*ON HOLD* Cora Crawley had another brother. Her brother married and had a beautiful daughter named Evelyn Levinson. When a mysterious fire burns the Levinson home, 6-year-old Evelyn was the only survivor. Cora takes in her orphaned niece - and this...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Evelyn's eyes fluttered open as a faint light shone through her window. She gazed to the yellow hue of the morning sun before taking a deep breath amid her stretch. Her arms flew back onto the bed as she stared at the ceiling as memories of the night before flooded to her. How was she going to explain this to Ben? Did she need to explain this to Ben? Did he need to know at all?
She groaned and swung her legs over the bed, just letting them dangle over the edge. Anna walked into the room shortly with a pastel green gown in her arms - Evelyn's dress for the day.
"Good morning, Evie," Anna spoke with some semblance of a smile. She looked sad. Evelyn knew why.
"Is Bates leaving today?" Anna solemnly nodded. "Well, then I should go down and say bye. I'm sorry, Anna."
"Sorry for what?" Evelyn just stared at her knowingly. "I'm fine, Evie. This is just how it's supposed to be. I did quite like him."
"I know you did. This shouldn't be how it is."
"But it is. Unfortunately, we know the reason but without proof, we can't question Lord Grantham's call. And I don't know what was going on but Thomas left after dinner and didn't come back until quite late. Worried me a bit."
Evelyn just smiled. "Weird."
Anna picked up on her tone. "Do you know where he was?"
"......no. Last I saw he was with the Duke."
"And why do you sound guilty?"
"I don't! I talked to him about Bates, though."
"Oh...what did he say?"
"He didn't say much. I don't think he really listened."
"Sounds like him to block out a reprimanding. So, what's going on with Ben?"
"That's what I have to figure out. Little by little I'll figure out what to do about it."
Anna sighed. "I'm going to be honest with you, Evie, though I really don't want to be." Evelyn looked at her with a raised brow. "I don't know how I feel about Ben. I mean...he seems very kind and sweet but something worries me."
Evelyn looked at Anna in surprise. "You're right he's very kind and sweet and I really like him and that's all there is to it." Her voice twisted with annoyance. Evelyn felt remorse for her tone, but her irritation overshadowed her feelings. "I can get ready by myself. Thank you, Anna."
Anna sighed and left without another word.
—————————
Evelyn made her way down the stairs as Isis greeted her at the bottom. She smiled and scratched her ear before Isis took off into the library and Evelyn followed. Robert sat at his desk scribbling on a piece of paper, his eyes lifted when he saw someone walk in.
"Ah, good morning, Evie."
"Good morning." She grabbed an extra chair and put it next to his. "So, are we going to have a duchess in the family?"
"I'm afraid not. And not a word from you I see that hint of a smirk."
"That was a bit expected, all dukes are the same...I'm sorry that was insensitive of me. I just meant I think Mary deserves a bit better."
"No, you're right. And I knew that when he got here."
"Then why did you entertain the idea for him?"
"I just wanted to dangle a bit of bait. I hoped he would have proven me wrong."
Evelyn smiled and nodded. "So you don't plan to challenge the entail?"
Robert shook his head. "No. For now, Matthew will be the heir."
Carson walked into the library and cleared his throat. "My lord, would it be acceptable for Bates to ride in front with Taylor? Otherwise, it means getting the other car out. He and His Grace are catching the same train."
Robert rose from his seat. "Perfectly acceptable. And if His Grace doesn't like it, he can lump it."
Evelyn grinned.
——————————
Evelyn walked out with Cora and the Duke, she glanced at Bates who stood at the edge of the rounded driveway as he admired the house one last time.
"You've been so kind, Lady Grantham, thank you."
"Goodbye, Duke." She smiled kindly at him.
"You'll make my farewells to your delightful daughters?"
"They'd have been down if they'd known you were leaving so soon."
"Alas, somethings come up which has taken me quite by surprise. But I'm flattered that Lady Evelyn came down to see me off."
Evelyn smiled hollowly. "Oh no, I came to see Bates off." She strode over to Bates, leaving the Duke to stare at her in awe of her bluntness. Robert walked out of the house with a small grin after overhearing Evelyn's burning remark.
Bates's eyes gazed down to Evelyn who approached him with a sad smile, he returned the expression. Thomas, who was strapping the luggage on the back of the car, watched Evelyn walk by him. She stood next to Bates, facing the house to admire its grandeur. She sighed and linked her hands behind her back as the two reflected in silence.
"We'll miss you, Bates. I had grown quite fond of you."
He smiled. "I had grown quite fond of you as well, Lady Evelyn. Don't see many nobles treating staff as equals, it was quite admirable of you."
"The staff is my family as well, even the newest...and the meanest. And it's just Evie, no matter your place or position you will always refer to me as Evie."
Bates smiled and nodded.
Robert approached the two, his expression read nothing but dolefulness. "Goodbye, Bates. And good luck."
"Good luck to you, my lord."
Evelyn squeezes Bates's arm reassuringly before he climbed into the car, she and Robert watched disheartened. The car began to pull away until Robert lunged at it and raised his hand.
"Wait!"
Cora, Carson, and Thomas watched curiously. Robert took Bates's travel bag from the front seat and opened the door. "Get out, Bates. Evie, help him." Bates climbed out of the car and looked to Robert with confusion as Evelyn grabbed another of his smaller bags for him.
The Duke huffed. "I really mustn't be late - "
Evelyn shot him a disgusted expression. "Shove it." She slammed the car door causing him to jump.
Robert handed the travel bag to Bates but Evelyn snatched it instead, she held a bright smile on her face.
"Get back inside and we'll say no more about it."
Bates stared at him stunned for a moment before nodding gratefully. He looked at Evelyn who held his bag in both arms as she beamed at him.
"Let's go, Bates!" She began to make her way to the front door, Bates trailing behind her.
Carson stood next to Robert confusedly. Robert sighed. "It wasn't right, Carson. I just didn't think it was right."
------------------------
A/N: And that concludes episode 1! For future reference, it will not take me nine chapters to get through an episode. I wanted to get all the introductions and story rolling so I used quite a few chapters to get there but now we're well in and ready to go! I'll try to keep each episode to around two chapters but hopefully just one (but they will be longer).
