After that, she left the room and decided, as Mary had suggested her, to talk to Margaret Murphy who was the housekeeper of the Abbey. She wasn’t beautiful and didn’t seem to be kind. She was just strict like her job. Mrs. Murphy was little and had a hooked nose. Anne found her in the corridor:

“Good morning Mrs. Murphy!”

“Good morning Miss Thompson. May I help you with something?”

“Yes sure, Frederick told me a lot of sweet things about his mom and I wanted to know how she was. Therefore, do you know where I can find a portrait of her?”

“Sadly, Miss, I can’t help you. The only portraits which were in this house disappeared after the terrible accident. I think it’s because General Hamilton wasn’t strong enough to see the face of his wife.”

“I totally understand, I’m sure he loved her very much!”

“To be honest they didn’t spend much time together, the General preferred to stay in his office.”

“Mrs. Murphy, we need your help in the kitchen, Catherine burnt herself!” told a masculine voice.

“Oh! Mr. Swan, remember me to fire her before Christmas!”

“Of course, Mrs. Murphy!”

After this exchange, Margaret Murphy walked quickly down the stairs to go to the kitchen, but Mr. Swan stayed with Anne.

“My goodness! It’s impossible now to have good employees!”, he sighed, exasperated, “However, I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation with Mrs. Murphy. I’m Matthew Swan, the butler of this house. Can I do something for you?”

Anne was thinking about what Mrs. Murphy had told her before. Apparently the General was selfish and not very open. Anne thought that it was really strange that the General who was supposed to love his wife spent his time in his office or didn’t want to give details about their relationship to his own daughter.

“Oh yes actually I was looking for a portrait or a drawing of Mrs. Hamilton. Charlotte told me a lot of sweet memories of her mom.”

“Fortunately for us there is not portrait of this woman in the Abbey.” said the butler abruptly.

“Really? But she seemed to be very close to her children.”

“She spent too much time with them. When the General invited some friends she preferred to stay with her children. Do you know how precious General Hamilton is? He tried pretty much everything to keep her attention on him but she was blind. He was too patient with her. She also didn’t worry enough about the etiquette!” said he irritated.

Anne thought: “It’s strange that he’s so aggressive when he speaks about his Mistress. Butlers never ever speak ill of their employers. Moreover, she died twelve years ago and he still has so much anger towards her! Such an angry man may very well have killed the person he hates!” The butler could have pushed her down the stairs. And he just had to say that it accidently happened. She thanked Mr. Swan and went down the stairs. She just had to know if he was here the night Mrs. Hamilton died. And Anne knew perfectly where to go to have her answer.

She rushed to the kitchen where Mrs. Murphy was healing Catherine and asked her if the butler was in the Abbey during the terrible night. Unfortunately for Anne, Margaret Murphy told her that he wasn’t there. Mr. Swan was going back in his family when it happened. Too bad, Anne really believed her theory was true!

During the rest of the week, Anne did lots of nightmare about that. She imagined different scenarii about the death of Frederick’s mother. Because the butler wasn’t there, it must be someone else. But who did it? She wasn’t much ready to imagine the General pushing his wife in the stairs. The General couldn’t do that! She was his wife! They were married! How could he decide to kill her? After a few days of thought, she continued to investigate what she was calling in her head “The inquiry of Reading Abbey”. Anne needed to find someone who knew Mrs. Hamilton well. Someone who had been the witness of something. In general, people didn’t pay attention to the servants. They usually saw or heard things! She looked at the window and saw the garden. She immediately thought: “The flowers! Mrs. Hamilton must love flowers! And Mr. Swan told me that she usually spent lots of time with her children. Children love to play outside!” She went in the garden and across a path, she met the gardener who was a kind person. He was pretty tall and had thin hands. She couldn’t resist asking him some questions about the Abbey. He didn’t tell her as many clues as she was expecting but she discovered that Mrs. Hamilton loved yellow roses and that it was forbidden to plant these because General Hamilton couldn’t stand it. But he also told her, that he caught Frederick’s mom with some yellow roses a few times.

Anne immediately thought that somebody obviously offered roses to the mother. But who could it be? She thought that it may be a lover or something like that!

The next day, Charlotte proposed to seat outside in front of the garden. She wanted to know if everything was alright for Anne and how she had found her first day at the Abbey. Anne thought it was really delicate from Charlotte to take care of her like that. During their exchange, Charlotte’s friend asked her some questions about the allusions that her father had made about the “old wing”:

“Do not worry about me, honestly I am very happy to be here! I just didn’t know what to say about what your father told me yesterday evening during the dinner…What is this “old wing”?”

“Oh yes, I’m sorry my dear, I forgot that my father didn’t explain to you what it is. The “old wing” is, as you can tell by its name, the oldest part of the Abbey. My father doesn’t let us go there because it’s where my mother died. She fell in the stairs because one of the steps was broken; therefore it’s too dangerous for us to go there. My father used to sleep there and after the accident, he changed his bedroom and now he sleeps on the modern wing.”

“I’m sorry for you! I imagine it was a shock for you to go to funeral.”

“Oh actually I never really had precise memories of my mother. I was too young, it happened twelve years ago.”

“I understand now, but I’m sure your father would be happy to tell you something about your mother!”

“Unfortunately, the rare moments when I want to know her a bit more, my father doesn’t seem to pay intention to me, I’m sure he loved her but I think her death hurt him so bad that he can’t speak about her.”

“I’m very sorry for you Charlotte.” Anne thought that the behaviour of the General was weird. “Why doesn’t he want to talk about it?” She thought. “Perhaps something terrible happened. Perhaps he’s hiding a secret!”

Anne knew that it wasn’t polite to insist on this topic but she was a curious girl and wanted to visit the Abbey by herself. Obviously she wanted to go to the “old wing”. Because she was very fond of gothic novels, she was really attracted to this type of places. She made sure nobody followed her and during the next night, she woke up at three am to visit it. When she got near, she heard some strange sounds and muffled noises coming from the back of the wing. She was really scared and rushed to her bedroom where she hid herself under the blanket. She thought:

“This place is not a good one. Oh my god, there is a ghost or a spirit which haunts the Abbey!” Suddenly, she remembered her dream about the woman who was pushed in the stairs. What if it was the General’s wife? What if he had killed her?… The ghost! Sure! It must be her spirit that she had heard in the old wing. She must have sent her this dream in order to get revenge.

The next morning she woke up very tired, she had never ever had such a night. She did horrific nightmares where she dreamt again that there was a murder in the Abbey and so the spirit of this person was coming back to haunt the place.

After the breakfast, Anne had a walk in the garden with Frederick and Charlotte. Emma wasn’t there because she was with her governess. Anne spent all of her time thinking about what had happened the night before. This feeling continued to fill her brain and soul, the rest of the week.

One day, all the family had to go to Reading because they had to do something really important. Anne had to stay at the Abbey. Therefore she decided to investigate a little bit about the old wing. She was really curious and spoke to Emma’s governess, Mary Mc Cormick.

Mary was really sweet and patient. She was from Scotland and was twenty-five years old. Together, they spent a lot of time discussing about themselves. They became good friends and when Anne thought it was the right moment to speak about the history of the Abbey she asked her questions about it:

“My dear friend, I don’t want to be indiscreet but do you like the life you live in this place? I mean, the General doesn’t seem to be someone charming and helpful.”

“Indeed he isn’t. This job was recommended by one of my good friends who lives in London. She told me that it wasn’t the best job ever but that it was well-paid. The first time I saw the Abbey, I thought it was haunted by some spirits or something. Sometimes during the night I just thought I heard some noises which were coming from the old wing. However I think it was because I was a little bit immature. Obviously ghosts are not real!” said Mary, laughing.

“To be totally honest with you, I had the same feelings as you. Do you know what exactly happened this night twelve years ago in the old wing?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t help you sweetie, I wasn’t there when it happened. But I agree with you, there is something wrong about this place.”

“Do you think the general loved his wife?”

“I don’t want to be disrespectful, but I didn’t really notice any kind of love or sweet feelings in him when he speaks about her. I mean it’s very rare when he does it. And I also have never seen a portrait or a painting of his wife. Emma asked me one day if I could describe her mom because she was a little baby when she passed away. And apparently her father has never ever shown her a portrait of her mother…”

“Oh, really? It’s a bit strange.”

“But I recommend you to speak with Mrs. Murphy. She was here when the accident happened.”

“Thank you for helping me!”

The Lovers of Reading Abbey

 by The Royal Shrimp

(about author and writing context)

Part 1

Anne Thompson was one of the most beautiful teenage girls of her town. Her eyes had an almond shape and had a deep blue tone. They were as deep as the ocean. She also had long and thick black eyelashes. Her face had an oval shape and she had rosy cheeks and freckles on her temples and nose. Her lips were a bit plump with a really light purple shade. She had very dark hair that amplified her really pale skin tone, as pale as her grand-mother’s china. She looked like a beautiful porcelain doll dressed with a muslin dress. She usually wore some muslin dresses that were tight under her breast. That day her dress had a lilac tone which was matching her lips.

Anne was eighteen years old and was the pride of her family. She had nine brothers and sisters and was the oldest. They were all living together in a small town called Canterbury in the county of Kent. She wasn’t as much open as one could think. This girl was pretty discrete and withdrawn. Despite her fresh beauty and her natural kindness, she never really had friends. Only the men were turning and focused on her during some random walk in the town. This was a behavior that she qualified of rude. However she had always been really interested in books. That was her only real pleasure in life. The first book she really loved was the “Tales of Canterbury” by Geoffrey Chaucer. She read it because she lived in Canterbury. Then she read all the other books in the library. She loved gothic novels full of murders because she felt the same feelings as the main characters. And then she imagined stories in her head about fair women who were saved by respectful gentlemen.

It was the beginning of January 1912 and it was rainy. Anne was invited by her neighbours, Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham to spend a few weeks in London. During this trip, she met in Harrod’s Charlotte Hamilton who was a pretty nineteen-year-old girl. She had fair hair, and blue eyes and was looking for a muslin dress for a ball. Anne also met her brother, the charming Frederick, who was twenty. Frederick was pretty tall and had blue eyes and fair hair. He had a beautiful and seductive smile, with two lovely dimples. He was always wearing some dark fitted coat that made him slim. They became friends and slowly Anne fell in love of Frederick and vice-versa. One day after a walk in a park, he decided to introduce her to his father, General Hamilton. During this dinner, the General invited her to spend time in their Abbey, Reading Abbey in the county of Berkshire.

A few days later, Anne arrived at Reading Abbey. The journey was correct and she spent as usual all the trip reading gothic novels, especially one with a murder and an investigation in it. The first feeling she had about the Abbey, was not a good one. She felt that it was not very congenius and cozy. Actually this place was cold. Everything was dark and massive and every piece of furniture was made in a really gloomy wood. One of the maids brought her to her bedroom. It was like the rest of the Abbey, cold without any light and any happiness. She didn’t expect this feeling, and she felt really uncomfortable in this place. Just before she changed her outfit, someone knocked on the door. When Anne opened it, she saw Charlotte who just wanted to tell her that the dinner would be served at six and a half pm, and she recommended her never to be late especially for lunch or dinner time. Her father was really strict especially about the hours.

At twenty-five past six, she went down the stairs and arrived in front of the dining room where Frederick and his father were standing. Charlotte and Emma weren’t there. At twenty-five to seven, the sisters arrived.

“We apologize for being late, father, I was helping Emma with her dress”

“Well, the next time you’re late, you won’t be able to take a dinner”, said General Hamilton abruptly.

Anne was very afraid of the General, and she thought that it was unfair that her friend got punished. Just because Charlotte wanted to help her sister, she arrived late and both had to be punished. She didn’t say anything but she looked at Frederick who seemed to agree with her.

The dining room wasn’t cozier than the other rooms of the Abbey. It was a really big place with a very long table and next to it, there was a fire place. Apparently General Hamilton thought it was really important to have a lot of space to invite people, even if Frederick had already told her that it’s been a long time since he saw a guest.

“My dear guest, I wanted to tell you something very important that my son probably never told you about the abbey…” said, the general.

“Yes sire, indeed I don’t remember anything about that.”

“For your safety, it is absolutely forbidden to go to the old wing of our home”.

Anne didn’t really understand why it was forbidden to go to the old wing, but she would never ask why, especially to the general. He wasn’t gentle and his behaviour with his children wasn’t correct for Anne. She decided to ask Charlotte a few questions about it during a walk, the next day.

After this frosty dinner, everyone went to sleep and Anne did some nightmares: she dreamt that a woman was killed by a mysterious man there; then she dreamt about a demon living there. She didn’t sleep much and spent a horrible night. When she woke up, she couldn’t help thinking that her dreams were somehow connected to the mysterious old wing.

This short story was written by my pupil for an English class assignment in her first year in high school. They spent the whole year studying detective stories in class, and as a "final task", they had to produce their own detective story.

We worked on it together. As she had not liked working on detective stories and I am a big fan of Jane Austen, I suggested we work on a rewriting of Northanger Abbey in a "what if" mode: "What if Catherine was right to suspect the Colonel of a horribe crime against his wife?". I also suggested we add literary references to show that she had worked seriously, despite her dislike (e.g. ref. to the Canterbury Tales; the story takes place at Reading Abbey, in reference to Anne's love for reading - Reading Abbey is a real place, except that it is an abbey fallen to ruins, it wasn't turned into a residence).

We had just read and/or watched Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre so we took some inspiration from it as well. And the funny thing is that we ended up unconsciously re-writing Northanger Abbey into Jane Eyre (at some point, the Colonel was in love with the governess and so on, until my pupil's mom remarked that it sounded a lot like Jane Eyre's story...).

Her mother also suggested using the Titanic at the end (but you'll need to read through to the end to know how ^^)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it