*ON HOLD* Cora Crawley had another brother. Her brother married and had a beautiful daughter named Evelyn Levinson. When a mysterious fire burns the Levinson home, 6-year-old Evelyn was the only survivor. Cora takes in her orphaned niece - and this...
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Evelyn skipped down the stairs to the servants' hall, holding her cup of coffee between her hands to keep from spilling it. The staff was buzzing despite not one of the upstairs residents being awake. She grinned when Bates came around the corner.
"Good morning, Bates!"
He chuckled at her enthusiasm this early. "Good morning, Evie. All better I see?"
She grinned. She loved when they called her 'Evie' since she thought it was much more intimate than Evelyn. "Much better. Brand new, in fact." He nodded to match her zeal.
Anna strode by, smiling slyly. "Forgive her, Mister Bates. She has a nasty habit of distracting the staff."
Evelyn scoffed. "She's just jealous I'm giving you all the attention. That's what it is. She's very pretty but can be quite cavillous."
Bates nodded again, unsure of how to answer the girl's rambling.
Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "So you agree? You think she's pretty?"
A noticeable redness shot through his cheeks as he began to stammer. "I..."
"Evie!" Anna warned from the kitchen as she poked her head around the corner and arched her brow.
"Evie!?" Mrs. Patmore's voice shouted from the kitchen. "Keep her out of my kitchen!"
Evelyn smirked at Bates and sipped her coffee. "I'm in trouble. It seems I must go into the kitchen since I was instructed not to. I have to sneeze on the biscuits."
"Great idea, Evie." Bates laughed at her and nodded his head before walking down the hall.
Evelyn shuffled into the kitchen and stood at the counter as her eyes scanned over the breakfast. Taking advantage of the fact that Mises Patmore's back was to her, she snatched a strawberry out of a little bowl. Daisy saw her sneakiness and smiled. Mises Patmore whipped around and rubbed her hands on her apron to see Evelyn who was mid-lifting the strawberry to her mouth.
"What are you doing! You're sick! Leave!"
"I'm not sick anymore, Mises Patmore."
"Then why do you sound like you have two handkerchiefs up your nose!"
Evelyn could hear Anna and Dasiy sniggering.
"I'm still a bit stuffy but I feel completely better. I promise."
Mrs. Patmore stared at her for a moment, assessing her for herself. "Fine. One sneeze, you're out!"
"Will do, chief." She saluted and bit into her strawberry. "Can I help with anything?"
"No dear, I'm almost finished. You better be heading up, Lord Grantham will down to the breakfast room any moment now. I'm sure he'll want to see you."
Evelyn nodded and prepared to leave until a hand came around her holding a parcel. She glanced over her shoulder to see Thomas before looking back at the small, rectangular parcel. "Hmmmmm. Don't know if I want that."
