TW: character death (due to the event in season 02 episode 02)
Thomas actually came to the Abbey to pick up his daughter, but Mr. Carson stopped her, "I haven't properly thanked you for your help, Emma Grace. I've been thinking about how to express my gratitude for the evening," he said, handing her a bag, "A small token of appreciation from me and Mrs. Hughes." He gave the second wrapped gift to Thomas since the child didn't have a free hand. "And this is a gift from Lord and Lady Grantham to Emma Grace."
"But Mr. Carson, it wasn't necessary," she replied.
"If someone had told me before dinner that a 5-year-old child could serve better than a grown man, I would have had a child-sized livery made. Lady Grantham and Mrs. Crawley still speak highly of you. That doesn't mean I approve of children serving here. Thats was a one time thing," Carson said before disappearing, leaving Emma with her curious father. She took out a coloring book and crayons from the gift bag. Then she received the second gift. Quickly tearing open the wrapping paper, she held the book 'The Wind in the Willows' in her hands.
"So, you served at dinner?" Thomas summarized. Emma turned to face him, nodded, and then returned her attention to her gifts. Maybe she should help more often if she gets presents every time.
"While that's very commendable, I think it's time for some fatherly advice. Enjoy your childhood. Let the servants work. After all, they're paid for it."
"I enjoyed it. I don't mind helping."
"That doesn't matter... you're still a child. Go play, have fun, but don't take on the duties of the servants again."
After Emma put away her gifts, Thomas took his child by the hand and led her to the Downton Hospital. Through Lady Sybil, he had come to know Lieutenant Courtenay. They often spoke to each other. Edward Courtenay managed to extract personal information from the corporal and insisted on wanting to meet the little girl. "Children allow us to see the world with differents eyes," said the former Oxford student.
"Dad, what's a bastard?"
"Where did you hear that word?"
"Sir Richard called me that."
Thomas abruptly stopped walking. "What?" Although it sounded like a question, it was more of a horrifying realization of what the upstairs thought of his child.
"He said I'm a bastard," she explained.
For a brief moment, he closed his eyes before letting out a loud sigh. "Listen, my little dwarf," he said, crouching down to be at eye level with his daughter. "That's a term used for children whose parents aren't married. It's a nasty word. It labels a child as inferior because it's considered a sin if the parents aren't married." Thomas took a brief pause. The world was completely unfair if one couldn't prove they had married parents or if they were different from the majority of the population, like he was. "I don't think you're any less valuable just because your parents aren't married, but society thinks so."
"Were you married to Mama?"
Thomas nodded weakly. After all, this was a lie. However, it was a lie that would protect his child from a life of hate and hurtful words. A lie that would give the child a good future.
"Nevertheless, there will still be people who try to insult you because they don't know, they only see that I'm a single parent. So please remember: No matter what people say to you, that's not who you are. Your mama passed away very early, that's why you live with me."
He gently stroked Emma's face with his hand, removing a strand of hair that was covering her eyes. "Promise me that you'll never use that word and always remember that you're not worth any less just because your parents aren't married, okay? Treat every person with respect, no matter how different they may be."
"I promise, Daddy," Emma nodded. Thomas stood up again, and they continued on their way to the hospital.
After a few minutes of silence, Emma brought up the next topic. "And he can't see anything at all?" she asked unbelievable. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to live in complete darkness and blindness. She wouldn't be able to paint, read, or even see her dad.
"Not a thing," he confirmed, "That's why he's learning how to navigate his daily life in new ways."
"And you and Lady Sybil..." Emma paused and Thomas corrected her, "Nurse Crawley." Emma nodded and finshed her sentence "You help him with that?" Thomas nodded and looked down at his child. Emma had slipped out of his grip and was now covering her little hands over her eyes. "Then he only sees black!"
Emma, who had been walking without thinking about it, suddenly felt a strong grip on her upper arm. "Emma, you need to be careful!" She peeked out between the gaps between her fingers. Indeed, Thomas was holding her tightly. But it was only because they had reached an intersection, and his grip was to prevent Emma from colliding with a passing bus.
"But Lieutenant Courtenay can't see the cars either!"
"Just because you can't see the cars doesn't mean there aren't any," Thomas replied, taking his daughter's hand again before she had another chance to shock him.
"That's why you look out for me!", she explained.
"That's why Lieutenant Courtenay has to learn to feel obstacles with aids and use his ears to detect those obstacles in time," he explained. The last hundred meters to the hospital were uneventful.
Lady Sybil was waiting for them in the garden next to the hospital. Lieutenant Courtenay stood beside her, gripping his cane. Emma freed herself from Thomas' grip and happily ran towards Lady Sybil. "Lady Sybil!" she exclaimed with excitement, "You know what? Yesterday, I helped Mrs. Patmore bake an apple pie, and she taught me how to do math! I can count up to 15 now."
"And how much dough did you secretly sneak and eat? Was there any pie left afterwards?" Lady Sybil teased before becoming serious again. "As you heard, Corporal Barrow and his daughter have arrived."
"Good afternoon, Lieutenant Courtenay," Thomas greeted, "Nurse Crawley."
With a gesture, he indicated to Emma to come to him. Emma stood before her father, who placed his uninjured hand on her shoulder. "I'd like to introduce you to my daughter, Emma."
"Hello Emma," he smiled and awkwardly extended his hand in the wrong direction. Emma looked up at her dad, who nodded, indicating that she should accept the handshake.
"Hello, Lieutenant Courtenay," she said as they shook hands.
"Please call me Edward." Emma observed the man whose eyes looked strange - but that was due to a gas explosion - in any case, the man appeared quite sad to her.
"Daddy told me that you can't see anything anymore. I just tried walking with my eyes closed, and it's really hard," the girl chatted away, losing any inhibitions she had with the unfamiliar man. Edward had something about him that made the child instantly come alive in his presence.
"You're absolutely right," he replied briefly.
With Emma's help, Lady Sybil set up a small obstacle course consisting of some chairs.
"May I test the obstacle course?" Emma asked eagerly. The adults nodded in agreement. Sybil took Emma's hairband and blindfolded her with it. Edward handed her his cane. Emma attempted to navigate blindly through the course. "It's like hit the pot!" Emma amusingly exclaimed.
"Oi, Emma, don't swing the cane around!" Thomas immediately urged when the child showed signs of wanting to play the game. "I'm sure Lieutenant Courtenay would like his cane to remain intact," he added. The child let out a theatrical sigh, causing the adults to chuckle.
"How is she doing?" Edward asked curiously.
"She keeps stumbling over the chairs and then blindly climbing over them instead of going around the obstacles," Sybil answered.
"So, the girl is quite fearless," the lieutenant remarked.
"I wouldn't call it fearlessness, but rather playfulness," Thomas said.
Emma's little play session came to an end. She returned Edward's cane to him, as it was now the lieutenant's turn to try the obstacle course. Edward proved to be quite skilled. While he wasn't as bold as Emma, who simply charged ahead, he carefully chose his steps.
"But with the cane, he still can't see the bus in time, Daddy," Emma stated.
"No, you're right, but he can hear if a car is coming," her father explained. The child watched eagerly as Edward completed the course.
"That's it, Sir. If you move the cane quickly enough, you don't need to slow down your steps," Thomas praised, while Nurse Crawley offered him another tip, "And try to perceive the space you have as well as possible obstacles."
"Lieutenant Courtenay," a voice called from the distance. It was Dr. Clarkson approaching them, "Very good. You're making great progress."
"I owe it to my rescuers, Sir."
"Then you'll be pleased to hear that we all think it's time to continue your treatment elsewhere."
"What?" Edward exclaimed, horrified.
"At Farley Hall. You're no longer sick. It will just take some time to stabilize your condition, and the staff at Farley will assist you," the doctor explained.
"But Sir, these two here have been helping me a great deal."
"Sister Crawley and Corporal Barrow don't have specialized training in specific care," the doctor sought a reason to enforce his decision.
"Please! Don't send me away. Not yet," pleaded the blind soldier.
"Sir," Barrow spoke up, "We could surely..." His voice trailed off. Dr. Clarkson's gaze allowed no objections, and he understood immediately. Emma's hand slipped into her father's hand as she half-hid behind him. During her last visit to Dr. Clarkson a few months ago, the doctor had not been particularly friendly and had accused Mrs. Hughes of wasting his valuable time with children's problems. After all he was a major now.
"Lieutenant... you must understand that each of our beds is needed for the injured and dying from Arras," he explained, turning to Thomas one last time, "Corporal, I expect you in my office shortly."
Emma waited with Edward for Thomas to return. Anna would be passing by any moment to accompany her home, so she eagerly awaited her father's return. She had to say goodbye.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," Edward replied.
"What do you think I look like?"
"I don't know. I can't see, remember?"
"But you still have your imagination, your fantasy. No one can take that away from you!"
Edward took a deep breath. It took two or three minutes before he answered her question, "I think... no... I know that you are a young and smart girl. You have an impressive imagination," Edward now reached for her, feeling her hair, "You have shoulder-length hair and, of course, you're wearing a stylish dress."
She studied Edward with concern. Ever since Dr. Clarkson came by, he had appeared distressed and sad, "Daddy and I will come to visit you," she tried to comfort the man.
"It's not the same. I feel comfortable and safe here."
It was one of his rare free afternoons when he managed to visit his daughter. The girl stood with her back to Anna, who was braiding her hair into two ponytails.
"Can I come with you to say goodbye to Edward?" she asked hopefully. Four whole days had passed since their visit to Edward.
"Lieutenant Courtenay - Edward - he's already gone," Thomas explained. How do you explain to a child that the soldier chose suicide? Thomas had no idea and desperately hoped that the topic would be settled with his brief explanation.
"I promised him that we would come and visit him. Can we visit him now?"
"I don't think so," he replied curtly. Anna's gaze met his, and within 10 seconds, the maid understood that Edward was no longer among them.
"Please, Daddy! I promised him, and a promise must always be kept!"
"Farley Hall is quite far away, Emma. The journey takes a lot of time and money," Anna explained. She let the child go. She had finished braiding her hair, and now two braids fell onto Emma's shoulders.
"But I want to visit him! A promise is a promise!"
"It's really too far away, Emma," he said.
"It's so unfair! You promised me, and I promised Edward! And now I can't keep my promise because you broke yours!" she cried disappointedly before running out of the servants' hall.
"Do you think Emma would even understand the truth?" Thomas doubted.
"You can try."
Emma stood on the large green meadow with Isis. She threw the ball, and Isis fetched it back.
Thomas had no clue how to enlighten Emma about the tragic fate of Lieutenant Courtney. Why had he allowed Emma to meet the young soldier in the first place? He could have spared his child a lot of pain if he had never allowed the meeting between the two of them.
"He's gone. Not to Farley Hall or home, but forever... he's dead," he revealed as he stood beside her.
"Like Mama," she remarked, "Mama is gone forever too."
Thomas nodded silently. Mrs. Hughes must have provided the child with fragmentary answers during his long absence.
"I liked him," Emma revealed.
"So did I." He gently placed his hand on her back and observed as the young girl continued her ball game with Isis.
"Another friend gone," she said sadly.
"Surely, you have more friends," Thomas said confidently.
Emma bit her lip and shrugged. "William is not around at the moment, and Daisy and Anna rarely have time to play."
"Don't you have friends your age?" Thomas wondered.
"Not really. Sometimes, Mrs. Hughes takes me to the village, and I get to play with other children... I don't even know their names, and most of the time, they play without me because I have to leave soon," she said.
Thomas swallowed hard. It saddened him to know that his child only considered the staff of Downton Abbey as friends, not children her age from the village. For the first time, he felt a certain distance from his child. He knew so little about Emma. The years of correspondence and his knowledge from the letters were incomparable to reality.
"We must change that. I will help you find friends," he said.
She didn't respond, but threw the ball for Isis again. Thomas felt the pain in his heart as he noticed that Emma didn't look at him once, but only fixed her gaze on the dog. He tried to capture her attention, "Emma, are you listening to me?" he asked softly.
Emma nodded, still not looking at him. "It's okay, Daddy. I have Isis, and she's my best friend."
Thomas sighed quietly. He made a promise to himself to help his child.
"Come on, let's play with Isis," he suggested, throwing the ball for the dog. Emma cast a fleeting glance at her father, and a faint smile appeared on her face.