Social Short Story – A day with Mr Frederick
Photo credit: AcrylicArtist from morguefile.com
Have you ever imagined living in a mansion with a well manicured garden, a private pool, a butler, a host of servants and food served on silver plates. Would it be too much for a commoner to indulge in such luxuries?
It was early morning when the phone rang. There was a gentleman on the other side who wished me a ‘good morning’ and asked if he could speak to Mr.Thomas. Now I was very sure that I didn’t have such fine acquaintances who would actually call me ‘ Mr.Thomas’ and wish me a ‘good morning’. You might wonder why that would surprise me. You see, I’m a bachelor with all of 30 years behind me, a job that pays me such a ridiculous amount, that the prospect of being a butler in someone’s house seems more attractive and an assorted number of people who would lay down their life for me just so that I don’t get myself killed, and fail to pay back the money, my belated parents borrowed from them.
I’m simply called Tom, which is in itself a compliment cause the other names they have for me would make a drunkard, sane.
So then, this gentleman introduced himself as Mr Fredderick Thomas and asked if I was Mr. Thomas.I replied in the affirmative. He surprised me by asking about how my parents passed away. After I told him about the unfortunate incident, he seemed to be a bit anxious and worried. After what seemed like a very long pause he asked if I could come over to his house. Well, that nearly caught me. I feared if he was another addition to my long list of creditors. I politely asked him if my parents had ever borrowed money from him. I don’t quite know who was more perplexed with such a possibility, but then the gentleman that he was, he declined to answer that and told me that there was another matter he wanted to discuss. After giving me the directions to his place, he said good-bye.This surely stumped me as I was left wondering about the identity of my caller, of course apart from the fact that we shared a common name.
Anyway, the next morning found me at Mr. Fredderick Thomas’ house. The door was promptly opened by the butler who looked more dignified in his ensemble than I was in my worn out and faded clothes. He showed me into the sitting room and went to inform Mr. Frederick about my arrival.
I must make a mention here, that I felt every bit uncomfortable at the very thought of meeting a stranger who could be another creditor. However the ambience of the room transported me to an entirely new world. For instance, the Turkish carpet just sank under my feet, the walls hung with the most beautiful paintings and portraits I have ever seen , exquisite crystal figurines adorned the shelves and the sound of the pure silk curtains rustling in the wind, seemed to soothe my nerves.I was just soaking in the beauty of the room when Mr Frederick’s voice zapped me into reality.
He was quite a handsome looking man, with really expensive clothes and a very fine looking walking stick. I would think he would be in his 60’s. He walked with a slight limp. I felt my last ounce of self esteem melt away. Just then the butler walked in to serve us tea. There were different types of biscuits, chicken and cheese sandwiches, a bowl of marshmallows and french fries along with 2 cups of tea. All this was brought in on a silver tray with silver tea pot and china tea cups.
I felt like a lamb being fattened before being led to the slaughter. But what was funny was, that he seemed ill at ease himself.He asked me about my general well being and where I worked and stayed.
He did have a most annoying habit of sniffling and clearing his throat so often that one would conclude him to be perpetually under the weather. And each time that he sniffled , he would push his delicate glasses up his long sharp nose that would have put a knife to shame…it made me wonder how the glasses didn’t cut itself into two.
Mr.Frederick , now gave me a long stare and told me that he was my ‘would be father- in- law ‘, that is, if it was acceptable by me.
My eyes nearly popped out of my head! Did I hear that right?Talk about a “bolt from the blue”.
Of all the jokes that fate had played on me…this had to take the cake. I kept down my tea cup, and told him that this was truly a case of mistaken identity. I started to tell him how horrible a situation this was, but ended up prattling things that most astonished myself. I had completely lost my nerves. Mr.Frederick seemed very shocked indeed. I wasn’t sure if it was what I said or the way I reacted to him that made his jaws drop. There was a clang of metal as something hit the floor. I turned to see what caused the noise. It was the butler. Apparently he shared the same view of me as I had of myself. This revelation,had left him with clumsy hands which had dropped the tea tray. He quickly apologised and cleared the mess.
This, not so welcome break, had given Mr.Frederick ample time to recollect his views and most importantly to pull up his jaws.I must admit that this small break had not gone wasted. I imagined what it would be like, to live in a place like this without a care and how I could command respect from our dear butler who gave me a run for my self worth. But that’s another story.
Mr Frederick cleared his throat and asked me to sit down. What he told me was something completely surprising.
“Your father and I were best of friends until we got married. We lived in Scotland, but your father moved out in order to take over his father-in-law’s business here in England. We became so busy with our lives that our correspondences became fewer and fewer until we completely lost touch. A few months back I happened to receive the news about your parents demise… and that made me to inquire about you. I found out that you were in deep debt because of your father’s loss in business. This made me recall the time when your father had helped me during my years of struggle in business. Had it not been for your father, I wouldn’t have been where I am today.”
He looked me in the eye and said ” I thought that I would never get a chance to show my gratitude to your father. But now, I have an opportunity, I want to pay off all his debts and clear his name”.
But before I could respond, he laid a hand on my shoulder and said, “This is not the choice I wanted you to make, in fact I have paid all your father’s debts, but,what I am asking is, that, would you agree to marry my only daughter?”
I looked at him, wondering what he saw in me to entrust his daughter to me. I guess, apart from his sharp nose, he had a sharp mind. He knew the thoughts running in my mind and said,”I believe a noble man’s son will bring up his son to be just like himself.”
His words brought tears to my eyes.
I asked him if his daughter knew about all this. He smiled, and said that his daughter was aware of everything.
Then why would she want to marry me, I asked?
“Because she loves you” , He replied.
Wow! I thought I was just about to wake up from my sleep….any moment now.
The turn of events were more unpredictable than ‘Alice in Wonderland’ I thought.
Mr.Frederick told me that she had been an ardent fan of my articles which appeared in the newspaper.
Oh,I forgot to mention that to keep my passion for writing alive, I had undertaken to write articles and stories for a popular magazine. I also started to write for the news papers, and I must say I write quite well for I had won several awards.
He did have a most annoying habit of sniffling and clearing his throat so often that one would conclude him to be perpetually under the weather. And each time that he sniffled , he would push his delicate glasses up his long sharp nose that would have put a knife twas playing the piano.
‘Well, well, what a day this has been’ I thought.
Now you see, the commoner’s imagination may not be so unrealistic after all!
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