Forbidden: A Downton Abbey Fanfic

The Dilemma (One of Many)

Third Person POV

"Mr. Barrow." Carson called as Thomas was picking up a pair of dress shoes left by some careless footman.

"Some people just..." Thomas did not hear Carson's call and continued to place the shoes onto the table where the footman would see them.

"Mr. Barrow!" Carson exclaims, louder this time and with more of an urgency. The under butler dropped the pair of black Oxford shoes and exited the room to meet Mr. Carson.

"Yes, Mr. Carson?" He sighed, blatantly disrespectful, but not unlike the response Carson usually received.

"Master Branson wishes to have a word with you in the library." He finished, carrying on with his duties, leaving Mr. Barrow to wonder what exactly he needed to speak to him about. Perhaps he had found a way to help in the situation with Annabelle. She had been staying at Downton for quite sometime, and certainly couldn't continue for very much longer.

It wasn't as though the servants weren't kind to her, or that anyone particular complained about her presence. In fact, most times, you could barely tell she was there. She often played with little Sybbie out in the gardens or even in the vast greens that surrounded the estate. Thomas just did not imagine this life for her. As she grew older, Annabelle would surely be forced into servitude, learning the tasks of a cook, or a maid of some sort. She was too bright for that, too imaginative to become anything less than a teacher.

These were the thoughts that tumbled through Thomas' mind as he climbed the stairs to the library.

"Mr. Barrow, come in." Tom opened the door and greeted Thomas with a face of uncertainty and a false smile. Something was most definitely irregular. "Here sit." Tom gestured to one off the empty chairs, but Thomas declined. Something about sitting on one of the family's pieces of fine furniture made him uncomfortable.

"Alright, well, Mr. Barrow, I'm afraid I may have some troubling news." Barrow's figure stiffened as Tom began to speak. "Annabelle can't stay here anymore. It's impossible."Before finishing his comment, Barrow panicked.

"What can I do? I can't just give her to one of those orphanages. Yes I agree she needs to go elsewhere, but where can I send her?" Tom calmed the now hysterical sounding Thomas.

"Mr. Barrow, she would grow up in servitude, do you really wish such a thing for your niece?" Tom stood next to him. "Look around you, is this you want for your niece?...What I meant to say was, do you not want your niece to be able to choose her life, as opposed to having it forced upon her?"

"I will try to find something that will work, Master Branson." Thomas turned and began his descent of the staircase.

He ran into Daniel in the hall, on his way to his room. "Oh, Thomas, wonderful news, I...What's the matter?" Although it pained him, Thomas ignored Daniel's chipper demeanor, as he continued to his room. However, Daniel was having none of it, secretly taking his hand in his, "Thomas, what is wrong, did something happen with Mr. Branson?"

"Daniel, for once, just leave me be." He shook Daniel's hand away and slammed his door behind him. Thomas sat himself onto the bed, head in his hands. The door, being unlocked, swung open to reveal Daniel, arms crossed like a disapproving mother.

"What on Earth are you moping about for?" He asked as he shut the door behind him. Thomas looked up at him with a face full of sadness and worry. "Is it about Annabelle?"

Without even a nod or acknowledgement, words poured out of his mouth. "We can't keep her here, he wants me to give her to an orphanage. I can't let her go there, all alone, abandoned. She can't just live in an orphanage, some girls' home that would neglect her and deny visits. Daniel, I'll never see my niece again." Thomas felt a sharp pain shoot across his face.