A Moment In Time
Today I thought I’d do something
different and tell you a story about my great, great, grand-mother. Back in the
late 1800’s, or so I’m told, when the family still lived in Suffolk, they owned
a small farm and she, being unmarried and in her early twenties had caught the
eye of a member of the ‘landed gentry’ who was somewhat wealthy because of his
overseas interests and dealings. They courted, much in the fashion of the day,
and eventually became engaged then married.
Now, the family history for some reason
doesn’t say much about the honeymoon- how long for or even where – in all
likelihood it was probably somewhere on the coast there and when finished they
went to live in his house which was a large, country-style mansion…you can
imagine the sort of thing- sweeping lawns , servants, etc. By all accounts they
were happy in their life and settled down nicely.
Time passed, and as it happened business
matters arose – not for the better- and this necessitated trips abroad to be
taken by her husband who began to be gone for longer and longer periods of time
which did cause problems, but nothing insurmountable. However, as the diary she
kept tells us, he had warned her not to intrude on a room at the top of the
house that he kept reserved for his own private needs- even the servants were
banned from entering- and it was kept locked at all times.
Loneliness, boredom, and curiosity are
mentioned several times in her journal- at least those parts that survived the
passing years and are still readable – and so it seems she became fascinated by
the thought of what could be hidden in that room. Knowing where it was she
often climbed the narrow, almost secret, stairs that led to the door and stared
at it – perhaps imagining sounds or movements behind it and from what we can
make out it preyed upon her mind to the point where whenever her husband was
away – despite her promising him never to pry into its contents- she would go
there to do this albeit she never gained entrance for he had the key well- hidden,
even from her.
Time passed, yet her yearning to discover
the secret did not …and as it happened one day her husband was called away for
a business meeting that meant he would be gone for at least a month and with
the urgency of the situation he left in some haste- and she somehow observed
him hiding the key to the door – being in such a rush he had not been as
careful as perhaps he should have been, who can say ?
Farewells were said, he left, and she
retired to their bedroom with said key. In her diary she stated quite clearly
of her feelings of guilt at even having taken it for the promise she had given
weighed heavily on her mind yet, after a few days, she took it to the door. You
may, or may not be, surprised to learn that she did not open it at first- fear
of discovery and its consequences possibly prevented her to begin with-being
honest we can only guess at her reasons and the state of her mind at this
stage.
It took, from her recorded thoughts,
several trips up and down those stairs before she finally succumbed to
temptation and one night, after the servants had all retired to their quarters
and she was certain that no one would observe her actions she ascended them
once more with only the light of a candle to guide her.
Outside, even though the weather was fine,
it was quite windy, or so we’re told, and being up in the top of the house it
possibly caused a few creaks and groans to issue from the rafters in the roof
which can’t have made her feel any better as she approached the door in the
shadows and, after a few moments of thought, unlocked it before entering.
With
only the light of that candle, from what we can make out, the room was still
cloaked in a darkness that meant nothing was visible and so she was forced to
take very careful steps as she progressed further inside lest she trip or knock
something over- the risk of discovery no doubt still in her head.
We
know from what was left for us to read, although as mentioned before not all of
it is readable- the wind rose and as it blew through the eaves of the roof it
caused the door to close and the candle flickered before going out. Having no
way to relight it she was left in absolute darkness with no way to find her way
out unless she took the risk of groping about blindly until she found a wall or
the door. It was then, apparently, that she heard a low moaning the sound of
something dragging itself across the floor towards her.
And, if I ever find out what happened next,
I’ll let you know.
*******************
D W Storer
2018 / 2019
