Downton Abbey - The Story of Emma Barrow

Sisters in our Hearts (May 1920)

"Emma!" Mrs. Hughes blared in an angry voice down the corridor.

The girl emerged from the kitchen and looked at the housekeeper, bewildered. Mrs. Hughes was on the floor, having fallen. Mrs. O'Brien hurried over and helped her up.

"You can't just leave your schoolbag in the middle of the hallway like that!"

"Imagine what could have happened if you had been injured," Mrs. O'Brien agreed. Emma's thoughts were spinning as she tried to remember if she had really left her schoolbag in the hallway like that.

"Do you have anything to say in your defense?" Mrs. Hughes inquired. Emma shook her head, still trying to recall if she had indeed left her schoolbag so carelessly in the hallway.

"Clean it up," Mrs. Hughes demanded. The girl nodded. The contents of her bag were just as haphazardly strewn about as the bag itself. She gathered her pens, notebooks, and books before entering the servants' hall. The staff was gathering for their late afternoon tea. She slipped into the empty seat next to her Dad.

"What happened?" Thomas asked with interest. "Mrs. Hughes sounded quite upset."

"I left my things on the floor," Emma admitted meekly.

"You've always had a tendency to be messy," Thomas observed with a sigh. He placed a high value on order, whether in the room or in clothing. Emma preferred to crumple her clothes rather than fold them neatly. She would rather leave her toys in place after playing with them than put them back in the box. If Thomas didn't regularly force his daughter to clean up their shared bedroom, he might not be able to find his bed. And one thing was especially painful: stepping on Emma's toys without shoes on.

"You must have inherited that from your mother," he added, pulling his cigarette pack from his jacket pocket.

"I thought I had put my schoolbag to the side," she said, looking around the table. Alfred and Molesley were reading books. Mrs. O'Brien was as unpleasant as ever, and some of the housemaids were doing needlework. Emma began to spread out her homework: math. Emma hated doing homework, but her Dad insisted that she complete her work diligently. She usually did her homework just before dinner, but on this rainy day, none of her friends had time to play.

Emma tried to suppress her cough. She would love to throw away his cigarette pack and lighter. He only kept his promise not to smoke in her presence on days when he felt like it, which didn't sit well with the girl.

Suddenly, two letters landed on her school notebook. The letters were addressed to her Dad. Mr. Carson had accidentally thrown them onto her place. Emma tried to find the addressee curiously, but Thomas silently collected the two letters. He glanced briefly at the addressee before the letters disappeared into the inner pocket of his jacket. Emma sometimes wondered who her Dad was writing letters to. Definitely not her grandpa, who didn't even write a single letter for Christmas or birthdays. Emma sadly realized that she hadn't received a single letter since William's death. She looked beside her. Anna didn't receive any letters either.

The next cough couldn't be suppressed. Emma coughed a few times. Her gaze landed on Thomas's cigarette pack, which was on the table. Emma reached for the pack and received an irritated look from her father, who raised his eyebrows in surprise. The girl stood up, threw the pack on the floor, and then stepped on it.

Thomas stared at her in disbelief while the other servants in the room perked up. Emma could hear the crunch of the crushed cigarette pack under her shoes, and a sense of satisfaction washed over her. She'd had enough of the cigarettes.

"What's this?" Thomas exclaimed as he got up and looked down at the destroyed pack.

"I hate it when you smoke!" Emma replied firmly. Thomas seemed torn between anger and surprise, but his anger was stronger. "Have you gone mad? There's no reason to stomp on my cigarettes. They cost money!" he hissed.