The words written on the letter were haunting Robert all morning. He'd barely eaten anything at breakfast or said a word to the girls as they came downstairs. He was so preoccupied with this supposed secret this person claimed to know. Of course the person could be lying and they could just be trying to cause trouble; but Robert had this niggling feeling that something was absolutely amiss about the situation.
His fears were realised when the morning post arrived with a second letter for him. It was again the same handwriting and the same paper. Only this time the letter read:
Are all your servants your personal play things?
'Is everything alright Papa?' Sybil asked as she buttered herself a slice of toast, but grew concerned when she saw the look on her father's face, which was contorted in shock, confusion and dismay.
At the sound of Sybil's words Robert glanced up and realised that all four of his daughters were looking at him.
'Yes everything is fine; don't mind me.' He said as he tried to put on a brave face and quickly tucked the letter into his pocket, but he only wished the letters were as easy to brush off.
Two letters in two days meant that someone definitely had it in for him. But for now he would continue to keep it to himself; there was no sense in worrying Cora with it, not until he absolutely had to.
'What do you suppose Papa's letter was about? He looked ever so worried.' Sybil said as she perched on Aurelia's bed once they had headed up after breakfast.
'I don't know, but I didn't like the look of it. I think Papa hoped he could hide it from us, but he looked awfully concerned.' Aurelia replied as she sat behind Sybil on the bed and braided her hair.
'But on a much happier note, you're to be married!' Sybil said with glee as she tried to turn her head to look at her twin, only to be playfully scolded by her.
'Oi, hold still you, otherwise you're likely to get a pin in your eye.' Aurelia laughed and forced her sister to face the other way. 'I am so very happy with him. Of course we'll have to wait until Matthew and Mary's wedding, but we're going to make our announcement at our ball.'
'And what about the rest of the family?'
'Everyone is coming to dinner tonight, including Henry and I'm going to introduce him to everyone and then we'll tell them about our engagement.' Aurelia replied as she just about finished pinning Sybil's braid up, just as Mrs Hughes walked in.
'Good morning Mrs Hughes.' Sybil said politely.
Mrs Hughes couldn't help but smile when she saw the two of them together; it was a rare occurrence that they were ever seen apart.
'What do you think Mrs Hughes?' Aurelia asked as she showed the housekeeper her handy work on her sister's hair.
'I think that if you carry on doing such a good job Milady, I'll be out of a job.' She joked.
'Not at all Mrs Hughes; we could never manage without you.' Sybil said with a smile.
'Yes I think this house would probably fall apart without you Mrs Hughes.' Aurelia agreed and the housekeeper blushed a little.
'How did your tea go yesterday with Doctor Forbes Milady?' She asked as she turned away from them briefly.
'It went very well Mrs Hughes; in fact…' Aurelia paused for a few seconds before adding the extra detail she was so desperate to share. 'Can you keep this a secret please Mrs Hughes, from the other staff I mean?' She said and received a curt nod from her. 'Well Doctor Forbes and I are to be married!'
'Oh that is good news.' Mrs Hughes exclaimed with genuine delight. She knew how much Doctor Forbes meant to Aurelia and was glad that the news had obviously been accepted by her parents.
'Thank you Mrs Hughes. We're going to tell the rest of my family tonight and then I'll come downstairs and tell the other staff.' Aurelia explained with a large smile.
Mrs Hughes was delighted for Aurelia and smiled all the way back downstairs into her sitting room.
'What are you so happy about?' Mr Carson asked her with a bemused look.
'Never you mind Mr Carson. You'll find out soon enough but for now I am sworn to secrecy.' Mrs Hughes replied with a smirk. 'Will you be joining us this weekend in Thirsk?'
He had almost completely forgotten about the fair in Thirsk that weekend and now that Mrs Hughes had reminded him of it, it brought back that uneasy feeling that he'd had.
'Oh I don't think I should.' He replied.
'Oh go on, if we can't live a little at our age when can we?' She said encouragingly.
'Sure they won't be able to enjoy themselves if both you and I are with them. They'll be constantly looking over their shoulders.'
'Mr Carson, it'll do them good to see that we can let our hair down just as much as they can. Besides, the girls are all going and even Mrs Crawley is joining them.' She pleaded, 'And I would appreciate your company.' She added shyly taking him aback a little, although he tried not to appear too flustered in front of her.
'Well then, maybe I will join you.' He said before bustling out of the room, mumbling something about the silver.
She smiled as she watched him leave and felt her heart skip a happy tune at the thought of him joining them at the fair. She left her sitting room and headed towards the servants' hall and was passed by Lily.
'Mrs Hughes is alright if I nip into the village as I've got a couple of errands I need to run?' She asked politely.
'Well I don't see any harm in it as long as you're back within the hour. And whilst you are there you can run a couple of errands for me.' Mrs Hughes replied as she handed Lily a list of things she needed doing.
Lily disappeared quickly out of the house and headed towards the village, her next poison pen letter clutched in her hand. This one was going to be the last of her cryptic clues; tomorrow's letters would map out exactly what she was intending to do, although she also had another letter to deliver that wasn't going to Lord Grantham. The second letter was for Lord Merton and his sons. She realised that if she sent it now, then they should receive it by tomorrow morning or at least tomorrow afternoon.
Feeling pleased with herself and her plans for extortion, she only wished she could witness Lord Grantham's face each time he read the letters.
And indeed Robert was wallowing in great anguish at these strange letters. He had no idea who could be sending the or indeed why they were sending them, but he grew more and more anxious as the afternoon drew closer to the time afternoon post was usually delivered.
'Robert is everything alright? You're looking very pale.' Cora asked as she sat in the library with her embroidery.
'Yes my dear everything is fine. There's nothing you need to concern yourself with.' He replied as he tried to put on a brave face, but the arrival of Mr Carson with another letter for him twisted his stomach into a tight knot.
He tried to act casually as he opened the letter, but he could feel his hands trembling as he prised the letter open and suddenly sank onto the armchair, causing Cora great concern.
'Robert what is it?!' She asked with urgency as her embroidery sat forgotten.
Robert could hardly speak to his wife, so he handed the letter to her and let her read it for herself.
Don't twins normally share the same mother?
Having not seen the other letters, this completely confused Cora, but she knew exactly what it was referring to, as now did Robert.
He sat and explained to Cora about the other two letters and now she was sat next to him looking a pale as he did.
'What are we going to do Robert?' She asked quietly.
'I don't know my dear, I don't know.' He replied.