The Gray Lady of Hayton House
Chasity Bowlin
Prologue
Miss C. Fortune,
I write, regretfully, to inform you that your former employer, Mrs. Edith Hayton Denworthy, has recently passed away. While it is my understanding you were not in her employ for a significant length of time, she thought very highly of you and was deeply distressed when her family moved her from the city to Hayton House without benefit of a hired companion.
Caris blinked at the rather woefully understated description of what had happened. Mrs. Edith Denworthy had been exiled to the family’s home in Richmond because she was too ill and infirm to be out and about in society. And her worthless relations had wanted access to the townhouse in Grosvenor Square without having to share it with their ailing stepmother.
Returning to the letter, she continued reading.
While I write with the sad news of her passing, I must also inform you that Mrs. Denworthy has left a considerable bequest to you, but it will necessitate your journeying to Hayton House, which lies just beyond Hampstead Heath. A carriage will collect you at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon for your journey here. The reading of the will shall take place tomorrow night, immediately after dinner. Due to the lateness of the hour,lodgings will be provided for the night. The burial of Mrs. Denworthy shall take place the following morning at Highgate cemetery in the family plot. Naturally, you may bring a chaperone as there will be others in the house, as well.
Regards,
Mr. Edward Fitzsimmons, Esquire
Caris glanced at the date on the letter and realized with no small amount of panic that the letter had actually arrived the evening prior. Which meant the carriage would come to collect her in only a few short hours.
Rushing from the large ballroom turned classroom of the Darrow School to the headmistress’s office, she found Mrs. Sheffield seated at the small escritoire reading her correspondence.
“I’ve been summoned to Hayton House for the reading of Mrs. Denworthy’s will and for her funeral which will take place tomorrow.”
Mrs. Sheffield looked up then. “Her will? She’s left something for you, then? Why, you only worked for her for three months!”
“I know. According to the solicitor, she was very fond of me and would have kept me in her employ longer had her relatives not interfered… I’ll be required to stay overnight and will need someone to accompany me.”
“Grace should be free to do so. Why don’t you ask her and then we’ll get to work on finding you appropriate attire… You can’t very well attend the reading of the will and then a funeral in pastels, my dear.”
Caris looked down at the pale-blue day dress she wore. It was perfectly appropriate for conducting etiquette and deportment lessons at the school, but not at all appropriate for such sad andgrim events. “Oh, you’re quite right. I hadn’t even thought about it.”
“Will it be a sizable bequest do you think?”
Caris shook her head. That was a very odd question. “I haven’t given it a thought honestly. The whole thing has taken me so much by surprise that I simply can’t imagine it all.”
“I see. Well, I’m certain all will be revealed,” Mrs. Sheffield said, but it was quite clear from her tone that she wished to know more. Perhaps she needed to know more.
“Is there a problem, Mrs. Sheffield?”
“Not a problem, per se. But if it was a sizable bequest… Well, you might set out on your own. Perhaps even start your own school. Certainly, if the bequest is truly generous, you may not need to work at all. You could have a life of leisure somewhere far from London.”
“I beg your pardon, Mrs. Sheffield, but do you no longer wish for me to teach here?”
“Oh it isn’t that at all! You’re lovely to have here… but things are a bit cramped, aren’t they? We’re adding more students by the day, and we are at a tipping point. We’ll have to begin turning girls away because we haven’t a place to put them. If we had teachers who lived off premises, married ladies perhaps, then we might have more room for students,” Mrs. Sheffield said. “I’ve considered asking Her Grace about purchasing a small property nearby. A dormitory of sorts, but I worry she will think I am complaining.”
“The duchess is a very understanding woman and she worked here for many years in the capacity you now hold. No doubt she’s well aware of the difficulties in balancing the many tasks associated with such a position. No one, Mrs. Sheffield, thinks you are not excelling at the very difficult task that you’ve been given.”
Mrs. Sheffield waved the comment away, turning the conversation back to Caris’s predicament. “You were quite fond of Mrs. Denworthy, weren’t you?”
Caris felt a pang of sadness. “She was very kind to me, treating me almost like a member of her family instead of simply a servant—elevated as the position was.”
“I am sorry, my dear… sorry you didn’t get to spend more time with her and sorrier still that now there will be no further opportunities to do so.”
Caris nodded, ending it with being somewhat difficult to speak. Quickly, she exited the study and made her way upstairs to speak to Grace.
*
