CHAPTER 46: IT'S MY JOB

Late the next morning

The Abbey Grounds

"Timothy, look here!" Thomas jumped up and down behind Morgan, flapping his arms and making silly noises. Timothy faced Thomas and laughed gleefully as Morgan snapped a photo. Timothy was sitting on Anna's lap, and Anna was seated on a bench with Bates standing proudly at her side, one hand on Anna's shoulder and the other holding his hat.

Lord Grantham was taking his constitutional nearby with Tiaa. He caught sight of the camera and called, "What's all this?" as he approached Morgan.

Thomas quickly stepped between them. "My Lord, this is Arthur Morgan, Mr Novello's chauffeur. He was taking a Bates family photo."

"So I see."

Morgan held out his camera. "This is the latest Leica. It uses 35mm film. Is Your Lordship interested in photography?"

"We have professional portraits made of the family."

"Your Lordship's home is impressive. It deserves to have the work of a professional grace its walls. This camera is simple enough for amateurs, such as myself. I capture moments I want to remember and enjoy them later whenever I'm in the mood to open my album."

"I can understand the appeal of a photographic album," nodded Lord Grantham with polite tolerance and even a bit of sincere interest.

Thomas glanced at Tiaa. "If I may, my Lord, imagine taking photos of Miss Sybbie and Master George playing with Tiaa or learning to ride or licking the bowl after Mrs Patmore's frosted a cake."

Lord Grantham smiled. "You make it sound charming, Barrow."

"Your Lordship would have practical uses for a camera, too," added Morgan. "... cataloguing the Abbey's valuables, documenting a renovation."

"That's something to consider. Thank you, Morgan." Lord Grantham caught sight of Timothy, who was holding Anna's hand and toddling towards Tiaa.

"Da Da!" Timothy addressed the dog.

Bates sighed. "No, Timothy. I'm Da Da."

Lord Grantham laughed as he clapped Bates on the back. "Such a sturdy little chap! Don't worry, Bates. He'll know his Da Da soon enough. At least he doesn't call you Donk!"

Lord Grantham merrily continued his walk, and Anna led Timothy back inside to the nursery. Bates and Thomas walked with Morgan to Thomas' pantry to retrieve his bag. Thomas was concerned about Morgan's long drive to London. "Aren't you too tired to drive so far? You didn't get much sleep last night."

"I'll drive for a few hours and find some place to pull off and nap. I did feel obliged this morning to keep my promise to Mrs Parker and hear her lecture about the gold standard."

Bates opened the door to the pantry. "How did that go?"

"I'll be damned if she didn't make it crystal clear!"

Thomas perched on the edge of his desk. "And were you able to make her understand about the Russian?"

"I asked her to speak Russian gibberish to me, and I translated what she said to Mrs Patmore. Once she understood the gag, she had a good giggle. She's such a serious little thing, it was a pleasure to hear her laugh! She asked me to come around and say goodbye before I leave."

"Then I suppose I must say goodbye." Thomas stood close to Morgan. "I'm sorry to see you go. I can't thank you enough for your many kindnesses, Morgan." He added in a whisper, "Especially after my little error that night."

"Don't be silly, Thomas. I've had a wonderful time."

Bates silently watched the two men embrace. That's not how the men he knew said goodbye, not even in private. It didn't seem as uncomfortable or improper as Bates would have thought. Perhaps that's how men should behave towards each other, but he would limit himself to shaking hands.

The three men walked to the kitchen. Daisy and Mrs Patmore surprised Morgan with a sack of goodies for his trip. Morgan surprised everyone by predicting that Daisy would run for local office one day.

"What a notion!" scoffed Mrs Patmore, but the men could see that Daisy took the prediction to heart.


That evening

The Dining Room

Thomas stood erect at his usual station and scanned the dining room peripherally to see if anything was wanting. He caught sight of Lady Mary, who appeared to be in distress. She was keeping up her end of the conversation with Lord Merton, but she was fidgeting, which was unlike her, and she seemed flushed. When Minnie arrived with the roast course, Thomas met her at the sideboard. "If anyone asks, say that the phone in the vestibule has been ringing, and I went to answer it," he whispered. Minnie nodded.

Thomas left the dining room and strode quickly to the vestibule where paper and pencils were kept by the telephone. He jotted a quick note and returned post-haste to the dining room. He placed the note on a salver and handed it to Lady Mary.

Lady Mary read the note.

May I escort you to your room
and ring Dr Clarkson for you?
You can say that you
have an urgent call.

Lady Mary picked up the note, folded it, and rose from her chair. "Please excuse me. I have an urgent telephone call. I apologize, Papa, but I'll need Barrow. You can manage with Minnie for a bit, can't you?"

After a brief debate with Lord Grantham, Lady Mary left the dining room with Thomas at her elbow. "How did you know?"

"It's my job to know, milady."

"I appreciate your discretion, Barrow. It would be inconsiderate of me to throw everyone into a tizzy, only to have it be a false alarm."

Barrow was not certain what she meant but answered, "Yes, milady." It was an all-occasion reply.

When they reached the stairs, Lady Mary turned to Thomas. "There's no need for you to accompany me to my room. Please ring Dr Clarkson and send Anna to me."

"I beg Your Ladyship's pardon. I know I'm overstepping, but I'd like to see you safely up the stairs."

Lady Mary sighed. "Come along then, Barrow. I don't have the wherewithal at the moment to argue with a Russian prince."

"Da, milady."

Lady Mary smiled wanly. As they reached the top of the stairs, she clutched the banister and groaned. Thomas wanted to take her arm but hesitated. "What's wrong, milady? Shall I fetch Mr Talbot?"

Lady Mary was in no mood for discussion. As she leaned one arm on the banister, she reached up with her free hand and pushed Thomas from her. "No! Let me breathe!" Once the pain subsided, she turned to apologize to Thomas for her rude behaviour, but he wasn't there. She looked down the stairs, and there was Thomas, sitting askew on the bottom step.

Mary descended the steps as quickly as she could manage. "Gracious, Barrow, what happened?"

Thomas did not respond.

"I gave you the tiniest of shoves. You must have lost your balance. Are you all right?"

"What?"

"Barrow, look at me."

Tomas looked up at Lady Mary. "What happened, milady?"

"I was having a contraction, and I wanted you to step back a bit. I'm terribly sorry, Barrow."

"A contraction?"

"Are you able to stand, Barrow?"

Thomas took hold of the banister and pulled himself to his feet. "Did you have a contraction when Master George was born, milady?"

"A woman has many contractions to deliver a baby."

"How dreadful, milady!"

"Yes, it is rather dreadful. When Dr Clarkson arrives, I'll ask him to have a look at your head. You have a lump coming on."

"Dr Clarkson?" Thomas asked, touching his forehead gingerly and wincing.

"Ring Dr Clarkson, Barrow, and have Anna come to my room. Are you able to remember that?"

"Anna doesn't have a phone, milady."

"No, she's here in the house. You're to ring Dr Clarkson and find Anna. Say it, Barrow."

"I'm to ring Dr Clarkson and find Anna."

"Now, Barrow!"

"Yes, milady!"

Barrow watched Lady Mary walk up the stairs. This time, her ascent was uninterrupted. "Barrow!" she called from the landing.

"Yes, milady."

"Ring Dr Clarkson and find Anna. Go!"

"Yes, milady."

Thomas felt unsteady, but he carried out his mission. He telephoned Dr Clarkson from the vestibule. "Dr Clarkson? ... This is Thomas Barrow ... Lady Mary had a contraction, and I fell down the stairs. Are you coming? ... Shall I find Anna now? ... Yes, Dr Clarkson, I hit my head ... I feel a bit woozy, that's all ... Dr Clarkson, why can't you do something about those frightful contractions? ... Very well, Dr Clarkson ... Shall I find Anna? ... Very well.

Thomas hung up the telephone and proceeded to the servants' stairs. He felt a bit dizzy as he looked down the staircase and held onto the banister tightly as he slowly managed the steps. He found Anna in the servants' hall mending a blouse.

Anna was alarmed when she saw Thomas' bruised head. "Thomas, what happened?"

"A contraction! They're terrible things!" replied Thomas. "Anna, please go to Lady Mary's room. Dr Clarkson is on his way. I'll be in my pantry."

"But Thomas, your head!" Anna protested.

"You must go to Lady Mary at once, Anna," responded Thomas firmly. As soon as Anna started up the stairs, Thomas wobbled to his pantry, sat at his desk, and promptly fell asleep.


AUTHOR'S NOTE

Some readers have expressed an interest in knowing which are the actual versus the fictional elements of Thomas' London adventure. I did not want to take too much license when including historical characters, but it can be challenging to differentiate truth from untruth. For example, one book on Churchill stated that both Winston and Clementine loved to gamble while another book on Clementine insisted that Clementine never gambled. (I choose to believe the former which quoted letters that were supposedly written by the couple and discussed their gambling habits.) Where the facts seemed unattainable, I allowed myself some literary license.

Please feel free to private message me if you have further questions about actual versus fictional content in my story. (You'll need a username to send a private message.)


ACTUAL PEOPLE/DETAILS

(in order of appearance, more or less)

Ivor Novello (birth name, David Ivor Davies)

Le Tabac Blanc (not the same formula as is sold today)

Arthur Walter Lionel Morgan

Novello's London flat on the top floor of the Strand Theatre (now the Novello Theatre)

Noël Coward

Bobbie Andrews (birth name, Reginald Frank Andrews)

Lord Castlerosse and Londoner's Log

Lloyd Williams

Gladys Cooper
Does Thomas' giving Gladys Cooper a baby goat at a curtain call seem ridiculous? I based it on a story I had read about a pony being presented on stage to Cooper (for her daughter Joan) by producer, Charles Hawtrey, as a practical joke during the run of The Naughty Wife.

Constance Collier

Edward Marsh

Tallulah Bankhead

They Knew What They Wanted

Down Hill

Phyllis Monkman

Cecil Beaton and his Sisters, Nancy and Baba, his bedroom, his scrapbook

Edward 'Boy' Le Bas

Gurney

Savoy Hotel:
George Reeves-Smith
Walter Hore
Mrs Kate Butler
Harry Craddock
Francois Latry
Loreto Santarelli
Victor, the Reception Clerk

Violet Lucy Eatwell Morgan

The Last of Mrs Cheyney

Gerald Du Maurier

Ronald Squire

Siegfried Sassoon

Winston Churchill
including his painting and bricklaying

Professor Frederick Lindemann

Maidie Andrews

Alice Through The Looking Glass (1903 London production)


FICTIONAL CHARACTERS with HISTORICAL DETAILS

Garland Jobin and Lucas Bazin
The 1916 Lille Munitions Depot Explosion tragedy actually happened.
The Bantam Battalions were actual battalions created by the British at the beginning of WWI.

Henry (tennis player)
Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion was an actual anti-Semitic publication, originating in Russia in 1903. Versions of the discredited text have reappeared from time-to-time.
In the early 1920s, Henry Ford sponsored publication of 500,000 copies in the US.


BLUNDERS and MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS

BLUNDER: It is unlikely that Novello would have taken a train to Yorkshire without some semblance of his dedicated entourage in tow.

BLUNDER: In my story, Morgan has free time at his disposal during Novello's performances in Down Hill. In reality, I believe Morgan was a member of the cast under the name A.W. Morgan. OOPS!

BLUNDER: Originally, I had Gladys Cooper accompany Thomas and Bobbie in the Hello, Dahling chapter to see They Knew What They Wanted. When I realized that Cooper was starring simultaneously in The Last of Mrs Cheyney, I rewrote Hello, Dahling and substituted Noël Coward for Cooper.

I was not able to learn anything about Morgan's personality and created a likeable fellow whom Novello would have wanted to keep in his employ.

I have no idea what it was like backstage at Down Hill.

I don't know who Churchill's cook was at Chartwell during the summer of 1926. The "witch of a cook" in my story was pure fiction.

A funny thing happened on my way to watch Gosford Park: I had been searching for a gay celebrity of 1926 to include in my story. After some research, I settled on Ivor Novello. Meanwhile, my partner had been encouraging me to see Gosford Park because it was written by Julian Fellowes. I posted the first two Novello chapters to my story, and then my partner and I sat down to watch Gosford Park. We were shocked when a car pulled up to Maggie Smith's character and a passenger said, "I'm Ivor Novello." Shocked isn't quite the word. I was livid. I swore that I would never speak to Julian Fellowes again (not that I ever had or that he has ever heard of me). Someday, I'll get over myself and watch the end of the movie.