A/N I started to write this yesterday evening and so far I have NO idea where this might lead to. Really... :)
Sadly, the characters aren't my creation. They belong to Mr. Fellowes, ITV, Masterpiece.
Prologue
Dearest Anne,
It's been a month since I've left everything I know behind to travel to England and start a new life. I do apologize for not having written earlier but the position I hold in this household requires my full attention every day from dusk until dawn and I have hardly time for myself. Today is my half day off – the first since I've started work here. I should have joined the other maids on a walk down to the village but there were more urgent things I had to attend to first. Writing this letter to you is one of them.
I've left home in a hurry, or so it might have looked to you. Let me briefly explain what changed my mind so quickly after having been so uncertain about this job for such a long time. You know about Joe and me. You know how long he courted me. The day before I left he proposed all of a sudden. Of course I was flattered but I was also concerned about my future. I have stopped being a farm girl when I went into service and I could not envision myself as the wife of a farmer anymore. I would have stayed with you, look for employment near you if he had not proposed but the moment I had made my decision and turned him down I knew that I had to move on and change my life. I took the opportunity that was offered to me and accepted the position as head housemaid here at Downton Abbey.
The house is grand and so different from all the places I've worked before. It took me two weeks to know my way around the main part of the house however I have still not seen everything of it. For the first time I do not have to share a room but have my own bedroom which is furnished with a simple bed, a chair, an armchair and even a small bureau. If it was not for the homesickness I would be very happy here indeed. I am under the jurisdiction of a very nice housekeeper. She is already in her early sixties but you should see how she runs this place. I must say, I admire her. She is strict but fair and always encourages the maids to tell her their concerns and needs.
Then there is the butler. I've never seen a more handsome man and the thought of him makes me blush while I write though it should not affect me at all. I used to loathe all the men I had encountered holding this position for a good reason. You know very well what I imply. He is different. I can tell you that much.
Please forgive my lack of correspondence. I promise to take the time to write to you more often in the weeks that come.
Your loving sister,
Elsie
The ink was faded and the paper yellowed and brittle where it had been folded over the years. Elsie carefully slid it back into the old envelope where she had kept the letter for so long. Twenty years ago she had sat down one afternoon, her heart so full of impressions from her new employment, so full of thoughts and worries and fears. But in the end she did not find the courage to send it to her sister. Instead she had taken her time to write a new one containing much of the information she had disclosed before but leaving out one crucial part: the butler.
A/N Thanks for all the wonderful comments I've already received on tumblr!
