A Glimpse

July 20, 2008

Read into this what you will.

The storm broke up the party last night. The rain came crashing down and cut short the post tour cocktails. We huddled in the gatehouse or a room of the house to shield ourselves from the heavens. When the air 'dried' out, we made a hasty assembly of things to be put away in cars, the fridge, or remain in the gatehouse til Tuesday.

I went back to the terrace for one last look and found the door into the house still open, so brought in a few things to protect from the sun and the rain of the coming days.

Nan had closed the doors to the butler's pantry and the kitchen was vacant, leaving me with a temporary panic that she had left, as had Pilar… with no keys and my security code at home and no use to me to lock up for the evening. Nan hollered eventually hearing my movements disturb the evening's stillness.

She came down from the servants' quarters and stopped in the doorway to the kitchen to ask if I had those non-existent keys. As she stopped to plot her determination to go back to the gatehouse to get hers, the doors to the mudroom moved. They opened. Draft? Maybe… but in the kitchen??? Then, as we looked at the doors, they closed themselves with a movement not like the wind – but like someone pulling them. The room chilled. Not icy like the movies… but noticeably cooler in that sultry air.

There was still lightening in the sky and the lights in the house flickered as century old wiring is wont to do. An added element to the moment… that was more curious than creepy.

Nan resolved it was Mary. And I like to think so… checking in on her kitchen after a party in that house.

Or maybe it was the wind that somehow rattled down the mouse hole or through the walls from the Golden Step room. In perfect momentum.