The Downton Princess | A Downton Abbey Fanfiction

Chapter Fifteen

A few days later, Sebastian and Paul were back in London. They managed to get a lot of work done in Helen Ringer's garden, and she was happy to have the help. Paul initially wanted to stay for longer, but Helen insisted that she would be all right and they should head back to London. While he was sad to leave his mother, Paul would not miss all the hard work each day. Surprisingly, Sebastian was sad to leave Downton. Over the two weeks, Sebastian learned that he enjoyed gardening. He found it nice to do something with his hands, and when he focused on gardening, he would not think about the troubles in his life.
    "Do you think we could have a garden at our place?" Sebastian had asked on the train ride back.
    "We do not have much of a backyard," Paul replied. "But we could look into having some houseplants if you wish."
    "Yes, that does seem like a good idea."

    However, Paul's good idea went away soon after returning to their London townhouse. Once they were back in London, Sebastian was back to constantly thinking about Darrel and how he felt stuck in England. He desperately wanted to leave, but he had nowhere to go. He could not return to Spain until his ban was lifted.
    One morning, Sebastian lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to count how many cracks there were in the ceiling. He heard the door open, and groaned, knowing that it had to be Paul, since their servants knocked.
    "Paul, please get out," Sebastian ordered.
    "I am glad to hear that you finally developed some manners," Paul smirked. "It seems that our time at Downton did wonders on your personality."
    Paul managed to humble Sebastian while they stayed with Helen. Between sharing a room, eating Helen's mediocre food, and working in the gardens all day, Sebastian was not treated like a prince at all. While Helen kept apologizing, Paul assured her that it was fine since he was no longer the Prince of Spain. Sebastian initially hated the conditions at Helen's house, but after a couple of days, he got used to it and found it nice to have a purpose each day. While he did not miss all the stress and duties, Sebastian sometimes missed being the Prince because he had duties to do each day. So working in Helen's garden was similar to that, except he did not have the weight of a nation on his shoulders. Although he did have the threat of Paul screaming at him, which he considered worse.
    "Paul, please leave," Sebastian repeated. "This was only my third sleep not having to listen to your snores all evening long. So let me enjoy it a bit longer."
    "First of all, I do not snore," Paul retorted. "Second of all, you move around so much that the noise of the sheets kept me up all night. Third of all, you have to come downstairs, because we have a visitor."
    "A visitor? Who is it?"
    "Just get out of bed, come downstairs, and find out. And wear something suitable for a change."
    Sebastian launched a pillow at Paul, and it managed to hit him in the head. Paul threw it back on the bed and then marched out of the room. Sebastian let out a groan, but pulled himself out of bed, not wanting to face another lecture from Paul Ringer.

    After getting dressed, Sebastian headed into the drawing room to find a young man waiting for him. He wore a fashionable suit and had light brown eyes and dark curly brown hair.
    "JF!" Sebastian gasped.
    "Hello, baby cousin," JF smirked.
    Sebastian rushed over and wrapped his arms around his older cousin, never wanting to let go. The Carlos Cousins had not seen each other in almost ten months. While they exchanged letters, JF had not been able to leave Spain. Since the King of Spain fell ill some time ago, he never fully recovered, so JF had more duties as his heir. Sebastian kept begging for JF to visit, even if it were only for a few days, but the Prince of Spain kept declining.
    "Wait, why are you here?" Sebastian asked. "You keep saying that you cannot get away. Does this mean that something bad happened in Spain?"
    "No, everything is fine," JF assured. "I was able to come because I am here on official Spanish business. The Princess of Wales' birthday ball is tomorrow evening, and the Royal Family invited me."
    "Oh...I almost forgot that it was tomorrow. This will be the first one that I am not attending."
    "I know."
    Sebastian nodded sadly. This year was to be Darrel's fourth Birthday Ball at Buckingham Palace, and the first one that Sebastian was not invited to. It was also supposed to be their fourth year of engagement since Their Majesties announced it on Darrel's fifteenth birthday.
    "Well, if it makes you feel better, I am only attending for publicity purposes," JF announced. "And to see David."
    When JF was younger, the King and Queen of Spain sent him to England for a semester abroad. They hoped that some time away would knock some sense into him, and he would return as a mature person. However, that plan backfired when JF ended up sharing a dormitory with the then Prince of Wales, and the two of them spent more time in bars than in class.
    "It does not make me feel much better," Sebastian informed, as he sat down. "But I understand that you have duties as the Prince of Spain that you cannot ignore."
    "Well, I also accepted the invitation so that I could see you again," JF added, sitting across from his cousin. "With all the extra duties, and now that Camila is with child, I do not get to do much. So, when I had the opportunity to come to England for business, I took it."
    "You should have started with that because that makes me feel better. I have missed you so much."
    "I have missed you too. I am sorry that I was not able to come sooner."
    "It is all right, I understand."
    JF nodded, hoping that Sebastian did understand and was not simply saying it. He did not want his younger cousin to think that he abandoned him.
    "How is Camila?" Sebastian asked.
    "She is doing well," JF replied. "She is not too far along with her pregnancy. Although, Their Majesties are already treating her like an invalid. I have to sneak her out of her quarters so that she can get some fresh air."
    "I suppose it is nice that they care about her."
    "We think that it is not so much that they care about her, but the future heir that she is carrying. After all, Their Majesties have an idea of the arrangement that Camila and I have. So they know that it is unlikely that there will be another heir in the future."
    Sebastian nodded. Even though it had been almost four years since he abdicated, it was still odd for him to think of JF as the heir to the throne. Especially now that he was to have a child soon enough, who would enter the line of succession as second in line.

    "How are you?" JF inquired.
    "Fine," Sebastian shrugged. "A bit tired. I spent the past two weeks gardening."
    "I am sorry, my English must be bad. I thought you said that you were gardening."
    "Do not be an ass. I am serious."
    "¿Jardinería?"
    "Sí."
    "Why?"
    "Paul returned to Downton to visit his mother, and he made me tag along. He does not trust me alone in the house. We ended up helping her with her gardening because she runs a flower business."
    JF nodded, surprised to hear that his cousin would ever spend time gardening.
    "But how are you?" JF asked.
    "What do you mean? I already said that I am fine," Sebastian replied.
    "Do not act stupid. After that one letter, we never spoke about your engagement again. You skillfully avoided the subject. So now that I am here, and you cannot read over a section; how are you?"
    Sebastian shrugged, "She is courting someone."
    "I know," JF nodded. "I saw the headlines on my way over here. Lord Tobias Dankworth?"
    "Yes."
    "Do you know anything about him?"
    "He's the younger son of a duke and studies flowers. He is rather boring if you ask me. He observes flowers and sketches them."
    "How do you know that?"
    "I ran into them during my stay at Downton."
    JF nodded, not knowing what to say. He wanted to hear more about Sebastian's feelings, but he did not want to upset his cousin.
    "Do you ever have any regrets?" Sebastian asked.
    "In general? Yes," JF replied. "Mostly after an evening of drinking then attending meetings early the next morning."
    "No, about our situation. Do you ever regret becoming the Prince of Spain?"
    "Never. I told you in that letter that I became the Prince of Spain so that you could have a future with Elizabeth. I would do anything for you; including becoming a king."
    "Sometimes I regret it."
    "Really? But you told me how much you hated being the prince and that it made you miserable."
    "I know. But not only did I throw away my title, but I threw away my family and my country."
    "That is not true, and you know that."
    Sebastian shrugged, "When I was engaged to Darrel, it did not bother me as much. But now that we are no longer together, it has me rethinking everything. I love her, so I originally did not regret it, because my time with her was the best time of my life. However, now that I see her with Dankworth; it breaks my heart. It's only been a few months since the end of our engagement. If she can court someone so soon after, did she ever love me? I would never dream of courting someone else. So I feel as if I threw my title away for a girl who did not love me."
    A tear ran down Sebastian's cheek. JF got up from his spot and went to sit next to his cousin, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.
    "I know that Elizabeth loved you," JF informed. "I saw it in her eyes when she looked at you. Or even when she talked about you. It was quite sickening. She cared for you so very much."
    "So how is she able to court someone else so quickly?" Sebastian wept.
    "I do not know."
    "I love her. I will always love her"
    "I know."
    Sebastian did not say anything else and continued to cry for a little while longer. JF did not say anything either. But he stayed by his cousin's side, with an arm wrapped tightly around him, so that Sebastian would know that he was not alone.

JF is back in England! Will he say something to Darrel at her ball?