Part 14 (1/2)
A philosophical man. That was a useful trait in his situation. She'd been more philosophical once, but Will was playing Hades with her detachment.
The end of the shaft was now visible and Athena saw in the dim light that Will and Senor da Cunha, the royal wine master, were using trowels to sc.r.a.pe away earth around the ma.s.sive wooden door. Will had spared his scarlet coat and was in his s.h.i.+rtsleeves, the white linen smeared with dirt. She smiled ruefully. He looked magnificent anyhow.
”You found the entrance!” Justin exclaimed.
”Thanks to Senor da Cunha.” Will gave a barely perceptible flinch before he veiled his reaction to seeing her. ”You two really shouldn't be here.”
”We couldn't resist,” Justin said cheerfully. ”Besides, I have great faith in your mining abilities.”
Will shrugged. ”Of which I have few, but this was a relatively easy job, being on a level site and through fallen earth rather than tunneling through rock. We were able to follow the line of the road straight in. Simple.”
”Will it be difficult to extend the tunnel to the second cave?” Justin asked.
”The caves are connected inside,” Senor da Cunha said. ”G.o.d willing, we'll be able to enter the second cave without more digging.”
Athena crossed her fingers. ”I hope the landslide didn't cause damage inside.”
”I hope so also,” Senor da Cunha said. ”But you and our princess did what was needful. Better to lose all our wine than to let the French have it!” He spat after saying ”French.”
Will finished revealing the seams around the door, cleared the keyhole with a thin metal rod, then stepped back. With a grand flourish of his left hand, he said, ”Senor, the honors are yours!”
Chapter 21.
Sofia managed to control her curiosity about the excavation until Justin followed Athena into the shaft. Exasperated, she slipped in after him. A sizable amount of the stored wine was hers, or at least her family's, which surely gave her license to view the proceedings.
The clinking of the tools at the tunnel end covered her quiet footsteps. She pa.s.sed a workman who recognized her and made an awkward attempt to bow. She waved that off and touched a finger to her lips in a request for silence. He bobbed his head in understanding and continued on with his buckets of earth.
She came up behind Athena and Justin just as Will Masterson finished clearing the door and yielded to Senor da Cunha. Being small, she could easily lurk unseen. Her wine master ceremoniously produced a ma.s.sive iron key and inserted it into the lock.
As he worked to open the lock, Will ordered, ”You two retreat at least a dozen feet. This isn't a mine, so probably there won't be explosive ga.s.ses, but there's no telling what your landslide might have stirred up.”
His warning sent Athena, Justin, and Sofia a dozen feet back. The wine master jiggled the key until he was able to turn it. When that was done, Will locked both hands on the wrought-iron handle and pulled hard. The door opened with a grinding squeal.
A blast of heavy, wine-scented air poured into the tunnel. The smell was so intense that Athena sneezed and Sofia almost coughed.
”The angel's share!” Justin exclaimed fondly. ”The intoxicating aroma of a wine warehouse. Amazing how much evaporated alcohol can acc.u.mulate when a cave has been shut for the better part of a year.”
Sofia had always loved the term ”angel's share” for the alcohol that evaporated from storage casks while wine was aging, so it seemed a good time to announce her presence with applause. When Athena and Justin turned, surprised, Sofia said brightly, ”I couldn't resist watching, either. After all, much of the wine belongs to House Alcantara.”
The wine master, who had taught Sofia almost everything she knew about wine, clucked with indulgent disapproval. Handing her one of the lanterns, he said, ”You may have the honor of being the first in, your highness.”
Sofia took the lantern in one hand and used the other to clasp Athena's hand. ”Come, my friend, we shall see what we wrought that dangerous day.”
”Not much damage, I hope!” Athena said fervently.
Side by side, they stepped through the broad doorway into the wine cave. From the intensity of the scents, Sofia had feared seeing broken casks, but everything looked miraculously intact. Here and there, small piles of dirt showed where earth had been shaken loose from the roof by the landslide, but all the casks were far enough from the door to have avoided damage.
She lifted the lantern above her head and the light revealed racks and racks of casks disappearing into the darkness. Each cask was marked with the name of the quinta that produced it. A third or so were stamped with the royal Alcantara arms.
”All is well!” she called to the men behind her. ”The cave looks just as it did before the coming of the French.”
Awed, Justin entered the cave and asked, ”How much wine is stored here?”
”A great deal,” Senor da Cunha said. ”We'd had several excellent harvests, so more wine was produced than San Gabriel could drink. Behind this chamber are several more storage chambers, and the new cave is larger than this one.”
”Which is a very great amount of wine indeed,” Sofia remarked. Enough to help San Gabriel financially if she could get it to market.
”About half is regular wine, and about half has been fortified by ardent spirits for a longer, more potent life.” The wine master raised his key ring and selected a different heavy key. ”Now to see if the newer vault survived equally well.”
He walked halfway down the chamber before halting at a ma.s.sive door set between two racks of casks. This lock turned more easily. He swung the door open and stepped back as another wave of intense aromas was released. When the scents were mostly dissipated, Senor da Cunha raised a lantern and stepped inside with everyone else close behind him.
”'Tis a miracle,” the old wine master whispered as the lantern revealed peacefully-resting casks. A glint of tears showed in his eyes. ”A miracle of Saint Deolinda.”
As they returned to the first cave, Justin asked Sofia, ”Saint Deolinda?”
”A local legend. I'll tell you about her later. For now, would you like to taste some of the wine? That's the true test of how well it has survived.”
”An excellent idea,” Senor da Cunha said. ”I'll draw samples for us.”
A table near the entrance had a dozen small tasting gla.s.ses turned upside down. A couple had been shaken off the table and broke, but the rest were intact. The wine master pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket and wiped them all clean in case there was dust, then studied the casks. Making a decision, he carried a stack of five little gla.s.ses to a large cask marked with the Alcantara arms.
”If you will forgive me, your highness.” He drew a small amount of wine from the chosen cask and tasted it himself instead of offering it to Sofia. It would not be good to offer a visiting wine merchant a wine that had gone off.
After the first cautious sip, Senor da Cunha gave a gusty sigh of pleasure. He drew another sample. ”Your highness, I believe this is suitable for royalty.”
She tasted and gave a nod of approval. ”Very fine and smooth. It has aged well here free of disturbances. Justin?” She offered him her own gla.s.s, liking the small, private intimacy.
He accepted with a smile, his fingertips brus.h.i.+ng hers as she handed him her gla.s.s. She cherished even these small touches, and tried not to think what it would be like to kiss him when she watched him taste the port. He had a beautiful mouth, mobile and sensuous.
First he sipped; then he finished the gla.s.s with pleasure. ”Truly a fine port. We need to find a way to get some down to Porto.”
Both Athena and Will were tasting the wine, concentrating on their gla.s.ses and keeping a careful distance apart. They were not looking at each other with an intensity that was palpable.
It was maddening to watch. Sofia knew they cared for each other and there was no obvious reason why they couldn't be together. There must be un.o.bvious reasons, since Athena was not a fool. She spoke little about her past, but it was obvious that her illegitimacy and unusual upbringing had left their mark.
Athena deserved a splendid fellow like Will. Instead she'd bolted when she'd learned that he was Lord Masterson.
They needed to be thrown together, and a way to do that occurred to Sofia. ”This is the last of the engineering projects you proposed, Lord Masterson, but before you return to England, I hope you'll consider one more.”
Will gave a swift, almost imperceptible glance at Athena. ”It would be my pleasure, Sofia. I'm in no great rush to leave San Gabriel.”
”I propose that we ride down the San Gabriel River to survey its course and see if the channel can be improved enough for s.h.i.+pping,” Sofia said. ”You and Justin and Athena and I can camp along the river while we consider what might be feasible.”