Articles
Disclaimer: Downton Abbey would be a very different show, believe me, if I were the one in charge. Downton Abbey belongs to one Julian Fellowes.
Paring/ Character(s): None – Edith Crawley, The Drakes
Earth
Edith shivered and pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders. The air smelled of damp ground, a cold rain had fallen all morning. It still lingered around her, chilling her and adding to the gloom of the afternoon. She shivered again as a puddle on the path soaked through her boots, but it was not because she was cold.
It was the smell. The cool, organic scent of freshly turned damp earth. Her lips tingled. She could remember everything, still, like it was yesterday.
The taste of beer from the bottle and his lips. The barn light reflecting in his eyes as he looked at her. It had made him look like he thought she was pretty. The smell of earth and hay and man as he kissed her. It was her first kiss and a sincere regret.
It was just that he had made her feel pretty in that moment – and useful – and wanted. He wanted her that night, yes, but he had also wanted her company in general. It had made her lose track of herself. Her place. His place.
His wife.
Edith cut her walk short, turning for home sadly, slowly, the damp and cold, rain, the scent of the earth and memories clinging to her.