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Footman in Training	By : imdirty Category: 1 through F > Downton Abbey Views: 2654 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Downton Abbey and am not making money from this story. And I'm hoping I'm doing this disclaimer thing right :)

Chapter List
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Summer finally surrendered to autumn, with crisp air flowing downstairs as the staff prepared to serve the family and their guests for the first hunt of the season. Thomas’s mood had cooled off as well; he was dissatisfied, but not destructive. Both Bateses commented to Price that he must have some kind of power over Thomas to have swayed him so much when they spoke, and Miss Baxter admitted to being just a little envious of the friendship.

Thomas was glad to have a reason to train Price on something again, since so many of the tasks had become routine, Price handling them with ease. Thomas explained what to bring to the family and guests and when, how to serve, where to stand, and how to keep a hunting dog from thieving a sandwich. Thomas hated to admit that Price was right about his talent with doing things covertly. He wasn’t a step out of his usual behavior, even when it seemed no one was near them.

Price took the first opportunity to get a break from the hunt and fetch more food from the kitchen with Thomas. He picked up a bundle of dried thyme to play with while he waited.

“How’s your brother fairing with your father’s shop?” Daisy asked Price.

“Alright I suppose. Well, not really. He writes me often asking me to come help. Begging, more like.”

“And will ya?” Daisy asked, her eyes hopeful his answer would be ‘no’.

“I couldn’t, I have a different career now. That’s my past.”

Thomas shook his head. “I’ve no idea how you can turn down an offer like that.”

“I don’t consider it an offer particularly, and I don’t know that he’s thinking long term. Everything is still new for him, and I’m not making life changing decisions while he tries to work himself out.”

“You’ve got a good head on your shoulders,” Mrs. Patmore said, handing him a plate of hors d'oeuvres. “Now, take that head and shoulders outside before those get cold.”

Price nodded to Mrs. Patmore and raised his eyebrows at Thomas on his way out of the kitchen.

“I’d hate it if he left,” Daisy said.

“I don’t think a person here would disagree with you, Daisy,” Thomas said.

“Including you?”

Thomas accepted a plate of hors d'oeuvres from Mrs. Patmore and left without answering.

“David ought to be careful of that one,” Mrs. Patmore said to Daisy.

“Oh, you think so? I think Thomas’s just being friendly.”

“Daisy, Thomas is never just being friendly.”

Outside, Price watched Thomas’s behavior carefully as he maneuvered around the horses and dogs. Price was intimidated by what seemed like disorganized chaos, but clearly wasn’t, as Thomas navigated it more like a dance. Price watched Mr. Molesley as well, who clearly didn’t know the same dance steps as Thomas.

Mr. Carson noticed Price seemed a bit anxious. “Is Mr. Barrow helping you?” Mr. Carson asked.

“Yes sir, Mr. Carson. It’s more a matter of me putting his lessons into practice. He’s good at this.”

“I can say many things about Mr. Barrow, but I must admit, he is good at his job.”

Thomas couldn’t hear what Mr. Carson was saying to Price, but with both sets of eyes on him, he was extremely curious. He pulled Price aside as soon as there was a moment.

“He was complimenting you,” Price told him.

“I don’t believe that.”

“Course you wouldn’t,” Price teased. “He agreed with me that you’re good at your job.”

Thomas returned to his tasks, having no good response for what Price told him.

At the servant’s tea that afternoon, Mr. Carson handed out the day’s mail. An envelope arrived for Thomas with a return address from “K. Christian.” While everyone opened their letters, Thomas wasn’t sure what to expect in his, and put it in his pocket for later. Price watched the behavior with interest, as Thomas had read every letter he received out in the open, and wondered what could possibly require a private reading.

Price turned his attention to the sizeable package Mr. Carson had handed him, which had a return address from Sam and Marie. Inside the box were two more boxes, one containing Price’s favorite chocolates from a shop local to his family, the other containing his favorite tea leaves. Price opened the chocolates and offered them to everyone around the table.

“What are these for? Anything special?” Anna asked.

“Oh, um, they’re for my birthday.”

“Your birthday!” Anna exclaimed. “Did we miss it?”

“No, it’s next week. My sister-in-law is just proactive.”

“Well we should celebrate,” Mr. Bates suggested.

Price finally received his box back after it made its rounds and retrieved a piece for himself. “Don’t go to any bother, I’ll be twenty-nine and that’s nothing special. Maybe for my thirtieth I’ll let you make a fuss.”

Price bit into his chocolate, and warm caramel dripped down his hand. He licked the drops from his skin, then looked to make sure Mr. Carson didn’t catch his improper table manners. While Mr. Carson hadn’t noticed, two of the housemaids had. They looked at one another and giggled.

Thomas saw both Price’s licking and the reaction of the maids, and looked down at his teacup. If they had any idea where that tongue had been less than twenty four hours ago, he thought. He smiled slightly thinking of how Price was desired by several of the young women in the house, and who knew who else out there pining for him. Yet it was Thomas he wanted, had longed for, and had given himself over to fully the night before.

“Would you like another?” Price asked, holding the box across the table for Thomas.

Thomas cleared his throat. “No, you keep the rest. You’re the birthday boy, afterall.”

That evening, Price followed Thomas to the hallway outside his door. “What was in the envelope?”

“You’re nosy, aren’t you?” Thomas said, turning the knob on his door.

“I would call it ‘inquisitive’.”

“Well I don’t know, I haven’t opened it.”

“Fine, be boring. I’ll just go to bed dying of curiosity.”

Thomas opened his door and stepped inside. “I guess you’ll have to,” he said, shutting Price out in the hallway.

Thomas turned the envelope over in his hands a few times, and finally opened it. He smiled at the contents; a copy of the photograph Kait had taken of him at her kitchen table. It was a little blurry due to their movements, but it only served to make the image feel more lifelike. There weren’t many photographs of him he knew of in existence, and certainly none that were candid. He turned the picture over, and there was a small inscription.

Thomas: Come to London and be my muse, you beautiful man, you. - Kait

Thomas laughed, then looked at the picture again. He wondered if this was what he really looked like; how other people actually saw him day to day. Objectively, he could almost see what Eric and Price, and even Kait, found so handsome.

Downstairs, Mrs. Patmore, Daisy, and the kitchen maids were cleaning up the final remains from dinner.

“Did you hear everyone talking at tea?” Daisy asked Mrs. Patmore. “It’s David’s birthday next week.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. And I were thinking about something Mr. Bates said. Maybe we could make a little celebration? We could decorate, and I could bake a cake.”

Mrs. Patmore stirred a pot that would be the servant’s stew for supper the next night. “I don’t think that’s a bad idea, especially with his father passing so recently. I’ll mention it to Mrs. Hughes.”

“What will you mention to me?” Mrs. Hughes asked, making her last round for the evening.

“David’s birthday next week, we’d like to have a little celebration for him,” Daisy told her. “Maybe include nanny since they get on so well.”

“Why that’s a delightful idea, Daisy. And I don’t think Mr. Carson will take too much convincing. Thank you for the suggestion.”

…..

Thomas heard Lady Edith invited dinner guests from her magazine, and the thought of having Eric under the same roof as Price made Thomas more than a little anxious. However, the evening’s guest list included an illustrator, a photographer, and two columnists; no journalists, Thomas noted with relief.

The family was happy to make their acquaintance, except Lady Mary, who was dubious about the visitors before they even arrived.

“You have so many journalists and writers. How much is there to say in a society magazine?” Lady Mary asked Edith while Anna dressed her for the evening.

“As I’ve said before, if you took the time to actually read my magazine, you would know that we publish all different kinds of stories.”

“I’ve been near by when mama was reading it. Isn’t that enough?”

“You will be polite to my guests tonight?”

Lady Mary turned from her vanity mirror to face Lady Edith. “Wasn’t I polite when you invited those journalists before?”

“Polite and flirtatious are different things.”

Lady Mary turned back to her mirror. “Well boredom leads to flirtation for me, what can I say.”

Thomas listened during dinner to see if anyone would mention Eric, but his name didn’t come up in any conversation he could hear. The photographer, a young woman, looked Thomas over a few times during dinner. Barking up the wrong tree, Price thought. When Thomas went around the table to pour the dessert wine, the photographer put her hand on his wrist. “That’s it, I know where I know you from! I just saw a picture of you hanging in my friend’s flat.”

“That hardly seems possible,” Lady Edith said. “It was probably just someone who looks like Mr. Barrow.”

Thomas continued around the table, working hard to keep his hands steady.

“No, I swear it was him. Mr. Barrow, is it? Do you know Kait?”

Thomas looked at the family and back to the photographer.

“Barrow, are you going to answer her?” Lord Grantham coaxed. Everyone at the table looked at Thomas expectantly.

“Yes, I know Kait,” Thomas said, then returned to his spot at the side of the room.

Lady Mary and Lady Edith traded perplexed but entertained glances. “You’re not getting away that easily, Barrow” Lady Mary said. “How do you know this photographer?”

“She’s a friend, m’lady. She let me stay with her so I could attend David’s father’s funeral. That’s when she took the photograph.”

“How interesting. Do you think we could get a copy?”

“Mary, let the poor man be,” the Dowager Countess sighed. “You do know servants have lives outside of these walls, don’t you?”

“I apologize, I didn’t mean to cause commotion,” the photographer told the family. “Or to make you uncomfortable,” she said across the room to Thomas.

Thomas felt Price’s eyes on him. “Don’t worry, ma’am, I’m not uncomfortable.”

“Let’s turn to other conversation topics, shall we?” The Dowager asked, noting Thomas’s relief as Lord Grantham began discussing the hunt earlier.

Price pictured the scene on the train platform when Thomas said goodbye to his friends, and then the rest of the dots connected. That tall man he saw was one of the first guests he served at Downton. His heart was in his stomach as he pictured Thomas with Eric, hidden away in the house.

Price all but ran to bed after dinner service, not joining the servants for their supper. His absence was quickly noticed, but Mr. Carson said Price did look a bit gray after dinner and perhaps he wasn’t feeling well. Thomas wondered why talk of Kait upset Price. Thomas had already told him about staying with a female friend in London, and he had seen both Eric and Kait at their departure. None of this seemed like new information.

Price came out of the bathroom as Thomas headed to it with his towel.

“What’s got you so upset?” Thomas whispered.

Price whispered back, “Just being a green-eyed monster. Ignore me.”

“Over a girl? You know there’s nothing to be jealous about there.”

Price made his voice even quieter. “I realized where I saw your ‘Erin’ before. Here. Among Lady Edith’s guests. Now I know that you know places to hide away here, because you’ve hidden with him.”

“You can’t possibly be upset with me for that, you’d been here all of five minutes when that happened. If I recall, you were sneaking back in your room when I was getting back to mine that night.”

Price shook his head. “Of course I don’t fault you for that, but if you could find a place with him, you could have done the same for me. Not made me beg and bargain for a night with you.”

Thomas looked both ways down the hall, ensuring they were still alone. “David, for Pete’s sake.” Thomas laughed. “Do you have any idea how jealous he was that I would go all the way to London for you and not him?”

Price shifted his weight. “I told you to ignore me. I know I’m being silly.”

“And unfair. All I’ve ever done is tried not to hurt you.”

“Is there anything still between you two?” Price asked, the words falling from his lips. He wished he could pick them up and shove them back in before Thomas heard them.

“How can you ask me that after last night?”

Price switched his towel to his other shoulder. “A lack of self confidence? I don’t know. I guess it feels more real to me now. He’s a real person, he’s really been here, he’s really been with you. Maybe he’ll come back. Maybe he’ll offer himself again and you’ll have him. He’s a journalist, isn’t he? And I’m one of the lowest rungs on the servants’ ladder.”

“I hate hearing you talk like this.”

“I hate that I’m saying any of it out loud.”

The two men looked at each other. Price hoped a door would open and he would have an excuse to hide behind his own.

“I remember you being hard on me for behaving like you could have no other friends. Eric is a friend now, David, nothing more. Not now that I have you.”

Finally hearing Eric’s name gave Price a little jab in the heart, but he tried to take in the rest of Thomas’s words instead. “Okay. I won’t mention it again. I’m glad you have friends, really, I am. Even handsome, globe-trotting friends.”

“At least Kait doesn’t make you jealous.” Thomas said, giving himself an idea. “Come with me.”

Price followed Thomas to his room. Thomas retrieved Kait’s photograph from his drawer and handed it to Price.

“What’s this?”

“That’s the photograph that embarrassed me at dinner.”

Price examined it, smiling. He flipped it over and laughed at Kait’s note.

“So that’s your big dream? Become a model in London?”

“Do you think I’d be successful?”

“Well, I’d buy anything with your picture on it, I can tell you that.”

“Why don’t you keep it?” Thomas suggested.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“What am I going to do with a picture of myself?”

Price smiled down at the picture and then up at Thomas. “Thank you. I love this. Thank Kait for me, too.” Price hid the picture under his towel and headed to his room.

Thomas didn’t like seeing Price so hard on himself, but couldn’t help getting a little thrill over Price’s jealousy. It was validating that Price was so moved by the thought of him with someone else.

…….

It took a little investigating to figure out Price’s actual birthday. Daisy set Lee on the case to avoid causing any suspicion on Price’s part. Mr. Carson asked Lord Grantham’s permission to start the servants’ supper a bit early for the celebration, and since Mr. Carson’s request came after Lord Grantham consumed an impressive amount of both dinner and dessert wine, he was feeling quite generous. After telling Mr. Carson the staff could take the whole night off if they fancied it, Lady Grantham talked him back down and agreed to half an hour accommodation.

The staff made a day of finding Price activities outside of the house; errands in the village were followed by trips to the garden and then a run to the Dowager house. Price was finally sent to the stables on an errand, where he was asked to send some refreshments for Lady Mary and Mr. Branson, who just returned from a ride.

Price eyed the horses carefully as he served Lady Mary and Mr. Branson, and Lady Mary took notice. “I saw the same look in your eye during the hunt. You’re not much of an equestrian?”

“No, m’lady. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but horses make me a bit nervous.” Price averted his eyes to avoid Lady Mary detecting his lie. He had been uneasy around horses since being trampled by one during the war.

“I’ve let footmen take my horses out in the past. Not any footmen, but the ones I’ve liked. Perhaps some exposure is all you need.”

Price met Lady Mary’s eyes again and smiled. She and Mr. Branson both belonged in one of the many equestrian paintings he studied in his time before service, Lady Mary especially looked like she had just climbed down from an oil painting. “I am honored you’d offer, your Ladyship, but I confess I would be too afraid of hurting your poor horse to accept it.”

“If she can teach me the proper way to ride, I’m sure she could have you on a horse without putting the animal any danger,” Mr. Branson said, petting the walnut colored mare at his side.

“So you see, you can’t decline my offer. We’ll pick a day and I’ll have you confident with a horse by the end of it.”

Price chewed his lip and sighed. This was indeed something he should not decline. “As long as you ask Mr. Carson, m’lady, I would be grateful for a lesson.”

Price finished serving Lady Mary and Mr. Branson, packed everything back into the bicycle he had brought down to the stables, and went back to the house.

“I think he may have a crush on you,” Mr. Branson said to Lady Mary as they brushed their horses.

“Why on earth would you say that?”

“It’s the way he looks at you, like he’s enraptured.”

“Hmm,” Lady Mary said, studying her horse’s face. “I agree that I’ve seen that look in him, but he seems to look at everyone like that. I think he’s been in a constant state of awe since coming here.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Mr. Branson said. “Now that you say it, I’ve even seen him look at me that way.”

“See? It’s not a crush at all.”

“Well, if it is, you’ll have to let me know how your personal time with him goes.”

Lady Mary gave Mr. Branson a sideways smile.

Back in the kitchen, Daisy had hidden Price’s cake in the cupboard, and Anna hid decorations in Mrs. Hughes’s sitting room. The activities had given them all a sense of purpose that day, and Price could tell something was different with the staff, but he was so busy he hadn’t time to ask.

During dinner service, Thomas found reasons to avoid sending Price downstairs for any food or dishware, and the rest of the staff used the time to decorate the servants’ hall in paper streamers and pennant banners. Lady Grantham loaned the gramophone, and Mr. Bates set it up while Anna set out wine at each place setting.

“Do we usually go to this much trouble for a birthday?” Ellie asked Daisy.

“No, but it’s not usually David having the birthday, is it?” Daisy said defensively. “He’s lost his father so recently, can’t we do something nice to cheer him up?”

“I was just asking,” Ellie said, shaking her head before turning back to her vegetables.

Mr. Molesley alerted the staff that Price was coming down, and they lined up behind the table waiting for him. The quiet seemed odd to Price as he descended the stairs. Turning through the doorway he caught site of a banner before his eyes laid on the two rows of waiting staff. Their cheering “Surprise!” ripped through the silence, followed by clapping and singing “for he’s a jolly good fellow.” Price stood frozen in his spot, his cheeks pink, as he covered his face and laughed.

Anna pushed a glass of wine into Price’s hand as Nanny Rebecca slipped a necklace of paper rosettes over his head. “Sybbie made this for you,” she informed Price as she kissed his cheek.

Miss Baxter pulled Price by the elbow to his seat, and he was the first served for supper as Mr. Bates started the gramophone. “I can’t believe you all went to this much trouble,” Price said, finally finding his voice.

“It was no trouble at all,” Mrs. Hughes said. “It was as much fun for us as it is for you.”

Daisy and Ellie served roast chicken, green beans, and mashed potatoes to everyone before joining the table themselves.

“This is amazing,” Price told Daisy.

She blushed and shrugged. “Weren’t nothing.”

Dinner turned to dancing. Price spun Anna around the room while Thomas took Miss Baxter’s hand for a turn themselves. Anna traded Price off to Daisy, who blushed deeper than she had at dinner when her palm touched Price’s.

The staff’s voices rose again as they chanted, “speech, speech!” and Mr. Bates lifted the needle on the gramophone as they awaiting Price’s words.

Price stood, the dinner wine making him just the slightest bit unstable. “My goodness. Are those two words enough?”

Anna playful booed him.

“Alright, alright,” Price waved her off and sighed. “I can be a little sentimental when I’ve a drink in me, so you’ll have to forgive me,” Price started as he fingered the rosettes on his necklace. “I thought the place I worked before was a great group. And they were. But here - you all,” Price said, looking around the table, allowing his eyes to meet Thomas’s before speaking again. “I am amazed everyday by how kind and caring and loving you all are. It’s hard to become an orphan at any age, and I feel the loss and distance of my family greater now than ever. So it’s that much more meaningful to have you all around me as my new extended family. I feel like the world’s luckiest man right now.”

Every female body around the table jumped up to hug and kiss Price. Daisy took the opportunity to dash out and fetch the cake. She lit it with candles and brought it in as the group sang “Happy Birthday.” Price sliced the first piece carefully, and then followed the group’s eyes to the doorway, where the Crawley family stood.

“We don’t want to interrupt,” Lord Grantham said. “We just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. It certainly looks like you’re having just that.”

Price wondered if perhaps he was dreaming the entire evening. “Thank you so much, all of you. It’s the happiest birthday I’ve had.”

“Mr. Carson has given permission for me to get you on a horse tomorrow,” Lady Mary told him. “So you may want to go a little easy on that wine.”

“Too late for that,” Mr. Molesley whispered to Miss Baxter.

“Would you care to join us for cake?” Mr. Carson asked.

"No, no, we should be on our way," Lady Grantham said. "Happy birthday, David. Goodnight all."

Price ate his cake feeling in a haze of good fortune and good spirits. He watched on as the dancing continued, thankful his birthday was the reason for so much merriment.

“I think he ought to get to bed,” Thomas suggested to Mr. Carson as they both watched Price struggle to keep his wine glass upright.

“Yes, especially if he’s to meet Lady Mary in the morning.”

Thomas linked his arm through Price’s and pulled the man to his feet. “Say thank you and goodnight, David.”

Price gave a sloppy wave and blew kisses around the room. “I love you all!” he called as Thomas escorted him out of the servants’ hall.

“Wasn’t that so much fun?” Price asked Thomas as Thomas pushed him through his bedroom door.

“If it were any other man being lavished with that much attention here, I’d have about died of jealousy.”

Price threw his arms around Thomas’s neck and laid his head on Thomas’s collarbone. Thomas caught their reflection in Price’s mirror, and he smiled at Price, who looked like a tipsy girl at a fair hanging on the neck of her beau.

“Dancing was nice, but I’d rather have danced with you,” Price said, swaying his body.

Thomas pictured his night with Eric in London and closed his eyes, imagining the same scene with Price. With eyes closed, he was startled by Price’s lips on his. Price parted his lips and snuck his tongue between Thomas’s, languidly probing Thomas’s mouth. Price’s kiss tasted of cake icing and merlot, and Thomas let the kiss go on quite some time before breaking it.

“We shouldn’t push it. If I spend too long in here, it won’t go unnoticed.”

“No, stay, dance with me, kiss me. Kiss me, kiss me,” Price said, his voice getting softer with each word.

“I knew you were a drunk,” Thomas said, kissing the merlot on Price’s lips one last time for the night. “At least you’re a happy one.”

“Full of love!”

“Love for everyone.”

“But most of all you,” Price said, laying his head back on Thomas’s chest.

“Is that so?”

“It’s so. I love you more than any other.”

The words tickled Thomas in a way he didn’t anticipate, perhaps because he believed they were true. He kissed Price’s forehead and led him to his bed. “I suppose you can undress yourself when you wake up at some point in the night a little more sober.”

Price laid his head on his pillow, falling asleep before Thomas reached the door. Thomas entered the hallway with the first “I love you” from Price still making his smile.

“That took a while,” Mr. Bates said. Thomas hadn’t seen him in the hall. Mr. Molesley was a few steps behind Mr. Bates.

“He’s a lightweight,” Thomas said to both men, his lips twitching from his genuine smile to a nervous one. “Just needed some help getting to bed.”

“I’m sure you were happy to help,” Mr. Bates said.

“And just what are you implying? Aren’t you one of David’s biggest fans?”

“I’m not implying anything about David. But maybe you’d take advantage of his present state.”

In his younger days, Thomas would have raised his fist without hesitation. But a fight would only worsen whatever damage may be in progress of getting done. Instead, Thomas said, “I wouldn’t take advantage of anyone in this house, least of all him. I’m sorry that’s how you see me.”

Mr. Bates looked at his feet. “That was a low blow, I admit. It just made me a bit nervous that you were in there so long.”

“Well you needn’t worry. He’s in bed unharmed.”

Thomas’s words swayed Mr. Bates, but Mr. Molesley, who remained silent in the hall, wasn’t silent the next day. As he and Miss Baxter sat together tending to clothing in need of mending, he pressed Miss Baxter for her thoughts.

“How awful that Mr. Bates would suggest such a thing,” Miss Baxter said.

“But do you think Mr. Barrow may have something for David? Or David for him?”

“First, I don’t think Mr. Barrow would open his heart to another in this house. Second, David have a thing for Mr. Barrow? What makes you say that?”

“Well they’re awful friendly.”

“David is everyone’s friend.”

“Yes, but it got me thinking. Most girls in this house are half in love with David, and yet he hasn’t shown interest in a single one of them. He doesn’t even flirt back.”

“Maybe it’s not in his nature to flirt.”

“And the two of them, Mr. Barrow and David, they’re out in the courtyard or up in the halls chatting whenever they can.”

“Have you forgotten Mr. Barrow is tasked with training David when needed?” Miss Baxter said, missing the next stitch in her hemming. She cursed the fabric and tried again.

“Sure, maybe it’s nothing. But something just seems a bit off to me.”

“You have no proof of anything being off and you’re making a dangerous accusation. I should hope to not hear it from your lips again.”

Mr. Molesley straightened, surprised by the strength of Miss Baxter’s words.

The two fell silent as Priced passed through the room on his way out to meet Lady Mary.

“I suppose I forget sometimes that you wish to be Mr. Barrow’s friend.”

“Well please don’t forget it, and don’t make things harder for him than they already are. If you want to remain my friend, you'll never mention any of that to anyone.”

Mr. Molesley acquiesced, but remained convinced that he was on to something.
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Footman in Training