Chapter Twelve
A/N: Thanks to CountessCora and Victoria for reviewing the last chapter.
When Annabelle awoke on a Friday morning, a fortnight since she had descended to the servants' quarters, she blinked a few times, accustoming herself to the darkness which filled her room. Normally, of course, the fires would have been lit long before she awoke, but the room remained dark, quiet and increasingly cold, particularly for one raised in much milder climates than usually found in Yorkshire.
It was too dark to even attempt to read the clock face, so Annabelle swung herself out of bed, taking a moment to brace herself against the cold, and walked to the window. It must have been early, for the sky was still dark, but there was the slightest glimmer of golden light on the horizon. 'Sunrise.' Annabelle thought, marveling at its beauty. She had not been up early enough to see the sun come up, not in a very long time. 'Perhaps I should do this more often. That sight seems to make all the worries of the world go away.'
Annabelle did not know how long she spent staring at the distant horizon, but she had become so lost in the beautiful image that she did not hear the footsteps on the landing, nor the careful opening of her bedroom door. In fact, it was the clang of metal against the wall which brought her back to herself with a start. She spun around, ready to face her attacker, though she had no idea what she could use as a weapon, but relaxed when she saw the intruder posed no danger.
"I'm sorry, Miss Annabelle." Daisy apologised, examining the wall, but finding to her relief that no mark had been left on the wallpaper. "It's just, I didn't expect you to be out of bed this early."
"It's fine, Daisy." Annabelle replied, shaking her head with affection to show she was not angry, similar to how her aunt had behaved towards her when she had tripped on the hall carpet and fallen flat on her face in front of the maids. "I shouldn't have startled you like that. I just woke up and I couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to watch the sunrise."
Daisy took a tentative step towards the girl, then another, then another, until she too was stood beside the window. An awe-filled smile appeared across her face.
"It's so beautiful. I've never seen a sunrise before." she told Annabelle, then answered her shocked expression. "I'm up in the kitchen long before this. I've never had the chance to see. I don't have time normally."
"It's strange, isn't it?" Annabelle sighed. "You don't have enough time to yourself and I have no end of it. And I hate it- I can imagine you do as well."
"I don't hate it, Miss Annabelle, not at all." Daisy assured her quickly, making Annabelle wince at the panic she had clearly caused the kitchen maid, wanting to defend her position in the household in case she should lose it. Noticing this, Daisy elaborated tentatively. "I've not known anything else, not for years. I suppose it's difficult to hate something when you haven't known anything better."
"Of course." The younger girl nodded her head, her eyes becoming a little glazed. "But you have friends here? You have people you can talk to?"
"I get a moment to share a few words with Anna or Gwen sometimes, when I'm serving the downstairs tea. They're always nice to me, but I don't see much of anyone but Mrs. Patmore in the day." Daisy did not sound as wistful as Annabelle imagined she would do if facing the same situation, but still the confession pulled at the girl's heartstrings.
"Well…" Annabelle elongated the syllable slightly, preparing herself for her next sentence, in case the kitchen maid's reaction was not what she wished for. "You always have me, Daisy. If you ever want to speak with someone, you can always come and find me, no matter what time of day. I'll take the rap if you get into trouble for it, you needn't worry about that."
"Milady, I appreciate that, but…" Daisy trailed off, the same way that Annabelle had. The blonde clung to the breath she was holding, wondering what the other girl was steeling herself to say. She tried to catch Daisy's eye, to encourage her, but the older girl's gaze was firmly fixed on the carpet beneath her feet. "I don't think that would be a good idea. My place is downstairs in the kitchen. That's what I'm employed to do and that has to be my focus. I can't be gallivanting off upstairs at every moment, not when I shouldn't even be climbing the stairs from the servant's hall after dawn."
Annabelle's mouth fell slack for a moment, such was her shock at Daisy's outburst. She had thought she had made a real breakthrough; organising a picnic with a member of staff in a house like Downton Abbey was no easy task, even if the girl herself still did not understand the rigid division of classes. To have that thrown back in her face so suddenly… she could barely believe her ears.
"Daisy." The young girl stopped herself at the sound of her crackling voice, taking a moment to regain her composure before she continued. "Daisy, it needn't be that way. I know that you're used to having to curtsy and bow your head every time a member of the family walks past, but I wouldn't ask that of you. I wouldn't want it. All I want is a friend."
The tears were prickling at the corner of Annabelle's eyes by this point, though she tried her best to hold them back. Daisy seemed guilty for a moment, as if she had not expected such an emotional response, but simply gathered up her things, the fire remaining unmade but forgotten by both.
"I'm sorry, my lady. Miss Annabelle." Daisy stumbled over her words, her lower lip trembling, though Annabelle could scarcely see it through her tears. "I hope you find friends, I really do, but I can't be one of them. I'm a servant, I have to obey my orders, and if that means staying away from you, then that's what I have to do. I'm sorry."
With those words, Daisy fled the room, leaving the door open in her haste and a broken-hearted girl in her wake. Shuddering with tears, Annabelle turned to the window, where the warmth of the sunrise was giving way to dawn. Something that had felt so beautiful just moments ago now felt cold. And as her tears eventually dried, long after the sun had risen above the horizon, Annabelle began to wonder. She had become accustomed to sudden change, to the bottom being dropped out of her world over and over again, but that had been a cruel twist of fate, a tragic mistake that had stolen her parents from her. This was different, Daisy's speech had proved that, which prompted a more disturbing question.
Whose orders was Daisy obeying?
A/N: Hope people are still around for this story. If you are, please review!