This story is a AU/Modern AU mix and will involve a bit of time travelling. Elsie lives in the modern world, Charles in the early 20th century. Hope you enjoy :)


Somewhere in North Yorkshire, between Ripon and Thirsk, at the bank of the river Swale, a few farms scattered across the scenery were the foundation stones of Downton Village. With the farmers and their employees the village started to grow. The stables were frequently used by travellers who needed to change their horses and with that the first blacksmith settled down, followed by a tailor and other craftsman. A tavern opened and a church was built. The village's centre contained no more than a dozen houses at first. Then, Downton started to be a lively place that offered everything ordinary people needed for life. A market place helped to make it grow further and one day a huge Abbey not far from the busy and hard village life was built by order of the church.

When in 1772 a peerage was created and the first Viscount Downton took over the Abbey which the church had been forced to sell, everything changed for the village. With the Viscount, later mostly referred to as Earl of Grantham, came progress and change. Downton was now well known, mostly for the Abbey, but also for the beauty and extent of the estate. It changed throughout the years. A school and a cottage hospital encouraged more people to move there. Downton was one of the first smaller places to have a train station. Time flew by and the first automobiles rattled down the road from the Abbey through the village and into the countryside. By the time the Second World War began it was no longer a village, but a small town. And as such it soon hardly differed from other towns in structure and appearance. Only its old core with cottages that still remembered how carriages had ruled the streets and, of course, the Abbey were a reminder of the past, the village's history which did differ from most. And for old time's sake it was never renamed, but stayed Downton Village.

And being so old, Downton Village was home to many people. Many people who never met, separated by time and death. How would the first stable master who died in 1205 know the first station master who was born in 1798? They wouldn't, not ever. How would the Abbey's butler born in 1856 know the headmistress of Grantham School who moved to Downton in 1991? They wouldn't, not ever. Or would they?


I'll post Chapter 2 and 3 shortly to set off the story properly.