Sorry for the delay...

Chapter Twelve

The morning dawned with the faint sounds of sobbing coming from various parts of the old, great house. When the cries occasionally faded, it was silent for only a brief time before another member of the household would awaken to discover the devastating news of the occurrences the night before.

That everyone was in shock was an understatement.

To have been surprised with the news of George was shock enough, but then to lose their Lord of Grantham as well. Not a single person knew what to say and most just sat in various states of denial and catatonia.

Anna kept a fairly clear head as the morning broke and encouraged her staff to go about their daily routine. She was making a mental list of everything they would need for the next coming days and weeks and conspired briefly with the head cook Daisy to set about a plan of action. Every room that was available to sleep a guest would need to be cleaned out and readied for the arrival of friends and family who would wish to come to pay their respects. There would be a lot. And all those people would need to eat. Daisy was already busy writing orders to all the farms of what would be required to supply her needs and she knew it would not be easy with all the severe rationing that was taking place across the country. She thought briefly that this was the worst possible time for this to happen and then quietly chastised herself for such thoughts. The death of the Lord of Grantham could never have come at a good time.

No one had seen Barrow for hours, but Anna knew he was sitting in the office with Tom making telephone calls to inform all the necessary parties about the death that had occurred. As she set a tray with some tea and biscuits on the desk, Tom gave her a weary smile of thanks but did not acknowledge her more than that. Anna's heart broke for Tom and his wife, who had received the shocking news only a few hours previously that Lily was in fact Robert's biological daughter. Neither of them could have even begun to process that news yet. It still shocked Anna that such a thing had been kept secret for so many years. And the amazing coincidence that Tom would once again fall for the youngest daughter of Lord Grantham. Now Lily's son was seemingly the heir to the estate.

Anna took one more walk through the great hallway and then made her way to the bedroom where she knew Cora would need her now more than ever. The poor woman had lost her husband and her only grandson in one day. The long-time maid wondered if the woman would ever recover. Only time would tell.

Bates sat vigil by the remains of his long-time friend and employer refusing to leave his side. One last stand he would make as his Lord's batman, protecting him until the undertaker came to take away the body. He just sat on the chair, with his cane in his hand and longed for the man on the bed to open his eyes. He was well aware that it would not happen, but it was one last dream he could have in the moment. That this was all some big mistake, or some joke being played on all of them. At one point, the door creaked open and Bates tried to rise as Lily carefully made her way into the room.

"I'm sorry... I just... wanted to see him one last time. To see him as my father." Lily's eyes were red and puffy, it was clear she had been crying.

"Come in my dear. It has been a very long night for you I can only imagine. Sit here." Bates held the chair that he had been occupying and she sat down carefully. Bates took a step back but made it silently obvious he was not going to leave Lord Grantham to the watch of anyone else.

Lily just sat on the chair and stared at the man who had always been so kind to her. And now she knew why. She wasn't mad at him per se, she understood as well as anyone why her actual paternity had to be kept secret, but she had so many questions. The painful truth was she knew she would never have the answers to all of them now. She looked back towards to Bates and asked him,

"Did you know?" It was one question she could have answered by someone who would have no reason to lie to her.

"I was as surprised as you to read what was written. I swear it." Bates looked at her carefully. He thought he knew all the secrets of the Crawley family but this one had been kept tight under wraps. "It was for your own best interests, I know that to be true."

Lily just stared at him and could see the truth in his dark eyes. She sighed and looked back to the man on the bed. She said nothing else.

Some time later the door creaked open again and Lily turned to look carefully at her husband. Barrow was close behind him. Both men looked exhausted and the grief on their faces was apparent. Tom sat on the edge of the bed and took Lily's hand.

"Mary's train arrived a short time ago and the chauffeur is on his way to pick her up. We aren't sure about who should be the one to tell her everything that happened last night. The revelation particularly. I fear she will not take the news well. And with her father, and waiting for the positive identification of George..." Tom's voice broke and was unable to continue.

Lily squeezed his hand. "I think it has to be you Tom. You are the manager of the estate and without George, you have the most authority."

Tom nodded but he did not look happy. He was suddenly mad at Robert for all that he was forced to deal with now. He never wanted any of it. When he had married Sybil, the two of them had made a vow to live their life as normally as possible. He felt Lily squeeze his hand and felt a bit guilty about thinking of Sybil while his current wife sat within reach, a mere few weeks from having their second child.

He raised Lily's hand to his lips briefly and sighed.

"You're right. It should be me." And with that he stood up and walked out of the room to prepare for what could possibly be the hardest thing he would ever have to do. To tell his old friend Mary that her father and son were dead, and she no longer had any claim to the estate. Tom feared greatly that it would destroy her. He was not alone in those thoughts.

Tom sat in the front room and looked at the clock as he heard a car pull onto the gravel of the front drive. It was barely past noon. He stood up and took a deep breath as he heard the doors to the automobile open and then close. The big door to the room opened and Tom was surprised to see Cora walk slowly to his side.

"You should not have to do this alone. This is my fault as much as anybody's." She stood beside him and faced the door, bravely squaring her shoulders to face her eldest daughter.

Mary was led into the room by Barrow who exited as fast as anyone had ever seen him move. Her narrow, stern face seemed older than they could remember. Like she had aged quickly over the past few weeks. She looked as though she had not slept for days, a trait that was mirrored by the two standing before her.

Cora reached out her arms to her daughter and Mary did not hesitate to be held by her mother as her shoulders shook.

"Oh mama, I've lost the last piece of Matthew that I had left. And poor Papa, he must be devastated. Where is he?" Mary stood back up and looked into her mother's face.

Cora had tears streaming down her cheeks and was unable to speak. Mary then looked to Tom, sensing there was more wrong than she thought.

"I am afraid to tell you that your father passed away last night after a very serious brain attack." Tom barely got the words out himself.

Mary looked ready to collapse and he reached out for her and guided her to the sofa.

As though it were possible, Mary turned a terrible shade of white and seemed to go into the state of shock that the rest of the household was struggling to remove themselves from.

Cora waited only a few moments, wanting to spare her daughter from the double shock that she knew was coming, but knew she had to get it over with. She pulled the will out from under her shawl and handed it to Mary and watched as her daughter read it.

"What is this?" Mary looked from Tom back to her mother, unable to decide which one to focus on.

"It's quite clear I think. I am so sorry my darling... Jack Branson is the official heir to the estate." Cora lost her ability to speak then.

Mary's face went from pale as snow to red as fire in a few short breaths.

"This cannot be. What do you mean Lily was Papa's actual daughter? I don't understand. Matthew left me half the estate when he died. How can it go to your son?" It was not intentional, but Mary practically spat venom at Tom as he sat next to her.

"We don't want this Mary. We never wanted it. I still don't believe it entirely myself." Tom found himself defending against something he hadn't known more than a few hours. He was mad as well.

"How did you let this happen?" Mary then turned to her mother.

"It was a long time ago my dear. Your father and I were not on good terms, after the birth of Sybil I went to a dark place and I shut him out of my life. I suspected he was finding comfort somewhere but it wasn't until the day he told me he knew of Lily's existence did I know for sure that he had strayed. He didn't even stray so much as I pushed him away. I blamed him for a long time before I came to terms with the fact that I was as much to fault as he was. And by then, Lily was born and her parents never sought us for anything so we let the secret fade." Cora wept openly as she tried to explain. The look on Mary's face was unreadable.

"But I own half the estate, how can it possibly go to Jack? It should go to George..." With the mention of her son's name, Mary collapsed as neither of the other two in the room had ever seen. Even after Matthew's death she had not collapsed, she had simply gone quiet for months.

Cora held her as she wept and Tom sat uncomfortably on the other side of her. The door to the room opened again and Barrow beckoned for Tom to come with him. Cora nodded permission to Tom and he slipped quietly off the sofa to leave Mary with her broken heart and her mother. He wondered to himself if either would ever recover from this fresh grief. They were strong women, but their world had just been set on fire.

Barrow looked anxious as he led Tom downstairs. There was two unknown men in Air Force uniforms waiting for him.

"We need you to fill out some paperwork so we can officially deliver the body. Is there somewhere we can sit?" The taller of the two men gestured towards the long staff table he could see in the other room.

Tom squared his shoulders and guided the two men into the staff dining hall. His day was getting more and more difficult by the minute. No one noticed the eldest daughter of Anna and Bates sneak past the doorway and into the garage where she had seen the men come from with their precious delivery.

Lena crept carefully into the garage and saw the wooden box in the truck that held the prodigal son whom they had all cherished. She knew at that moment she should run away but she could not resist the temptation to see the young man who she had adored since she was a young child one more time. Her adolescence had not cooled the crush she had for the tall, blonde boy with the ravishing blue eyes. The boy she knew would never return her feelings but she held on to them all the same.

She climbed into the back of the truck and paused for a moment to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding. She carefully lifted the top of the coffin and could not have possibly braced herself for what she was about to see.

The young man's face was mangled beyond recognition, but the crop of blonde hair was evident. The eyes were closed and Lena was not horrified by what she saw. That almost scared her more than her imagination, that she was not scared to look at a dead body. She carefully reached out her hand to brush back the lock of hair that was always falling into his eyes and it was then that something became completely obvious.

The scar on his forehead that George had obtained in the horrible car wreck that had killed O'Malley and taken her sister's arm was not there.

She screamed as she jumped back out of the truck and ran into the house where she nearly ran over Tom, Barrow and her mother. Anna grabbed her daughter

"Lena what did you do?" Anna was shocked that her daughter had the audacity to sneak a look at the dead heir to the estate.

"It's not him... It's not George... There's no scar... It's not him..." Lena fumbled over what to say first.

"Are you sure?" Tom was torn between questioning Lena further and going to the body to see for himself.

"It's not him."

Lena was sure.

To be continued... Where is George then? Where indeed?

Thank you for continuing to read this story. Updates more often...I promise. xo