George let out a huge sob, his body shaking with fear. He turned away and let out a huge wail of pain, he wasn't sorry William was dead. He was only worried about the potential danger he'd put his family in. He now knew just how dangerous William's family was, seeing the way William's father had reacted to Sybbie. He was in such a state, only beginning to calm down when he heard his father's voice on the end of the phone.
"George, calm down. Tell me what happened, where are you?" Matthew spoke with such a calm voice that it instantly soothed him and allowed him to think clearly for the first time in a couple of hours. George was so ashamed that he'd lost control of his emotions and now his cousin wouldn't get the justice she deserved, it was all his fault!
"I'm at John's house... William was here, I don't know why! I specifically told him that I hated William and that I never wanted to see him again!" George ran a shaking hand over his face, his chest heaving in panic. He couldn't bare to look at the corpse on the floor, knowing he had caused it. That he had taken another life, even if this person had deserved it. He could hear his father trying to keep calm even through the phone, this was all such a mess and now he'd dragged John into it too, not just his father.
"You were meant to be at Radley... what are you doing at John's house? Nevermind that, where is John now? Is he alright? Does he know what happened with Sybbie?" Matthew said softly, keeping his voice low so as not to wake Mary or Sybbie. Matthew doubted that John knew anything, he was a kind boy and he wouldn't have put George through seeing William if he knew why he hated him so much.
"John's in the kitchen absolutely freaking! He blames himself, I told him after it happened why I hated William so much, he didn't know father! He thought we were just having an argument!" George heaved slightly and could hear his father getting ready over the phone, putting his mind at ease. He just wanted his father, he needed his papa to make it better.
"Right, ok my boy. Calm down, I'm coming to sort this out. Don't tell me anything else, wait for me to get there!" He said softly, hanging up the phone and rubbing his forehead in distress. This was the last thing they needed, he only hoped that he could get this covered up before anyone else found out about this. He wasn't going to have his son taking the blame for this when actually he had ridded the world of a monster. He got his coat and ran out of the house to his car, getting in and speeding off down the road, all he could think of was his boy.
After about an hour of driving, Matthew pulled up at John's house. He got out of the car and ran to the door, George had already wrenched the door open and his face crumpled. He looked awful, he was covered in cuts, bruises and blood. He was also sobbing and hyperventilating, Matthew had never seen him in this state before, not even when he had first told him of William's betrayal. He threw himself into Matthew's arms, clinging to him and sobbing.
"Papa! Papa!... I didn't mean to... I swear I didn't!" He sobbed pitifully, burying his face into his father's shoulder. Matthew tightened his hold on George, hugging him tight and shushing him, he was horrified by the state he was in. He looked like he'd been battered by a cricket bat, Matthew picked him up and brought him inside the house not wanting any prying eyes to see the state his boy was in.
"Shhh darling boy, papa's here now. Where's John? Take me to John," He said softly and pressed a kiss to his head. He also wanted to check that his son's friend was alright too, this must've been a massive shock for him. George pulled away from his father and led him through to the kitchen, where John was sat at the table his head in his hands. The poor lad was shaking from head to toe, Matthew could only barely understand what John was saying.
"My fault... all my fault!" He croaked, Matthew felt so sorry for him. He gently pat his back, John sharply looked up and then suddenly relaxed seeing who it was. He knew that they were in safe hands now, if anyone could get them out of trouble then it was George's dad. Matthew shushed both boys comfortingly and rubbed his forehead slightly to get rid of his impending headache, he had to know what had happened and quickly. Seeing that George was in no fit state to talk, Matthew turned to John.
"Tell me what happened, please. I won't be angry, especially after what that animal did to Sybbie. He had this coming, I'm only sorry that I didn't do it myself!" He muttered, watching as John did a double take hearing that the future Earl of Grantham would've murdered the 14 year old boy if he could. He took a deep breath, glancing at George and began to speak. He felt so guilty for the situation, especially since he had invited William there.
"I had been writing letters to William over the last couple of weeks, I wanted to know what was going on between him and George. I knew George hated him but... well, he never told me why. So, I asked William... he said it was to do with a girl from the village that apparently George liked. He told me that the girl ended up talking to William and that George was jealous... I was only trying to help! We've all been friends for so long, had I known the real reason then I never would've invited him!" John said with a small sob, he was clearly guilt stricken and Matthew felt sorry for the young lad. He gently pat his back, not saying a word as the young man continued.
"I invited William to the house to play cards... George and I always play cards and have drinks on the second Friday of every month..." John and George both blushed at Matthew's disapproving stare, lying about being at school on those Fridays when really they had been playing cards and drinking John's father's whiskey. Matthew wasn't impressed, but they had a lot more important things to be worried about. The body of his surrogate daughter's rapist being of the most upmost concern, Matthew rolled his eyes so far back that he was sure he saw his spine. He prodded them to continue.
"I knew I fucked up when I saw George's reaction, I've never seen him so angry. He didn't say anything at first Mr Crawley, all George did was storm out of the room and go outside for a cigarette," John said whilst rubbing his forehead. Only realising that he'd dropped George in it for smoking when he elbowed him in the ribs and gestured John to another one of Matthew's eye rolls. He blushed slightly and apologised to George, Matthew had to hide a smile. He couldn't be too mad, he'd done all of this when he was George's age.
"I was so confused at first, until a little later. I could hear William and George arguing... screaming I should say, I heard George call William a rapist and say that he should leave while he still could, that's when I heard a loud crunching noise... William had punched George in the nose! They... oh god, they started fighting! Going for each other Mr Crawley, I have never in my life seen anything like it, I tried to pull them apart I swear I did!" John let out a sob as he remembered what he saw, two of his close friends fighting. Matthew rubbed his back and calmed him down, whispering how he'd done the right thing, that he was proud of him for trying to take charge of the situation. George clenched his fists slightly, he felt so guilty for putting him in this position.
"I don't know how it turned so bad... but suddenly George got on top of him and started smashing his head into the concrete, screaming at him that he deserved it! That he'd raped Sybbie... I was just frozen to the spot, I couldn't think and I just stood there while George was smashing his head into the concrete... I could never have believed William would hurt her, they always seemed so close!" John muttered, almost as if trying to convince himself. It was true, they had all grown up together as friends and never would he have thought William capable of hurting her, especially in that way. George laid a hand on John's back, he couldn't even think straight let alone talk.
"Suddenly I looked down and that's when I realised that William was dead, he wasn't moving. I managed to get George off of him and I tried to wake him up but, he wouldn't wake up! George was in such a mess, he couldn't do anything to help so I told him to ring for help. We did the right thing didn't we? I just... we're so sorry Mr Crawley!" John burst into tears and Matthew's eyes welled up with tears looking at their distress. The poor lads. He got up and pulled them both upright, they needed to get rid of William's body.
"Where is he? Where's William's body?" Matthew said calmly, following behind both boys as they led him out to the garden. They kept walking and that's when Matthew saw him, laying on the ground completely mangled. He grimaced and felt sick, what a mess. He could feel both boys trembling beside him and he shushed them, he could tell that this bothered them, especially George. He knew that whilst his boy hated William, he would never want to take anyone's life. Matthew thought quickly, they needed to get rid of him and quickly.
"George and John, go and get me some blankets and anything that's heavy and won't be missed. Hurry!" He said softly, watching as they did just that. He laid the blanket flat out on the ground, picked up William's body and laid it on top. He wrapped the body up, putting the heavy objects inside and tied the blanket together with some twine that John had handed to him, he picked up the body with difficulty and put it into his car. He hid it well, underneath all sorts of odd things he could find and turned to both boys.
"I am going to get rid of him, on my own ok? Then, I'm going to come back and figure the rest of it out! Both of you, make a hot drink and stay in the kitchen until I come back!" Matthew whispered, watching as both boys nodded and ran towards the kitchen. They didn't need to be involved in this part, this part was something that he had to do on his own. He needed to protect them from this. Matthew started the car and began to drive, trying to think of all the places that would be good to hide a body. Never in a million years did he think that he would have to do this, but needs must. He looked to his right and pulled over, seeing a lake. This was perfect!
He got out of the car and grabbed William's body, lifting him up and heading towards the lake. He was so thankful that it was dark, that no one could see what he was doing. He stopped by the edge and just threw him into the lake, watching as he sunk to the bottom. Hopefully he would be there permanently, if not enough time for him to be unrecognisable. He didn't want this being traced back to them or himself. He shuddered slightly and got back into his car, driving as quick as he could without looking back.
He pulled up at John's house about an hour after he had left and went back into the kitchen, he looked at both boys and smiled softly watching as they clutched the now cold cups of tea in their hands. He took in the boys appearance and shook his head softly, they were both absolutely filthy.
"Boys, both of you have a bath and get into some clean clothes. Leave your dirty clothes down here, we need to get rid of them!" He said, ushering them out of the room and upstairs. He made his way back into the kitchen and made himself a hot sweet tea, he hoped that it would calm him down and keep his nerves at bay. After what felt like hours, both boys came down clean and in fresh clothes, Matthew audibly winced as he looked at George's face. He didn't know what he was going to tell Mary.
"Give me your clothes," he said taking them in his hands and began to walk outside, heading to the furthest part of the garden where there was already sticks and logs on the ground. He threw all their clothes onto the heap of logs, taking a lighter out of his pocket and sighed. This was the last thing he had to do to protect the boys from a lifetime of punishment, it was nearly over. He lit the pile of wood, watching as it lit the clothes up in flames. He stood there watching it for around half an hour, until he was sure that the clothes were mostly unrecognisable. He filled a bucket up with water from the outside tap, throwing it over the flames to stop it spreading.
"John, where are you parents?" Matthew said, suddenly realising that actually he had no idea if they were coming back tonight. John looked down at the floor, rubbing his eyes slightly from the stress of what was going on. Matthew noticed and ruffled a hand through the boys hair, he felt so bad that the poor lad had been dragged into this mess.
"They're in London and won't be back until tomorrow," he said and Matthew nodded, he couldn't leave him here on his own after everything he had been through tonight. It would be enough to break a fully grown man, let alone a teenager. He gestured for both boys to come into the house, then he began to clean up all the cups and put them away. He then sent John upstairs to pack an overnight bag up.
"John, you're coming back to Downton for the night, absolutely no way am I leaving you here on your own. As for you George, we will tell your mother that you were bare knuckle boxing at Radley and have been sent home... that'll explain it!" He said more to himself than the two boys, who were so busy getting themselves sorted out that they weren't really listening to him anyway. He led them out to the car and they jumped in, they wanted to put this awful night behind them as quickly as they could. Matthew began to drive, wishing to put this awful night behind them too.
It was around 3:00am by the time they got back to Downton, Matthew snuck the boys into the house and up the stairs keeping an ear out for any servants and prying eyes. They soon reached George's bedroom, he made sure that he set up a spare camp bed and that they were in and settled before reaching out and pulling them both into a hug by the back of their necks.
"I am so proud of both of you for telling me and not trying to sort this mess out yourselves, let's try to put this behind us. It's going to be hard but he needed to be stopped and I don't think he would've been otherwise," He kept his voice low and gently pat their backs. He noticed with sadness that John snuggled into him, almost like a cat starved of affection. He knew that he was quite affectionate compared to other men of their generation but it made him sad that other father's were so cold to their children. He gave them one last sad smile, watching as both George and John got into their respective beds.
"Goodnight boys," He whispered and left the room, slowly making his way into his own. He opened the door quietly, heading to his draws to grab some pyjamas and made his way to the bathroom to get changed into them. He got himself washed up first and then put his pyjamas on, already felt a little better before heading towards the bed. He smiled softly seeing his wife and Sybbie tucked up asleep. They were safe.
He got into bed and closed his eyes, smiling even more when Sybbie snuggled into him. He slowly fell asleep, his arm wrapped around his little girl and his wife. Little did he know of the horrors that awaited them all tomorrow.