Author's note: So this chapter has proven to be a bit of a nightmare- it's been rewritten about four times and I'm still not happy with it, but I'm afraid it will have to do.

You may have to allow me some leeway with the introduction of certain staff members, as I'm unsure of when exactly they started working at Downton.

Finally, thank you for those who have stuck with this, and those who have reviewed; it's much appreciated. Enjoy :)

8

Lady Edith's sixth birthday looms on a particularly unforgiving late spring day. The weather is gloomy, the guests are despondent, and the entertainment has been abandoned due to the rain; only the birthday girl remains blissfully ignorant of the dour atmosphere. She flits happily about the room accepting well wishes and gifts from her miserable guests. Lady Mary, in particular, is doing nothing to disguise her displeasure; merely rolling her eyes and huffing every time Lady Edith trips past her with a beatific smile lifting her rosy cheeks.

Elsie shouldn't really be assisting in the drawing room but, with half the footman in bed with the flu, there's nothing else to be done. She's constantly reminded of the unconventionality of her presence by Mr Carson's twitching every time she approaches a guest; he can twitch and grumble all he wants, she thinks, having maids in the drawing room hardly heralds the dawn of the apocalypse. Anyway, she's quite enjoying herself; the party isn't really anything exciting, quite the opposite, in fact, but she keeps herself amused by making up stories about each of the guests or imagining them in place of characters from her favourite novels. She decides relatively quickly that Lady Mary will grow up to be an English Scarlett O'Hara; wilful, prideful and doing all she can to get her own way. Elsie's never been much of a fan of Miss O'Hara, but she can't help admiring her resourcefulness at times. She wonders, a little wickedly, what shade of purple Mr Carson might turn if she were to whisper her thoughts about his precious Lady Mary to him now. In the end she takes pity on him and, instead, resumes her game.

She turns her attention to little Lady Sybil who's currently sneaking biscuits off the table when Lady Grantham isn't looking. She imagines Lady Sybil will be the adventurer of the group; she's constantly finding her way to rooms that she has no business in or trying to escape into the garden when it's time for her bath or bed. She's still carrying enough baby fat to make Elsie want to pinch her cheeks every time she passes her in the corridor and she's innocent enough at three-years-old for her cheekiness to still be deemed cute, unlike her sisters. She thinks Lady Sybil may be her favourite, and vows to sneak her a few more biscuits when she goes to bed.

Eventually the adults come up with a few party games for the children to play and she watches on in fond amusement as the older children, namely Lady Mary and Mister Patrick, complain that they're too old for silly children's games. Unfortunately for Lady Mary her protests fall on deaf ears and, whilst the other protesters are allowed to watch from the sidelines, she is forced to put on a smile and play musical chairs and pass the parcel. She finds it quite interesting that Lady Mary goes out of her way to ensure Lady Sybil wins some of the games but refuses to offer the same courtesy to the birthday girl. One game of musical chairs ends in tears (Lady Edith) and yelling (Lady Mary), resulting in half the guests making their excuses to leave. She misses the initial altercation but apparently Lady Edith is a "whiny brat" and Lady Mary is a "stupid head".

Lady Edith remains somewhat petulant for the rest of the day, occasionally bursting into tears for no apparent reason. Lady Mary seems to recover much more quickly, although she limits her interactions to Lady Sybil and a couple of older girls, occasionally seeking out Mr Carson when he looks free. Lady Sybil appears very content with her eldest sister's attentions but often wanders over to the windows and presses herself against the glass like she's trying to fall through it. After witnessing this particular action a few times Elsie thinks Lady Sybil reminds her of Alice in Wonderland, desperate to escape into a more exciting world; Elsie hopes the little one will get to realise her dreams one day.

She finds Lady Edith the most difficult to compare to one of her heroines; the only likeness she can come up with is Amy March, because Lady Edith is a little bit...emotional at times and is constantly trying to prove her worth over her sisters. She thinks maybe she just doesn't know Lady Edith well enough to have a good handle on her character yet; after all, she barely ever sees the girl. She's used to finding Lady Sybil squirreled away somewhere in the house, and they've had quite lengthy conversations, usually about her favourite foods or toys, and Lady Mary is a constant source of talk among some of the maids, unless Mr Carson is within earshot, but Lady Edith is rarely seen and even more rarely discussed. She feels a little sorry for the wee girl; constantly in the shadow of her sisters, forgotten and overlooked to the point where she has to have an emotional meltdown to get any attention.

The next few weeks prove to be particularly busy for the staff; there are numerous guests arriving for luncheon and dinner sometimes with only the barest hint of forewarning, much to Mrs Patmore's chagrin. The weather also continues to be a problem; because of the constant rain the Crawley daughters have taken to playing games of Hide and go Seek all over the house, or coming downstairs to pester the staff. She's witnessed Mrs Patmore on numerous occasions patiently trying to explain to Lady Sybil why she can't help make the dinner, and more than once she's sought out Mr Carson only to find him in his office having a cup of tea with Lady Mary! Only Lady Edith seems to avoid the servants, unless she's following her sisters and even then she hangs back a little, usually studying the floor; Elsie often meets her in the hallways about the house but the young Lady always just scurries past her with her eyes diverted, often ignoring any greeting Elsie feels obliged to make her. The child's a confusing one, that's for certain; one minute she's happy to be receiving attention over her sisters and can talk a mile a minute, the next she's blushing when anyone so much as looks at her! Around the tenth time her greetings have been rebuffed by the middle Crawley Elsie decides she'll keep her attentions with Lady Sybil; the sweetest of the bunch, Lady Sybil brightens up many a rainy afternoon and Elsie thinks there's nothing better, in the midst of a hard and stressful day, than being awarded a beautiful smile by her favourite little Lady.