The Gray Lady

The Gray Lady

by Sonja Jackson

In the dimly lit back hallway of a Scottish castle Brianna Grace was in a passionate embrace with her lover Angus. Brianna was the nursemaid to Lord and Lady Hamilton’s two children while Angus was their butler. The two had been having a torrid affair for the past four months with no one in the house knowing. It was against the house rules for the staff to become involved with each other. Brianna and Angus had fallen in love within a few short months of meeting and decided the rule was highly unfair and impossible to follow. Brianna was afraid it was only a matter of time before someone found out. She was about ready to suggest a clandestine meeting for later that night when she heard rushed footsteps heading in their direction.

         “Angus, ye need to dae a blower! Lady Hamilton be cumin!” She began pushing him toward the door at the end of the hall. She kept looking over her shoulder while Angus kept trying to steal more kisses. “Angus, out! She canna catch you here!” When she had him on the other side of the door she locked it and went back up the hallway hoping to intercept Lady Hamilton before anything untoward was seen.

         As she was rushing up the hall she quickly smoothed out her drab gray dress making sure everything was properly tucked in and her large white collar was straight. For the entire year she had been working for the Hamilton’s’, Lady Catherine had been after her looking for the smallest little flaw in her work. It had gotten so bad lately that if she couldn’t find a mistake to berate Brianna for than she would just invent one. Lord Hamilton was no better. Perhaps he didn’t complain about everything she did but he refused to see what was really going on. She was just reaching up to tuck a few errant strands of her wild red hair back into place when Lady Hamilton rounded the corner and nearly knocked her over.

         “There ye be, Brianna. I need tae talk wit ye aboot tonight. Lass, whit a sight ye be! Where ye been, lass?”

         Brianna doubled her efforts to contain her unruly locks which only seemed to make it worse. “Sorry, me Lady. I was jest out in the gairden.”

         “Why were ye in the gairden?”

         “Well, I was jest…”

         “Nevermind, it daesna matter.  Lord Hamilton wants to make sure ye keep the bairns quite tonight.”

         “Aye, ma Lady.” Brianna was a bit confused.

         Lady Hamilton grabbed her arm and looked her directly in the eye. “Nae a sound lass, or ye will be dismissed.” Her hand tightened on Brianna’s arm to the point of causeing actual pain.

         “Me Lady yer hurtin me.”

         “Nae as much as Lord Hamilton will if ye disturb his gaitherin tonight. Dae ye hear, lass?”

         “Aye, ma Lady, I hear.” Brianna didn’t understand why Lady Hamilton was being so forceful about this. She had never said anything before about the meetings being disrupted by her or the children. Brianna thought she had been doing a good job.

         “This gaitherin is too important to be ruined by a simple maid.” Lady Hamilton turned to walk back to the parlor and under her breath Brianna was sure she heard her say “I’ll have ye out now lass”.

         Brianna was so angry and confused that she could do nothing more than glare at Lady Hamilton’s retreating back. After a few seconds she snapped out of it. She began walking aimlessly until she found herself in front of Angus’ quarters. Maybe she wasn’t alone in this after all. She knocked on the door and when she heard a muffled ‘comen ye in’ she quickly slipped through the door before someone saw her.

         Angus had been writing something at his desk but rose immediately when he saw Brianna come in.

         “Brianna, love, whit ye here for? Ye said we couldna get caught together.” He saw the look on her face and took her hands in his. “Talk tae me Bri.”

         “Lady Catherine wants tae dismiss me” she said at last.

         “Aye, but that’s nothing new is it?”

         “It be different this time, Angus.” She paused for a moment and then the rest of the explanation came out in an angry rush. “She said Lord Hamilton told her if I didnae keep the bairns quite tonight then I was dismissed because I havena kept them quite enough before and this gaitherin is too important to be disrupted.” She looked at him with a hint of defiance in her eyes, waiting for him to deny her claim but all he said was “Ach, me love” and pulled her into his arms. After a short time he released her and walked to his desk. He took a small pouch off his desk and walked back to her.

         “The wise woman in the village gave me this. It’s a sleeping draught.” He put the pouch in her hand and closed her fingers around it. “Give it to the bairns after their supper and they’ll sleep the night through.”

         Brianna opened her hand then closed it quickly. “But this may kill them, no?”

         “Nae, love. It won’t kill them. Jest keep them quite for the night so they willna make any noise.”

         “But Angus, what do ye have this for?”

         “I havna been sleepin will love, so a few drops o this in me nightly tea and I sleep like the dead.”

         Brianna was worried. She had noticed that he had been looking rather worn lately but she just assumed that the Hamilton’s had been working him too hard. Maybe it was really something else. “Is there something troubling ya Angus?”

         “Donna look so concerned love. It’s nothing bad.” He led her to the bed then took the desk chair opposite. “I didna want to say anything till I was more certain but maybe it be better this way.” He took both her hands in his and looked her straight in the eye which made her stomach flip-flop. “I’m building a hoose for us, Bri ma love.”

         Brianna was silent.

         “Now just hear me out Bri, before ye say anything. I never meant tae work here forever. I was ony workin here till I could git a place o me own. When I fell in love wit you I knew I had tae take ye wit me.”

         Brianna was still speechless. She watched him go over to his coat and retrieve something out of one of the pockets.

         “Brianna, me da gave this ring tae me mother and me granda gave it to me grannie afore that. When me ma passed she gave it to me to give to the woman I married. That woman is you Brianna.”

         He held out his hand and Brianna saw the most beautiful moonstone set in a band etched with the Tree of Life. She smiled for the first time since they had been together in the back hallway. Still speechless she just stared as Angus took her hand and slipped the ring on her finger.

         “Brianna Grace, will ye be ma wife?”

         She looked at the ring as it glimmered on her finger then finally found her voice. “Aye, Angus. I would be proud to be yer wife.” Angus swept her up and nearly crushed the breath out of her. When he finally put her down she realized that in all the excitement she had dropped the bag of sleeping draught. She picked it up and looked back at Angus in confusion.

         “Glad as I am to be yer wife, how does that help me wit Lady Hamilton?” She held up the potion bag as a reminder of why she had originally come.

         “Because love, all we need is tae keep her calm until the hoos is done then we can both leave this place. Use the draught anytime ye need tae keep the bairns quite and Lady Hamilton willna be able tae yammer on it.”

         Brianna stood on her tiptoes and gave Angus a kiss full of promise, then nearly skipped to the door. With her hand on the knob she paused. “Come tae me room later and I’ll thank ye proper.” Then she ran out of the room with an awkward laugh.

         Later that night, after the children had been fed and dismissed from their parents company, Brianna was in her quarters preparing the sleeping potion. She smiled brazenly as she took the children their nightcap settling on the best way to ‘properly’ show her appreciation to Angus.

         “Brianna, why are ye smiling so? Did somthin good happen?” Six year old Sorcha was always so inquisitive, forever wanting to know why this and why that. Under normal circumstances that would have annoyed Brianna but this was not an ordinary night

         “Because, lassie, it’s been a good day and promises to be even better on the morrow. Now drink yer cap and go tae bed.”

         “Tastes off” said four year old Cairan, wrinkling up his nose.

         “It isna off, lad. Thar’s jest a bit o herb in it tae settle yer stomach.” Brianna poked Cairan in his tummy to make him laugh and lighten the mood. “Lets be on with it now. It isna gonna drink itself.”

         Both children had complete faith in Brianna so they drank down the potion without another word. She walked them to their beds and each fell asleep before their head hit the pillow. Trying to be extra quite Brianna had taken off her shoes before coming in. Now she tiptoed to the door but as she left she didn’t latch it. She crossed the hall and left her own door slightly ajar as well so Angus could get in easier.

         A few hours later she heard her door creak slightly as Angus entered. She turned to look at him and her breath caught. He was wearing a green velvet coat that matched his eyes and she couldn’t see more than that. Angus gasped too and Brianna figured she must have made the right choice. She was standing in nothing but her frilly undergarments and her long, red hair was loose and wild around her shoulders. This brought a slight rise of color to Brianna’s cheeks but she didn’t care. This was her night.

         Brianna had set two oil lamps on the floor and a braided rug in between them. Without words they met in the middle of the rug. They stared at each other for what seemed to Brianna like forever, both afraid to break the spell. Finally Angus reached up and lightly brushed her cheek. Brianna closed her eyes, delighting in the feel of his hand on her face. Angus leaned in to place a soft, gentle kiss on her mouth. Her lips parted inviting him to take more, so he did. Without breaking contact they began to undress, doing their best not to knock over the oil lamps. As Angus was laying Brianna down on the rug he moved from her lips to her neck, nibbling and sucking until he had her moaning in his ear. She was just beginning to writhe beneath him when the door creaked open.

         They looked up and saw Cairan walking in, not quite awake yet, rubbing his eyes which looked rather glassy. In a panic Angus and Brianna jumped up and began gathering their discarded clothing in an attempt to hide their nakedness. In their rush to cover themselves the rug got shoved toward one of the lamps and it fell over, immediately igniting the rug.

         Cairan, apparently still suffering some effects of the drug, saw nothing and kept walking. Before he had even reached the rug the bottom of his dressing gown caught fire. Angus tried to jump over the burning rug and knocked over the other lamp spilling more oil and spreading the fire even further. Awakened by the noise Sorcha came running into the room. She was also still unsteady from the drug and knocked into Cairan who in turn fell into Angus. Angus fell directly on top of the burning rug.

         Sorcha had gotten so close to Cairan that her own dressing gown was on fire. Cairan’s hair had now ignited and Angus was completely engulfed in flames. Brianna, who had managed to grab a blanket from the now burning bed, did the first thing that came to mind and jumped on Angus. Both children were screaming and convulsing on the floor, Angus’ throat was so badly burned that he could no longer make any sound, and Brianna was rolling around on top of him, vainly trying to put out the fire and screaming for help.

         Other members of the household had heard the commotion and came running but it was too late. The fire was spreading rapidly throughout the entire wing and everyone was needed to help put it out before it took the entire house. By the time the fire was out the children’s wing of the house was destroyed along with the four people in it.

         Walking through the still smoldering rubble the next day Lady Hamilton didn’t know what she was feeling. If she stood perfectly still she could hear her children laughing and playing which made the pain of their loss even more excruciating. Through nobody yet knew what caused the fire Lady Hamilton believed that Brianna started it on purpose as revenge. This line of thinking turned the piercing pain into intense rage which was quickly replaced with maddening frustration because she knew she could never prove it. As these emotions were cycling through her she picked up bits and pieces of all that was left of her once vibrant children. As she bent down to retrieve a buckle from one of her daughters little shoes she thought she heard their voices again. She quickly looked in the direction the voices came from and instantly felt someone push her. When she turned around there was Brianna, pointing her finger and shaking her head. She looked in the direction that Brianna was pointing and saw her beautiful children standing by Angus and looking happier than she had ever seen them. She immediately started toward them only to lose her ability to breathe as if someone was sitting on her chest. Brianna’s image floated back into her view and whispered the words “mine, forever”. The pressure on her chest got heavier and heavier until she backed up a few steps. As soon as she had retreated Brianna walked over to Angus and the children and they walked silently into the forest hand in hand. From that day on every time Lady Hamilton came near to the ruined wing she felt that pressure returning and it didn’t lessen until she walked away. Twice she tried to walk into the forest where Brianna took the children but both times her lungs just about exploded from the pressure and each time she could have sworn she heard Brianna say “leave, now”. Lady Hamilton did as she was told, but returned as often as she could hoping just to catch a glimpse of her precious children who now belonged to the Gray Lady.