Into the Unknown

London, 1785

“Ms. Frances Grace!” - a footman standing in front of a mansion entrance called out.

A young woman stepped out of the line of other women waiting in the yard.

“Follow me.” - he said in a monotone voice.

They walked for a few minutes in silence, passing the dark corridors of the mansion until they reached a door. The footman opened them slightly and announced, “Ms. Grace is here to see you, my Lady.”

“Thank you, Mr. Gates, you may go now.” - a woman’s voice answered from the other side of the door.

“Yes, my Lady.” - he signalled for the other woman to come in.

When she entered, the Lady was standing by the window, back turned to the stranger.

“Is that all my Lady?” - the footman asked.

“I’ll call on you when you’re needed, you may go now.” Her voice was stern, but pleasant.

“So Ms. Grace”, she began, “What makes you believe you are fit for this job?” She moved away from the window, still not making eye contact.

The other woman moved closer, stopping by the beauty table and grabbing a silver brush that was left on it.

“Let me show you.” - she commanded. The Lady finally turned around, revealing a slight smile on her face. “If you insist.” She got into the chair and the other woman started brushing her long dark hair. She began to style it while the Lady sat in silence.

“Something on your mind, my Lady?” The other woman looked at her reflection in the mirror, snapping from her daydreaming.

“Nothing that would concern you. Thank you, you are very skilled in hairstyling. I’ll take that into consideration. “Now”, she stood up “You may go. I have many other applicants to see today. I don’t want to keep them waiting.”

The other woman nodded, “Of course, my Lady.” bowed slightly and left the room.

A few days later

A carriage arrived at a townhouse. The footman stepped out. “What’s your business here?” he asked in a stern voice.

 “I’m here for Ms. Grace. Lady Ainsworth sent me to pick her up. I was told she resides here.”

“Of course. I’ll notify her.” - he stepped back inside.

Ms. Grace was witnessing all of this from her window. She smiled contently and took to the staircase. “Ms. Grace! Just in time, there’s a carriage outside waiting for you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Ash. Please get my suitcase.” Without waiting for his answer she went into the carriage. After a short while, the carriage arrived at the mansion. The woman from earlier was already waiting outside. “Welcome to your new home, Ms. Grace.” - she took her by the hand, leading her inside. “There’s a lot to show you, but let’s start with your quarters. Since you are my maid, you get your own place away from other servants. I’m sure you’ll be comfortable here.” The Lady took her to a well-furnished room, filled with paintings of still life and an already yellowing wallpaper. “This is lovely my Lady, thank you. I’ll be most comfortable here.”

“I hoped you would be.” - the other woman smiled. “Now, I’ll show you around the house. It’s important for you as my maid to know your way around here.”

When the tour was over, Lady Ainsworth took Ms. Grace back to the kitchen. “Here, you can help Mrs. Hill with the dinner. I have some business to see to in town. I’ll be back in time for dinner so you better have everything ready.”

“Yes, my Lady. I’ll see to it.”

“Farewell, Ms. Grace.” She headed towards the door.

Later that evening, Ms. Grace was standing in the dining room with two other servants, serving wine for the Admiral and Lady Ainsworth.

“I heard that you have come into possession of a valuable item your last absence. What is it?”

“I have indeed. I have returned some of our stolen gold to the King and I found something even more valuable. Something that will help destroy the resistance against the Crown in the Colonies. But, let’s not talk about such complicated topics. It’s too difficult for a proper Lady like you to understand.”

Something in Ms. Grace snapped when she heard those words, but she bit her tongue. The Admiral stood up from his position by the table and headed towards the door. “I bid you good night my Lady.” And with those words he left.

“You’re all dismissed.” Mrs. Ainsworth snapped. Without another word, Ms. Grace left the room.

The next morning, the Admiral was surprised by the sound of laughter coming from his fiancée’s room. He cleared his throat before entering the room, “I just wanted to say my goodbyes before I leave. I have some business to tend to. Good day. Ms. Grace.” He nodded and closed the door behind him. “Is he gone?” asked Lady Ainsworth after a short while. “Just a moment… he’s out of sight.” Ms. Grace smiled back at her from the window. “Finally.”, Lady Ainsworth exclaimed and took Ms. Grace’ arms into hers. “Soon we will be free.” Ms. Grace replied and kissed her. “Until this moment, I didn’t think it possible.” “What do you mean?” asked Lady Ainsworth. “When I heard that you were engaged to the Admiral I thought that you had given up on our dreams.” Lady Ainsworth took her arms in hers, “I could never. I only complied to my father’s wishes to marry the Admiral so he wouldn’t interfere with our plans.” The smile from Ms. Grace’ face faded quickly. “What is it?” Lady Ainsworth looked concerned.

“Yesterday evening, when the Admiral was talking about something that will help him destroy the resistance, it reminded me of everything that happened with Mr. Brown.”

“Lucy…” Lady Ainsworth took her hand in hers, “I’m sorry about what happened with your uncle. It won’t happen again, I promise. This is why we’re doing this. The Admiral is nothing without this information. The resistance is strong. The contact I saw yesterday, he assured me he’ll help us escape if I gave him this map. We can build a life there. We’ll trade, do whatever it takes. But we will be free to be ourselves. This is temporary. I have family in Boston, we can move there. They have money. We’ll be alright.”

“I hope you’re right. But first we have to get this map. Where would the Admiral keep that?”

“It must be somewhere in his study. But I have no idea where. He is very careful about everything to do with the Navy.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to find out.”

Later that evening

Ms. Grace was waiting until the Admiral came home and followed him to his study. She knocked on the door.

“May I come in my Lord?” she inquired.

“What is it?”

“I was told you have tea at this time and the cook was feeling ill so she sent me to give it to you.” – she handed him the cup.

“Thank you, Ms. Grace. You are proving to be a good servant.”

“Thank you my Lord. If you’ll excuse me.” She bowed slightly and headed out.

While leaving, she left the door slightly ajar and peered through. The Admiral was writing something she couldn’t see and after a while stood up from his chair and took out a key from his coat. He opened one of the cabinets and took out a map. Exactly what she was hoping for. He noted something on the map and headed towards the cabinet again. Ms. Grace ran through the corridors to her room as quietly as she could.

Next morning, she impatiently waited for the Admiral to leave and as soon as he was gone she headed for his room. Lady Ainsworth made sure that no servants would be there at that time so she could search the room. She closed the door behind her and started searching for the coat the Admiral was wearing last night. Rummaging through his clothes, she finally found it. She put the key into her pocket, checked no one was in the hallway and left. She headed for the study, her heartbeat increasing with every step.

When she reached the study, she knocked on the door, making sure it was empty. When no one answered, she entered, closing the door behind her. She quickly got to the cabinet the map was in and unlocked it. The map was right in front of her, but before she could take it she heard a voice behind her, “What are you doing here?” her blood ran cold. One of the maids came to clean the study. She slowly turned around, trying to think of an excuse. “I was sent here by Lady Ainsworth.” The older woman looked at her with distrust, “And what possible business would she have here?” She couldn’t speak. She was frozen in place. The servant moved closer, “What are you doing with that key?” Ms. Grace watched in horror as the realisation made itself clear in the servant’s eyes.

“You were going to steal from Lord Jenkins. I have to tell the Madam. You’ll be punished for this.” - as the servant turned to leave, panic and uncontrollable anger overtook Ms. Grace’ mind. She ran for the woman and grabbed her by the throat from behind as tight as she could. The woman struggled, desperately trying to get away. But Ms. Grace wouldn’t let go. She was too far gone now. She couldn’t let her go. As the woman was pulling her towards the door, she pushed her into a wall, her arm still around her throat, and started hitting her head against it. By this time, both were exhausted but Lucy felt the woman was growing weaker so she held her, back against the wall, slowly sinking to the floor as she felt the woman’s struggling slowly fade. She sat there on the floor, still in shock and covered in blood from hitting the servant’s head, breathing hard. For the first few moments she felt completely numb. She didn’t feel sorry for the woman she just killed and that terrified her. When she had recovered a little, she moved the servant’s body away from herself and stood up. She walked over to the cabinet and took the map. She finally had what she had come for. She put it in her pocket, but now she had another problem. She knew she had to get rid of the body. But there were servants all around the house and worse yet, so was Abigail. She knew she couldn’t have Abigail find out about this. She would hate her. Even if she did it for their safety, she still killed someone. She covered the servant’s body with some of her clothes and checked if someone was around. When it was safe to come out, she ran to her room and cleaned herself up the best she could with the water she had in the room. Then she quickly changed from her bloody clothes and headed out. She went into one of the servant’s room and put the bloody clothes there. The servants all wore the same attire, so nobody could prove it was hers. Just then she heard a scream downstairs. By the time she got there, the servants all gathered around the body. Abigail came rushing in from the garden. Her face went pale. “Ms. James!” She rushed to the servant’s body but it was too late. “Call for my husband! Now!” One of the servants ran off. Ms. Grace walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, “Come on, you shouldn’t be looking at this.” Abigail went with her, trembling.

“Why would anyone kill her? And in the study as well. You weren’t there were you?” - she looked up at her with concern.

“Of course not… I was there earlier this morning, but I have no idea who could’ve done this.”

“I’m so happy that wasn’t you. I’m dreading the thought of it happening to you.” - she pulled her into a hug. A tear rolled down Ms. Grace’ cheek.

Later that day

The Admiral came home with his men who removed the body and searched the house. They arrested a young woman whose bloody clothes were found in her room. She kicked and screamed as they dragged her away. Lucy kept her head down, trying not to look.

That night she came into Abigail’s room. Abigail woke up startled. “What are you doing here?”

“I got it. I got the map. Nobody was guarding the study after everything that’s happened.”

“How did you get the key?”

“I stole it from his clothes.”

“Now come on, let’s meet your friends.”

The two headed to the harbour. A man came forward to greet them.

“We’re here to see Mr. Scott.” - Abigail began - “Mrs. Abigail Ainsworth. He’ll know who I am.” The man took off.

“He’ll see you now. Follow me.” The two women followed the man until they reached a boat. All three climbed on. When they were aboard, a rough looking man walked towards them.

“You must be Ms. Ainsworth.” he said, looking at Abigail. “Have you brought me what was promised?”

Abigail produced the map out of her coat and handed it to the man. “This is it. Now take us where we need to go.” Ms. Grace was standing behind her, suspiciously eyeing the man.

Mr. Scott took the map, studied it for a while then spoke: “It’s real. Welcome aboard Ms. Ainsworth. And your companion?” he looked at Ms. Grace, as if he was trying to uncover what was on her mind.

“Ms. Lucy Brown. I’m sure we’ll get along.” She smirked and extended her hand. He shook it. “Welcome aboard, Ms. Brown.”

“Ms. Brown got you the map. Now she has a preposition of her own.” She turned to Lucy.

“And what is that?” asked Mr. Scott.

“Don’t take us to Boston. Take us to Port Royal with you. I want to make the Admiral pay for what he did to me, for killing my guardian just because he traded with people like you. I want to make England pay. Would you be willing to do that?”

Mr. Scott considered for a while, looking at both of them and finally smiled. “Alright. I guess I am willing to try my luck. Welcome to the crew.”

Under the guise of night they sailed off into the unknown.