The Wages Of Sin Poem by David Lewis Paget

The Lady Mary had locked the door
And called the scullery maid,
The Boots was called and the Footman,
So they thought they were being paid,
She lined them up with the Butler,
The Housemaid, skivvy and Cook,
‘You're not to go wandering out the door,
Not even to take a look! '

She knew her word, though the very law,
Was never to go down well,
For Alice was sweet on a lawyer's clerk,
A lockdown seemed like hell.
The Footman needed his racing mates
To place a bet on the book,
So the Lady Mary had made it plain,
‘Not even a peep or a look! '

The grumbling went with the Cook downstairs
As they stood, and waited for tea,
‘It's all very well for the likes of her,
There's places I have to be! '
‘Enough of this nonsense, ' the Butler said,
‘We're lucky to grace her floor,
If you want to leave in a fit of peeve
You'll never get back in the door.'

They huddled down for a week or more
It was better than paying rent,
But a silence settled on every floor
For nobody came, or went,
The pantry shelves were emptying out
But the tradesmen never came,
‘We're going to starve, ' was the one lament
When they ate the last of the game.

The Footman called the Scullery Maid
And they huddled up on a pew,
‘If you sneak out for an hour tonight,
Then I will cover for you,
And you can visit your lawyer's clerk
Then place a bet on the book,
I'll let you in when it's nice and dark…'
‘I will, by hook or by crook! '

She slipped on out by the kitchen door
And he turned the key in the lock,
Watched the Butler heading for bed
And sat by the kitchen clock.
At ten o'clock, with a tiny tap
She had made her prescence felt,
And tumbled in as he opened the door,
Went straight to the hearth, and knelt.

He locked the door, then he heard her sob
And saw that her head was bent,
She stared so long and hard at the floor
That he thought his bet was spent.
‘What ails you Alice, now what went wrong,
Don't give me none of your lies! '
She looked up into his face just then
And he saw blood stream from her eyes! '

‘They're dead, all dead, ' were the words she said
As her tears had mixed with the blood,
Your racing pals and my lawyers clerk,
And the horses, down at the stud.
The Lady Mary, she should have said…'
But he cut her off right there,
Leapt up, unlocking the kitchen door
He dragged her out by her hair.

He locked the door and he scrubbed his hands
But he'd locked the beast within,
As blood then streamed from his Footman's eyes
And he earned the wages of sin.
The Lady Mary came down the stair
To find him, dead on the floor,
And said to the Cook, with blood red eyes,
‘You'd best fling open the door! '

4 January 2015