Kit skipped down the stairs the next day, excited to see her new friend. She was awake far earlier than she needed to be, it was 7 o'clock and the family was rallying for breakfast downstairs, an occasion Kit generally didn't join. As she was only eight, she was still permitted to eat her breakfast in the nursery but this morning she wished to join her family. As excited as she was to see Lily again, it was also George's last day before he headed off to training and then the front and also, Edward was headed back to Eaton that evening; Kit wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.
"Oh I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed as she skipped straight into one of the toddlers. She knew that the great hall had been turned into a dining room of sorts but she'd forgotten whilst she was so wrapped up in her head.
"Virginia! Say sorry to Lady Catherine!" One of the teachers exclaimed, pulling the young girl out of the way.
"Oh she really doesn't have to, it was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." The eight year old smiled, winking at the little girl whose face turned from fear to a grin.
"I insist Lady Catherine, I'm sure Virginia could have avoided you. Now say sorry young lady." The teacher said sternly and the toddler sighed, looking up at Kit.
"I sorry Lady Catherine." She said and ran off, shrugging off her teacher's firm grip.
"Kit!" Florence appeared behind her, looping her arm around her younger sister's shoulder.
"Good morning Flo." Kit smiled and they headed into the morning room to see their family sat around the table, even Mary was there which the children knew was a rare occasion as their mother enjoyed eating her breakfast in her room.
"Hello my darlings. Kit, we weren't expecting you." Matthew smiled and kissed both their cheeks as they passed on their way to their seats. They dished up some food and began to eat.
"I was up so I decided to join you." She shrugged and smiled at her family who grinned back, their youngest member always bringing a smile to their faces.
"I hear you made a new friend yesterday." Her father smiled as Kit nodded excitedly.
"I did, her name is Lily Palmer and she's staying with Mr and Mrs Walker. She seems very nice and I told her I'd meet her this morning. Please may I go by myself?" She begged, not wanting to have to take one of her sisters along.
"I don't know Kit." Mary said, pulling a face at the idea of her baby girl wandering down to the village by herself.
"I've got some things to do in the village. How about I walk her down, she can spend time with this new friend of hers whilst I run some errands and then I'll walk her back home again?" Lottie asked, looking at her parents for their approval.
"That sounds perfect, thank you Lottie." Matthew smiled and Mary grinned at her eldest daughter.
"Alright my darlings, I shall see you all later. Please make sure you're back here by one." Their mother smiled and made her way around the table, kissing each of her children fondly on their hair. As she made to kiss her husband's cheek, he turned his face and caught her lips, winking as they pulled apart.
"Gross." Edward sneered under his breath and his siblings laughed.
"Oh just you wait my darling boy." Matthew chuckled and kissed his wife once more quickly before she turned and left the room.
"What are you up to today then Daddy?" Florence asked, looking at her father with interest.
"Well I have some letters to write and some accounts to look after but your mother has insisted I keep my afternoon free." He smiled at his children.
"Milord, young Mr Brooks wishes to speak with you. He's in the small library." Barrow spoke up from the doorway, nodding at Matthew.
"William? Whatever could he want? George? Did you know about this?" Matthew asked, looking at his eldest son.
"No I didn't Dad but to be honest, I don't think this visit is about me." George replied, glancing at his sister who blushed.
"Lottie? Why would William be here to talk to Daddy about Lottie? I thought he was George's friend." Kit asked, frowning as she looked at her father.
"Yes but he's more than Lottie's friend." Florence giggled, winking at her eldest sister.
"Oh do shut up." Lottie rolled her eyes before turning to her father. "Please go and talk to him Daddy."
"Alright, alright, I'm going but George, you're coming with me." Matthew said sternly and George jumped up, following his father from the room.
"I need to go and finish packing." Edward left too, more scared that the room was going to descend into girlish laughter which he didn't want to stick around for.
"William? I don't understand." Kit asked once the males had left, her eyes swinging round to focus on Lottie.
"Yes William, Kit." Lottie sighed and looked out the window nervously.
"Would you like to go for a walk? It'll take your mind off of things." Florence suggested and Lottie consented so the three girls grabbed their coats and headed out for a walk around the grounds.
::: ::: ::: :::
"It's such a nice day." Kit exclaimed as she happily skipped in front of her sisters.
"Kit, be careful or you'll ruin your dress." Lottie said, giving her youngest sister a stern look.
"Oh pish posh Lottie, she's only eight. That's what dresses are for when you're eight. Go on Kit." Florence grinned and Kit grinned back, cart wheeling now across the grounds.
"She'll have to grow up someday." Lottie commented but she couldn't help the smile that came across her face as she watched her little sister being so carefree.
"Not anytime soon if I have anything to say about it." Florence said determinedly. "So, William's here to see Daddy?"
"Yes." The elder sister replied courtly, her mouth pursed.
"You look like Aunt Edith when you do that." Florence giggled and Lottie's face broke into a smile.
"You shouldn't say that as if it's an insult." She chuckled and turned her attention back to her little sister. "Do you think Daddy will say yes?"
"I honestly don't know. He'll definitely want to talk to Mama, he asks her about everything." The younger sister laughed and Lottie nodded, a smile coming across her face.
"Kit darling! Don't stray too far!" She called out to the eight year old who smirked over her shoulder but did stop running so fast.
"Lady Charlotte?" The two girls turned to see Barrow stood there.
"Yes Barrow?" Lottie asked as Florence gestured Kit over.
"Your father wishes to speak to you, he's in the small library."
"Thank you Barrow."
The sisters made their way in through the side entrance to the house and found their parents sat in the small library in deep conversation.
"Ah Lottie darling, come in. Florence, Kit, can you find something to occupy yourselves?" Mary smiled at her daughters. Florence nodded and ran off upstairs but Kit stayed, crossing her arms and glaring at her parents.
"Is this going to take long? Lottie and I need to leave soon." Kit asked, a pout coming across her face.
"Oh Kit, can't you visit your little friend another day?" Lottie sighed as she remembered her promise from that morning.
"I most certainly cannot! I told her I'd meet her today!" The eight year old cried and stamped her foot.
"Catherine! Sometimes sacrifices have to be made. This is important. Lottie will take you down to the village tomorrow." Matthew stepped in, looking at his youngest daughter sternly.
"Ugh! I never get to do what I want! I hate being the youngest!" She screamed.
"Catherine, don't be so selfish. We need to discuss something important with your sister. There is always another day to go and visit your friend. Now please go and find something else to do before we say goodbye to your brother this afternoon." Mary's voice was stern as she spoke to her youngest child. The only response she got was a loud huff, another stamp of the little girl's foot and a storm off.
"Well that went well." Matthew chuckled before turning to Lottie. "Sit down sweetheart."
"I guess you know why William was here earlier." Mary smiled, taking her daughter's hand.
"I can guess." The twenty three year old smiled as a feeling of excitement rose in her. "What did you say?"
"He didn't say anything; the poor boy is still in his office." Mary replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Daddy!" Lottie exclaimed, looking at her father in shock.
"I'm simply apprehensive Princess. William's a wonderful boy and I know that he'd treat you well." Matthew smiled.
"But…"
"However, he doesn't have the best prospects and he's going off to war."
"Really Daddy? That's what you're worried about? Goodness, you certainly can be a disappointment." Lottie said coldly, not looking at her father.
"Princess…" Her father said, trying to reason with her but he was met with a cold stare.
"Don't Princess me Daddy, you and Mama have told me my whole life that marrying for love is what's most important. I love William, why can't I marry him?"
"I know that I'm coming across as slightly hypocritical but Princess, I'm just looking out for your best interests." Matthew tried to reason with her but she was having none of it.
"Matthew, think about what you're saying here. What would you have done if Papa said that we couldn't marry? If you weren't the heir but we'd somehow still fallen in love?" Mary said, looking at her husband with a harsh look on her face.
"Mary, that's not the point." Matthew said dismissively and Lottie saw her mother grow angry.
"No Matthew, that's exactly the point! Lottie and William are in love, there's no way to deny that. Surely we should pay more attention to that than William's prospects?"
There was a long pause and a sigh from Matthew. "Princess, this is really what you want? You're totally sure that William is the one?" The father asked, looking Lottie directly in the eyes.
"I've never been surer of anything Daddy." Lottie confirmed and Matthew looked to Mary who nodded with a smile on her face.
"I knew this day was coming, I just didn't want it to." He sighed and Mary smiled sadly, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Lottie had always been Daddy's little girl.
"What day?" Lottie asked, frowning in confusion.
"The day I have to let go of my little girl." He sighed and Lottie felt tears spring to her eyes.
"Oh Daddy, I'm always going to be your little girl." She smiled, throwing her arms around her father.
"I love you Princess."
"I love you too Daddy."
"Milady, Miss Taylor is asking to go over timetables with you." Barrow said, after knocking on the door.
"Of course. Thank you Barrow." Mary smiled and stood. She grasped Lottie in a short hug and kissed Matthew's cheek fleetingly before rushing out of the room.
"Well then, I have a young man I need to go and talk to." Matthew said, smiling at his eldest daughter.
"I'm going to go and apologise properly to Kit." Lottie said decisively, moving towards the other door.
::: ::: ::: :::
Whilst her parents and sister spoke, Kit had snuck away and had made sure that she was not seen.
"Selfish? I'm not selfish. Lottie's the selfish one. She said she'd take me to the village and then she went back on her word." Kit muttered under her breath as she snuck down the back stairs. Thankfully all of the staff were busy dealing with the nursery school so there was no one in the servant's hall and she was able to sneak out the servant's entrance. She took the shortcut through the churchyard and avoided the windows of her grandmother's house in case she was spotted.
"Good morning Mrs Walker." She grinned as she entered the baker's.
"Good morning Lady Catherine, Lily mentioned you were coming by." The baker's wife grinned.
"Hello Kit!" Lily grinned, running down the stairs and to a hug with Kit.
"Lily! You should address her properly!" Mrs Walker said to the young girl, causing both of them to blush.
"Oh please don't. I'd much rather have one friend that doesn't feel like she needs to call me by my title all the time." Kit said, pleading with her new friend.
"If you're sure Lady Catherine." Mrs Walker smiled.
"We'll be back by lunchtime." Lily grinned and holding hands, the two girls headed out towards the little village of Downton.
::: ::: ::: :::
Lottie was surprised when Kit wasn't in the nursery because it was her usual place to hide and lick her wounds. However, it wasn't too disconcerting as they were plenty of places she could be. She started to worry though when she wasn't in any of her other usual places.
"Flo, have you seen Kit?" The eldest daughter asked when she had exhausted all of the options she could think of.
"No, since she stormed off earlier. It looked like she was heading for the back stairs. Maybe she was going to talk to Mrs Bates, you know that always calms her down." Florence smiled, looking up from where she was writing in her diary.
"I guess so; will you come and help me find her?" Lottie asked and Florence smiled, nodding. Together they headed down the stairs to the servants' floor.
"Lottie, there's no one down here." Florence sighed, looking around every room down there.
"The back door's open." Lottie gasped when she noticed the servants' entrance door was open.
"You don't think she went anyway do you?" The younger sister asked, also staring at the door.
"Think about when you were eight. What would you have done if I told you that you couldn't do something you really wanted to do?" Lottie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We have to go and find her!" Florence exclaimed.
"I can't. Not with William upstairs talking to Daddy about proposing to me. He could ask me any time now!"
"We should probably tell Mama." Florence sighed and Lottie nodded, heading upstairs with her little sister following.
"This is not going to be good." Lottie grimaced as they went to find Mary.
"So are we done here?" They heard Mary say as they approached the room.
"I believe so Lady Grantham. Thank you so much for giving up your valuable time." Miss Taylor grinned as they stood up from the table.
"I'm glad to do it. Oh hello my darlings." Mary grinned and hugged her daughters close when she saw them.
"Mama, we have an issue." Lottie grimaced, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news.
"Why? What's wrong?" The mother frowned as Miss Taylor slipped out of the room.
"We can't find Kit anywhere and the servants' entrance is open. We think she went down to the village anyway." Florence explained, it all coming out as a string of fast words.
"What? My little girl is out all alone?" Mary asked and the girls saw her breathing get faster.
"Mama, calm down. We'll find her." Lottie tried to reassure her mother that Kit would be alright.
"But what about the cars, she never pays attention when we cross the road. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness." Mary rushed around, panicking.
"Flo, go and find Daddy. Tell him what's going on. Here Mama, sit down."
::: ::: ::: :::
"And this is the school. I really like school here, it's a lot of fun and Mr Moseley is really nice." Kit explained as they wandered past the school.
"Is that a playground?" Lily asked and Kit nodded, grinning. The two girls headed off at a sprint towards the small park. Both jumped on the swings and began to propel themselves back and forth with as much force as their small bodies could manage.
"Lily?" Kit shouted over the rush of the wind in her ears.
"Yes Kit?" The other girl yelled back, giggling at the sensation.
"You're my best friend!"
"You're my best friend too, Kit!"
The laughter of the two little girls rang out around the village as they swung on the swings, embracing the feeling of being a child for as long as they could.
::: ::: ::: :::
"Mary? Oh darling, I'm sure she's fine." Matthew sighed when he set his sights on his distraught wife. He headed over to the chair where she was sat and gathered her up in his arms, allowing her to let her feelings out.
"Mama, William and I will head out and find her. She's probably at the playground." George smiled sadly at the look of his mother.
"We'll be back as soon as we can Lady Grantham." William said, sneaking a grin at Lottie who smiled back despite the circumstances.
"Thank you." She and Matthew both mouthed; Lottie to William and Matthew to George. The two boys smiled before heading out of the room and downstairs towards the garage.
::: ::: ::: :::
"Look! I can swing higher than you!" Kit grinned, pumping her legs as hard as she could to propel herself higher than her friend.
"No you can't! I'm the best swinger!" Lily replied, matching Kit's height.
"Well I think that you're both very good." George grinned and Kit stopped swinging, frozen in the seat.
"George! What are you doing here?" She asked, as Lily came to a stop beside her.
"Looking for you. Mama is beside herself with worry about where you are. What on earth did you think you were doing running off like that?" He reprimanded, walking over to where she was and lifting her into his arms.
"She called me selfish. I'm not selfish! Lottie's the selfish one! She promised that she would take me down to the village today and she went back on her word. All because William had to talk to Daddy about something that was apparently so important that it couldn't wait. It's not fair!" Kit yelled and Lily's face took on a worried expression as she realised that what her friend had done today was against the rules.
"Hey Kit, I'm sorry about today. I didn't realise that you were going to see your friend today but I really did need to speak to your daddy. You see, I'm going to ask Lottie to marry me but I obviously need your daddy's permission to do that. I'm leaving with George this afternoon so it had to be today. I'm really sorry." William explained, coming to stand next to George.
"You're going to ask Lottie to marry you?" The eight year old asked, her face lighting up in excitement.
"I sure am."
"Congratulations!" Kit exclaimed and threw her arms around William, causing him and George to laugh.
"Alright, how about we get Lily home and then you go and apologise to Mama for running off and making her worried? Deal?" George asked, looking at his youngest sister.
"Deal." Kit agreed and she was placed back on the ground. They all climbed into the car and the drive to the bakery was very quiet.
"I guess I'll see you at school?" Lily asked, smiling at her new friend.
"You sure will. I'll make sure to save the seat next to mine!" Kit said very seriously and the two girls hugged before Lily rushed into the bakery with a large grin and a wave.
"Is Mama awfully mad?" Kit questioned as George began to drive back up towards the abbey.
"She's not mad at the moment, just worried but don't you mind, I'm sure she'll be plenty angry when she comes down from that. You were really bad today Kit, you know you're not allowed out on your own!" George sighed, his eyes meeting his baby sister's in the rear view mirror.
"I know but I was just so angry! We'd agreed that Lottie would take me down to the village and then something happens that no one would even tell me about. If someone told me that William was asking for Lottie's hand, I wouldn't have run off. I know that's important." The little girl sighed as they pulled up to the abbey and drove around to the garage.
Waiting there was the rest of the family. Mary looked particularly shaken up as she leaned against Matthew. George was worried what she was going to be like when he was fighting at the front line. She was so protective of her babies and she rushed into mother hen mood at the slightest hint of danger towards her children.
Kit tentatively climbed out of the car and was immediately swept up into Mary's arms.
"Oh my little darling, are you hurt? Are you alright? Did you check the road before you crossed it?" The questions rolled off of Mary's tongue and she began checking the little girl's body for injuries.
"Mary, my darling, she's fine. Catherine, what do you have to say for yourself?" Matthew asked sternly. He didn't want to be the bad cop in this situation and he too had been worried about his little girl but she had been really naughty today. She needed some discipline and when it came to their children, Mary had a tendency to be slightly liberal and smothering.
"I'm sorry Daddy, sorry Mama." The eight year old said quietly, her head lowered in guilt.
"Thank you for apologising. Now you have two hours before George's leaving party, I suggest that you march upstairs and spend those two hours in the nursery, thinking about what you have done." Matthew said in a reprimanding tone and Kit nodded, marching as her father had said into the house.
"Thank you George, William." Mary sighed and hugged them both. "And thank you my darling, I find myself becoming quite overwhelmed with emotion."
"It's fine sweetheart, it's a difficult day. We didn't really need this added on as well." Matthew smiled and held her tight, keeping an arm around her as they headed inside.
"Come on." Florence grinned and Edward followed her along with George.
"Lottie, would you like to take a walk with me?" William asked as they had hung back.
"That would be lovely." She grinned and took his offered arm. She felt butterflies in her stomach as they headed towards the walled garden. They headed for the bench in the middle of the garden, settling down on it but neither wished to let go of each other.
"I'm sure you know what this is about. Charlotte Isobel Crawley, you have enraptured me heart and soul and I could not imagine spending my life with anyone else. Since we were children playing at the village school and the way you'd follow me and George around, I knew that I wanted you to be a big part of my life. I don't know what's going to happen during this war, but I do know that I would love to be able to call you my fiancée before I head off to the front line. Please would you do me the incomparable pleasure of becoming my wife?" William asked, standing to kneel before her as he asked his question. He pulled out of his pocket a ring box which held a beautifully simplistic silver ring with three small diamonds sat in its band.
"Yes! A thousand times, yes!" Lottie grinned and launched herself towards William, connecting their lips. No matter what happened past that moment, Lottie knew that there was a hope for the future past this awful war. No one knew how long it was going to last but she could not wait for it to be over and walk down the aisle with William waiting at the other end.