A Lady and her Footman (a Downton Abbey Fanfiction/Thomas Barrow)

Chapter 20

I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I'm sorry if I haven't been spelling names right along with some other things. Anyway, enjoy my dears.
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After dinner, Robert had all of us retreat to the small library. He has some very important news to tell.

"I'm sorry if it's a bit of a crush, I didn't want to be overheard" Robert told us. "Are we talking financial ruin, or criminal investigation?" Lady Violet asked her son.

"Neither. I'll get straight to the point. We have a patient who has been badly burned who goes by the name of Patrick Gordon, but claims to be Patrick Crawley" everyone looked to each other shocked.

"Was Patrick Crawley the heir that died on the Titanic? Before Matthew?" Robert nodded his head. "Yes" he answered me.

"But I thought he was dead. Didn't he drown on the Titanic?" Mrs. Crawley asked. "Well, of course it is what we all thought. Until now" he said walking away.

"They never found a body" Edith said from her place where her father was once stood. "They never found a lot of bodies" Mary retorted.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not quite in top of this. But who is Patrick Crawley?" Sir Richard asked confused. "The man who would displace me as heir. If he is alive, then I am no longer the future Earl of Grantham" Matthew announced from beside me.

I grabbed his hand. "It's ridiculous! How can it be true? Where's he been hiding for the last six years?" Mary asked furious.

"In Canada, suffering from amnesia" Edith replied to her. "He does have a story that would explain it. I'm not quite sure how to test the facts" Robert said as he sat down in a chair beside his mother.

"He knows all sorts of things that only Patrick or someone very close to him, would know" Edith started. "What a stupid thing to say! Any fortune teller at a fair comes up with a dozen details he couldn't possible know"Mary barked at Edith.

"There's no need to be angry" Cora scolded her daughter. She turned away from her to Robert. "This young man is either Patrick or he's or he's not. There must be a way to find out. Is he like Patrick to look at?" She asked her husband.

"He isn't anything to look at" she spat. "Mary" I warned her, she looked to me.
"I've sent his account up to George Murray in London to ask for his advice" Robert stated as he stood up and walked over to the fireplace.

"But what a waste of time and money" Mary complained "Whats the matter? We were all so fond of Patrick. You were going to marry him, for heaven's sake" Edith exclaimed. "Aren't you glad that he had survived?" Sir Richard looked to Mary shocked.

"Dear me. Should I be worried?" He asked Mary. "Certainly not! This man is a fake and an imposter. And I think it's a cruel trick to play, when Matthew's been through so much" she said getting teary eyed.

"My dear, don't be too quick to decide" Matthew told her. "You never know, this might be a blessing in disguise" I looked to him.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Crawley asked her son. "Well, he seems a nice enough chap. He's not very pretty of course, but he can walk around the estate on his own two legs, and sore a string of sons to continue the line.

All in all, I'd say that's a great improvement on the current situation. Lilly, could I prevail on you to take me back to my room?" He asked "Of course" I let go of his hand as I stood up.

Edith opened the door for me as I wheeled him out of the small library. I took him to his room and parked him beside his bed.

I closed the door as I went to kneel in front of him. His jaw was clenched along with his hands. He was looking at the ground, I grabbed his and rubbed my thumb over his knuckles.