Southend U3A

Writing for Fun

Grizelda's Story - Diane Silverston

October 2014

It was a dark and stormy night when Grizelda arrived at her Great-Grandfather's house. She knew little about him or his life, but now she needed to ask him for help.

As she stood there dripping on the doorstep waiting for someone to answer her knock, she looked up at the dark forbidding façade of the large Gothic mansion. Not a glimmer of light could be seen, even the moon was hidden behind the threatening cloudy sky. Grizelda felt alone and scared but she had no choice, she had to speak to him.

She knocked again, the heavy handle clanked against the enormous wooden door. She huddled into a corner of the small porch, trying to get some shelter from the increasingly heavy rain and sleet. What would she do if there was no answer tonight?

As the thunder rumbled and the lightning lit up the sky, Grizelda looked out across the parkland and up the driveway she had walked down. There was no sign or noise of traffic going past. No signs of lights from nearby houses. She couldn't shelter here all night could she? But by the same thought she knew she shouldn't go wandering in this unknown environment. What a predicament. Should she knock again? Grizelda felt she had to; surely there must be someone in the building.

Once again she thought about the strange story she had been told a few years back. Her father had told her that there had been a fierce argument between his father and his mother's father, when he was very young, and that they had never seen or spoken to each other ever again. No one seemed to know what had caused this argument.

Now here Grizelda was huddled in the porch of her Great Grandfather's house, her Grandmother's father, one of those involved in this argument. Grizelda's father and paternal Grandfather had both died during the last three years and a few months ago her mother, the last of her family, had died, leaving horrendous debts to be paid. The house Grizelda had lived in all her life had to be sold, all the furniture and furnishings too. This still hadn't been enough to settle the death duties due. Grizelda had been at her wits end.

Whilst going through her parent's paperwork she had found the name and address of her great grandfather, and after much searching she found out that he was still alive. She had come to ask him for some help.

She decided to knock once more, it was her only option. As she heard the knock echoing, she saw a faint glimmer of light moving through the house. At last a response! She waited nervously for a few more moments before the light became stronger and there was the sound of bolts being pushed. The heavy oak door slowly opened and an elderly man's head appeared.

'What do you want? Who are you?' he asked grumpily.

'I'm Griselda. I need to speak to my great grandfather Giuseppi.'

The elderly man seemed to stagger as he stared at her.

'No it can't be !' he muttered 'She died years ago. But you look just like her.'

'Who?'

'Grizelda Careggio, Giuseppe's wife.'

'You mean my great grandmother?'

'I suppose so. You better come in. We didn't expect you. In fact we didn't know you existed.'

'Thank you. I realise this is going to be a shock but I really need to see him. I have to speak to him urgently.'

Grizelda followed the man up the stairs and along the dark corridor. Soon they were at a pair of vast doors. He stopped, looked at Grizelda, pulled the doors open and gestured her in. The room was enormous with dim candle light flickering, and at the end a massive blazing fire with two large armchairs by it. The elderly man moved forward and whispered to someone sitting there.

'Come nearer,' a deep voice boomed. 'Come nearer so I can see you. What do you want?'

'I need your help; I'm your great grand-daughter.'

As Grizelda moved nearer she heard the seated man gasp.

'You are just like my wife, so there's no doubt you are who you say you are. Sit down. Johnson get her some food and drink.'

Grizelda was soon telling her story and the mishaps. She was beginning to feel better now she was dry, warm and fed.

Eventually Johnson showed her to a large bedroom, with its four-poster dominating the room. It was quite dark but cosy and the bed looked inviting.

Suddenly Grizelda woke up with a start, the room seemed much colder and she could see a wispy light hovering at the end of her bed.

Who was in the room? Who was speaking to her? Should she get up to investigate or just hide under the covers? She decided on the latter.

In the morning everything seemed normal, chilly but not scary. Griselda got out of bed and opened the curtains. There was a grey mist hanging around and blocking out the view.

As she turned she saw the portrait above the bed, a young girl, Zelda. So this was her grandmother. Griselda knew nothing about her, she had never been spoken about, and there had never been any photos of her around. How strange. What was Zelda's story?

Grizelda made her way downstairs and Johnson showed her the way to the breakfast room. Here the walls were full of portraits. Her great grandfather she recognised and beside him a lady who looked like her. This must be her great grandmother Grizelda. Then two more portraits, one was Zelda as a young lady, the other a lady a little younger.

'That's my grandmother Isabella, Zelda's younger sister.' The voice was of a young man. 'I'm Joseph Santi. You must be Grizelda?'

'Yes I am. It's good to meet you. I didn't know I had any other relatives.'

'No after the argument, the two families never met.'

'Do you know what the argument was about?' asked Grizelda.

'Don't you know? Well Zelda was only 15 when she met Gregory and her father was against the match. They eloped and got married. Just a year later Zelda had her baby boy, Santore your father. Unfortunately she died soon after. Her father blamed Gregory and never forgave him.'

'How sad. I never knew. In fact my father never spoke of his mother. It must have devastated everyone.'

'Yes it affected the whole family. Grizelda our great grandmother never recovered properly from it, and Isabella's life was changed for years until she met Ricado.'

Just then the doors opened and Giuseppi came in followed by Johnson.

'Sit down, sit down, let's have breakfast. Then we need to discuss your future Grizelda.

'Do you mean you will help me?'

'Yes, on certain terms. I'll pay off the rest of your debts. My Grandson Carlos and his wife Marie live here with me, they are away at present but will be back soon, and Joseph has a studio and flat in the stable block. You will come and stay here and help Joseph with his work, cataloguing my library.'

'I'd love that. Thank you so much.'

Soon Grizelda found herself established as part of the family, settled and happily working in the extensive library, with its high bookshelves filled with old and new books, manuscripts and leaflets. She got on well with Joseph and Jacob, a young man who came once a week from a nearby town to help value the books.

During that time she once again had a night time visit,

Quite comforting and not anything to concern her.

She rarely saw any other staff apart from Johnson, but realised there must be a cook and at least two housemaids.

Suddenly everything changed. Carlos and Marie returned home and immediately there was tension in the house. Carlos was out at business most of the time, but Marie made it very obvious she didn't care for Grizelda, in fact at times she showed a real hatred for her. Grizelda couldn't understand why. What had she done?

One night Grizelda woke and felt that sudden chill,

This message made Grizelda feel scared. What did it mean? Who did she need to be careful about?

Then things took a sinister turn. Work she had done went missing; shelves she had sorted were disarranged. Papers were messed up as if someone had been rifling through them. What was going on? Who was doing it? Even Joseph had become moody.

One morning at breakfast Marie showed her true feelings. As she left the room she shouted, 'Why are you here? You are not needed, we don't want you. Go away and leave us alone. You have spoilt everything.'

What did she mean? How had Grizelda spoilt anything? She thought she was wanted by her great grandfather. She didn't understand what was wrong.

The next morning as she was cleaning a high shelf, she came across two thin books that looked different to the others in the library, certainly not as valuable. As she took them down she realised they were diaries. Whose? She started to read them and realised it was her great grandmother's work, the other Grizelda.

The more she read the sadder she became. It was obvious that her great grandmother had not been happy. She had been forced into an arranged marriage because of business, and judging from her diaries she was concerned the same was going to happen to her two daughters. In the second diary she had written about her grief over the death of Zelda, and the fact she would never see her grandson.

Soon Grizelda felt tears on her cheeks. How sad it all was.

Just then Jacob came in, 'What's wrong?'

Grizelda told him about the diaries and her great grandmother's story, also about the night time messages.

'Well things have never really been happy here as far as I tell. Zelda was the lucky one, she managed to escape. Her father had planned to marry her off to one of his business friends,' Jacob said, 'The story is that after her death, her mother became more and more of a recluse. Isabella's freedom was curtailed. When her mother died Isabella was forced to marry Ricado Santi, another one of her father's friends. Joseph has always said she became a bitter woman with not a good word for anyone.'

'How do you know all this?' asked Grizelda.

'Giuseppi is well known, as our his ambitious ways. You don't realise how determined he is.'

A week later Grizelda had another visit during the night, with an even more frightening message,

As soon as Jacob arrived, the following morning, Grizelda told him the message and how Marie had really turned nasty, making comments about her being a 'conniving slut.'

'Well Carlos was forced to marry Marie to keep the business going. I think she is scared that it is going to happen again. That Guiseppi is going to have his way and you are in agreement.' Jacob remarked.

'What do you mean?'

'You and Joseph of course.The two of you to marry.'

'No, never, we're cousins! I need to get away, but how and where would I go? Giuseppi has trapped me by paying my debts.'

'Calm down, let's think. You could go and stay with my mother and sister. They live in a remote village in the highlands. No one here knows about them. Then we can sort something out.'

'Are you sure they would help? They know nothing about me.'

'Of course they will.' Jacob replied, 'Can you manage to sneak out just before I leave today. Hide in my car.'

So here was Grizelda once again huddled in a corner, but this time in a car and under a blanket. Escaping to safety. Was it the spirit of her Grandmother Zelda who had been warning her? Or perhaps her great grandmother Grizelda? She would never know.