the princess and the pauper ♕ tommy shelby

chapter eight

1915

In the first week of the war, Ophelia Crawley ran away from home to join the field nurses that were send to France, after she trained for 2 months. She was sent to Mons first, where she met with the Shelby brothers. She was currently helping out in Artois, where there was currently a second battle. Her face was covered in dirt and her clothes were stained with mud and dried blood.

She walked away for a breather when she saw more people come in, leading them she noticed Tommy Shelby. She ran over with other nurses following and helped find places for the men who were too injured to stand. "Have you sorted them?" Tommy asked. "Those who are too injured get beds, those who don't need to find a safe place to sit and wait" Ophelia said. Tommy nodded and helped around given he was uninjured.

She helped where she could and at night, she could finally have her rest. She joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service and was send wherever they went. The soldiers were not allowed to speak to the women outside of the care they were given. Ophelia, who wanted rest but still company, decided to walk around. "It's not safe for you to walk about" Tommy said, when he saw her leave. "I can handle myself, Sergeant" she said. "No need to call me Sergeant" Tommy said and walked with her. He was there with Danny, Freddie and John. They kept being split up, yet Tommy and Ophelia kept finding each other.

"Ophelia?" The two of them looked up. Tommy stood straight when he saw the ranking of the man. "Matthew?" Ophelia said in shock. "Oh, thank god" Matthew said and hugged his cousin. No one in the family had heard from her since she left. "No one knew if you were alive" Matthew said, taking them to his small office like place. "If I let them know about my whereabouts, I wouldn't help them" Ophelia said. "They would know you're alive" Matthew said. "Still, Matthew. Could you trust me?" she asked. "Fine but let me tell them you're alive at least" Matthew said. "And nothing more" she said before they shared a cup of tea.

Soon after Ophelia was sent away again, but Matthew still had told her family she was alive. War was not easy, and Ophelia saw it changing Tommy every time they met again. They would sneak as many moments together as they possibly could. Ophelia had been Tommy's last link to his life before the war, but he knew he wanted her to be there after. And change his life, into something more acceptable for a lady like herself.

In 1916, Tommy and Ophelia were at the Somme. Where Tommy was part of the tunnellers. "Nurse Crawley? The captain requested you" the head nurse said, and she went. "Once again, we meet" Ophelia said when she saw Matthew. "I wanted to make sure you were alright." Matthew said. "I am fine." She said. "Downton's footman, Barrow, is also here" Matthew said. "What other news from home do you bring? "She asked knowing he had more.

"I'm engaged to Ms Lavinia Swire, we met last year when I was on leave" Matthew said. "I hope you two will be happy" Ophelia said. "I do too" Matthew said. "I saw Mary, last week, we made up and she is now engaged to a Sir Richard Carlisle" Matthew said. "Never heard of him" Ophelia said. "Sybil is also becoming a nurse, but she will assist Dr. Clarkson in Downton" Matthew said. "I can imagine no one was pleased by that" Ophelia said. "No, not with you here" Matthew said, but he then handed her a letter. "They asked me to give this to you" Matthew said.

"My darling daughter,

I hope you're well and we all want you to know how much we love you. Although we may not understand why you left in the dark night without any more than a letter which said sorry, we still love you and hope to see you return. You'll always be able to go home, please do not forget that. Be careful and stay safe. And please, if you see Matthew ask him to send a sign of life

- Papa"

Ophelia smiled and teared up after she read the letter. "Even if I don't say it, Matthew, do send them signs of my wellbeing whenever you see me, even if we don't speak" she said. "Of course, I shall send them word whenever I can, for you" he said and smiled. "What about that man, who was with you last. I have seen him before" Matthew asked. "His name is Thomas Shelby, I'm friends with his sister. We keep getting send the same places." Ophelia said. "it's more than that. I saw the look in his eyes" Matthew said. "Don't tell anyone. I don't think Granny would live" Ophelia said. "They won't hear a word from me, but if you truly love him. Go for it" Matthew said. "Thank you" she said and went back to the other nurses.

Ophelia never held much value in material objects, except 2 pieces of jewellery in her life. 1, which was the bracelet Tommy had gifted her, and the second was her necklace, a long chain with a locket. It was a silver piece of jewellery, and inside it held the Crawley family crest on the right one, closest to her heart, and in the outer piece her name was engraved, Ophelia Violet Crawley.

She still wore the necklace, even though in these hard times she feared of losing it. And unfortunately, in 1917, right after they found Matthew and William again, another footman from Downton, she lost it. Not knowing, it had been Tommy Shelby who found it. He had lost his pocket watch, gifted by Ophelia, during the battle of Verdun which saved him from a bullet. And when he found her necklace, which no one could mistake it was hers, he decided to keep it, as a luck charm.

Ophelia had barely seen Tommy the last few months the last time had been just before she saw Matthew again. She kept replaying their last conversation, like she did every time she would not see Tommy in more than a week. "Come back to me" she had said. "Only if you come back to me" Tommy said. It had already been 4 years since the war start. October 1918, and Ophelia couldn't believe it, not truly. She hadn't seen Matthew in quite some time either, she did see Thomas Barrow, Downton's old footman, when he was shot in the hand. She had taken care of him and heard he now had a position with Dr. Clarkson.

What Ophelia didn't know but would break her heart. Was where her loved ones were. Matthew Crawley and his batman William were hit by a shell during an ambush. At the same time the Germans fired that shell, they tried to attack through the tunnels where Tommy, Danny, and Freddie were. Luckily, they managed to stop it, but Freddie was shot, and Tommy was stabbed badly. It was those three who found Matthew and William and brought them to the closest nurse station. Matthew and William were sent to Downton for recovery, and Lord Grantham also requested Freddie and Tommy there, given they were the ones who found Matthew.

However, no one knew who they were. Tommy had lost conscious due to blood loss, and all they could find on him was the necklace. Another reason why they agreed to send Tommy in the direction of Downton.

Sybil Crawley was a nurse now at Downton, and it made her parents feel more at ease. With Matthew lying in a comatose state, they had no other way of speaking to Ophelia. Edith, who was doing her rounds, saw Tommy. He was finally awake and sitting straight up in his bed. "You scared us, you been out for a week now" Edith said, smiling at him. Most soldiers reacted better to the women around there.

Tommy, however, never spoke a word. It made Edith feel slightly uneasy and she left again to fetch Mary or Sybil, who had more strength in being harsh than she did. "He would just stare" Edith said when she took Mrs. Hughes with her. There was no one else, and Mary wouldn't leave Matthews side. "Do you know where you are?" Mrs. Hughes said when they reached Tommy again.

"Can I smoke?" Tommy asked, finally speaking. "You may outside" Mrs. Hughes said. "Then may I go outside?" he asked. "Yes, there is a balcony right there" Mrs. Hughes said, and Tommy stood up, using all the strength he had before he asked for a smoke from another soldier.

Edith went on her way again, too frightened by the intimidating man to bother. "Why do I have to?" Sybil asked. "He frightens me. He won't speak much" Edith said. "He's probably shell shocked, like the others" Sybil said. "Do they know his name?" Barrow asked, standing near Sybil. "No, he lost his tags" Sybil said. "But he and his friend were the one who found Matthew and William" she remembered. "I will get Dr. Clarkson to examine him, or maybe Mrs. Crawley" Barrow said and looked around.

Isobel Crawley volunteered herself to check up on the men who saved her son. "Do you remember anything?" she asked as she stood with Sybil and Barrow in front of Tommy's bed. "Is Captain Crawley alright?" Tommy asked. "Yes, he may not walk, but he will live" Isobel said. "Thank you" she said. Tommy looked at her, there were some similarities in their faces. "You're his mother" he said. "Yes, I am" Isobel said. "Then you can help me" Tommy said.

"There was a girl, in the field. She was his cousin" Tommy said holding out Ophelia's necklace. "I have not seen her since the Somme" Tommy said. "That is Ophelia's" Sybil said looking at the necklace. "You are Thomas Shelby, the man who she talked about" Sybil remembered. "If you know Ophelia, then you are most welcome here" Isobel said. "I will get mama and papa" Sybil said. "Did you save my son for her, or for him?" Isobel asked. Tommy looked at the woman. "Both, he is my captain" Tommy said.

...
author's note;
forget what i said about posting slow
I have like 130 pages in word for this story and i have only finished season 1 of peaky blinders so i will be posting a lot