Princess Darrel Crawley | A Downton Abbey Fanfiction

Chapter Five | London

A week later, Darrel ate breakfast alone in the dining room. Mary, Tom, and Henry left earlier that morning to look at the pigs. Edith decided the previous day to go up to London to check on her magazine, and Rose decided to go with her to go shopping. Cora had her breakfast in the bedroom, and Robert had yet to wake up.

The door opened and Carson entered, "A letter for you, m'lady."

"Thank you, Mr Carson," Darrel nodded, taking the envelope from him.

"For what it's worth, m'lady; I think that you would be an excellent Queen."

Darrel smiled and looked at the letter which contained the following:

My dearest Darrel, or must I call you her highness?

Firstly, I offer my sincerest apologies for what is happening. This must have been a great shock to you and the rest of your family.

I write to you because urgent business has called my father up to London. With all the guards he insisted on bringing, I am afraid I cannot come and visit you. I am in London for a week and would love it if you could spare the time to come up and dine with me. There is so much we have to catch up on, and I would be honoured to offer some advice on the subject of being the Princess of Wales.

Sincerely yours,

Prince Sebastian Carlos of Spain

P.S. I saw your photo in the papers the other day, and you are still just as pretty as the last time we met.

Darrel smiled. She had not seen her friend in over two years, and it was clear that he had not lost his charm during that time.

"Mr Carson, I am going to London for a few days," Darrel informed, turning to the butler who was in his usual position by the door. "Can you have a car ready to drive me to the station in an hour?"

"Of course, m'lady," Carson nodded.

"Thank you."

Darrel got to her feet and left the dining room to pack a bag.

A few hours later, Darrel arrived in London and went to her Aunt Rosamund's house in Belgrave Square. Rosamund was the only one at the house, as both Edith, Bertie and Rose were out.

"Hello, dear," Rosamund smiled, hugging her niece.

"Hello, Aunt Rosamund," Darrel nodded. "Thank you for letting me stay here on such short notice."

"It is my pleasure. It is nice to have more people in the house. So, what brings you to London?"

"Sebastian's in town, and he asked to dine with me."

"I see. The Princess of Wales with the Prince of Spain. How proper."

"Please do not behave like that," Darrel protested. "Sebastian and I have been friends for years."

"Yes, but things are different now," Rosamund reminded.

"That is not true."

"Is it not different now? A month ago, you were Lady Darrel Crawley, the daughter of an earl, but probably not good enough to be a queen. Now, you are Princess Elizabeth Darrel Windsor, soon to become Queen."

"Not anytime soon!"

"Darrel, use your common sense. Sebastian wrote to you because your title is different. He can express interest, and he has every right to do so."

"We are friends," Darrel said firmly and left, not wanting to listen to her aunt's theories any longer.

Later that afternoon, Darrel was in a cafe having a late lunch when someone approached her. He was a handsome, tall, 16-years-old man, with light brown bushy hair and dreamy brown eyes. He was in a suit, and all women in the cafe turned to look at him. Darrel stood up and was about to curtsey, but he held up a hand to stop her.

"I do not want to draw attention to myself," he whispered, sitting down, "Father does not know that I left. I am supposed to be in the study looking at documents."

"You have a study whilst you are here? Where are you staying?"

"Well, the King of Spain is here in England. And since we have guards with us, and the press is always following us, it is hard to stay at a hotel. So, where do you think we are staying?"

Darrel let out a heavy sigh when she realized what Sebastian was implying.

"Did Her Majesty order you to write to me?" Darrel asked.

Sebastian looked at the floor, clearly ashamed of himself, "I was going to write to you anyway because I heard about your situation. However, she did encourage me to convince you to come to London."

"Was there an emergency that your father had to deal with?"

"Well, he did have plans to visit England, and then Their Majesties invited us to stay with them."

"Unbelievable. I assume they expect you to convince me to see them while I am in London."

"I always knew you were clever m'lady. They may or may not expect you to dine at Buckingham Palace tonight."

Darrel stood up, "I'm only doing it because I do not want you to get in trouble for not convincing me."

"Thank you, I greatly appreciate that."

Darrel rolled her eyes, not wanting to see Their Majesties again, but she knew it was inevitable.

Sebastian stood and offered her his arm, "Your Highness."

Darrel took it, "Your Highness."

They laughed and then headed outside, where a car was waiting for them.