You nod your head emphatically. He squints at you again,
in surprise, and says
"Well, I would, wouldn't I?" you reply. "It has been many
years."
"Yes, I suppose it has." He sighs deeply. "But all that matters
is that you're back at last, and safe. I have done my best to
guard what is meant to be yours while you were gone." He attempts
to hug you, giving you a very cold chill instead. You smile
brightly at him, to maintain the illusion that you are his beloved
Saskia.
Well, come on upstairs and I will show you where your things are."
he tells you, smiling a ghostly see-through smile.
You follow him up the stairs. At the top is a room full of
things--no spare space except for a narrow aisle down the middle
you can barely squeeze through. Most of it would be valuable
if it hadn't been kept in a ruined castle for the last hundred years
or so. Furniture stacked from floor to ceiling--fancy tables and chairs,
tapestries, mats and even a couple of beds. You see many items which
are still in good shape--a fine porcelaine tea set, silver spoons which
are tarnished but could be cleaned and polished again.
He smiles and smiles upon you as you survey the room.
"This was your cradle, darling," he says, pointing at a lovely
carved cradle, still with lace coverlet over a woolen blanket.
"It is my most prized treasure."
You are beginning to feel a great deal of guilt over lying to this
ghost, and yet at the same time, you can see that he is extremely happy.
You wonder what happened to the original Saskia. Judging by the clothes
he wears and the furniture and other things in the room, it has
probably been nearly a hundred years since these things were new.
"Now that you are back, I can rest in peace," the ghost tells you,
and hugs you once more. Then he disappears.
"You've certainly changed, Dear Heart!"
You decide that you will search to see if
you can find the true heirs to this treasure.
If not, you can always come back and claim it for yourself, but
it would certainly ease your conscience.
You don't want to share the wealth so you decide to keep it all for yourself.