Chapter Two - Awkward Beginnings
Daniel Trevanion woke with a start as a door slammed loudly down the corridor. He could faintly hear the shouts of Lady Olivia, who seemed to be protesting about some sort of injustice. Several hushed voices accompanied her yells, desperately trying to calm her down and force her to be composed. He groaned and sat up sleepily, screwing up his eyes as he stretched his arms out in front of him and yawned. Trevanion pulled himself out of bed and got dressed immediately, not bothering to call for the valet.
Anna was placing a vase of yellow flowers in the middle of the great mahogany dining table as he entered the room subtly, trying to avoid appearing too demanding. As soon as she spotted Trevanion, she straightened up, and gave a polite curtsy in his general direction, which he dismissed with a wave of his hand.
While he had no complaints about his life, especially seeing as he owned half of the house that he and his family lived in, Trevanion sometimes wished that the staff wouldn't walk on eggshells around him. He supposed it was due to their constant fear of being sacked, which by Carson's high standards, was understandable, but this meant he often lacked decent conversation, and was frequently lonely, despite having a house full of people.
"Good morning Anna" He greeted kindly
"Good morning, milord. Do you want me to fetch your breakfast?" She asked
"Just some tea and toast, thank you" He nodded, "What was going on with Olivia this morning?"
"Oh, she wanted to go into town with Master Thabo, but Lady Caroline wouldn't let her" Anna explained, "They had a bit of an argument about it"
"Sounds about right" He sighed, gloomily
"I'll go fetch your breakfast, milord" Anna said, excusing herself from the room.
She went in the direction of the servant's hall, and took a deep breath before going down the stairs. She had been trying to avoid being downstairs for long periods of time as of late, which had meant her job was becoming increasingly challenging. Carson had been overly up tight and cautious ever since the arrival of Alice, meaning they had all suffered because of the stress that she had put him under. Anna knew it wasn't Alice's fault, but having to live and work in a tense environment such as that was proving to be rather uncomfortable. As soon as Alice got used to the house and learnt how to do things properly, everything would be fine, but it seemed she was far from impressing Carson.
"Tea and toast for Lord Trevanion in the dining room" Anna announced as soon as she reached her destination, "and make it quick!"
Trevanion had received and eaten his breakfast in no time, and had even had the pleasure of reading the newspaper as soon as it had arrived. He was now stood on the landing, shouting through the door of his best friend's bedroom. He was vaguely aware of how idiotic he must look, a few of the servants looked at him with confusion as they passed, going about their morning chores.
"Come ON, Dup!" Trevanion shouted, braying on the bedroom door, "I want to go into town before everything closes"
The door swung open suddenly, revealing a rather grumpy Anders Du Plessis, "Ack, I'm ready, man!"
Trevanion followed Dup back into the room as he quickly hunted round for his old hat. They hardly passed conversation as Dup adjusted to the light of day and retrieved his accessory from the dressing table.
"Are you ready now?" Trevanion asked in agitation, not watching where he was going as he left the room. He walked straight into a familiar maid, who dropped the bed sheets that she was awkwardly carrying in her arms.
"Oh!" Trevanion exclaimed, his face turning slightly pink, "Alice!"
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going and -" She babbled
"No" He dismissed, "it was my fault...here...let me help you"
He bent down and hastily retrieved the bed sheets from the floor. He dusted each one off unnecessarily and handed them back to her.
Alice gratefully accepted them and placed them over one arm carefully, "Thank you"
"I'm sorry about that" He mumbled
She bowed her head gracefully, "Its fine, milord"
"How are you finding Downton?" He asked, trying to ignore the massive grin that had crept onto Dup's face, "Carson isn't being too hard on you, is he?"
Alice shuck her head, "No more than what I deserve, milord"
Du Plessis coughed loudly, raising his eyebrows subtly at Trevanion. Dup was neither oblivious nor stupid, and he knew instantly why his friend had jumped at the chance to help a maid. Trevanion was blushing like a schoolboy as he spoke, which didn't come as much of a shock, considering she wasn't the usual sort of maid that Downton usually employed.
Dup generally hated the idea of domestic service, especially when it came to giving orders. He was happy enough to wonder off around the grounds of the house at his own will, and even went as far as to treat the staff as personal friends. Although he was the original owner of Downton, he only really kept the property because it had been passed down through the generations. He had now married Lady Caroline and had gained a proper family, who all lived within the house. They all had much greater outlooks on how their home should be run, so he left them to it and kept relatively quiet about his objections. "Dup, this is Alice" Danny sighed in exasperation, "Alice, this is Lord Du Plessis"
"Nice to meet you, milord" She said politely, doing a small curtsy
Dup scoffed, "Ack, don't bother with that bloody bowing nonsense. Call me Dup"
"Of course" She nodded, "Anyway, I should be-"
Alice awkwardly gestured to the sheets, nodding her head in their direction. She was faintly aware that Lord Trevanion seemed almost nervous as he spoke, but she presumed it was because she had embarrassed him in front of his friend. Lords didn't apologise to maids, nor did they politely introduce them to other people of wealth, so he was obviously trying to appear as kind as Dup was. Dup seemed somewhat amused by the whole altercation, which made Alice feel a bit uneasy. Were they just laughing at her failings as a maid? Quite probably.
"-Sorry, yeah" Trevanion apologised, "I won't keep you talking, we better go anyway, hadn't we? I'll see you later, Alice"
She flashed a quick smile, "See you later, milord"
Trevanion stood dumbly as he watched her hurry towards the bedrooms, smoothing out the sheets as she went. There was something about her that he admired greatly, but he just couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly.
"She seems...nice" Dup smirked, following Trevanion's gaze
"What's that supposed to mean?" Trevanion demanded, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"Oh, nothing" Dup chuckled, "You don't fool me, man"
End Of Chapter Two
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