He had a weak spot, however. He thought he was an excellent judge of wine. I also was an expert on wine. I spent a lot of money buying rare and costly wines. I stored the wines in the dark rooms under my familys palace. Our palace was one of the oldest buildings in the town. The Montresor family had lived in it for hundreds of years. We had buried our dead in the rooms under the palace. These tombs were quiet, dark places that no one but myself ever visited. Late one evening during carnival season, I happened to meet Fortunato on the street. He was going home alone from a party. I could see he had been drinking too much wine. He threw his arms around me. He said he was glad to see me. I said I was glad to see him, too because I had a little problem. "What is it?" he asked, putting his large hand on my shoulder.