Reality is only an Illusion

Chapter 1: News of the Titanic

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Lilly opened her sapphire eyes. She saw the wallpaper of her room going from a dark blue to pastel blue, making the pattern of cream-colored rose and vines stand out better in the light. So she was still in "her room" at Downton. There was a slight sting at the thought as she hoped that she would have woken up back in her room at her home in Louisiana with her cats waiting for her to wake up so they can get morning pets and get their breakfast, but no, still in this marvelous room full of antique furniture. She had no idea how she ended up in this world, the world of Downton Abbey. In her world, it was nothing more than a tv show.

She just went to bed early on a Friday night drained from a whole week's worth of work...well, more like the stupidity. She had to deal with clients all week from clients trying to tell her how to do her job. She had a master's degree in that area, while they couldn't even give her the basic information needed for her to market what they wanted. All she remembered was going to bed in her room only to wake up as the youngest Crawly sister. Not only that but the twin of Sybil Crawly. She was so perplexed and scared out of her wits. Telling them that this wasn't real, and it must be a dream. Still, the family said she had been very sick and had only just recovered, so she was confusing dreams with reality as told to them by Doctor Clarkson. He assured them that she would make a full recovery and the confusion would disappear. Since then, Lilly has kept what she knows to herself
That was a year ago, and with Sybil's and "her" birthday coming up in May, Cora had been talking to them about the plans since it would be their seventeenth birthday. Of course, that was also another shock waking up and being sixteen again instead of twenty-eight, but she wasn't complaining much about that. Lilly had fond memories of being a teenager, and now she got to relive them in this new life.

Lilly shook her head and sat up in the four-poster canopy bed, pushing her blanket and sheets down to her waist. Then, pushing them back, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She walked over to the large window in the room, and she pushed the layers of the sheer fabric back to let in more light. Like the room of her sisters, hers faces the lengthy drive and the perfectly manicured lawn. Indeed it was a breath-taking sight.
She saw the paperboy riding his bike away from the direction where the servant's entrance was located. Looking at the small clock on the mantelpiece above the fireplace, she saw that it was seven nineteen. The morning paper was late. She thought back to the show and when the newspaper was shown to be late. It was the day that changed everything in the show. The day the Titanic sank, taking with it James and his son Patrick. In the year she had been here she got to know Patrick, and he was a very kind man. He would have done well as Mary's husband even if she didn't love him, which he knew, but it was better to marry a kind man you have known all your life than someone like Richard Carlisle. She was not looking forward to meeting that man.

Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the other side of her bed and pulled a pastel blue strip of cloth with cream-colored rose and vines. The pull bell matched seamlessly with the room, and if one didn't know where to look for it would miss it altogether. Once the pull bell was pulled, it would ring a spring bell on the board, signaling that it was her room and for Anna to come and help her get ready for the day. She did love the fashion of this time, especially the corset. She loved them but doing them up took some real help. Finally, she looked up, and Anna entered the room wearing her day maid's uniform. The Stack-colored ankle-length dress with the cape cod-colored teardrop pattern all over it with bits of white at the very ends of her long sleeves with her white apron. Her long blond hair was pinned up under her white cap.

"Good morning, my lady," Anna greeted. "What were you thinking of wearing today?'' She knew that Lilly liked to pick out her clothes as her mother and sisters got their things picked out for them. Lilly knew that she would be in mourning soon, so she went with her favorite simple lilac dress with the sleeves stopping just above her elbow with a Dutch neckline. All the trim was in Rose Quartz and black, what was considered in her world to be called Mae Edwardian shoes. After helping Lilly into her clothes, Anna sat her down and began to style her hair. Anna pinned her waist-length chocolate hair loosely back at the crown of her head, loosely braiding her hair to just below her shoulders before tying a lilac silk ribbon to secure the braid, leaving the rest of her hair to fall in waves down her back. Lilly's hair is naturally straight, but having her hair braided every night had made it have a wavy look to it which she was loving.