Downton Abbey - The Story of Emma Barrow

You Must Fight Back (February 1922)

During the late servants' dinner, Emma didn't let anything show. She pretended to be the happiest girl of all time. She joked around with Alfred and proudly showed Mrs. Hughes her needlework.

However the young under-butler noticed the unbelievably large amount of homework. It was no wonder if Emma had to do double the work. His daughter sat at her desk in the bedroom and seemed to never finish her homework. So, Thomas snatched the notebook from under her pen.

"I'm not finished yet!" complained Emma, trying to free the notebook from her father's hands. Thomas held the notebook high in the air, flipping to the very first page: Katherine Prudence Sheppard, Year 3, Downton Village School.

"Is there an explanation why you're doing Katherine Prudence Sheppard's homework?"

"Ruby..." Emma realized, "The stupid cow snitched!"

"Be careful with such remarks. Ruby Harris is a clever girl, and I wouldn't want to see you jeopardize your friendship with her," Thomas cautioned.

Throwing the notebook back onto the desk, he leaned against the dresser. He didn't care that he had creased the notebook. He would have liked a cigarette in his mouth right now, but Emma didn't approve of smoking in the bedroom. But then he could have stubbed the cigarette out in the notebook and left a proper burn mark.

"And I've always believed the same of you," Thomas added, earning an irritated look. "That you're smart, Emma. But what you're doing here is the complete opposite." It hadn't been his intention to insult his own child, so he looked worriedly at his little dwarf's face. Emma stood next to the wooden chair, her gaze shamefully fixed on the floor.

"You mustn't let yourself be pushed around," Thomas said.

"You have no idea. You don't know what it's like..." she whispered barely audibly.

But before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Thomas, "I know what it feels like. I know what it's like to be shunned, to be kicked, to be the unpopular boy," Thomas listed, "When everyone picks on you as if you were just a puppet. And I can guarantee you one thing: my father would never have helped me."

The thought that her father had similar experiences surprised her. She had never really thought about what his life was like before his time at Downton Abbey.

"But you don't care what people say..." Emma tried again.

"I do care."

"But you always have a clever remark, and I..."

Again, Thomas interrupted his child, "Emma, I certainly don't want you to take after me. You must find your own way in life, but this certainly isn't it," he gestured at Katherine's notebooks, "You're not a victim. You mustn't let yourself become one. You must fight back."

Emma looked up at her father. She knew he was right, but it was so hard for her to stand up against Katherine's tyranny and her friends. She felt torn between the desire to defend herself and the fear of the possible consequences.

"I don't know how..." she began hesitantly, her gaze once again on the floor.

"What does Katherine have against you?"

"Sure, Ruby told you that too," she muttered, rolling her eyes. Ruby couldn't be trusted. She couldn't even keep a single secret for herself.

"Please remember my words about friendship. Don't make the same mistake I did. Good friends are hard to find."

Emma sighed as she plopped down on the bed. Her dad would never let up. Nevertheless, she turned her back to him. She didn't want to talk anymore.

"Let me know if you need me to help," and with those words, he left the room.