3.
A clock chimed signaling the time. "Half-past-four," Mary said letting out a disappointed sigh. Punctuality was very important to her. She peered up at Downton Abbey. She thought that however magnificent the old castle was, however beautifully it commanded the parkland, the walls could not have been as grand as in spring 1920. She was about to go back inside when she heard a car in the distance. Her back stiffened. She knew that in the back seat sat her grandson. A breath of wind brushed against her, as if sending a gentle reminder for Mary to breathe. The sensation helped to pull her out of her memories.
The first sight of her grandson in six years was a dreary one. His forehead was pressed against the window clearly asleep. The car came to a halt beside her followed by a trail of dust. James woke with a start. A flutter of thick brown lashes greeted Mary through the window. Before she unlatched the car door sunlight spread across her hands and face. She always loved the feeling of warm light against her skin. Mary couldn't refute the fact that Downton was blessed with another beautiful summer. Despite her surroundings she couldn't shake off the bitter feeling that today was the beginning of change.
James stepped out of the car a taller and stronger lad than she had remembered. She forgot how time transformed people so quickly and wondered if he was thinking the same about her. James would have been a handsome boy if there wasn't a constant scowl across his face. A glare no boy at twelve should have the burden to carry. His hair was the same sandy blonde as his mother's, and his skin freckled. Mary liked freckles; she felt they were a person's own individual Morse code. But what stuck her the most were his eyes. They were the colour of glass - the same clear blue that her late husband Matthew, passed to their son, and their son to James. She could not see any resemblance of herself.
After exchanging cordial greetings Mary led her grandson inside. Passing through Downton's studded wooden doors felt as though they were stepping into a time vault - Mary swept up in memories and James captured in a wonderland, - both lost in a world of their own.
