Miss Laurel Matthews of Ellsworth Manor by ?

The eldest in the family and the spinster who never left home, Miss Laurel Matthews had taken it upon herself to preserve the respected family name along with the cultural heritage of a bygone era. Since her parents were gone, Miss Laurel Matthews had become the matriarch of the family. Affectionately known as “Miss Laurel” around her small southern town, she taught high school English for some forty years before retiring to see to the care of her aging parents. Miss Laurel also taught etiquette classes for the local youth. Every parent in town who had any type of upbringing at all would enroll their offspring for at least one season of Miss Laurel’s training before sending them out into the world. Miss Laurel’s classes were always full and usually had quite a waiting list, until recent years. The general lack of gentility in the modern world had reduced the demand for Miss Laurel’s services, but those parents with the proper social finesse still knew the value of her instruction for the youth of the community.
On weekends, Miss Laurel conducted tours of her antebellum home, Ellsworth Manor. Ellsworth Manor was a grand home, indeed. A pre civil war structure, the home was on the registry of historical buildings and had quite a history if one was to believe all the stories. Miss Laurel was the epitome of the southern belle and offered tours of Ellsworth Manor, dressed, of course, in period costume. She lived in a fantasy world of cotillions, bridge clubs, women’s associations, and of course, her etiquette classes.
Miss Laurel was a much sought after figure in the local social scene. Throughout the years her picture graced many a society page in the area. However, Miss Laurel was unescorted at her many social appearances, save the few times one of her nephews would accompany her. Rumor had it that Miss Laurel had a suitor in her youth, but no one was sure what ever happened to him. Some say he was killed in the war, others say that Miss Laurel’s father had him escorted out of time due to the young suitor’s questionable lineage. Whatever happened, Miss Laurel never again found herself with male companionship.
Miss Laurel met John Riley at a charity social function. He was utterly charming and soon won the favor of the older lady. John Riley began to come visit Miss Laurel, starting with helping her with chores, painting, landscaping, doing repair work around the house. John’s visits became more frequent and longer in duration. Eventually, John was accompanying Miss Laurel around town and serving as her escort for social functions.
“She’s just an old fool,” her lady friends would whisper behind her back. “Certainly only after her money,” the men would agree.
John rekindled an old flame deep within Miss Laurel, a feeling that had been long buried. They would spend quiet evenings discussing art and literature and sipping brandy. They spent afternoons on the veranda, sipping ice tea, John happy to dress in period costume with Miss Laurel. He was quite a striking figure in his Confederate officer attire. John eventually moved into the guesthouse, just so he could be closer to Miss Laurel and look after her.
Jefferson and Nora were Miss Laurel’s trusted servants, maintaining a small house on the property. Nora served Miss Laurel as cook and housemaid while Jefferson was her gardener, driver and all around handyman. The couple had been with the family for some thirty years and were none too thrilled about the new house guest and certainly suspicious of his motives.
It was one Wednesday afternoon that Miss Laurel received a telephone call from Larry Freeman at the bank. Larry asked if he could come to Ellsworth Manor and speak with her. Since the Matthews family had long been one of his best and wealthiest customers, Larry was happy to make a personal call to her home.
“Miss Laurel”, Larry said, “I just received a phone call from Merchant’s Bank in Memphis. It seems that someone was trying to cash a rather large check from your account. The bank officer in Memphis was a little skeptical about the transaction, so she called us first.”
Miss Laurel tried to hide her surprise behind her usually cool demeanor and in a attempt to save face said, “It’s okay, Larry, I know about it. I sent John to Memphis to buy some supplies. We are going to expand the rose garden. Thank you for your concern., but it’s okay, really.” Nora escorted Larry to the front door.
Thinking herself to be quite the old fool, Miss Laurel decided to have a look around the guesthouse. Going through the closet and all of the bureau drawers, she found nothing out of the ordinary. As she headed toward the door, she noted a creak and a feeling of looseness in a floorboard. Retrieving a nail file from the bathroom, she pried up the loose floorboard. Underneath she found a Canadian passport for someone by the name of Mark Spencer, along with a sizeable sum of cash, and her grandmother’s diamond broach. Her initial shock now turning to anger, she pondered what she should do. She carefully replaced the items, except for the broach, and started out the door.
John drove up just as she was leaving the guesthouse. In a completely uncharacteristic manner, he confronted the old woman. “Miss Laurel, what are you doing?”
Trying to think quickly, but never having been practiced in the art of lying, she said, “I was just checking on the condition of your linens, I thought you might be in need of a few new things.”
John was less than amused. He laid his hands on her shoulders and shoved Miss Laurel backward into the guesthouse. She stumbled, falling backward onto the floor, losing her grip on the broach, it tumbled to the floor. “Now, you old biddy,” John said as he pinned her to the floor, “just exactly what were you doing in here?”
Miss Laurel made a feeble attempt to respond, but before she could formulate an answer, she could feel John’s hands grasping her throat. She felt light headed as if the life slowly draining from her body. Suddenly, Miss Laurel’s eyes widened and John Riley fell on top of her in a slump. She looked up to see Nora standing there, iron skillet in hand. Jefferson soon appeared in the doorway. Nora and Jefferson rolled John’s body off Miss Laurel. She was bruised but okay.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Jefferson said, “Not to worry, Ma’am, I’ll take care of this. It’s deer season, Joe down at the market always lets me use his butcher shop after hours during deer season.”
Late in the evening, the old black couple, faithful servants of the Matthews dynasty in this small southern town, struggled to load a large, oddly shaped package into the back of their old pickup truck.
The next morning, Miss Laurel opened her deep freeze to find an assortment of packages wrapped in butcher paper, marked “venison.”
John Riley, the charming stranger, disappeared from town as mysteriously as he had arrived. Most folks in town just figured he’d grown tired of hanging out with the old lady and moved on. Funny thing was, no one ever came looking for him.
Folks in town began to notice a change in Miss Laurel after John Riley left. Her students in her etiquette class noted that she was much testier than before and often repeated herself. The group dwindled down to just a few students whose parents wouldn’t let them quit. Miss Laurel still conducted tours of Ellsworth Manor, minus her usual charm and demeanor. After the tours, Miss Laurel would remain in her period costume well into the evening, sipping brandy and entertaining an imaginary guest.
Her extended family began to pay her more frequent visits, some out of concern for her well-being, and some to stake their claims on the family heirlooms.
She liked to think that a bit of John Riley was always with her. As was her habit, she enjoyed a light snack before retiring to her bedroom. Replacing the half-eaten roasted femur in the ice-box, Miss Matthews sighed. “There’s nothing so tasty as a bit of thigh meat before bed," she said to herself.