the princess and the pauper ♕ tommy shelby

chapter twelve

Later that evening she didn't see Carson at dinner, only Molesly. "Is Carson alright?" Ophelia asked. "He wasn't feeling well, my lady" Molesly said. "Oh, I hope he feels better soon, Lady Grantham wasn't feeling well either" Lord Grantham said, and Ophelia hoped neither Carson nor her mother had anything serious. "We will call Dr. Clarkson, to see if he can come by" Lord Grantham said. "I hope if no one minds, I am not feeling well either" Lavinia said. "You can stay in my room, to make sure you feel good" Mary said. Lavinia thanked Mary and went to her room as someone went to call Clarkson.

After dinner everyone waited in the drawing room to hear the news about the sick people at Downton. Dr. Clarkson walked in. "Unfortunately, Carson, Lavinia and Lady Crawley all have the Spanish flu" Clarkson said. "What can we do?" Ophelia asked. "Give them enough water and try to keep them cool. I have left enough medicine to give to them" Clarkson said. "Thank you, if you want to stay here for safety, we can give you a room" Lord Grantham said. "Thank you, but I'll come back tomorrow morning, to check on everything" Clarkson said.

Ophelia got dressed in her old nurse outfit and went to help as much as she could, as did her Cousin Isobel and Sybil. They were the trained nurses and each of them stayed with someone. Sybil stayed with her mother, as did O'Brien, and Isobel stayed with Lavinia and Ophelia went to see Carson and a maid who had fallen ill.

"Your ladyship, you don't need to be here" Carson said. "I do, it's the least I could do for everything you've done for us over the years Carson" Ophelia said. "If you do, please also check up on the others. I would heal better if I knew everyone was fine" Carson said. "Of course," Ophelia said. She went back to Lavinia, who seemed to have the least number of symptoms of them all. They were also the least severe. Her mother was doing much worse. She was having very severe symptoms, from a high fever to barely breathing.

"If she makes it through the night, she will live, but I would like someone to keep a close eye on her." Clarkson said. "I will stay here; Ophelia can tend to the others" Sybil said. "Yes, I will, and I will check in here as well" Ophelia said. "I will call if things get worse" Sybil told Ophelia. She went back to check on Lavinia. "How would you describe Mary and Matthew's relationship?" she asked when it was just the two of them. "In all honestly?" Ophelia asked. "Please" Lavinia said. "I think it's a 'right people, wrong time' situation" Ophelia said, sitting on the chair next to Lavinia's bed. "I know. I feel like if there hadn't been a war, those two would have reunited again" Lavinia said. "Probably. But Matthew loves you too. And Mary is with Sir Carlisle" Ophelia said. "Can you give me a piece of paper; I need to write a letter" Lavinia said. "Of course," Ophelia said and gave her some paper and a pen to write with. "I will check on Carson so you can write your letter in peace" Ophelia said. "Make sure to keep drinking water and keep cool" Ophelia said.

She went back to the servant's quarters and checked in on Carson. "Any progress?" Carson asked. "My lady?" he quickly added. "Lady Grantham is doing worse, if she makes it through the night she will live" Ophelia said and placed a cup of tea on his nightstand. "Then we shall pray to her health" Carson said. "We shall" Ophelia said when Mrs. Hughes walked in. "My lady, it's Lady Grantham" she said. Ophelia nodded and quickly ran back to her mother's room.

Cora Crawley had gotten worse since Ophelia last saw her. She was breathing even worse than before. "She keeps getting worse" Mary said, scared. Ophelia sat down next to her mother and helped O'Brien as best as she could. "If you want to rest O'Brien, no one will blame you" Ophelia said. "If it's alright, I would like to stay" O'Brien said. "Alright" Ophelia said, and they continued to help.

"I will take over" Sybil said. Ophelia nodded and went to check on Lavinia. When Ophelia arrived, she saw Lavinia sweating like crazy. "Lavinia" she said and ran over. She used a cloth to cool her down. "Someone!" Ophelia yelled. Isobel walked in and was surprised to see Lavinia in the state that she was. "She was fine when I left, I just went to check on Carson and Mama, I don't know what happened" Ophelia said.