In High Spirits

If there was one thing the Graceys were known for, was their knack for throwing parties in their mansion. Grand balls and dances would be the talk of the town. Although Halloween was a relatively new holiday in America, it had caught on in New Orleans. The townsfolk dressed up as ghosts, witches, and monsters, or took on more fashionable disguises, and even posed as the heroes of the Battle of New Orleans and the American Civil War. This allowed the more unwanted folk to blend right in.

On this occasion, George and Abigail planned to go as Mr and Mrs Washington in honor of their countries central. Inside the grand hall, the Organist sat down at the large pipe organ and played a mournful, haunting melody as costumed guests twirled around the dance floor.

Abigail had had little contact with her relatives on the east coast, but if she had a favorite, it had to be her cousin, Samuel Cromwell Pickwick who had developed his own successful trade routes along several canal systems in Europe and along the Mississippi. Although a successful businessman, Pickwick was an eccentric at best.

His oddball behavior, yet amiable nature, made him an amusement for Abigail. His visits to New Orleans always brought some happiness to her often gloomy life. Being quite the connoisseur for wine, Pickwick always enjoyed a good drink. It might have explained his eccentricities. George cautiously gave him a glass of wine, toasting to the future.

Though getting on in years, Pickwick was still pretty lively. Driven by wine, Uncle Pickwick dashed up to the ballroom’s second floor, threw himself off the balcony and managed to grab a hold of the chandelier. He swung precariously from it, bottle in hand, singing “Down By the Riverside” drunkenly.

Of course, Uncle Pickwick could only keep his grasp on reality and the chandelier for so long. His fall to the ballroom floor brought both him and the party to a swift end. Rumours spread that someone had spiked Pickwick’s wine, though since no one knew what glass or bottle he had drank from, no one could determine if his demise had any murderous motivations behind it.