Downton Abbey - The Story of Emma Barrow

Farewell (August 1914)

Suddenly, a sad atmosphere prevailed among the servants. They all sat together in the servants' hall, looking downhearted.

"Poor little thing," Mrs. Hughes broke the silence.

"How is her Ladyship doing?" Anna asked empathetically.

"I'll take a tray up to her shortly, but I'm afraid she won't touch a bite," Mrs. Hughes replied.

"What about you, Miss O'Brien?" William asked gently.

"What do you mean?"

"It must have been a great shock."

"Yes... it was."

"Why the long faces?" Thomas wondered.

"Could you be a little more respectful."

"Oh, come on, Mr. Carson. She'll get over it. At that stage, they're no bigger than a hamster," Thomas chuckled, taking a cookie from the table. His gaze fell on his daughter, who was once again sitting on her knees on the chair to be able to sit at the table. Emma was playing quietly with her stuffed rabbit and nibbling on a cookie.

"Shut your mouth now!" Bates grumbled.

"Yes indeed. What's wrong with you, Thomas!" Mrs. Hughes exclaimed.

"I don't know. I think all of this is getting to me," he explained, "Of course, I'm sorry, but do we have to feel everything? We're just working for them. They're not our flesh and blood."

"Just like your child," Bates noted, now focusing on the little child.

"What do you mean?" Thomas's eyes glared menacingly at the valet. He put his right hand on Emma's narrow shoulder. His protective instincts towards the whirlwind had grown strong in recent weeks, especially when Mister Bates was around.

"Emma is not your flesh and blood either," he repeated his words. Whenever her name was mentioned, the child would look up from her play. She now fixed her gaze on Mister Bates, though she didn't really know how to judge the man. He was quite tall and usually had a grim expression on his face.

"That's different," Thomas replied quickly. "The point is that her Ladyship's child hasn't even been born yet. We can hardly talk about losing a child when it wasn't even there."

"The child was there, even though it did not come into the world," Bates grumbled, "But I would conclude that if someone came tomorrow and took your child away, you wouldn't be sad about the loss, am I right, Thomas?" Bates summarized.

Thomas put on a false, sly smile. "So what?" he shrugged, "Then I have more time and money for myself." More time and money sounded not bad, but Thomas was no longer sure if he could simply give away Emma after 2 years, let alone imagine the loss of the little dwarf. But his little dwarf had obviously been born into the world. They weren't talking about a hamster-sized creature inside the mother's womb.

Meanwhile, Daisy shook her head incredulously. "Thomas, why are you so heartless?"

"Is there nothing in the entire world that you have respect for?" William's voice rang out.

"I see... too bad he's already shedding bitter tears over the unborn child of a woman who barely knows his name. No wonder he gave up when his old mother kicked the bucket," he barely finished his sentence, William jumped up. He grabbed the first servant by the collar and punched Thomas in the face. William managed to push Thomas' upper body onto the dining table and continued to hit him.

It was Mr. Carson who called out William's name and grabbed the toddler to set her down safely away from the fight. She held onto her bunny tightly with both hands.