As promised, here is another ghost story I have encountered. This one appeared just as I began writing The Cavanaugh House.
Rich and I went to a wine tasting at Belhurst Castle on Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Rich told the woman serving us that I had just started writing a mystery novel.
She replied, “Set it here. Belhurst Castle is haunted.”
“Haunted?” I leaned toward her. “Tell me more.”
She showed me the book the winery carried called The Belhurst Story, written by David Sakmyster. I left the wine tasting with a new book. On a subsequent visit, we stayed at Belhurst Castle, which is now a bed and breakfast. While I did not see the ghost, I heard more about the legend from some of the staff. Here’s the story:
The Ghost of Isabella (aka The Lady in White)
In the 1800’s, Isabella, an opera singer, performed in Covent Garden. Her lover was William Bucke, the manager and treasurer of Covent Garden. He stole money from the opera house and the lovers ran off to America.
They settled in Geneva, NY. Bucke built a large home where Belhurst Castle now sits on Seneca Lake. Because he suspected they would be hunted down for his theft, he planned an escape route. Beneath the house, he built a tunnel that led to the lake where a boat was stored. In order to flee their pursuers, he installed a mechanism next to the exit door to the lake. When activated, that mechanism would cause the tunnel behind them to collapse, killing their followers.
Awakening one night to the sound of many riders on horseback, Bucke knew that they had found them. He and Isabella ran to the tunnel. When they reached the tunnel’s end with its opening to Seneca Lake, Isabella dropped her torch and stooped to retrieve it. He told her to leave it and hurry to the boat he had waiting. He felt a breeze as she passed and activated the mechanism. But Isabella had not passed him and was killed in the collapse of the tunnel.
Today
Also known as the “Lady in White,” Isabella’s ghost is still seen at night. People see her wafting across the grounds on the site of the home she shared with her lover. David Sakmyster stayed at Belhurst Castle with his wife, Amy. They saw the Lady in White on the lawn below their window. That prompted him to research the history of Belhurst Castle and the Legend of the Isabella.
Most staff would not speak of Isabella when I asked. But one of them confirmed that rooms would get icy cold. Another showed me a photo he’d been given right after the picture had been taken by another guest. In the photo, the guest’s smiling husband stands. He is unaware that in front of him was a filmy form—a woman in a fancy dress.
The “Legend of Isabella” inspired the B&B’s name for one of their features: Isabella Spa & Salon. It also inspired The Finger LakesMysteries series.
You can read more about Isabella andBelhurst Castle here. A tunnel is a major factor in my second book in The Finger Lakes Mysteries series, Buried Secrets.
Halloween is near. Cuddle up with my ghost mysteries for some ghostly chills.