Chapter Text
The servant's hall was almost full that afternoon: everybody was enjoying the few moments of peace before tea, after tending to their usual duties.
Suddenly, the telephone in the butler's pantry started ringing. Mr. Barrow was out for his half day, and Mrs. Hughes went to answer.The telephone call had started like a normal one, but almost immediately the attention of the other servants was caught by what Mrs. Hughes was saying, and her alarmed tone of voice.
"Daisy... Daisy, calm down, please! Daisy, I can't understand... Are you hurt?"
Everyone stood up, to get closer to the pantry.
"Daisy, listen to me.. I'll tell them. You stay there... no! Stay at the hospital, and let the doctor check on you..."
Some silence from Mrs. Hughes, and Mrs. Patmore, pale and scared, got even closer and started to speak, but the housekeeper signaled her to stay quiet.
"Yes... Daisy... try to stay calm. Do what the doctor says. Mr. Barrow is going to be fine. Now, I'll tell Lord and Lady Grantham, and we'll be there as soon as possible. Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine". Mrs. Hughes put back the telephone, and got out of the pantry, surrounded by the others.
"What happened?" asked Anna.
"Is Daisy fine?" almost shouted Mrs. Patmore.
"Yes. I think so. But Mr. Barrow is in the hospital, he is having surgery, and it doesn't look so good".
"What?" exclaimed someone, maybe Andy.
"Did he try again..." asked Mr. Bates, surely thinking about Thomas' recent attempted suicide.
"No, no, nothing like that. Daisy was very upset, but from what I understood, she was attacked in the village by some... men, and Mr. Barrow intervened to help her. They beat him up pretty badly, she said something about an internal bleeding and surgery. I need to tell Their Lordships, and I guess we'll go to the hospital. But Daisy wasn't hurt, she said".
Mrs Hughes started to walk up the stairs, ordering the others to wait. She knew the family was all in the library, with the Dowager Countess; and when she entered, everyone looked at her, surprised. "I'm really sorry to bother you, my lord and my lady... there has been a terrible accident... Daisy just telephoned from the hospital. She said she had been attacked by some men, and Mr. Barrow saved her and got a bad beating. He is having surgery. It doesn't look well".
After a moment of shocked silence, Branson said: "I'll get the car. We need to go there".
"Yes. Yes, of course", said Lady Grantham. "But not all of us, it wouldn't be respectful. Mrs. Hughes, why you don't we go together, with Miss Baxter too. Barrow and her are pretty close. We will telephone as soon as we know something". Cora stood up and followed Mrs. Hughes outside with Branson.
Mrs. Patmore, Andy, Anna and Bates were waiting in the servant's hall with a cup of tea, together with the young maids and the hallboy.
The silence was broken only by Mrs. Patmore question. "Mr. Bates, earlier you asked if Mr. Barrow had tried again... what? What were you asking?"
Bates looked at her. She didn't know about Thomas' suicide attempt. "Nothing. Really," he answered, with a reassuring smile.
"But..." she was interrupted by the noise of the door opening, and someone walking down the stairs. Everybody stood, and Cora entered the hall, hugging a crying Daisy by the shoulders. Tom Branson was behind them. Mrs. Patmore and Andy immediately went to Daisy. "We convinced her to come home. She is fine, but pretty shaken up", said Lady Grantham, in a sweet voice. Mrs. Patmore hugged Daisy, who was very pale and had a black eye.
"What happened, honey?" asked the cook.
"I... I was coming home from the village, when... when three men attacked me from behind. I didn't see them coming. One of them... punched me, and I started screaming. I though... I thought no one would come. And then... someone else screamed. It was Mr. Barrow. He... he started fighting with them, and I could run away to search for help. I came back after a couple of minutes with other people, and the attackers ran away when they saw us. Mr. Barrow was on the ground, he was bleeding... and the other people who came helped me call for an ambulance. I went to the hospital with him, and Dr. Clarkson told me he had to have surgery, because they suspected an internal bleeding. That's when I called you".
"And what about now?" asked Andy.
"When we left, he was still having surgery," answered Mr. Branson. "We wanted to bring Daisy home, but Mrs. Baxter and Mrs. Hughes are still there. I'll go back to the hospital with some things Mr. Barrow might need. Mr. Bates, do you mind coming with me to his room?"
"Yes, sir".
"I will need a bag," said the former chauffeur.
"I'm sure Mr. Barrow has a suitcase, in his room". The two men walked up the stairs, until they reached Thomas' room. Bates opened the closet, and got a small suitcase. "I think this will be big enough," he said. Tom opened some drawers, and gathered underwear, socks, and a couple of pajamas, while Bates got the shaving kit and the book that was on the nightstand. "I think he would like to have this".
"Yes, if he ever..." Tom didn't finish the sentence, and Bates said: "Let's not think about that, now".
After Branson left again for the hospital, everybody was again waiting in the servant's hall. Daisy was nursing a cup of tea, without drinking it. She had explained that the police had come to the hospital, called by the nurses; and she had told them everything that could have been useful to catch the attackers.
"It's all my fault," she said at some point. "I should have never walked alone in that street..."
"No, it wasn't!" answered a very pale Anna, almost shouting. "It's never the victim's fault, Daisy," said then, in a gentler voice.
"She's right", said Andy. "You have every right to walk alone where you want. What they wanted to do... is not excusable". Daisy didn't say anything more. Bates took his wife's hand.
Before anyone could speak again, the phone in the butler's pantry started ringing, and Anna got up to answer. Everyone held their breath.
"Oh, that's a relief!" said Anna, turning to look at the others with a big smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Hughes! Yes, I'll tell the family now!"
She put down the phone, and explained: "Mr. Barrow is out of surgery. Dr. Clarkson said he is not out of the woods yet, but he is optimistic. Mrs. Baxter will stay with him for tonight, while Mr. Branson and Mrs. Hughes are coming home. I have to go upstairs and tell the family".
Everyone smiled, and Daisy started crying again.