Princess Darrel Crawley | A Downton Abbey Fanfiction

Chapter Forty-Two | Lord Grantham's Rage

That evening, Darrel was getting ready for dinner in her bedroom when there was a knock on the door.
    "Come in!" Darrel called.
She turned around to see Mary and Edith entering the room, both in their dinner attire.
"Your bodyguards are a bit scary," Edith observed, shutting the door behind them.
    "And they're not even good looking," Mary sighed, sitting down on her sister's bed.
    "Why does that matter?"
    "An unpleasant person is easier to deal with if they are at least pleasant to look at."
Edith gave her older sister an odd look, as Darrel rolled her eyes.
    "You are both married, and I'm engaged," Darrel reminded.
    "One can always appreciate good looking men," Mary smirked.
    "So I can tell Henry you said that?"
    "Don't you dare."
    Darrel laughed, then went to sit at her dressing table. She picked up a few necklaces and compared them against her dress.
    "Where's Sebastian?" Edith asked.
    "He's gone back to Spain," Darrel replied.
    "And you didn't go with him?"
"Why is everyone asking that question?"
"Because you're engaged, and he spent almost three months in England for you."
    "Exactly," Darrel nodded. "He'll be busy with all his duties back home, and I don't want to distract him from that."
    "You're such a softie," Mary grinned.
    Darrel turned back to her mirror, put the finishing touches to her hair, then stood up.
    "Alright, I'm ready," Darrel sighed. "Let's head downstairs."
    Mary gave her youngest sister a knowing look and left the room. Edith rolled her eyes and turned to look at Darrel.
    "Is everything alright with you and Sebastian?" Edith asked.
    "Everything's fine," Darrel assured.
    "Well, if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here to listen. I know things have changed, but I will always be your older sister."
    "Thank you."
    Darrel gave her a weak smiled and wrapped Edith in a hug. They pulled apart and walked into the hall, where Benjamin was waiting. He bowed to them, then followed them down the staircase.
    "He seems to be the scariest out of all of them," Edith whispered.
    "He is," Darrel replied.
    The sisters laughed. If Benjamin overheard their conversation, he showed no indication.

    Once the guards did a thorough sweep of the drawing room, they allowed Darrel to enter. The princess nodded, and they went to position themselves in the hallway.
    "Those guards make me uneasy," Violet informed.
    "I'm sorry, I didn't want them to come," Darrel sighed, sitting down next to Tom.
    "For goodness sake, you are the Princess of Wales. Send them away!"
    "I can't. They are here under His Majesty's orders, and I cannot go over his head."
    Violet scoffed.
    "Don't give Darrel a hard time about this," Isobel ordered. "Besides, they are here for her protection."
    "Yes, I'm sure you don't want a dead granddaughter," Tom added.
    Darrel gave Tom a pointed glare, "I don't think you reassured anybody in this room."
    "Sorry."
Robert stood up, and everyone turned to look at him.
    "Darrel, what happened to you this past week?" He asked.
    "What do you mean?" She replied.
    "I've sent you letters, telegrams, and I tried calling you several times. No replies, and they always told me that you were out of the Palace. Were you ignoring us?"
    "No, of course not."
    "Well what happened?"
    Darrel was about to reply as the door opened and Thomas walked in.
    "Dinner is ready, m'lady," Thomas announced.
    "Thank you Barrow," Cora nodded, as she got up.
    "I want an answer first," Robert declared.
    "It's a long story," Darrel shrugged.
    "Very well, you can tell us over dinner."
    "Papa, if she doesn't want to talk about it, don't force her to," Mary sighed, heading for the door with Henry.
    Darrel got up and walked out with Tom.
    "Robert, let's drop this," Cora suggested.
    "We can't let her get away with shutting us out," Robert snapped.
    Cora let out a heavy sigh as Robert stormed out of the room.

    "What happened?" Robert demanded, entering the dining room.
    "Nothing," Darrel assured.
    "Why have you been shutting us out?"
    "I didn't shut you out.
    "Then why didn't you answer me?!"
    Darrel looked down at the table, a tear running down her cheek. Edith reached over and placed a hand on her sister's shoulder.
    "What happened Darrel?" Edith asked in a kind manner.
    "I don't want to talk about," she replied.
    "Did Their Majesties do something?" Bertie inquired.
    Darrel didn't respond and instead served herself from the tray Andy had beside her.
    "Darrel, you're worrying me now," Cora warned. "What happened?"
    The princess placed down her utensils and let out a heavy sigh.
    "Their Majesties told me to never contact any of you again," Darrel explained. "When I refused to comply, they had guards following me everywhere. Plus, I wasn't allowed to leave the Palace grounds."
    "What? Why would they do such a thing?" Dickie gasped.
    "It's not good for the press to see me associated with this family."
    Robert took a deep breath, "They forced you to shut us out?"
    Darrel turned away from her father before nodding. Robert stood up, slamming his fists on the table, causing everyone else to jump. He stormed out of the room in a huff, and Darrel rushed after him.