Chapter Text
Passing through the servants’ corridor, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Daisy Robinson mused on how fast time was flying. That she had arrived at Downton Abbey a couple of months ago, yet it still felt like it happened only yesterday. Although when she started working here, the sun was already up this time in the morning. Now it was still dark. Dark, cold and foggy outside. Daisy hated this weather; it made her want to stay in bed and not get up until next spring. Which she could never actually do, as her job was to wake up the rest of the staff. If she overslept, everyone else did, too, and she couldn’t let that happen.
Once she lit the fires in the Crawleys’ bedrooms, she headed back to wake the servants up. It was almost six o’clock now, and the sun was still nowhere to be seen, making Daisy feel grumpier and more miserable than she already was. And she had a long day ahead.
She started knocking on the doors, when, to her surprise, William Mason emerged from his room on the other end of the corridor, all dressed up and ready for work. The same William, who almost never arrived on time.
“Why are you up so early?” Daisy wondered, finding it rather unusual.
“I just couldn’t sleep,” the footman answered, smiling. It felt out of space in such a grim morning.
“Are you alright?”
“Oh yes, I’m just excited,” he told her.
“What for?”
“It’s going to snow.”
Daisy didn’t understand him. It was December, of course there would be snow! Why would someone be excited for it?
“I know it’s silly,” he admitted, seeing the kitchen maid’s puzzled face. “But snowing in December always wakes up my Christmas spirit. You know, Christmas was always a big deal at home. We used to spend the whole month preparing for it: decorating the house, finding a tree, baking, and things like that.”
As he was speaking, he began to knock on the doors to help Daisy waking the others up. He didn’t want to hold her up, but he did want to talk to her.
“What’s Christmas like at yours?” he asked.
Daisy fell silent at his question, and the only sound was a sleepy groan from the room next to them.
“I’ve never had a proper Christmas,” she finally admitted, feeling uncomfortable and slightly annoyed by having to tell this to Mr Christmas Spirit.
Her words wiped the smile off William’s face, but a moment later, his eyes began to sparkle again.
“Then we can celebrate together!” he burst out, now grinning. “I mean, with the others, as well. We have our Christmas lunch here, and the family sets up a giant tree in the hall,” he told her. “It’s magical.”
“I’m sure it is,” Daisy said, although she wasn’t quite convinced. As someone who hadn’t celebrated Christmas properly, she found William’s excitement a little too early. It was only the first day of December! “But we still have three weeks until then,” she pointed out.
“My mum says it takes time to prepare your soul for it,” he said.
“How do you know it’s going to snow?” She asked, changing the topic. “It doesn’t look like it.”
“I can’t tell, I just feel it,” the footman said with a smile.
He was right: it began snowing early in the afternoon, and by the time Mr Carson rang for dinner, the whole estate was covered in white. Later in the evening, when Daisy was finishing her duties for the day, William walked down to the kitchen, still unable to wipe the smile off his face.
“Are you busy?” he wondered.
“I’ve just finished,” she replied. “Why?”
“I want to show you something,” he said.
They walked up on the back stairs to the top floor, where William led Daisy to the window at the end of the corridor.
“What do you want to show me?” the kitchen maid asked.
“Look out,” the footman said.
It wasn’t a big window, but it had a beautiful view of the gardens and the estate which was now covered in snow. The sight of it made Daisy breathless: the snow was sparkling in the night, reflecting the light of the moon and the stars. The garden looked like someone had put a big soft duvet on it, she thought to herself as she was watching the scenery with eyes widened and mouth dropped open.
“It’s beautiful,” she mumbled, and perhaps for the first time of her life, Daisy felt her own Christmas spirit waking up.