On her way to post office, Isobel stops at the dressmaker, looking at the cloth and dresses that are on display in the huge window. Isobel just decided, that it´s time to get a new dress, when someone bumps into her. Parcels scatter on the floor.
"I´m so so sorry! But the parcels blocked my view and I ... oh, Mrs Crawley," Elsie is blushing when she sees who she nearly ran over.
"Don´t worry, Mrs Hughes. No harm done." Isobel bends down and helps Elsie to pick up her parcels. " That looks like a lot of work."
"Yes, I just bought some tablecloths, linen and cloth for curtains I want to sew. You can put that parcel on the top. I think I can balance this pile home safely in case I don´t run into someone again."
"I could help you walking these home," Isobel suggests.
"Oh,no, Mrs Crawley. I can hardly let you carry my stuff home and I don´t want to you keep from shopping"
"I just wanted to send a letter but I can always do this tomorrow. It´s not that important."
"Well," Elsie looks at the pile again and she has to admit that she could need a helping hand. "Alright but only if can I invite you to a cup of tea afterwards."
"I won´t say no to this invitation", Isobel smiles.
"That is a very beautiful place you´ve chosen, Mrs Hughes," Isobel says when they arrive at Elsie´s cottage only a couple of minutes later.
"Thank you, Mrs Crawley. I had an eye on it for years and luckily is his Lordship taking a reasonable lease. But I have to warn you. It´s still a bit chaotic and there are still boxes to unpack, " Elsie says when she opens the door. She feels a bit awkward that someone of the Crawley family visits her at home, even when she knows that Isobel doesn´t care about those things and Isobel already invited her for tea when they were dealing with Ethel.
Isobel follows Elsie indoors and puts the parcel on the nearest sideboard. She lets her eyes wander over the floral wallpaper and the pictures that are already hanging on the walls. "Is this Scotland?" she asks pointing at one of them.
"Yes, that´s where I grew up," Elsie says and takes off her coat.
Isobel looks at her and thinks she heard a little bit of melancholy in her voice but she doesn´t ask any further questions.
"Oh, I see you even have a telephone."
"Yes, His Lordship insisted on it but frankly I have no idea what to do with it. I don´t know anybody who owns a telephone yet. Now, shall I give you the grand tour before we have tea?" Elsie laughs and leads Isobel into the living room.
"That are a lot of shelves," Isobel comments.
"Yes, Tom, I mean Mr Branson helped me to set them up. And I intend to fill all of them. Finally I have enough time for reading."
"What kind of books interests you, Mrs Hughes?" Isobel wants to know. "Don´t judge me, Mrs Hughes, but I´m a sucker for a good mystery crime."
"So am I. I love the books of Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle," Elsie grins.
"That´s fabulous," Isobel claps her hands," I finally found someone to talk about them. And I love listen to the The Play of-"
"The week," Elsie finish Isobel´s sentence and both women laugh. "Yes, I like it, too. Did you listen to it yesterday?"
Elsie shows Isobel around while both women chat about their favourite radio programme.
"And last but not least the master bedroom." When Isobel enters the room, Elsie wonders if it´s even appropriate to show her this room and why she didn´t hesitate to show it to her.
"Oh, Mrs Hughes, what a beautiful view of the garden." Elsie steps next to her. "It must be wonderful to wake up to this sight." Both women look at each other and for a split- second Elsie is confused.
"What? Oh, yes." Elsie looks back into the garden and hopes that Isobel didn´t notice that she was blushing again. "But judging by the state of it, it takes a lot of work before I can really enjoy it. I plan to put some roses over there and maybe a little apple tree there."
"Yes, it will be a lot of work but I can tell you from experience, that it´s a very calming and enjoyable work."
"I hope you don´t mind, that we have to drink our tea in the kitchen but as you´ve seen, my living room isn´t fully furnished yet," Elsie says over her shoulder when they leave the bedroom.
"Not at all, Mrs Hughes. Oh, who is this?" Isobel points at a picture of a young woman, that is standing on a sideboard in Elsie´s bedroom. "Is this your sister? I think, Lady Mary once mentioned that you have a sister."
"No, it´s not my sister." Elsie takes the pictureframe and smiles sadly at it. "It is- was a very dear friend of mine. We were very close once but-" Elsie shrugs and puts the pictureframe back onto the sideboard.
Isobel feels sorry, that she mentioned the picture and obviously touched a sensible topic. "I´m sorry, Mrs Hughes. I shouldn´t have asked. Sometimes I´m just too noisy."
"It stands out in the open, although I didn´t expect someone to see my bedroom," Elsie is forcing herself to smile but Isobel can see the sadness in her eyes.
Isobel follows her into the kitchen where she´s watching Elsie preparing the tea in silence. Isobel could curse herself that she mentioned the picture because she has the feeling that the lightheartedness of their early conversation disappeared and after half an hour of forced and polite conversation, Isobel leaves.
On her way home, Isobel can´t help but to think about Elsie´s look her on her face when she mentioned that picture, the gentleness and sadness in her eyes, when she looked at it. "Could the rumours about Mrs Hughes be true?" Isobel wonders.
Later that evening, Elsie sits down on her bed and her gaze falls onto the picture again. She gets up again, takes it and puts it on her nightstand. The woman in the picture is smiling directly at her. "You would have liked it here. It´s all we ever dreamt of." Elsie sighs and turns off the light.