»
Main Forums
»
Passions in Prose
»
Lady In White - Part I
| Passions in Prose |
|
Lady In White - Part I |
|
Mysteria 
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328British Columbia, Canada 
|
 Lady in White 1,237 words - © Mysteria 05/2002 ~* Part 1 *~ With the long weekend before me I finally made up my mind to accept Marge Vaughn’s invitation to visit her and her famous husband and their recently acquired estate on Vancouver Island. I really envied Marge and Derek’s good fortune; Derek’s last novel had met with an enormous response from the public and had practically made him a national figure overnight. His earlier work had always been well thought of but this last publication really made him. Having been for a long time very close to both of them in common affection and family interest, I wanted to congratulate Derek in person; especially being a writer myself, though my work was chiefly article editorials for a popular woman’s magazine. I was jubilant at the thought of seeing them again after my winter in the city, the more so as spring comes earlier on the island and would add a backdrop of gorgeous scenery to my anticipation of a lovely visit. The light was waning when I finally reached their particular part of the country and I made several false turns in spite of the new road map I had purchased. However, I was looking forward to a cheerful fire, a great dinner, and some really pleasant companionship that I craved. At last an old stone house came into view and I could faintly discern the sea glinting in the distance beyond it. It appeared just as romantic as Marge had fluently described it in her invitation letter. My welcome was warm indeed and it is difficult to say just how happy I was to be with them again. To complete the foursome the Reverend Archibald, who was at this time vicar of the local perish, had been happily chosen as my dinner partner. Archie, as he liked to be called by his close friends, had been at school with Derek and later in University, and we had all been friends a long time. Actually, it turned out that Archie had been really the deciding factory when Derek and Marge had purchased this house. The dinner was spectacular and the talk intimate and warm. Then Archie brought up the subject of local history, more for my benefit I suppose than the others. Turning to me he said, “You know, Anne, I have made myself the local antiquarian since I have lived in these parts, and very interesting it is too. You might like to know some of the facts about this old place.” I nodded enthusiastically. “Alright. Then to begin the name of this house is Merchant’s folly, and it was built in your namesakes reign, Queen Anne, that is. It originally was part of an estate of more than 100 acres. It appears, so the story goes, that a person named Caleb Martin turned up in these parts, and sought the hand in marriage of the squires daughter, the squire being the owner of the large estate and the rather small house he and his family lived in.” “Having been informed locally that the daughter would be a considerable heiress upon her widowed father’s demise, and anticipating that this event might not be so very far off, Martin put on a good front and talked of monies to come from his Texan oil well. He apparently had enough cash to put on a good show, because he finally won the foolish young thing’s heart together with her father’s consent.” “With the old man’s money, evidently, and how he got around this I really don’t know but he certainly didn’t use any of his own, he set about building this very house we are all dining in this evening. This house and the estate grounds were completely finished in the year 1709, I can say from my research. Well, the old father died soon after its completion and is buried in the church yard of my parish, and if you’d care to see the grave at any time, Marge and Derek will show you where it is.” I murmured that I would find that very interesting. Archie went on… “Mistress Faith, as the daughter was called, rented out the farm land with the old house and settled herself with her husband in this house. Things went fairly well for about a year or so as I can ascertain from what I unearthed. Then Mistress Faith martin disappeared suddenly. I’ve looked all of this up carefully in what local newsprint has survived over the years. There is quite a collection with the old parish record papers. But to no avail were rewards of any kind offered by Martin for the word of his loving wife. To readers of the news sent out he put it on quite thick. No news whatsoever turned up about pour Mistress Faith and Martin eventually became the sole owner of all the money and the estate in its entirety.” “I don’t think the money from his Texas oil well ever turned up either, if it ever existed, but Martin had plenty by this time. From then on he seemed to have led a riotous and dissolute life, until one night after a weeks orgy of drunken revelry, Martin was killed in a fight in a local tavern. He is in my parish graveyard as well as the old squire, but not sharing the hallowed family plot.” “I have an interesting printed handbill that I unearthed locally. It must have come shortly after Martin’s death. In it is a reward offered for the apprehension of one Caleb Mertin on a charge of piracy on the high seas, and I have no doubt whatsoever that Martin and Mertin were in fact one and the same person, or had been, of course. The estate was eventually confiscated by the Crown, probably in lieu of a thwarted gallows, who knows after all this time? Oh! And I must tell you, Anne, there’s a ghost about this place, and it is as you’ll guess, the ghost of poor Mistress Faith.” Here Marge broke in… “I’ve seen her Archie, though I’ve never dared mention this to Derek. He wouldn’t believe it, as you realize, knowing him. Perhaps you will come up sometime Archie with your bell, book and candle, and do whatever those of your calling should do to exercise ghosts. The poor girl should have some spiritual rest by now. She is quite beautiful you know and is dressed in a white sheer robe of sorts, and walks on the terrace at the rear of the house, at least that’s where I always see her. She walks so slowly, and she always walks the same route towards the lawn holding something in her hand. It’s not a candle, but the brightest light I have ever seen that seems to be emanating from her palm. She doesn’t frighten me anymore, I feel more sorry for her than anything.” Derek laughed shortly, but there was something slightly insincere in his laugh, as if he felt that he had to oppose Marge’s credence on principle. “It’s always on a moonlight night, just before the full moon, when the white lady appears,” added Marge. Significantly enough, this time of the month was just about the right period, as I had noticed the moon through the window. “Well, darling,” said Derek to Marge, moving closer to her on the couch, “With your wonderful imagination, it should be you that is the author, and not me. Don’t you agree, Anne?” he teased. I only smiled as so did both Marge and Archie. But I knew that Marge fully believed in her ghost, even if Derek was noncommittal. …. To be continued *~  ~* Carpe' Diem *~ [This message has been edited by Mysteria (05-19-2002 10:51 AM).] |
||
| © Copyright 2002 Mysteria 1997 - All Rights Reserved | |||
|
Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
So if My Eyes do not deceive me you wrote this in 1997? I may have a few questions for you my dear, like...WHERE have you had this hidden all the time... and I know you know the title was the first draw for these tired eyes... On to Part 2! |
||
|
Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191Cape Cod Massachusetts USA |
Waiting for the sequel here... Very nicely done, m'friend..  |
||
|
Kethry Member Rara Avis
since 2000-07-29
Posts 9082Victoria Australia |
Mysteria, Very nicely done but ...who is Linda? Kethry Here in the midst of my lonely abyss, a single joy I find...your presence in my mind. Unknown |
||
|
Mysteria
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328British Columbia, Canada |
Sunshine ~ Well first I called it something else but when I found this picture I re-wrote parts to fit it. (First she had a bustle, and was rather ratty looking) LOL, and no I wrote it yesterday. Nan ~ Thanks, Kethry ~ Linda was Marge's name before I decided to change it to Marge, that darn spel cheker only finds so many of my mistakes  Glad you are enjoying it. |
||
|
JamesMichael Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336Kapolei, Hawaii, USA |
Very nice writing Mysteria...James |
||
|
Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
A good summer re-read...  [This message has been edited by Sunshine (08-03-2002 04:06 PM).] |
||
|
|
⇧ top of page ⇧ |
|
| All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format. | ||
