Author's note: Happy Birthday, Lilyvandersteen! In honor of your birthday, here is a one-shot in the Westerville Abbey verse that you haven't yet seen.
While beta'ing the story, Lilyvandersteen said she wanted some one-shots with the Dowager Countess and Blaine. In the last scene with the two of them, before Blaine goes to war (chapter 31), the Dowager Countess says, "Remind me one day to tell you about Prince Igor Kuragin from Russia."
Dower House, the Westerville Estate
26 December 1915 (Boxing Day)
Blaine
When the front door bell rings, Blaine wills it to stop. He just had a toe-curling orgasm, and he wants to savor the floating feeling for a while longer in his lover's arms. When the bell rings a second time, Kurt mumbles, "You better answer the door. Someone is being persistent."
"Come on, Mr Blaine. I know that you are in there. Get yourself out of bed and come downstairs. I have a message to give you."
Blaine recognizes Sam's voice shouting from outside.
"I'll just be a minute, my love," Blaine whispers and gives Kurt a tender kiss. Blaine climbs out of bed and puts on his dressing gown and slippers before going downstairs to answer the door. He shivers when the brisk morning air breezes in.
"Good morning, Sam. You're here awfully early."
"I hardly call nine o'clock early. I've been up since six, preparing the boxes for you to distribute today. The Dowager Countess gave me this letter to deliver to you."
"Thank you, Sam. I'll see you in a few hours at the abbey."
Blaine quickly closes the door to keep the cold out and returns to the bedroom. He adds a few logs to the fire to warm the room before returning to bed.
"What did Mr Evans want?" Kurt asks.
"He's brought me a letter from my grandmama."
Blaine opens the letter and reads it out loud.
My Dearest Blaine,
I hope you two are settled in Dower House. There are a few things I need to retrieve - some more writing paper and a trinket or two that I forgot when I moved to the abbey. I shall be paying a visit at 10 AM this morning to collect them. Perhaps we could have morning tea together before you set off to distribute the boxes to the estate's farmers.
I hope it isn't any inconvenience.
Your loving Grandmama
Kurt sits up in bed. "A few things to retrieve? Ha! There is plenty of writing paper at the abbey. It's merely an excuse to visit us. I wonder what she wants."
"I really don't know. It's hard to guess what goes on in her shrewd mind. Perhaps she just wants to spend time with us. It'll be all too soon before our home leave is over."
Kurt wraps his arms around Blaine and snuggles in. "Don't say things like that. I want to suspend time and just live in this bubble at Dower House."
"I do, too, sweetheart." When Kurt says things like that, Blaine feels his love for him grow even more; he had thought that impossible.
"What time is it?" Kurt asks.
"Nine o'clock. We still have an hour before Grandmama is expected. Plenty of time for round two," Blaine suggests, waggling his eyebrows.
Kurt giggles. "You're insatiable. I doubt anybody knows that behind that dapper façade is a sex fiend."
"Can you blame me when I'm in bed with somebody as sexy as you?"
Kurt kisses him gently before pushing him aside. "We only have an hour and so much to do! I'll need to light the parlor fire, air this bedroom so that it doesn't reek of sex, and what will I serve the Dowager Countess for tea? Oh wait, I left my footman's outfit at the abbey."
Blaine finds Kurt's need to have everything perfect for Grandmama's visit endearing. "I doubt she'll want much to eat, not so soon after breakfast. We have some leftover mince pies from last night. That will do."
"But what about my footman's uniform? I can't serve the Dowager Countess morning tea in my night clothes!"
"Wear your RFC uniform instead. You were planning to wear it to distribute the boxes anyways."
They quickly get out of bed, do their morning bathroom routines, and dress for the day. Blaine can't stop staring at Kurt in his RFC uniform. It's one thing to see Kurt wear it in a photograph but an entirely different matter to see it in person. Kurt has obviously tailored the uniform, and it flatters his body in all the right ways. Blaine wants to drop to his knees, unbuckle the thick leather jacket belt, make his way through the layers of clothing, and take him in his mouth.
"Blaine, are you going to stare at me all day, or are you going to help prepare for the Dowager Countess' visit?"
Blaine shakes his head to lift the fog in his brain. "How about if you make the bedroom look presentable and light the parlor's fire, while I sort out morning tea?"
The hour goes quickly as they go about their tasks. When Blaine brings the tray of morning tea to the warm parlor, he finds Kurt dusting and plumping the pillows.
"Everything looks great," Blaine says, pulling Kurt into his arms. He takes the duster from Kurt's hand and tosses it behind the sofa. With a few minutes to spare, he cups Kurt's face and kisses him. He gently massages Kurt's bottom lip and slowly moves to the top lip, enjoying how soft they feel. Blaine tilts his head and presses deeper. When Kurt's lips open slightly, that's all the invitation Blaine needs to plunge his tongue inside.
Kurt stretches his neck, and Blaine takes this as a cue to let his lips wander along his jaw and neck. As he inches down Kurt's throat, he takes in the smell of lavender mingled with the special scent that is unique to Kurt. Kurt's hands are firmly around his neck, and he tries to memorize the sound of Kurt's breathy sighs to recall on those lonely nights in the trenches. Just as Blaine is about to loosen Kurt's tie, the doorbell rings.
Blaine pulls away from Kurt and rolls his eyes. "Darn, just when things were getting interesting."
"I'll remember exactly where we left off so we can resume later," Kurt purrs.
They go to the entrance and open the door to find Grandmama and Quinn standing there.
"Good morning, Grandmama," Blaine greets, kissing her on the cheek.
"You both look flushed. Are you ill?" Quinn asks.
"We just stoked the fire in the parlor, My Lady," Kurt replies.
Blaine is grateful that Kurt is such a quick thinker. "Would you care to join us for morning tea?"
Quinn shakes her head. "I need to get back to help with the boxes. I'll be back just before eleven to collect everyone."
They wave goodbye to Quinn as the Renault jolts and lurches away from Dower House. Kurt takes the Dowager Countess' coat and hangs it on the stand, while Blaine escorts her into the parlor. Once his grandmama is comfortably seated, Blaine pours the tea into cups.
"I like a gentleman who doesn't shy away from pouring the tea," the Dowager Countess remarks.
Blaine chuckles, "In the army, everyone needs to pour their own tea, except for the highest officials."
The Dowager Countess turns to face Kurt. "You would be wise to remember that. Just because you are a former footman, you don't need to serve tea to your fellow pilots."
"I'll remember that, My Lady. Shall I retrieve those things that you need, while you speak to Blaine?"
The Dowager Countess waves a dismissive hand. "I thought you two would have been smart enough to spot the flimsy excuse. Before you know it, your home leave will be over, and I wanted to spend some time alone with both of you."
Blaine smiles sweetly. "And of course, we want to spend time with you as well."
"I trust that you are both comfortable at Dower House?"
"Very much so, My Lady," Kurt replies. He offers the plate of mince pies to the Dowager Countess, who turns them down.
Blaine takes his grandmama's hand in his. "I can't thank you enough for your ingenious plan to allow us to be together during my home leave. It's already been the happiest time in my life."
"Then I'm glad that my plan worked. One is not given many chances in life, and if you miss them, they may not necessarily be repeated."
"Grandmama, I need to ask you something. I know the love that Kurt and I feel for each other is forbidden. So why are you supportive of us?"
"I'm not a romantic…but even I concede that the heart does not exist solely for the purpose of pumping blood."
"I suspect you really are a romantic at heart," Blaine replies.
"I am most certainly not. What silly nonsense!"
"Perhaps then you are no stranger to forbidden love," Kurt suggests.
"Does this have anything to do with the Prince from Russia that you hinted at before I left for war?" Blaine asks.
When his grandmama turns pale, Blaine realizes that they have innocently hit on a sensitive topic.
The Dowager Countess sets down her cup of tea. "Very well, then. I know your secrets, so perhaps you should know mine. You must promise me that you will keep my secret until your graves. There isn't a living soul in England who knows it. I'll deny everything if it leaks out, and you will look like fools."
Kurt and Blaine nod. "Grandmama, we didn't mean to pry. If you want to keep your secret, we can leave this matter. But rest assured, we will both hold your secret to our graves."
"In 1874, your grandfather and I went to St Petersburg for the royal marriage of Prince Alfred to the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrova of Russia. When I met the Prince Igor Kuragin at the royal wedding, we fell madly in love."
The Dowager Countess pauses to take a sip of tea. Blaine had heard that when his grandmama turned 18 years old, her family arranged the marriage to the Earl of Westerville. In some ways, it isn't surprising that her heart belonged to another.
"In the weeks that followed - weeks of balls and midnight skating to the strains of the balalaika - we resolved to elope. You know, to be free."
"What happened?" Blaine asked.
"Well, at the appointed hour, we started for the port, to set sail in the prince's yacht, but my maid had betrayed us to the prince's wife, who set out in pursuit. She caught up with our carriage, wrenched the door open and pulled me out."
"Pulled you out? By your arm?" Kurt asks.
"Oh, by my arm, by my hair, by my leg, anything to get me out of the coach. Then, she flung me into the cab that brought her and sent me back to Lord Anderson."
"You must have looked rather disheveled. What did Grandfather have to say?"
The Dowager Countess clucks her tongue and shakes her head. "Men notice nothing. A few days later, Lord Anderson gave me a frame by Fabergé, with two pictures of the children in it, and I saw sense."
Blaine comments, "Grandfather sounds more subtle than I'd realized."
"Well, like all Englishmen of his type, he hid his qualities beneath a thick blanket of convention."
"Do you have any regrets?"
"The prince's wife saved me from ruin... from the loss of my children and from a life in the shadows."
"And you've never strayed again? Blaine asks.
"I've never risked everything again."
"It's not quite what I asked."
"It's all the answer you'll get. Remember, we were the Edwardians."
Blaine digests this new information from his grandmama. After her reference to Edwardians, he suspects that his grandmama has more secrets - it's a well-known fact that King Edward had mistresses throughout his married life.
"So, you see, I'm no stranger to forbidden love. The difference between me and the two of you, is that you have a chance to love one another for the rest of your lives."
"But I still need to marry a rich lady. The Westerville Estate is counting on me," Blaine reminds her.
"Yes, but there are still ways that you can be together. I have plenty of plans up my sleeves," replies with a proud grin.
The doorbell rings, and Blaine realizes that it must be just before 11 AM. True to her word, Quinn has arrived to drive them to the abbey for Boxing Day. When Kurt leaves to answer the door, Blaine gives his grandmama a tight hug. "I love you so much, Grandmama. Thank you for sharing your story."
Kurt returns with the Dowager Countess' coat, and Blaine watches as he helps her put it on. He has always thought of his grandmama as the family's matriarch and protector of the Westerville Estate. She goes to great lengths to ensure the happiness of those she holds dear. However, Blaine now knows another side of her - a woman who has experienced forbidden love and has vulnerabilities, too.
Author's note
The Dowager Countess' backstory with Prince Igor Kuragin is canon. Downton Abbey Series Five has a story arch devoted to her seeing the Prince once again in 1924.
Many thanks to my fantastic betas, Fearlessly and Dblmalfunction, who performed a detailed final review, although all mistakes are mine. I'm HKVoyage on Tumblr.