A/n: I just created a Facebook Page called Draco MalfoyGirl16 Fanfiction. There you will be able to find all the updates, sneak peeks, and polls for stories. Please feel free to like the page to stay in the loop on your favorite stories. The link is in my bio.
I don't know why I must keep saying this but I'M AMERICAN! Our spelling and grammatical structure is very different than those in the UK. Things that don't pass for a complete sentence there most likely do pass for one here. Like "The band is playing." in the US is a full and complete sentence. I do tend to write long wordy sentences (always have since I was little) so I do have to go back and reread and break it up into smaller complete sentences, but its grammatically correct.
Chapter 5: Close your eyes and listen
After dinner was over, everyone moved into the drawing-room. Lilly spent a few minutes talking to everyone before making her excuses and headed to her room, telling Cora she would ring for Anna once she got there. She picked up a candlestick and pulled it towards the edge of the round dark, amber-colored table by the stairs. Taking a match from the pack, she struck it against the red phosphorus strip at the back of the book before lighting the candle. The small area around her lit up in a soft golden glow as she shook the match a few times, snuffing out its small flame before grasping the candlestick firmly in hand before picking up the front of her dress and slowly making her way up the staircase to her room.
Once she closed the door to her room, she felt the warmth of the freshly made fire burning in the hearth. Lilly made her way gracefully across the room, placing the candlestick down on the hazelnut bedside table. Lifting her arm, Lilly grasped the tiny bit of tapestry and gave it a firm tug setting everything in motion for the bed to ring in the servant's hall with the name of her room under it. Lilly turned around and faced the hazelnut wardrobe and stood there for a while as she finally picked out a slivery nightdress with a matching dressing gown and slippers. If only her mother could see her now wearing something so lady-like to bed rather than her regular too large for her band t-shirts and baggy shorts with her long coffee hair thrown up into a very lazy and messy bun. Anna knocked on the door at that very moment startling Lilly from her memory.
"Enter." She called out to Anna.
"Evening, my lady. An early night for you." Anna said with a smile as she walked into the room. The glow from the firelight seems to make her ethereal rather than a human being. Even her black and white evening uniform just made her look magical. Anna is one of those natural beauty types. The kind that you could make wear a sack, and she would make it look marvelous. Anna walked over to Lilly's bed and soon made good work turning down the bed for Lilly to slip into once she was dressed.
"Yes. Watching Mary try to make catch Matthew out on everything is just exhausting, but I must admit he can hold his own, but I think I might have stepped on his toes a time or two since he first got here when I would remark Mary's little digs at him. "Lilly sighed as she turned her back to Anna as; she stepped behind Lilly and began to undo the buttons of Lilly's evening dress as Lilly started to take out some of the pins holding her hair up.
"Not surprised by Lady Mary. She is very against him being here, let alone trying to be set up with him, but he doesn't seem like the type of man that would feel emasculated by a lady. I'm sure he appreciated having someone in his corner. After what you told me about Thomas last week, you can only imagine what some of the servants have to say about him. Thankfully there are loads of us downstairs that are happy he is here." She finished as she helped Lilly out of her dress and then started working on unlacing her corset.
"I hope you are right. The poor man is only working for the hand he was dealt in life and as all of us are. I don't see why anyone wants to make that even harder for him than it already is. I know if I were in his shoes, I would be scared to death and mostly make a run for it." She breathed out a sigh of relief. Throughout dinner, she was tense, making her corset feel even tighter than expected but dealing with the battle that was about to happen between Matthew and Mary, she couldn't relax. Once the corset was off, they made quick work of the rest of her clothes before sliding on her nightdress and dressing gown on top. Lilly walked over to her small vanity table and took a seat on the chair before sliding her leg under the table as she placed the pins, she had in her fair hands in the small bowl they belonged in. Anna walked up silently behind her and began removing the remaining pins that Lilly couldn't find.
Once all the pins were removed and a quick once over with the hairbrush. Anna's magic fingers went to work weaving Lilly's long stains of hair in and out, up and under braiding her hair. Anna's touch was so light that Lilly barely felt a thing, and if she weren't watching Anna's reflection in the mirror, she wouldn't have known that Anna had done anything at all. Lilly appreciated remembering how her mother used to do her hair as a child as gently as she tried. Lilly's hair just even wanted to corporate, and at the end of all the tugging and what seemed like never-ending knots, she would give up and brush out her hair as best she could. To Lilly, it seems the longer she was here, the more memories that meant nothing to her in her world seemed to be everything to her in this world. Many books and fanfictions she read in her world didn't even touch on the subject, or even what little memory was brought up was not played up. I guess because it was just a story that it didn't matter much, but for Lilly, this wasn't a story; it was her life now, as weird as it sounded.
"There now all done. Is there anything else you need, my lady, before I head downstairs?" As she finished trying a white ribbon at the bottom of the braid, Anna asked and stepped back, allowing Lilly to turn around in her chair to face her.
"No, Anna, thank you for all your help," Lilly said with a small smile as her left hand grasped the back of her chair as she watched Anna.
"You don't have to thank me every time I do something for you, my lady; it's my job." She replied as she placed her left hand and her right hand on top of her left.
"I know, but I want you to know that I appreciate everything you do for me, big or small and that I see you as a friend and not just someone who works for my family. I would be lost without your wisdom and guidance." She indeed was grateful to Anna. To Anna, she was a very sheltered little rich girl who knew nothing of the world and its workings which were so far from the truth as one could get. She didn't know how this world worked or the things in it as she was used to a more technologically advanced world where everything was either done at a push of a button or by just a command of her voice.
"I feel the same, my lady. I didn't have many friends growing up, but you and Lady Mary are my dear friends. I know O'Brien and Thomas like to say otherwise, but I don't hold stock in the things they say. Goodnight, my lady." Anna gave Lilly a huge smile and turned to take her to leave so he could be ready for the other three sisters to get ready for the night. Once the door was closed, Lilly got up from her vanity and made her way to the wing-back snowy armchair. It sat next to the last set of windows of her room on the hazelnut drum table to the left side of the chair directly in from the windows sat the book; she had started that afternoon. Twenty Years at Hull-House by Jane Addams was her memoir about her work and what her partner Ellen Gates had done. It had only come out a few years ago, and Martha sent a copy for Cora and the girls to read. More so to annoy Violet than anything else as she hates all things American.
Turning around once she had the book in her hands, she made her way to her bed when soft voices caught her attention. At first, she thought it was a trick of her mind, but as she listened carefully, she heard the unmistakable voice of her Violet. She turned and walked over to the set of windows across from her bed and moved the sheer white curtains aside to look out into the never-ending blackness of the night, the stars and moon hidden by the dark clouds not letting any light shine down on the grounds. Only the lanterns placed along the drive lit a minuscule amount of the grounds around the house.
Lilly's window overlooked the front drive, and she could see poor old Taylor had pulled the car around to take Violet home. She watched Violet and Matthew out onto the gravel side by side, deep in conversion, which Lilly only could hear bits and pieces of, but not enough to put together to understand the jest of the topic at hand, so as she saw it, she wasn't eavesdropping per se. Violet now had her black coat covering her black lanced dress while Matthew had his top hat and topcoat over his tails suit. Lilly had to admit that it made him look more attractive in it, or maybe it was the way the shadows made everything about him seem to glimmer brightly.
How in the world could Mary want to fight against a man who looks like that? If it were Lilly, she would give in, in a second. She watched them continue to walk before Violet paused, and Matthew did the same after a few steps before turning back to look at Violet. After a short exchange, Violet looked back to the house before her eyes landed on Lilly at the window. That simple movement got Matthew's attention, and he turned to see what held Violet's gaze. Lilly gave them a small smile and waved her hand slightly. Violet turned back to Matthew before turning back around swiftly to face Matthew's direction again as he gave her a goofy grin and tipped his hat to Lilly in return. Lilly didn't have to be there to see Violet raising an eyebrow before making her way into the car. Lilly turned and made her way to the bed before crawling in and getting comfortable. If she had looked out the window once again, she would have seen Matthew. He was standing there looking at her window for a bit longer before starting towards his home.
The next day Lilly was down in the great hall waiting on Robert. It was one of their rare father-daughter times where they would walk down the village, get a treat, and then walk back, all the while looking around the village. Stopping to talk to people they knew in the village. She adjusted her jacket to her walking suit. She just loved this one. The Manatee grey color was dark enough for her liking but light enough to help bring out the blue of her eyes. Bits of chambray blue threads were woven into the grey, but one had to get close enough to see them, but Lilly did. She thought it gave it that extra something that people saw but couldn't place. The four large buttons on the front of the jacket were covered with the same fabric, but what she loved was on the lower sides of her skirt were eight similar buttons starting from the bottom by her ankles. She looked down at her shiny dark blue oxford London shoes. Only to see her reflection staring back at her with her cream blouse standing out more than anything else, so much so that she couldn't even see her crushable hat that covered her hair that matched the fabric of her suit perfectly. The staircase let out a slight groan as Robert made his way down, causing her to straighten up and move her walking cane from the crock of her arm into her right hand.
"I know it normally the two of us but thought it would be nice if Cousin Matthew joined us so he could see a bit more of the village. I hope you don't mind." Robert asked once he was down the stairs with Isis. She was at his heels. Ready to stretch her legs on the walk. She weaved in and out of his legs as he walked over to Lilly. Lilly saw a bit of Isis's beautiful blonde fur stick to Robert's tan walking suit.
"Not at all, papa; in fact, I think it would be a nice opportunity for Mary and Matthew to get along. I will go find her." Lilly suggested, but before she could even take a step, Robert stopped her.
"No need. I came across Mary earlier and asked her, but she turned it down, saying she had letters to write and after that, she was going to have tea with mama. Let's be on our way. I told Cousin Matthew that we would meet him at the gates and show him the grounds before heading down to the village." Robert stated as they both walked side by side out the door on this lovely sunny spring day.
A few hours later, the three of them stood on top of a hill overlooking Downton Abbey in all its glory. Robert walked with Isis's leash in his hands as she sniffed at the ground. Matthew stood in dark charcoal walking suit with a match fiddler cap making his blonde hair stand out.
"You don't love the place yet," Robert stated as he walked over to Matthew.
"Well, obviously it's- "Matthew tried to say. We all know he didn't love Downton yet; Lilly didn't either at first. This place was like an old vine; it had a way of growing on you.
"No, you don't love it. You see a million bricks that may crumble, a thousand gutters and pipes that may block and leak, and stone that will crack in the frost." Robert finished his statement. Lilly, over the past few years, had seen all this firsthand. The frustration that came with it all, all these things, weighed heavily on Robert. He cared deeply for the Abbey and everyone in the village, and she knew what it would lead to in the next few years.
"But you don't?" Matthew asked skeptically as he turned to face Robert.
"I see my life's work," Robert replied as he turned back to view Downton before giving Matthew a glace before turning and taking off walking, followed by Lilly while Matthew took one last look at Downton before following.
"Was it ever in danger?" Matthew asked as he rushed to keep up with the other two. Robert let out a chuckle before replying.
"Many times. It's my dear papa who thought the balloon would go up in the 1880s," he said as he remembers that event and how it affected everyone.
"What saved it?" Matthew asked as he ducked under the branch of a mighty tree before catching up to Robert and Lilly.
"Cora," Robert stated simply before moving on. Matthew just stood there before turning to Lilly as she added her two cents.
"You want to know why we love it," she stated as she walked up to Matthew's side and saw him nod. "Close your eye and just listen." Matthew did as he was told. Lilly stood next to him and listened too. She heard the wind softly blowing through the trees, causing the branches to rustle. The birds were singing their songs. So many all at once. In the distance, the crunch of the grass could be heard. It was from the deer that was kept on the estate. Lilly watched as Matthew's breathing changed from normal to slow and steady as everything, he heard put him at peace.
"That is what I love about this place. No matter what is going wrong in life, coming out here and just listening to the estate talk to me and it just melts my cares away. It reminds me to take a breath, let everything go, and the solution becomes so clear." Lilly said softly as if she was afraid that if she spoke usually, it would spook Matthew without knowing that it caused a pleasant chill to crawl up and down his spine. He slowly opened his eyes and tilted his head down slightly to look at her face.
"That was rather soothing. Living in the city all my life, I never got to listen to the sounds of nature. It's very different but in a good way. It's hard to describe. "He said as he looked around before returning his gaze to her porcelain face.
"This is all I have ever known, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I do know that I don't want to live without it." She lied. She grew up in the city, and all she had ever known was the sounds of the cars rushing on the roads, people chatting on the sidewalks, kids' playful screams as they played in their yards, and the braking of a neighborhood dog or two. So, this was a very much different but pleasant change. At first, she ran from the house out here far enough so no one could hear her and cry. She wanted to go back home. To wake up from this dream. To be back in her bed, but after a while, she knew that wasn't happening. Soon she was coming out here to sit in silence and listen to everything around her.
"There is a difference, I can assure you." He said with a soft smile causing Lilly to snap out of her daze and step back.
"We better catch up with papa before he leaves us behind." She said as she turned before he could reply. Matthew followed her lead.
A/n: Wow! All I can say is that this chapter wrote itself. Once I started, I couldn't stop. This one was a little more Matthew-centered than I planned, but I will have a little more Thomas and Lilly interactions soon enough.
