the replaced glass atrium, a neat copper-edged octagon cut into the roof. ‘The nights are very clear here. The warm dry air would have been perfect for stargazing. Surely that’s enough to explain the location.’
‘But there must be a record of the building somewhere, and a history of the architect. You think maybe in Gaucia?’
Mateo led the way out, stopping at a door constructed under the main staircase. He fished about for a switch but found nothing. ‘Rosita says they never got around to fitting electricity in the basement,’ he said. There were candles and matches on a side-table. Inside was an antechamber, the first room we had encountered without natural light.
A hatch in the floor had weighted handles attached to either side, and rose to the touch with hardly any application of strength. ‘If you think the telescope-thing is weird, you’re going to love this.’
A stone staircase led us down. The temperature dropped as we descended. We were now under the house. There was a chair and an ornate wooden desk, French-looking, and the central core was still here, an octagonal column of pale stone seemingly hewn and transplanted from the cliff itself. Around it, in a room that reminded me of a factory floor, stood a filigreed mechanical network of polished brass gears and cogs. I smelled earth and oil. In earlier times you would have heard more ticking and clicking and whirring down here than the noise made by the clocks above.
‘Oh my God,’ I said, ‘it’s a master clock. There’s a calibrated brass ring around the edge of the cupola. I think there would have been a rod going from here up to the roof. They only had to look up to read the time by the stars, and set the clocks.’ The gear system was in excellent condition, probably because the hatch to the room was airtight.
‘You know, I have a few contacts in New York who would probably consider publishing a book on this,’ said Mateo. ‘I’m there in a couple of weeks, I could have a word with them. What do you think?’
‘How soon can I start? Today? Now?’
He smiled again. ‘I love it when you get excited.’
‘You hardly know me yet.’
‘There’s plenty of time for that. We have our whole lives ahead of us.’ He embraced me with great tenderness. ‘I hate the idea of being away from you. These trips won’t last forever, maybe a year, just until the company is better established.’
‘I can live with that.’
We headed back upstairs. The burst of setting sunlight as I emerged blinded me for a moment. I stood in the hall waiting for my vision to return. It’s not about being able to see the stars, I realised, it’s about the light.
Mateo appeared at my side. ‘What?’
‘How do you know I’m thinking of anything?’
‘You’re always thinking. I can see it in your eyes. It’s funny,’ he said. ‘The first time I met you, I assumed you were just another uptight county girl. The second time, I saw a little bit of the wild child there. After that, intelligence.’
‘Yeah, I’m a complicated lady,’ I said.
‘You’re lucky. It means the world will always hold fresh hope for you.’
I walked toward the outer rooms, running my fingers lightly over the gilt frames of the paintings. ‘All the rooms are kept in sunshine, right until the moment the sun disappears.’
‘So?’
‘Why? The rear rooms must be in permanent darkness, which means they’re cold and uninhabitable. I want to see inside them. Will you talk to the housekeeper before you go?’
I walked across the great reception chamber to the entrance and pulled open the front door, shielding my eyes from the sunlight. ‘Come and see this,’ I called. Carved into the wooden lintel above my head was an inscription. ‘It’s in Latin. Felicitas in Solis Animabus .’
‘What are you doing?’
‘Hang on.’ I had a translation app on my mobile, and tapped in the phrase. ‘ Happiness only in their souls .’
‘Sol can also mean sun.’
‘Okay –
‘But there must be a record of the building somewhere, and a history of the architect. You think maybe in Gaucia?’
Mateo led the way out, stopping at a door constructed under the main staircase. He fished about for a switch but found nothing. ‘Rosita says they never got around to fitting electricity in the basement,’ he said. There were candles and matches on a side-table. Inside was an antechamber, the first room we had encountered without natural light.
A hatch in the floor had weighted handles attached to either side, and rose to the touch with hardly any application of strength. ‘If you think the telescope-thing is weird, you’re going to love this.’
A stone staircase led us down. The temperature dropped as we descended. We were now under the house. There was a chair and an ornate wooden desk, French-looking, and the central core was still here, an octagonal column of pale stone seemingly hewn and transplanted from the cliff itself. Around it, in a room that reminded me of a factory floor, stood a filigreed mechanical network of polished brass gears and cogs. I smelled earth and oil. In earlier times you would have heard more ticking and clicking and whirring down here than the noise made by the clocks above.
‘Oh my God,’ I said, ‘it’s a master clock. There’s a calibrated brass ring around the edge of the cupola. I think there would have been a rod going from here up to the roof. They only had to look up to read the time by the stars, and set the clocks.’ The gear system was in excellent condition, probably because the hatch to the room was airtight.
‘You know, I have a few contacts in New York who would probably consider publishing a book on this,’ said Mateo. ‘I’m there in a couple of weeks, I could have a word with them. What do you think?’
‘How soon can I start? Today? Now?’
He smiled again. ‘I love it when you get excited.’
‘You hardly know me yet.’
‘There’s plenty of time for that. We have our whole lives ahead of us.’ He embraced me with great tenderness. ‘I hate the idea of being away from you. These trips won’t last forever, maybe a year, just until the company is better established.’
‘I can live with that.’
We headed back upstairs. The burst of setting sunlight as I emerged blinded me for a moment. I stood in the hall waiting for my vision to return. It’s not about being able to see the stars, I realised, it’s about the light.
Mateo appeared at my side. ‘What?’
‘How do you know I’m thinking of anything?’
‘You’re always thinking. I can see it in your eyes. It’s funny,’ he said. ‘The first time I met you, I assumed you were just another uptight county girl. The second time, I saw a little bit of the wild child there. After that, intelligence.’
‘Yeah, I’m a complicated lady,’ I said.
‘You’re lucky. It means the world will always hold fresh hope for you.’
I walked toward the outer rooms, running my fingers lightly over the gilt frames of the paintings. ‘All the rooms are kept in sunshine, right until the moment the sun disappears.’
‘So?’
‘Why? The rear rooms must be in permanent darkness, which means they’re cold and uninhabitable. I want to see inside them. Will you talk to the housekeeper before you go?’
I walked across the great reception chamber to the entrance and pulled open the front door, shielding my eyes from the sunlight. ‘Come and see this,’ I called. Carved into the wooden lintel above my head was an inscription. ‘It’s in Latin. Felicitas in Solis Animabus .’
‘What are you doing?’
‘Hang on.’ I had a translation app on my mobile, and tapped in the phrase. ‘ Happiness only in their souls .’
‘Sol can also mean sun.’
‘Okay –
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