The Price of a Manor

Hear an old wive's tale about the Astor family. They are a rich family with a three generation story explaining how all the wealth in the world means little to the devil.

A decade or two ago, before you were born, the Astor family were the richest people in town. They had arrived in America with their European riches before the war. Cousins spread throughout all the states. The youngest of the sons, Albert Astor, moved here with his fiancée, Angeline.

 

Our town wasn’t always the nicest. When Albert arrived, there were wicked women in the streets. These women would tempt men to forget their lives and their wives. Before Albert and Angeline were married, Albert visited one of these women and had a child with her.

 

Angeline was furious with Albert, but she couldn’t cancel the wedding. The Astor name carried too much weight, and she would rather become Mrs. Angeline Astor with an unfaithful husband and all his status and wealth than risk being the old maid Ms Angeline. So, the two were married. And it was a big to-do! The whole town showed up and everything. All of Albert’s cousins from all the states reunited for the big day. They had a beautiful ceremony in the park, and a large reception at the family manor.

 

The manor was finished only nine days before the wedding. It was Albert’s pride and joy and built on the edge of their huge property. It was also a gift to Angeline. You could think of it as an apology gift, but really he didn’t want to decorate the interior. Like some magician, Angeline had prepared the entire first floor in the days leading up to the wedding. When they had the reception afterward, the manor was ready for the biggest shindig of the year.

 

However, all was not bright for the couple. A month later, when the newlyweds returned from their honeymoon in the Mediterranean, they found that Albert’s mistress, the woman of the night who was mother of his son, had passed away. Without a family, Albert and Angeline adopted the illegitimate son: Benedict. He was raised in the manor along with his half-siblings. You see, Albert and Angeline would go on to have three children of their own: a son and two daughters.

 

There are a lot of rumors about Benedict’s situation. His mother had died so suddenly and so close to the Astor wedding. Speculation quickly arose that Angeline had the mother killed. But she was on her honeymoon and an ocean away. So some say it was part of a larger plan. Either she had been poisoning her for months, or she hired hit men to do the work for her. Still more rumors claim that she made a deal with the devil. She asked for the unthinkable to happen to Albert’s mistress with her hands completely clean. But the devil’s deals always have a price. That is why Angeline had to raise Benedict as her own child. She could get rid of the woman, but she had to live the reminder. So you can see no one is completely sure how Benedict’s mother died. The records do not even tell us what her name is.

 

Time passed, and Benedict was raised with his younger brother Benjamin and two sisters, Beatrice and Bethany. Albert had a law firm, and Benjamin was prepared to succeed his father as owner. Benedict left the town to attend school in the north. He earned his degree and stayed there to be with his new girlfriend. The middle child, Beatrice, ran away with a writer. She only returned to the manor one time when her mother died. By then she was already twice a widow. Bethany, the youngest, was married off to a Roosevelt, but she stayed in good contact with her family.

 

When the war came, it was hard on the men of the Astor family. Albert was still moaning over the passing of his wife, but then his sons marched off to war. Benedict was states away, but Benjamin had worked with him daily. In those years, the town didn’t know if Albert could keep the firm afloat by himself. He was getting on in years, but somehow his business survived. News would trickle in from the front, and it always included good news about Benjamin. At the end of the war, he returned home a decorated war hero.

 

The town threw a parade when he came back stateside. The Astor Manor hosted the largest party since Bethany’s wedding. Everyone was there, included Benedict. Rumor has it he had to fight his way inside. The rest of the family didn’t think he would be in town so soon so they didn’t include him on the guest list. The guard at the door followed his orders too closely to the letter. He had assumed the brother’s exclusion was intentional on account of his birth. Apparently Benedict thought so, too. He was furious. He, Albert, and Benjamin went upstairs and had a long fight.

 

Some of the guests swear they could a few words shouted above the music, but no one dared to go upstairs and eavesdrop directly on the conversation. Supposedly Benedict still felt isolated from the family, even after Angeline’s death. He would have wanted to return home from the war and be welcomed as a proper son. He would have wanted to return home to stay, but his wife and family were already set up in the north. And then he learned that he was not included in his father’s will. According to rumor, Angeline asked Albert on her deathbed to not give anything to his illegitimate son.

 

Benedict left town that night. Benjamin felt bad for his half-brother. As far as everyone in town could tell, he never seemed to treat his half-brother any differently. He planned to go north with his family to visit Benedict. Benedict and his wife Brooke had two sons. Benjamin only had a daughter, but his wife Belle was pregnant with a little boy. The cousins could play, the sisters-in-law visit, and the brothers reminisce. But while Benjamin was visiting his half-brother, Brooke passed away suddenly. This was an even greater blow to Benedict, but the rest of the Astors still attended the funeral. The night after Brooke was buried, Albert told Benedict that he was welcomed to live in the manor and promised him that he would be included in his will. Albert would live to see the birth of his granddaughter but quietly pass away in his sleep soon after.

 

The sudden loss of Brooke and the change of heart of Albert has led some to believe even more foul play is involved. One rumor claimed that Benjamin killed her in order to make his father sympathetic for Benedict. But those that know Benjamin would never claim he was so heartless. Others saw the connections between Brooke’s death and the death of Benedict’s mother. Both women perished and Benedict was suddenly welcomed into the Astor Manor. Maybe it was a part of Angeline’s deal with the devil. Or perhaps Satan made a new deal. I’m sure the prince of darkness would enjoy exchanging a soul for a house a second time.

 

Whatever the cause, the Astor Manor became home to a third generation. Benedict’s two sons, Charlie and Clancy, were raised with their cousins. Benjamin and his wife Belle had a total of three children: Clementine, Connor, and Claire. Bethany’s son Cole would have some trouble with the law. To separate him from his bad influences, he would also move into the manor.

 

It wasn’t for many years when Benedict passed away. Benjamin continued to own the house, although his Belle became sick. The west wing of the manor was turned into a hospital for her. It took her three years before she finally died one night. While Clancy and Claire left the manor for the Du Pont and Rockefeller families respectively, the remaining children stayed here in town. Cole joined Connor in running the firm that Albert built. Charlie became commissioner and revolutionized the police around here. It’s because of him that our little town is finally respectable. And Clementine became a nurse. Mainly she looked after her mother, but she did move to the state hospital after her mother passed on.

 

It seemed for once that the Astor family was at peace. Our town was flourishing into one of the greatest cities. But then Benjamin suddenly became sick. He would only suffer for one week before passing away. Now rumors circulated about his will. Bethany was the only other living second generation Astor, but she was never expected to inherit the manor. That meant the whole of the estate would need to be divided among the remaining children. Apparently, Cole believed he should get an equal share in the inheritance. Like Charlie, he was a nephew that lived in the manor, but Charlie was to receive more money. As an Astor in blood and a lawyer at the firm, Cole thought he would become an owner. However, he was going to get none of it.

 

Now, the rumors of Cole’s reactions are what spawned all the previous rumors of satanic deals. Once people started talking about the Astor family and devils, the story started making sense for every strange incident in the past three generations. But it was Cole who started it all. See, it was rumored that he reached out to some of his old friends. These were the guys that got him in trouble before he moved into the manor. Apparently they did not change ways like Cole did.

 

They made the most famous and infamous deal. It was in the ruins of the old brothel that the remains of a pentagram were found. Cole’s old friends were arrested within a week for breaking sanitation laws with a live goat. No connection was ever made with them, Cole, and the old pentagram, but this town still has plenty of gossipers. This all happened in the week Benjamin was sick and the days surrounding his funeral. When his will was finally read, Cole was given a substantial amount of money, an owner’s share in the firm, and the manor itself.

 

Maybe Benjamin had a change of heart, but that would not explain why his son would not receive the old home. Relations between Connor and Cole were never the same, but the firm still exists. Cole moved out of the manor shortly after inheriting it. It still sits on the edge of town, abandoned. He claimed it was haunted. Ghosts of women wandered the halls. The ghosts are undoubtedly the spirits of all the women who died in the name of the house. Albert’s second lover and Benedict’s wife Brooke all died so men could have the house. Cole was fortunate that he too did not have to pay with a life. But if he wanted the house badly enough to betray his family, then he would have to live with all the sins of the family. In the end, he chose to purchase a new plot of land and build a moderately sized home.

 

Connor is still trying to save the family name, but it may be too marred now. Only time will tell. His son Dominic is set to take over the firm and move into the new mansion. Rumor is they got the land unnaturally cheap.

Author's Note

The goal of this story is to sound almost like a bedtime story, or at least a story told by word of mouth. How does the unique narrator effect the piece as a whole? How could it be improved?