He slides a slim, tapered wax candle into the centre of a cup-shaped metal holder sporting a sturdy handle. I wait as he lights a second candle and then hands one to me. It’s an antique and quite heavy.

‘This way,’ he calls over his shoulder, before heading out the door.

I wonder if he feels unnerved now the guests have gone and with everyone else lodging in the courtyard accommodation. It must seem strange. The château is large; the wood creaks and the pipes groan at night, as one would expect from an old building.

Even by candlelight, the shadows seem to stay close as we continue up to the top floor. There’s a lot of history in this building and it weighs heavily upon me at times, almost as if I can feel a presence, but it’s elusive. I wonder if Nico feels that, too?

We pass my old room and head towards the end of the corridor and up the flight of stairs to the second floor. There’s a narrow door I can’t say I really took note of before, but then I never walked along to this end of the landing. Nico swings it open and ahead of us is a steeper set of stairs rising up into the eaves of the building.

I hesitate for a moment.

‘It’s fine. The treads are a little narrower, so make sure you hold on tight to the rail as we go up. It’s worth it, I promise you.’

If I thought the landing was dark, the stairs seem to close in around us even tighter and the candlelight flickers wildly in the confined space. But when we’re at the top, it opens out again and I can see the whole attic is boarded. There are a series of interlinking rooms which are mostly empty. With a few boxes stacked in one corner of the first room and several items of furniture set back against a wall, it’s a cavernous open space with only a fine layer of dust that flies up, tickling my nose as we walk.

Heading on through into the next room, Nico suddenly draws to a halt, gazing upwards. I join him, and we stand together, bathed in the soft glow from the candlelight.

He places his metal holder on the floor to go off in search of something and returns with a couple of thick blankets. There is a distinct chill in the air, away from the warmth generated by the old heating system in the main part of the building. Any heat up here will dissipate quite quickly as it’s shut off and not designed for habitation.

I watch as he throws two of the blankets on the floor and then raises his candle up towards his face to blow on it. I follow suit.