some new characters and some old favourites. please enjoy.

Chapter Two

George and Sybbie walked back to their family home at quite a leisurely pace. George was thrilled to be talking to his cousin in the flesh and had no wish to rush the experience. They spoke of their early childhood though she remembered more than he did about the really early years. They spoke all about the most recent few years. Sybbie had finished her schooling but was so unsure about what to do with the rest of her life. Her father wanted her to continue to university but she was conflicted. There was a boy she had met and George listened to her concerns and just smiled at her animated stories as they went.

As they were walking along the roads, George eventually noticed a group of younger girls trailing behind them. He and Sybbie turned a corner and he pulled his cousin behind a thicket of shrubs and ducked down. She looked at him quite surprised but his reply to her look was only to place his finger over his mouth in a gesture for her to be silent. He waited until the group had passed them and then he jumped out and grabbed a smaller blonde girl by the waist and spun her around.

The girl squealed and shifted her weight in his arms just enough that he lost his balance and they both fell over backwards into a rather large mud puddle. He sat up quickly to make sure she was okay and was met with a large handful of mud to his face and a girlish giggle.

"Master George, you are going to get me in trouble with my parents! My mother will have my hide!" She stood up and tried to scrape some of the mud from her dress.

George just laughed. "I'm sorry Lena! I just meant to startle you... I say though, mud pies tasted better when we were young!" He scraped most of the mud off his face and flung it at her jokingly.

She tried to look at him with serious, stern eyes but instead they twinkled.

"Welcome home Master George. I will see you around." She grabbed her sister's arm and turned to head up the road towards the Abbey.

George smiled at the younger sister warmly. "Hello Emma. It's good to see you too."

The younger sister just blushed and turned to go with her sister and the rest of the group of youngsters. They all ran off, but George heard them speaking as they went...

"Lena! You should show more respect for him... He's going to be our Lord someday... he's handsome though... his eyes are so blue... he's so tall... Lena looked back one more time as they ran off and stuck her tongue out at George.

"Speaking of getting their hides flayed, look at your trousers!" Sybbie tried to brush some of the mud off but clearly the clothing was ruined. "And Barrow is going to kill you if you go in the front door looking like this. And Mrs. Bates will flay you for making her maids clean all this mud off the entire way up to your bedroom. My God boy, you're a mess! And what were you thinking? She's a young lady now! I'm sure she doesn't enjoy playing in the mud anymore."

"Oops. I forget. It seemed like a such a good idea at the time." He shrugged apologetically at his cousin. "Perhaps we can sneak in the servants entrance and someone can fetch some fresh clothes for me. I don't want to inconvenience Mrs. Bates. She's very busy I'm sure, preparing for well, me, And we can't have Barrow mad at me before I even greet my Grandparents."

"Well, come on then. We can't have the Prince showing up to greet the family with dirty trousers. What will the family say? Granny Violet will be spinning in her grave at the shame." Sybbie took his arm again and they cut across one of the fields to approach the Abbey from the back.

"Stop calling me the Prince by the way. It's embarrassing." He winked at her when she turned to look at him.

"Then stop having everyone call me Your Ladyship. Even Carson does it now. You're Horrible."

"Well, if you hadn't acted like such a spoiled brat that one visit I wouldn't have had to start it!"

"Well, at least we're above such childish games now right? Honorary titles aside" She squeezed his arm.

"Of course. We shouldn't stoop so low should we? By the way how is Donk these days?" He laughed as she swatted him across the chest.

They arrived at the service entrance and George held the door open and then followed Sybbie in and down the stairs. They took their jackets off and peeked their heads into the kitchen to say hello to the Cook. She was busy tending some sauce on the stove and had her back to them. Not waiting to startle her, they both poked back out and headed down the hallway. There was no one about. They were confused for a minute until Sybbie gasped out loud.

"They're probably all lined up outside waiting for you! Wait here and I'll go tell them you will meet them in a few minutes. Oh geez! They're going to send their trigger men out looking for you. I'll be right back!" She ran off up the stairs leaving George by himself in the servants hallways.

He wandered back into the kitchen hoping for a cup of tea or something to help warm his chilled self from the long walk being soaking wet for the latter part of it.

He saw the cook was wrapping the towel she held in one hand around the handle of the pot she was tending and she turned around suddenly not expecting anyone to be there and jumped when she saw the young man. The pot fell to the floor and splashed all over George's trousers.

"I am so completely sorry Mrs. Daniels. I never meant to cause such a mess... can you ever forgive me?"

Daisy stammered. "Oh Master George, it's my fault. I didn't expect to see you! I was thinking about your welcome home dinner, and poof! I turn around and here you are!"

"Here I am." George bent down to help her clean up the mess. He did feel bad. He knew he shouldn't have been in the kitchen in the first place.

"No! I can do it. Oh where's my helper anyway. She should be doing this but she's not back from stoking the fires. Good help is so hard to find these days. Oh, and now I'm rambling... dear me. Why don't you go find a seat and I'll get you a nice cup of tea. It won't be but a moment." She had noticed that he was soaking wet and muddy, and suspected that was why he was sneaking in through the back door. He looked cold.

He didn't argue with her any further. He felt bad enough for his disruption and exited the kitchen sheepishly and went to the room with the long table in it. He sat down across from the two younger girls sitting quietly and leaned towards them with his face resting on the back of his hands and stared at them with a cheeky smile.

"So. Lena. Emma. How are we doing? Are you happy to see me?"

The older of the two sisters glared at him. "You ruined my dress you know. And now my Mama is mad at me for playing around in my school clothes. I'm nearly 13 years old and I'm supposed to start acting like a proper lady and now I'm in trouble. So, no. I am not happy to see you."

"Aw. I am actually sorry. I can buy you a new dress. Perhaps a beautiful new one for the Servant's ball? Would that let you forgive me? And I will tell your Mama it was all my fault to get you out of trouble? Would that help?" He narrowed his eyes in a way that he knew from recent experience would make girls swoon. It was a newly acknowledged charm he had discovered and used it frequently. He saw it working on Lena.

"That would be very kind, but you don't have to do that. I forgive you. And I am happy to see you, in spite of your antics." His offer had been enough to let him off the hook.

All having been forgiven for now, they chatted away for awhile until Helen, the cook's assistant, came shuffling in with a tray laden with a pot of tea, a cup and some of George's favourite biscuits.

Maybe it wasn't so bad to be back home. He chatted some more with Lena and Emma until finally a flurry of maids and valets and all sorts of servants came billowing down the stairs having been released from their formal greeting duties. They all stopped suddenly when they saw him sitting at the table. He felt uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry to all of you, please, continue about your business. I was just leaving." He drained his tea and stood up from the table. The maids that were standing by the doorway curtsied as he left. He was embarrassed by their actions.

He cleared the doorway and met with Mr. and Mrs. Bates as they were taking the final few steps down from upstairs. They both smiled warmly at him and greeted him well. John let him know that Mr. Molesley was fretting madly upstairs for a change of clothes for him and would be along shortly. Anna took him by both arms and commented on how tall and handsome he was getting. He smiled politely, having heard it constantly in the last little while. She looked so happy to see him, and it was very mutual. John went to the entrance of the eating hall and spoke to the two girls sitting at the table.

"Come girls. We'll take you for your tea before we have to come back for the gong. Quickly now." John kissed each girl on the forehead as they passed him.

Lena smiled at George as she went past him and was rewarded by the lopsided smile of the young man. She blushed and hoped no one noticed. Anna left him standing there and followed her daughters to the door to put their coats on. John shook his hand one more time and let him know how happy they all were that George was home.

George watched as Bates helped his wife on with her coat and bundled his family out the door to go have their tea. He briefly wondered how lucky those girls must be to have two parents that loved them so much. He wondered at how long he would feel sad whenever he thought of it. He snapped himself out of it before his good spirits brought on by the kindness of the downstairs staff were ruined.

Now, where was Molesley? He was cold. And he suspected he was in for a scolding from his grandparents when he finally made an appearance... He dreaded it but he would have to face them eventually. And he would rather do it not looking like he had been romping around with the pigs. They, of course, would expect him to behave properly...

to be continued...