The Wages of Sin

The Lady Mary had locked the door

And called the scullery maid,

The Boots was called and the Footman,

So they thought they were being paid,

She lined them up with the Butler,

The Housemaid, skivvy and Cook,

‘You’re not to go wandering out the door,

Not even to take a look!’

 

She knew her word, though the very law,

Was never to go down well,

For Alice was sweet on a lawyer’s clerk,

A lockdown seemed like hell.

The Footman needed his racing mates

To place a bet on the book,

So the Lady Mary had made it plain,

‘Not even a peep or a look!’

 

The grumbling went with the Cook downstairs

As they stood, and waited for tea,

‘It’s all very well for the likes of her,

There’s places I have to be!’

‘Enough of this nonsense,’ the Butler said,

‘We’re lucky to grace her floor,

If you want to leave in a fit of peeve

You’ll never get back in the door.’

 

They huddled down for a week or more

It was better than paying rent,

But a silence settled on every floor

For nobody came, or went,

The pantry shelves were emptying out

But the tradesmen never came,

‘We’re going to starve,’ was the one lament

When they ate the last of the game.

 

The Footman called the Scullery Maid

And they huddled up on a pew,

‘If you sneak out for an hour tonight,

Then I will cover for you,

And you can visit your lawyer’s clerk

Then place a bet on the book,

I’ll let you in when it’s nice and dark…’

‘I will, by hook or by crook!’

 

She slipped on out by the kitchen door

And he turned the key in the lock,

Watched the Butler heading for bed

And sat by the kitchen clock.

At ten o’clock, with a tiny tap

She had made her prescence felt,

And tumbled in as he opened the door,

Went straight to the hearth, and knelt.

 

He locked the door, then he heard her sob

And saw that her head was bent,

She stared so long and hard at the floor

That he thought his bet was spent.

‘What ails you Alice, now what went wrong,

Don’t give me none of your lies!’

She looked up into his face just then

And he saw blood stream from her eyes!’

 

‘They’re dead, all dead,’ were the words she said

As her tears had mixed with the blood,

Your racing pals and my lawyers clerk,

And the horses, down at the stud.

The Lady Mary, she should have said…’

But he cut her off right there,

Leapt up, unlocking the kitchen door

He dragged her out by her hair.

 

He locked the door and he scrubbed his hands

But he’d locked the beast within,

As blood then streamed from his Footman’s eyes

And he earned the wages of sin.

The Lady Mary came down the stair

To find him, dead on the floor,

And said to the Cook, with blood red eyes,

‘You’d best fling open the door!’

 

David Lewis Paget

 

 

Reviews

[R Smith]

brings to mind Poe's Masque of the Red Death, a plague i'm guessing has befallen the town and only Lady Mary seems to know the answer, sadly they let the killer in, a quite fantastic story David, you are really hitting some high spots these days but then you always did :)

[Valentine]

So much like Upstairs Downstairs, or even Downton Abbey, I find it funny how the staff are paid to obey their masters, right or wrong. They act like it is a privilege to cater to these higher ups. But mess up once and usually it is out the door they go...you wrote this brilliantly. I really enjoyed reading this piece..Valentine

[Marie]

THey should have trusted the Lady Mary; she knew best, and the butler too. Possibly she should have told them what was going on, but the gentry tell their servants little, always expecting them to obey orders.

So they met their fates, and none too good for them, I say...

[Einstein Noodle]

must read this again and again .. pretty damn brilliant .. but dont swell the head :) i am very low on the pole! .. love this poetic tale .. putting it rightfully in any library :)
E.

[MomzillaNC]

What a cost for willfulness! Tragic and downright disturbing. Brilliant.

[ANTO]

Upstairs downstairs eh mate - loved it then - love this now - I had Hudson (the supreme Gordon Jackson) in my head saying this in his Scots twang -
"‘Enough of this nonsense,’ the Butler said,
‘We’re lucky to grace her floor,
If you want to leave in a fit of peeve
You’ll never get back in the door.’

Hell I commented that top part before even finishing the poem and I have to revise my opinion now - it started familiarly, quaintly and went cuckoo on me. It thrilled me and it worried me - so many emotions in 5 minutes - you're a genius Dawei
thanks for sharing this - hudson meets nosferatu piece

;p

[Barbz]

There is a lesson here....though not agreed by some. that when you fail to heed demand, revenge will surely come. The blood will flow, there maybe a slash, requiring a stitch. You'll face the ire of her command. Revenge is such a B***h!