Subsequent Wickedness
Acte 8 Footsteps
Acte 8 Footfalls (and the obligatory Epilogue)
Subtitle (striking the irons)
It had indeed been a trying day for The Mistress, as had the whole affair actually, and she was just too tired to continue putting up with it.
Exhausted after being run through an entire gauntlet of emotions, some of which had been entirely new to her and which she had found to be quite distasteful to someone of her carefully orchestrated upbringing, The mistress took some heavy sleep sedatives and had one of the downstairs servants( Maggie being shunned to the barn) put her to bed.
Later that evening as Edmund and her ladyship lay fast asleep in the separate rooms that extend out on either side of the large, shared sitting room, a most rude intrusion is made upon their chambres.
A pair of dark figures, moving silently as cats, walk up the stairs from the first floor, where they have spent some time lifting various pieces of silver, but now it was time for their main objectives:
They enter Edmunds room first, spending about twenty minutes as they expertly locate and removed his lordships valuables from their various hiding spots, some of which had been unlocked from a ring of keys in the possession of one of the thieves.
The pair then enters her Ladyships bedchamber, spending twice as much time inside as they had in Edmund’s chamber. They take great pains to make sure all of her hiding spots are located and relived of the valuables contained within; trying all the remaining keys out from the chain they have in their possession. Their torches touch upon many cases which when opened, contain a dazzling collection of colourful jewels, brite gold and pearls,( white black and coral.) Having been given a sleeping draught, The Mistress is blissfully unaware that all of her expensive jewelry and knickknacks are being collected and placed in a large black carpet bag. And since the Mistress liked to keep are of her most expensive possessions close at hand in her Boudoir, it was quite a large and extremely valuable collection that was being stolen from right under her pointed, upturned nose.
They lastly work around the large canopy bed where her ladyship is sleeping peacefully.
One of the dark shadowy men peel back the blue satin coverlet, exposing the mistress in her long black nightgown. Thin, dark fingers feel carefully along her satin clad figure checking for anything of value er the Mistress may have worn to bed. A jeweled ruby ring is located, one she always wears to bed feeling that it is the safest place for it, and is ever so gently pulled off her finger.
Her silver rhinestone sleeping masque is then lifted off, as are the pair of tortis shell clips holding up her long hair. As they are pulled away, she turns in her bed, saying a name( her lawyers as it so happens) exposing a black string protruding from the bottom of her pillow. The string is pulled, and out comes a black silk pouch. ( later that pouch is found to contain a letter for a certain solicitor along with a healthy wad of fivers!)
A long thin knife is pulled out, and for the second time that evening, the thin straps of her negligee are slit, and the negligee is slowly pulled coff of her figure.
The two shadowy figures leave with their loot, and make their way back outside. They almost get away undetected, but for one female servant, who had watched the pair from the servants quarters. And said servant, instead of sounding an alarm, may have chuckled a bit as she hobbled back to her bed and soon had fallen peacefully, innocently, back to sleep….
The Obligatory Epilogue :
All’s well that ends well, one can suppose:
Edmund and The Mistress, the robbery effectively relieving them of the last of their savings, and facing the loss of their estates, attempted to get back the money they had paid the crooked magistrate. He immediately had the pair charged and arrested for intimidation of a judge. Unable to pay the fines, they both were sent to debtors prison, where Edmund expired of a heart attack 8 months later, giving Errol the opportunity to inherit the family title.
The Dowager Aunt paid the debts of the Estate ( but not those of Edmund and The Mistress), acquiring Staghurst in the process. She set up Errol and his wife in the great estate as overseers; eventually Errol was bequeathed the estate upon the Dowagers passing some 6 years later. The Dowager was buried at Staghurst, and her mausoleum, even though overgrown and buried by vines, can still, not easily, be found..
Now it is known that The Mistress was quite inconsolable at Edmund’s funeral, so one would like to think there were some embers of love giving minute bits of heat to an otherwise seemingly soulless heart.
Lady Elisa apparently took pity on the poor creature, and convinced His Lordship Errol to forgive the Mistress’s debts. He apparently took money from his own household and finally got her release from debtor’s prison a year after Edmund’s passing. The Dowager Aunt allowed her to rent out one of the estates small cottages. Elisa sent Fanny to teach the Mistress how to be a seamstress so she could earn her keep. It was recorded in the family chronicles that her first order of business was taking some of her own stunning gowns that the Mistress had left behind at Staghurst and altering them to fit Elisa and Maggie to be worn by the ladies at various functions.
Sadly, Maggie’s scratches on her cheeks became infected and left her with some rather nasty scarring. Elisa brought the poor creature into Staghurst to be her companion. It is not chronicled whom Maggie eventually wed, but it was recorded in the Staghurst manor’s archives that one of Maggie’s daughters married a younger son of Lord Errol’s. A bloodline that carried the title of the house of Staghurst into modern times.
As for Staghurst itself, the great house still looms, standing in commanding atonement! But times have changed, and like so many great estates of the day, the majority of the manor has been re-envisioned into a rather upscale overnight, run by the current Lord and his family, direct descendants of Errol and Elisa.
As for the Assault and Robbery, no one was ever caught and punished. But one can imagine, without naming names, that those who had a hand in obtaining the small fortune acquired, soon found their positions in life elevated, and one can always hope that some good came of it…
The pub mentiond, The Poet and the Peasant, is the name of an actual welsh pub, and the 400 year old building it is located in has been the site of many drinking establishments over the years. Although its part in this story is fictional, one who has been there can well imagine that if its darkened and smoky walls and chambers could talk, therein would lay many tales, both rude and glorious.
Acte 8 Footsteps
Acte 8 Footfalls (and the obligatory Epilogue)
Subtitle (striking the irons)
It had indeed been a trying day for The Mistress, as had the whole affair actually, and she was just too tired to continue putting up with it.
Exhausted after being run through an entire gauntlet of emotions, some of which had been entirely new to her and which she had found to be quite distasteful to someone of her carefully orchestrated upbringing, The mistress took some heavy sleep sedatives and had one of the downstairs servants( Maggie being shunned to the barn) put her to bed.
Later that evening as Edmund and her ladyship lay fast asleep in the separate rooms that extend out on either side of the large, shared sitting room, a most rude intrusion is made upon their chambres.
A pair of dark figures, moving silently as cats, walk up the stairs from the first floor, where they have spent some time lifting various pieces of silver, but now it was time for their main objectives:
They enter Edmunds room first, spending about twenty minutes as they expertly locate and removed his lordships valuables from their various hiding spots, some of which had been unlocked from a ring of keys in the possession of one of the thieves.
The pair then enters her Ladyships bedchamber, spending twice as much time inside as they had in Edmund’s chamber. They take great pains to make sure all of her hiding spots are located and relived of the valuables contained within; trying all the remaining keys out from the chain they have in their possession. Their torches touch upon many cases which when opened, contain a dazzling collection of colourful jewels, brite gold and pearls,( white black and coral.) Having been given a sleeping draught, The Mistress is blissfully unaware that all of her expensive jewelry and knickknacks are being collected and placed in a large black carpet bag. And since the Mistress liked to keep are of her most expensive possessions close at hand in her Boudoir, it was quite a large and extremely valuable collection that was being stolen from right under her pointed, upturned nose.
They lastly work around the large canopy bed where her ladyship is sleeping peacefully.
One of the dark shadowy men peel back the blue satin coverlet, exposing the mistress in her long black nightgown. Thin, dark fingers feel carefully along her satin clad figure checking for anything of value er the Mistress may have worn to bed. A jeweled ruby ring is located, one she always wears to bed feeling that it is the safest place for it, and is ever so gently pulled off her finger.
Her silver rhinestone sleeping masque is then lifted off, as are the pair of tortis shell clips holding up her long hair. As they are pulled away, she turns in her bed, saying a name( her lawyers as it so happens) exposing a black string protruding from the bottom of her pillow. The string is pulled, and out comes a black silk pouch. ( later that pouch is found to contain a letter for a certain solicitor along with a healthy wad of fivers!)
A long thin knife is pulled out, and for the second time that evening, the thin straps of her negligee are slit, and the negligee is slowly pulled coff of her figure.
The two shadowy figures leave with their loot, and make their way back outside. They almost get away undetected, but for one female servant, who had watched the pair from the servants quarters. And said servant, instead of sounding an alarm, may have chuckled a bit as she hobbled back to her bed and soon had fallen peacefully, innocently, back to sleep….
The Obligatory Epilogue :
All’s well that ends well, one can suppose:
Edmund and The Mistress, the robbery effectively relieving them of the last of their savings, and facing the loss of their estates, attempted to get back the money they had paid the crooked magistrate. He immediately had the pair charged and arrested for intimidation of a judge. Unable to pay the fines, they both were sent to debtors prison, where Edmund expired of a heart attack 8 months later, giving Errol the opportunity to inherit the family title.
The Dowager Aunt paid the debts of the Estate ( but not those of Edmund and The Mistress), acquiring Staghurst in the process. She set up Errol and his wife in the great estate as overseers; eventually Errol was bequeathed the estate upon the Dowagers passing some 6 years later. The Dowager was buried at Staghurst, and her mausoleum, even though overgrown and buried by vines, can still, not easily, be found..
Now it is known that The Mistress was quite inconsolable at Edmund’s funeral, so one would like to think there were some embers of love giving minute bits of heat to an otherwise seemingly soulless heart.
Lady Elisa apparently took pity on the poor creature, and convinced His Lordship Errol to forgive the Mistress’s debts. He apparently took money from his own household and finally got her release from debtor’s prison a year after Edmund’s passing. The Dowager Aunt allowed her to rent out one of the estates small cottages. Elisa sent Fanny to teach the Mistress how to be a seamstress so she could earn her keep. It was recorded in the family chronicles that her first order of business was taking some of her own stunning gowns that the Mistress had left behind at Staghurst and altering them to fit Elisa and Maggie to be worn by the ladies at various functions.
Sadly, Maggie’s scratches on her cheeks became infected and left her with some rather nasty scarring. Elisa brought the poor creature into Staghurst to be her companion. It is not chronicled whom Maggie eventually wed, but it was recorded in the Staghurst manor’s archives that one of Maggie’s daughters married a younger son of Lord Errol’s. A bloodline that carried the title of the house of Staghurst into modern times.
As for Staghurst itself, the great house still looms, standing in commanding atonement! But times have changed, and like so many great estates of the day, the majority of the manor has been re-envisioned into a rather upscale overnight, run by the current Lord and his family, direct descendants of Errol and Elisa.
As for the Assault and Robbery, no one was ever caught and punished. But one can imagine, without naming names, that those who had a hand in obtaining the small fortune acquired, soon found their positions in life elevated, and one can always hope that some good came of it…
The pub mentiond, The Poet and the Peasant, is the name of an actual welsh pub, and the 400 year old building it is located in has been the site of many drinking establishments over the years. Although its part in this story is fictional, one who has been there can well imagine that if its darkened and smoky walls and chambers could talk, therein would lay many tales, both rude and glorious.