Four words. I am on Fire! Enjoy this one and keep those reviews coming!
Downton Lover…what do you think I have planned? lol
Chapter Six
I found Edith in the drawing room much to my relief. She was perched in a chair by the window, the latest edition of Vogue in her hands.
"There you are." She looked up as I came in. "Where did you disappear to?"
"Tom took me for a walk around the estate."
She cracked a smile "Tom is it now? Not Mr. Branson?"
I sat down on the sofa. "Yes. He asked me to call that."
She smiled again, this time indulgent and near mocking. "I see." She picked up her magazine and began to glance through the pages again. "I've had a call from Michael Gregson." She changed the subject fluidly.
"You have?" I knew of their relationship…or lack thereof. For years they had been dancing around one another, flirting, but nothing more because of his wife. His poor mentally unstable wife who had spent the last fifteen years in an asylum. I was sure I was one of the few people Edith had confided in about the state of things between them.
"His wife's suffering has ended." She put the magazine down once more and stared at me, happiness dancing in her eyes. "It's terrible I know, but you realize what this means?"
Of course I did, but I said nothing.
"Don't think ill of me, Kate. She was a sick woman and the marriage was over years ago."
"Death is never something to rejoice over, Edith." I replied somberly. I had no idea what Mr. Gregson must be feeling, but losing someone you loved, even long ago…I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
She stood, "Oh fine then, be that way. I am happy and it will end well, I can promise you that. In a few months you could be dancing at my wedding." And with that said she left the room.
I dressed for dinner again that night with Grace's help. I left the string of pearls in the bag this time and opted for a black beaded necklace to go with my dark green silk. In London I couldn't have believed the price tags on some of the items Edith and I had purchased, the money wasn't a problem, I had worked all through college, as a seamstress and working in shops and frugally saved every penny, but buying dresses I would only wear once was hard. Now though, standing in the mirror, all done up I couldn't say I regretted. It felt nice to be pretty. And I found myself wanting to look nice…
I left my room and was surprised to come upon Edith in the corridor. She saw me too, but didn't stop or even acknowledge me. Staring, I watched her walk away and down the stairs in a huff. Another door behind her opened and Lady Mary emerged. She saw the whole thing.
"Kate." She said with familiarity, "Shall we walk down together?"
I looked at her, the slight from Edith lingering. Being that she was a Lady though, I managed a smile and a nod. "Thank you."
We started down the stairs together.
"You and Edith seem to be at odds." She observed.
"Just a disagreement, my lady."
"Mary, Please. Your disagreement, did it have anything to do with Mr. Gregson."
We reached the landing and turned to the next flight. "Yes, I'm afraid I don't exactly agree with her on things."
She produced a small smile. "I think you'll find you're not alone in that respect." We reached the floor and she turned to me, "Stand strong, Kate. This situation takes reasoning." She then continued on the way to the library.
Tom
At dinner I watched with some resentment as Kate was seated between Matthew and Rose. It might have been with good intentions however, the Dowager had chosen to dine with us that night.
"Where in Ireland do you hail from, Miss Byrne?" she inquired.
"Sutton," she answered, "Close to Dublin."
"And how did you come to be in England?"
I watched her hesitate before she answered, "I was in need of a change, I suppose." I noted the suspicious pause however. There was something she wasn't saying.
The dowager scoffed in acceptance, "From Ireland to England I'd certainly call that an improvement." The others at the table exchanged wry smiles at that while I sat back, impressed. She could hold her own, that was for sure. "You're certainly more polished than what we're used to. Do you come from their nobility?"
I looked at Kate. The thought hadn't occurred to me. She certainly didn't look as out of place as I did at Downton, did she?
"No, Lady Grantham, I don't. My father was a banker-"
"A banker? Upper middle class, that's very interesting, I must say. What was your mother's name?"
Still strong and composed she took a sip from her glass and replied, "Josephine Beaumont."
"Beaumont doesn't sound very Irish to me." The dowager said, expressing my thoughts allowed. "I wonder…"
The conversation was then changed by Edith, but I didn't pay attention to what. I wanted to know what that meant though. I didn't have time to speak to her until well after dinner and the brandy and cigars. I found her in the drawing room, sitting in a corner by herself, holding a cup of tea.
"You're full of secrets then." I said lightly, sitting down next to her.
"Am I?"
"Your mother was English?"
"It wasn't a secret, you never asked." She answered. She looked past me and over to Edith who was carrying on a conversation with her grandmother, completely oblivious to Kate's presence. "She's cross with me." She said softly, quickly changing the subject.
"Why is that?"
"Because I don't approve of what she's doing."
"And what is that?"
She looked down into her cup. "It doesn't matter. I'm sure we'll sort it out."
"Well that's good. I'm bringing you back to the original subject then, is that why you came here? To be with your mother's family?"
Looking up she shot me a glance. "What I said at dinner was the truth, I needed a change. My mother had no family to speak of. Neither did my father for that matter. I don't understand why you're so interested either. You're not going to fight with me again are you? Because of my lineage?"
"Seeing as how my daughter is Irish and English I find that unlikely." I leaned in closer to her. "There is something you're keeping to yourself though, isn't there?"
"Everyone has secrets." She whispered back.
"I don't so why don't you tell me yours so I will?"
"I—" but she stopped. Calmly she set her teacup and saucer aside and rose, "I believe I'll retire now." She told me. Saying her thanks to Robert and Cora she swiftly left the room. I saw Matthew glance over at me with an eyebrow raised in question, but I shrugged it off. There was something she was hiding, something bad I'd wager. And I intended to find out what.
Kate
"Damn him" I said to myself when I safely reached my room. "Damn him to hell!" I had been doing so well today. The bad memories had stayed at bay. Despite the unrest with Edith it had been a wonderful day. I felt as if I had made a new friend and now he had decided to pick at me? There were some things I just wasn't willingly to tell anyone. I had my secrets, my share of them and I planned on keeping it that way. Lord knows what the Crawley's would think of me if they knew why I had really come to England
I hadn't needed a change, I had needed a place to hide. I had runaway to the only place I thought I could stay hidden and it had nothing to do with my mother. Ripping my dinner gloves off I threw them on the bed out of frustration. I missed my parents, yes, but I'd stay in Ireland after their death. It had taken a great deal more to push me out of that country. With a moment of clarity, I went to the wardrobe and opened it, finding my suitcase and setting it on the floor to open it. Inside the lining I pulled the tin pocket out and open it, revealing the handsome face inside of it. He was it…I ran my finger across the smooth paper of the portrait…David was the spark for it all.
He had been an English solider, a Captain, sent to Ireland to keep the peace among the loyals and the rebels after the War. It had been after church one Sunday in 1919 that I had met him. I'd gone into a shop with my dearest friend Darcy, whose parents had taken me in the year before after I had lost my parents. I had miscalculated the cost of a trinket box and he had come to my rescue at the register with a shilling. After that he said I owed him a walk through the Dublin Zoo the next weekend. Despite Darcy's warnings, I had agreed. It was stupid, a catholic girl who mingled with strong republicans going on an outing with an English soldier, but I hadn't cared. I'd fallen in love with him at first sight. I likened us to Romeo and Juliet without thinking of the tragedy and found myself falling more and more in love with him every time I saw him. I was warned that he was the enemy, warned that he could be using me, but I knew he wasn't and still to this day that fact comforted me.
I held the picture to my chest, closing my eyes and praying my love to his soul. I'd never forgive myself for what happened, never, as long as I lived.