Posted on Tuesday, 31 October 2006
The village of Mansfield had always been a peaceful and quaint village. The Bertram children had always been good, yet somewhat rambunctious. As they grew older they matured into sensible adults. Tom remained a bit wild. Edmund turned serious, for he knew a clergyman must retain a certain amount of seriousness. Maria and Julia, the family's beauties, were gracious, yet vain young women. Maria was most especially concerned with her own beauty. Maria, some would come to say actually turned out to be the least sensible of all the Bertram children.
When the murders started all thought the circumstances behind each were odd. The girls were all young and all known to be virgins. The blood from their bodies had also been drained. When the fourth and fifth girls were found the locals began to grow superstitious. Families forbade their daughters from walking out at night. Girls started wearing charms in order to ward off evil spirits. Despite their precautions the killings continued and the authorities were no closer to apprehending the murderer. The latest victims were all under maids at Mansfield Park and Sir Thomas was dismayed over the events. The situation now hit too close to home. He knew his daughters were young and (he hoped still) virgins. And Fanny, there was Fanny to protect too.
The last few days were busy. The staff had been run haggard over the play Tom was determined to enact. Fanny worked diligently on the various sewing tasks and Tom would occasionally try to convince her to act in the play. She remained steadfast. She detested play acting and she was sure her uncle did as well. He may not be at Mansfield, but she liked to think she was considering his wishes.
The night before the production, Tom held a dress rehearsal. Fanny was in charge of Maria's costume and that night they did a final sitting.
"Fanny, you seem to have grown so fair." They were facing each other, as Fanny wanted to ensure the costume fit properly. Maria ran her index finger down the length of Fanny's cheek. "You are so very lovely, very soft."
Fanny took a step away, embarrassed she looked down and heard Maria laughing.
That was not the only odd encounter she had with her cousin that night. Every time Fanny looked up from her sewing, she caught Maria staring at her. Maria would smile. The smile itself was so much more troubling than the staring. It was nearly sinister in nature and Fanny had difficulty determining what she had done to offend her cousin. She decided that she would go to great lengths to avoid her for the rest of the evening.
The dress rehearsal was nearly over when Fanny had the great satisfaction of knowing all her assigned sewing tasks were complete. She excused herself to one of the other drawing rooms to write her brother a letter. She was just describing their cousin's odd behavior when the subject herself entered the room suddenly. Maria brought Mr. Crawford with her and her gaze made Fanny feel more uncomfortable than ever. Mr. Crawford looked around the room, every thing more interesting than the small girl nearly cowering in the corner. He stumbled around causing Fanny to believe him intoxicated and even more at leisure to do whatever Maria wanted.
Fanny grabbed her letter and moved to leave the room. Surprisingly, she met no resistance. She decided the safest place for her to continue her letter was in the comfort of her own room. She hurriedly mounted the stairs and as she walked down the hall of the family wing she felt the odd sense of someone watching her. She looked behind her, but saw nothing unusual.
Fanny's room was dark and fire in the hearth low. She peaked one last time down the hall before firmly shutting the door and latching it. She set the letter on her writing table and lit the candle. Out of nowhere a hand covered her mouth muffling her frightened screams. She tried to move away, but another arm circle her waist and hefted her from her chair into a standing position. The person was much stronger and taller than her. He towered over her and for a brief moment she thought she might be able to weasel away.
"Hold her Henry! Do not let her go!" Mr. Crawford swung them both around at the sound of Maria's voice. Maria approached them, a greedy look in her eyes. The last thing Fanny remembered was the sight of a rag moving closer to her face.
Her head ached and her eyelids were heavy. Seconds passed until she was able to focus on anything in particular. She was in a dimly lit room; one she didn't recognize. She shifted and noticed her hands were tied together and then she realized she was in a bathtub big enough to fit two people!
The door opened and Maria and Mr. Crawford stumbled in. They were out of breath and looked ridiculous. If it was possible, Mr. Crawford was even tipsier than before. He tripped over his own feet. They walked over to the tub. Maria scrambled in and sat across from Fanny. Fanny shied away, tucking her feet underneath her.
Fanny swallowed and looked from one to the other. Their steady gazes frightened her. "What am I doing here?" Her voice was shakier than she wanted. It would have been so much better for her to sound firm.
Her cousin laughed. "Fanny, I knew you were never the cleverest of girls!"
"I - I - do not understand."
"I need your blood Fanny and, unfortunately, you have to die for me to get it."
Fanny did not understand how she was to know Maria wanted her dead. "My blood? I -"
If a light had ever turned on in Fanny Price's head, it did at that moment. Her eyes widened as she fully comprehended the magnitude of her cousin's revelation. All those dead girls before and now she was next! "You killed those girls and now - but why me? Why now?"
Maria looked at her hand and ran the index finger of her other hand across the smooth surface of her skin. "I need my treatments. Rushworth expects nothing but the best and you will do just as well as anyone else."
Did Maria think no one would miss her? A nagging doubt told her they probably had not noticed that she was not at supper. "Someone will notice - Edmund will notice. Your mother will notice."
"Fanny no one cares for you. Henry, get the knife. Henry!"
Mr. Crawford was so quiet Fanny had forgotten he was there. In fact he was so quiet Maria had not noticed he was no longer near the tub; he had snuck out of the room! Fanny acted so quickly that she did not know what she was doing. She kicked at Maria and caught her cousin so unaware that Fanny was able to get to her feet, leap out of the tube and run towards propped door. Even though he was one of the reasons she was caught up in this mess, she blessed Mr. Crawford for leaving the door open!
She ran out into the hall as fast as her feet could carry her. She did not immediately recognize the corridors and she made several turns hoping to put as much distance between herself and Maria as possible. She came to a flight of stairs leading up and she concluded from the lack of stairs going down that they must have been in the basements. How did they manage to carry her down there without anyone, a servant or family member, taking notice?
She climbed the stairs. She ran faster and harder than she knew was possible. She came to the kitchens and cried out for help, but no one was there. Where is everyone? She looked around the kitchen and her gaze landed on a heavy skillet hanging from the ceiling. Maria was certainly much stronger than her. She would not be able to fight off her cousin should they come to another confrontation. Fanny had the element of surprise and she meant to make the most of it. She scrambled up a chair and awkwardly took down the heavy skillet. She heard rapid footsteps coming up the stairs and she only had a few moments to position herself against the wall. She mustered all her strength as she brought the skillet down onto Maria's head. Fanny dropped her weapon as Maria hit the floor.
Fanny reached the main floor, out of breath, and in near tears. "Someone help me!" Her voice cracked and she nearly broke down and wept as she saw the entire Mansfield family (bar one) congregated in the entrance hall.
"Fanny, what has happened?" Edmund untied her hands and took her into his arms and she sobbed against his chest.
"She said she was going to kill me!" Fanny had to pause to take another breath. "She's down there. I had to -"
After running as wild as she could, Fanny finally fainted.