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“ The Midsummer's Night Inn”
Act 5
(Curtain opens)
Scene: Inside- The Twin Oaks Houses
December, 15th 1870 Morning 12:10 p.m. St. Catherine Street, Natchez, Mississippi.
Inside- The Twin Oaks Houses.
Maybelle continues to narrate her life story to Matilda.
(Maybelle pauses for a few minutes before narrating again.)
Maybelle:
I remember standing before a large crowd of people and hearing the auctioneer started the bidding at $500 and it continued until it reached $1000 and I heard the auctioneer say going once and going twice and going to number 17. I remember looking for who number 17 was it was an elderly white lady. I was wondering at the time what did she have in mind for me to do.
Matilda:
What did the lady want you for?
Maybelle:
Well, come to find out she and her husband were innkeepers, they needed a housegirl to keep the rooms clean. The name of the place was A Midsummer's Night Inn.
Matilda:
That didn't sound so bad.
Maybelle:
Oh, it wasn't, it was pretty easy for the most part, there was occasionally a rowdy patron nothing too bad.
Matilda:
Did the innkeepers treat you well?
Maybelle:
Well, the miss did, her name was Grace Effingham, but she would just tell me what she needed to be done and I wouldn't hear from her again until late. Well, her husband his name was James Effingham. Well he wasn't mean to me, he was drunk all the time though.
Matilda:
Where did you usually see him?
Maybelle:
Well, he tends to stay in the stables drinking until he passes out. The misses tend to run everything.
Matilda:
I wonder what makes a man want to be like that all the time?
Maybelle:
I'm not sure what his reason was.
Matilda:
Did they have any children?
Maybelle:
Not that I knew of, I had never seen or heard about any.
Matilda:
That's kind of sad.
Maybelle:
I guess it is, I didn't think about it until now.
Matilda:
How long were you at the inn?
Maybelle:
It was like 5 or 6 years maybe, it's been so long ago.
Matilda:
Why did you have to leave the inn?
Maybelle:
Well, the inn burned down.
Matilda: (Speaking with surprise in her voice)
What happened?
Maybelle:
Well, I guess in the middle of the night, Mr. Effingham got up in the middle of the night and went to the stables and got drunk again, and during his stooper, he knocked over a lit lantern and it caught some straw on fire, luckily there were no horses that night. I remember sleeping in my room and getting woke up by the smell of smoke walking to my window and seeing the stables on fire, running out of my room and waking Mrs.Effingham we both ran outside to try to put out the fire, but our efforts were in vain the stables burnt to the ground. When morning came there was nothing but ashes and in the middle of the smoldering ashes was Mr. Effingham's burnt skeleton still smoldering from the fire.
Matilda: (Speaking with sadness in her voice)
Oh, no that's terrible.
Maybelle: (Speaking with sadness in her voice)
Yes, It was. I like that job too.
Matilda:
What did Mrs. Effingham do after the fire?
Maybelle:
Well, Mrs. Effingham took me back to the slave market and got almost $ 700 for me and I never saw her again.
Matilda:
Where did you wind up after Mrs. Effingham?
Maybelle:
Well, that's when I was purchased by The Vandelles. They took me back to Fairhaven, Virginia with them and Mr. and Mrs. Vandelles they were so kind to me and treated me like family, not just a piece of property. Not long after Theodore and Sebastian came along. I loved those boys. I miss my time with them. They were such good boys and grew up to be fine gentlemen, just like their father Percival. Well, Matilda, you know the rest. I'm getting kind of sleepy.
Matilda:
Okay, Ms. Jefferson, I'll let you get some rest, just holler if you need anything.
Maybelle: (Sounding sleepy)
Okay, dear, I will.
(Matilda stands up and wishes Maybelle goodbye and shuts the front door behind her)
(The stage darkens and the curtain closes and the narrator begins to speak)
Narrator: The last years of Maybelle's life were filled with peace and much love from all who knew her. She lived in quiet dignity and never let her hardships and pain ruin her life. She lived to the ripe old age of 91, she fell asleep one last time and the world said goodbye to Maybelle.
End of Act 5
ns 15.158.61.21da2
