me.

“Perhaps we have. Long ago. Another lifetime,” he answered, and he reached out and almost touched her face but let his hand fall.

“Nonsense,” I said, all too aware Annabel was being drawn to him. I had to put a stop to that. “Can I give you a lift into the village, Robyn? I’m sure you’d like to change into something more suitable, anyway. And Annabel and I have a long drive ahead of us back to Bournemouth.”

“Is that where you come from?” Robyn asked her.

“No. I was born on the moors.”

“Ah , of course. Evocative. A place where a woman with your dark eyes would be able to see much that was hidden. We should roam those moors together.”

“Yes. Why is it that I feel I know you? You are so familiar to me.” She suddenly looked around, as if surprised I was still there. “Sebastian. Go home. I’ll find my own way back.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “I’m not going to abandon you, leave you here with this stranger. Have you lost your senses, Annabel?”

“For the last time, my name is Annabel Lee. And this man is no stranger to me. I’m sure of it. I remember, now." She looked at Robyn. "You’re—aren’t you from Burgh Island, on the coast. Yes, I remember now. We met on that island during holidays when we were children. Then my parents moved to Northumberland and I never thought I’d see you again.”

“It was the same for me," he said. "I always remembered those summers. Like a dream I didn’t want to let go. And now, here you are. How remarkable."

They both turned towards me and I saw her joy. “Robyn and I are meant to be together. It’s time for you to go, Sebastian. Please,” Annabel said. “I have found again the love I didn’t know I mourned for.”

They put their arms around each other and walked away. A few minutes later I heard a car start up and then, soon after, I heard nothing but the wind through the trees.

I looked again at the stone walls of the castle. I hadn’t imagined the White Lady, or her sad cries, surely. Or had I? Had I imagined it all?