Author's Note: This is my first ever Downton Abbey fanfic and I'm both excited and nervous so please go easy! I am a HUGE Mary/Matthew shipper so of course I've given them alot of kids! ) This story takes place at the beginning and through WW2 and involves Mary and Matthew dealing with yet another war as well as their sons going off to fight! I own the story and some characters but everything else belongs to Julian Fellowes and ITV!

Enjoy and tell me what you think!


FALL OF THE HOUSE OF GRANTHAM


The War Comes Back to Downton Abbey - This time bigger and more horrific than the first...


Chapter 1 - Nerves of Steel

September 3rd 1939

"I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room of 10 Downing Street."

The voice of their prime minister rang clearly through the crackling wireless. The Crawley family were clustered around it in the small library. Eighteen year old Joseph Matthew Crawley stood further apart from his family, arms crossed and leaning against the bookcase, trying ever so hard not to show the terror which was coursing through his entire body. How things can change. Only just three meagre months ago they had celebrated his sister's thirteenth birthday and now here they were about to hear the biggest news that could change their lives. He was prepared no matter what. Only two months ago he had sent his grandmothers and mother into a frenzy when he announced that he wouldn't be returning to Cambridge. He'd be enlisting in the army to be prepared to fight so when the time came for him to be called, he'd be more than ready.

"Why do you want to do this Joseph?" Isobel had asked desperately after Joseph had made the shocking announcement at dinner. "We don't know there's going to be a war."

"Really Granny," Joseph sighed, putting down his fork in exasperation. "It's not like I want to do this I have to! Haven't you been reading the papers recently? We're literally on the brink of war."

"You don't know that!" Mary said shrilly. Deep in her heart she knew it too, but she would rather turn a blind eye to it than face the prospect of her son going off to war.

"I do Mama," Joseph replied patiently.

Mary rounded on her husband in a panic, "Matthew, tell your son he's being ridiculous!"

Everyone looked at Earl of Grantham who sipped his wine tentatively. Finally he cleared his throat and said, "If he doesn't go now. He will have to go sooner or later. He might as well start early. It'll give him a head start." Matthew tensed his jaw. He hated to say it but he couldn't see a way to fight his son on this one. Especially as he would have done exactly the same thing.

"So he can go to war early?" Mary asked incredulously.

"It's only training!" Joseph snapped.

"All the men aged between sixteen to thirty-six have been put on stand-by," Matthew interjected thinly, "It will happen sometime. We just – don't know when." He took a large gulp of wine.

"Joe if you stop your education now it will be that much harder to get back on track," Cora said pointedly to her grandson. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Grandmama I have to!" Joseph retorted impatiently. "I can't explain why. At least I'm not going to." He carried on eating, oblivious to the startled look his father and grandmother were giving him.

Now, Joseph gazed at his family. His sisters, seventeen year old Georgina and thirteen year old Rebecca were knelt beside their father while his brothers, fifteen year old Edward and six year old Benjamin were sat on the floor surrounding the wireless. All of them were held in a distraught trance by Chamberlain's voice.

"This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German government a final note, stating that unless we heard from them - by 11 o'clock - that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us."

Matthew exchanged a worried glance with Mary, not gone unnoticed by their eldest son. Papa – how he had admired his father, he knew what that look meant for he saw the subtle look his father shot him before quickly turning away. Joseph's heart started hammering. He knew what the situation was, he wasn't ignorant. He had been at many events where all the high men in society were praising him for his bravery as all the young men had been put on stand- by. He followed the news just like everyone else. Of course Germany weren't going to withdraw their troops. He knew that. He agitatedly ran his hand through his dark hair. Of all the things inherited from their parents, him and Georgina both won their mother's hair but donned their father's warm cerulean blue eyes. Eyes that were now turning cold with dread at every word Chamberlain spoke.

"I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received and that, consequently, this country is at war with Germany."

Joseph breathed in sharply and nodded in confirmation. Yes. They were at war with Germany. Joseph just let Chamberlain's words ricochet of him like bullets. It was the moment he had been ready for, for a whole year now. Isobel and the girls all clapped their hands to their mouths in horror. The moment the words had left the speaker, Matthew closed his eyes and let out a sigh of dejection. Joseph knew what he was thinking. He never thought it would happen again, let alone to his son.

"Not again," Isobel whispered. Rebecca reached over to clasp her grandmother's hand.

"Don't worry Granny," Rebecca said soothingly.

"I'm sorry darling," Isobel sniffed, squeezing her granddaughter's hand. "I just never thought - I'd have to face it again. That's all." She exchanged a glance with her son.

"I – never thought I'd say this but - thank God your father isn't here for this!" Cora choked. The family all cast their despondent eyes upon Robert's portrait which hung majestically above the fireplace.

The ghost Chamberlain's final words still echoed chillingly around the room, creeping into the minds of all the Crawley's. Joseph could barely move. He felt rooted to the spot.

"This country is at war with Germany."

Joseph shut his eyes tight, trying to make sense of everything that had prepared him for this moment.

"This country is at war with Germany."

Could he remember how to fly a plane? Hold a gun? Duck and cover?

"This country is at war with Germany."

Then very slowly, all eyes in the room turned themselves onto Joseph. The heir to the house of Grantham. Well, for now at least. Joseph couldn't bear the sight of his mother staring at him like that, her lips pursed in a thin grim line and her brown eyes glistening with fear and anxiety. She was trying to keep it all together but he knew she could break at any second.

Joseph tried to smile in order to lighten the heavy mood. "So… it's finally happening. About time." He really couldn't think of anything else to say.

"So much for Germany's treaty," Mary mumbled bitterly.

"I can't believe Hitler went back on his word!" Georgina spat. "That is so infuriating!"

"What do you expect?" Joseph scoffed, "That we're all going to hold hands and dance around the world together? You've read the news! You know what he's done! That man is evil personified!"

"So is the war with Hitler or Germany?" Rebecca asked in confusion.

"Both." Matthew answered shortly.

"But what about Italy?" Edward asked. "Who's side are they on now?"

"Ours if they know what's good for them!" Joseph growled.

"Joseph not in front of your brother," Mary scolded with a nod at Benjamin who was listening in curiously.

"Joe," Matthew stood up and sauntered over to his eldest son. He placed a trembling hand on his shoulder. "In just a couple of months you're going to be nineteen. And obviously you're not going back to University so - I just want to let you know that…" Matthew bit his lip, his throat closing up. Joseph gazed into the eyes of his father which were so like his own.

"I know Papa," Joseph said gently, squeezing his father's shoulder in reassurance. "You don't need to say anything. I know."

Matthew breathed a tiny sigh of relief and smiled in understanding before excusing himself politely. Joseph watched him go with his heart feeling heavy.

Mary used the arms of her chair to pull herself up. She knew it was going to happen, she wasn't blind or stupid. Every morning when her husband cast an eye over the paper and his lips would form that thin, worried line she just knew something was wrong in Europe which was pushing them all closer and closer to the brink of destruction. Before he could even say anything she would deliberately change the subject so they wouldn't have to talk about it. She just didn't want her children to have to listen to it, to be burdened with it. All she wanted was to cling desperately to the little ignorance she had left. How she regretted that now.


Dinner had never been a more subdued affair. No one had any appetite and the conversation was very forced and very deliberate. Only Benjamin appeared to be confused by this change in his family's behaviour.

"Why is everybody acting so odd?" Benjamin piped up suddenly, snapping everyone out of their miserable reverie. "Is it because Joey's going to the war that the man was talking about on the wire - wireless?"

"How – how on earth did you know that?" Matthew asked his youngest inquisitively.

"Eddie told me." Benjamin replied simply.

"He was asking me why everyone was so sad!" Edward said defensively to his mother's scowl. "I couldn't lie to him. Not now."

"Are you really going to fight in the war Joe?" Benjamin asked with wide eyes.

Joseph just smiled sadly at his baby brother's obliviousness and whispered, "Yes. Yes I am."

"But you're going to be a hero like Papa! Aren't you? Aren't you Joey?" Benjamin was about to burst with excitement.

Joseph nodded very slowly. "I suppose so. Yes. I am going off to be a hero. I hope so anyway."

"Then… Why is everyone so sad?" Benjamin pressed. Joseph's stomach clenched with jealousy at his brother's blissful ignorance.

"Sometimes it's not always so magical being a hero darling." Mary said curtly. Matthew glared at her as Benjamin's face fell.

"What your mother means Benji," Matthew added in a more gentle voice, "Is that war… it – brings out a lot of complications. That's all." He ruffled his youngest child's hair, "But it's nothing for you to worry about!"

"Yes you don't need to worry Benji," Cora said with a small smile. "Just eat your potatoes young man."

Benjamin frowned, "But - but why doesn't Edward have to go off to war? Joey's going so why can't Edward go with him, then he won't be on his own and we don't have to be so sad!"

Georgina cast a surreptitious glance at her mother. Mary bit her lip, trying to stop herself from screaming at her youngest when what she really wanted to was to scream at God, at the world for stealing her eldest son away before he was even nineteen.

"Well – because I'm not old enough yet," Edward said evenly with a surreptitious glance at his mother. "But I will be. When I turn sixteen. Then I can keep Joe company. So don't worry Benji."

"When are you sixteen Eddie?"

"March."

"What month is it now?"

"It's September Beji." Rebecca said simply.

"Oh yes." Benjamin said lightly. "So that means cousin Tommy will have to go. He's the same age as Georgina. Isn't he?"

Mary sighed heavily. Oh she loved her youngest so dearly but he didn't half remind her of Matthew with his damned questions and that typical Crawley stubbornness. It was a big shock for Matthew and Mary when they were told that she was already five months gone with Benjamin. They had four children, the youngest being six so they certainly weren't expecting anymore, they were in their late thirties for heaven sake! Nevertheless when Benjamin Daniel Crawley entered the world, they quickly found that they couldn't imagine life without him. Especially as he had come so soon after the death of their beloved matriarch.

As the baby of the family, Benjamin Crawley proved to be quite a bright young thing. Before his first birthday he was babbling nonsense words and before his third birthday he was following his parents and siblings around, already asking all sorts of interesting questions. Out of all of Mary and Matthew's children, Benjamin was the one who had inherited their father's kind and gentle nature.

"Yes son." Matthew stretched a smile, "He's seventeen so…Tommy will be fighting for Ireland."

No one said anything but immediately their thoughts went to Sybil and her family. Cora just thanked God that Edith didn't have any sons to put her through this. She didn't know if she could take anymore, what with two of her grandsons going off to war and another one not far off.

Yes, Edward Samuel Crawley already knew that he wanted to run off and join the marines and train as a medic, following in his paternal grandfather's footsteps. Of course he only mentioned this to his brother. In just six months he would be sixteen and it would be his turn to fight.

"Have you finished reading Moby Dick yet Benji?" Rebecca asked quickly as he opened his mouth to ask yet another question.

Benjamin closed his mouth and shook his head shyly. "No not yet."

"Oh Moby Dick!" Isobel exclaimed in delight, thankful for the change in subject. "That was always one of my favourites! How does it go again? Oh, 'Call me Ishmael -'"

"But how long is Joey going to war for?" Benjamin interrupted in a voice laced with distress.

"Not now Benjamin just focus on your dinner please." Matthew asked politely.

"But it's not fair Papa, no one's answering my questions!" Benjamin whined, poking at his potatoes in a huff.

"I'm not going to be gone for long Benji." Joseph answered calmly. "I'll be back before you know it."

"Do you promise?" Benjamin asked, his eyes narrowing.

Joseph hesitated for a split second before plastering on a false smile. "I promise."

CLANG!

Everyone around the table jumped as Mary threw her cutlery down in anger. "Excuse me!" She sobbed, rushing out of the room. Matthew squeezed Joseph's shoulder apologetically before rushing after his wife.

Benjamin's lips quivered. "Is it something I said?"

Georgina patted her brother's head, "No darling. Mama's just upset over Joe going that's all."

Joseph sighed in defeat, threw down his napkin and glared at no one in particular "If she can't handle a conversation about the war at the dinner table how in God's name is she going to handle me actually fighting in it?"

"Don't worry Joe." Cora said softly. "She'll get used to it."

"She'll have to." Georgina added in a tight voice. "She doesn't have a choice." She glowered at her older brother. "None of us do."

They finished their dinner in silence, each lost in their own thoughts of what they had to prepare themselves for.


to be continued...