The house at the end of street - Chapter 15

"May I help you with anything?" the man asked politely.

"I am sorry for intruding... we took a wrong turn and we landed here." Sarah said. "It was such a beautiful place we had to stop." Matt walked up to the man and shook his hand.

Sarah shook her head at his original question and said: "I only wanted to see the chateau. It feels like I have some kind of connection with this chateau. It is an absolute beautiful place."

"Not many people come here. I am the new owner. I bought this chateau a few months ago on an auction. The chateau has been boarded up for nearly forty years. When I bought it, it was in a very bad condition."

"Do you know anything about the history of the chateau?" Matt asked curiously.

"I am sorry to disappoint you but I honestly don't know too much. The only thing I knew was that the previous owner was a famous architect and he died about twenty years ago."

Matt nodded. "Do you know if he had any family here?"

"His wife died after childbirth. Apparently the baby did not survive. He had nothing else to live for so he just gave up on life. Sad story actually.."

"Would you mind if we looked around inside?' Sarah asked. "We will only stay for a few minutes...we don't want to be a nuisance"

He walked with them through the house and explained to them about all the changes he made to the chateau. He told them that he lived there in one of the rooms while they were busy renovating the house.

Sarah laughed and told him that they had so much in common. She told him that she bought a house built by the same owner and that she was also renovating the house. While they walked through the house Sarah could see the resemblance with her own house and was extremely impressed.

The chateau had the same high ceilings and the drawing room had exactly the same big windows and a similar fireplace as in her house. The new owner showed her some of the bedrooms that were being renovated and she loved the library because it was still filled with books. After they walked through the whole house she told him about all the similarities in the two houses.

He was quite impressed by everything she told him and he promised that if he ever went to the states he would make a point of visiting them. They exchanged phone numbers and then left to go back to the hotel.

Sarah was very impressed by the chateau and felt a little bit sad about everything that the new owner told them. She was deep in thought and didn't realize that they had reached the hotel. Matt parked the little Renault in a parking spot and they made their way inside. They were both starving but also dead tired after the long day.

They ordered a light lunch and decided to take a rest for a few hours before going out that evening. Sarah sat on her bed thinking...so far this trip was a huge success. They had found everything that they wanted to know about Amelia and she was having the most gorgeous time ever. She fell asleep with a smile on her face and woke up an hour and a half later by a soft knock on the adjoining door. It was Matt.

"Do you mind if I came in for a while?" She smiled and moved out of the way to let him in. She invited him to sit but he declined and stood in front of her.

"It's so lovely here Sarah. I feel like I'm in another world. I can't believe that we've only known each other for such a short time."

"I feel the same way. I'm so glad that you came with me and you experienced everything with me....I would not have known how to explain all of this to you in words. Thank you for coming to Paris with me"

Matt brushed the hair out of her face and then he moved closer to give her a hug. She felt so lucky to have him with her and smiled to him after he kissed her.

They went out for dinner at a local bistro the concierge suggested, and Sarah had way too much wine to drink. She thoroughly enjoyed herself, and giggled all the way back to the hotel. When they reached the door to her hotel room, she didn't want the night to be over.

She unlocked her door, then turned around and looked Matt straight in the eyes... and then she asked him in to come in for a nightcap. Matt very willingly accepted;