This was inspired by one line and a look in Series 1, Episode 1. Mrs. Hughes makes a comment that Mr. Watson's (the pre-Bates valet) room was in 'quite a state' and gives Mr. Carson a little sideways glance. That just made me wonder what she might have found there.
Mrs. Hughes was supervising the clearing out of Mr. Watson's room and quite a job it was too. She had never seen such a mess. And some of the things they found! She had three empty bottles lined up on the bureau and those postcards were upside down beside them. If it had been up to her, she would have tossed them in the fire immediately, but there was no fire on this floor. She'd just have to wait until she was back in her parlour. The only thing that they'd found that was remotely normal was a deck of playing cards that she had set to the side.
Mr. Carson came in then to check on their progress, "Well, I can certainly see that this room had gotten into quite a state. Will you have it clean in time for the new valet?"
She rolled her eyes at him, "Of course we will, but it certainly would have been helpful if you'd paid a little closer attention to the goings on in here."
"Well, I can't be expected to watch these men every moment of the day," he defended himself and then tried to change the subject by picking up the postcards, "What are these, then?"
After looking at them briefly, he put them down quickly and blushed furiously, "Oh my, that's…., well, maybe I should just… ," picking them up again he peeked at them surreptitiously , "Perhaps, I should take care of these, and these as well, if you'd like," he added picking up the playing cards.
Mrs. Hughes bit the inside of her jaw to keep from laughing outright, "Thank you, Mr. Carson; that would be most helpful."
He pocketed both the postcards and playing cards and was quickly on his way. Mrs. Hughes was glad to see him go. She was just a little put out with him and that half of the human race in general at the moment.
After the room was finally clean and fit for human habitation again, it was nearly time for dinner. By the time that they worked through the dinner service and their own dinner, Elsie's anger toward Charles had cooled a little. She still thought he should never have let things get to that state, though.
Needless to say she was not quite in the mood for time alone with him on this particular night. Not only was she tired, but after cleaning Mr. Watson's room and seeing those postcards (How did they get those women to pose that way?), males in general were not high on her list of favorite people. She stepped into his pantry briefly to bid him a good night before heading off to her own room. Biting back a smile, she saw that he was holding a playing card up to the light with his head turned at an odd angle to study it and had sorted the other cards into three piles. When he saw her, he quickly put the card he was holding down, jumped out of his chair, and cleared his throat.
"Charles," she asked, eyebrows drawn together, "What are you doing with those cards?"
His shoulders shifted slightly, "Um, not a thing, I was just checking to see that they were all there."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "Charles?"
"Really, Elsie, what could I be doing with them?" he asked with another roll of his shoulders and an added lift of his brows.
Walking casually closer to both he and his desk, she asked, "What did you do with the postcards?"
Straightening to his full height, he answered firmly, "I burned them, of course. What else would I do with them?"
"You didn't save them for later?" she asked with raised eyebrows as she let her hand rest on his desk.
Taking a deep breath, he glared at her, "I told you that I burned them, and I did. I'd not want someone like William getting his hands on those," then softening his tones a little, he added, "Why would I want to look at pictures when I could see the real thing?"
She smiled at him sweetly and quickly snatched up a playing card from the largest pile, making a quick retreat around the corner of his desk.
He was surprised enough to hesitate for a moment before starting toward her, "Elsie, that was not fair! Give me that card back. I really don't think that…"
By this time, she was far enough away from him that she was able to hold the card, the Two of Hearts, up to the light to see what had so fascinated him. She gasped in surprise. When the card was held up to the light a completely different scene was revealed, one that would not be proper in any drawing room. After her initial shock, she found herself studying the card closer, turning her head to the side to work out the exact angles that were involved.
Hearing Charles' resigned sigh, she tore her eyes away from the card to look up at him.
"They're of French design. I, um, that is, when I saw them there, I thought they might be something like this."
"You've seen cards like this before?"
Looking at her patiently, he said, "May I remind you of the 'years of stupidity'?"
She nodded thoughtfully, then looked back down at the desk, "Why three piles?"
He blushed slightly and indicating the smallest pile, he said, "These are ones that I believe should join the postcards."
Then tapping the largest pile with his forefinger his blush deepened, "These are ones we've…well, the one you have in your hand there…, I believe that last week, we accomplished that," smiling broadly in relief at having found an appropriate euphemism.
She looked back down at the card in her hand and nodded in agreement then looked back at him with raised eyebrows.
He continued indicating the third pile with a wave of his hand, "And these, well, I thought that we might, if you wish, at some point in the future…"
"You thought we might what?" she asked, eyes narrowing again.
Shoulders shifting again and ears tinting faintly pink, he said, "They're just ideas, Elsie, suggestions, possibilities to explore," seeing her level look, he added, "if you would like, of course."
She picked up the Jack of Clubs and held it to the light. Eyebrows climbed to her hairline, and she made an amused observation, "This would take a fair bit of strength on your part. Do you think you're quite up to the challenge?"
Genuinely offended now, he drew himself to full height, "I beg your pardon. I most certainly am capable. Do I need to remind you about last month, during your, well, your aggressive time? In the wine cellar? Besides, I think he may be sitting down."
She held the card to the light again, and he leaned in to look over her shoulder. She shook her head doubtfully, "I really believe that he is standing. If he's sitting down, we accomplished that ages ago," she smirked at him.
Charles smiled back at her and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her back against him, "Am I forgiven?"
"That depends."
"Depends on what," he asked as he nuzzled her neck and let his hand ghost up to cup her breast.
"On whether you might be interested in the Two of Hearts again," she sighed, holding his hand closer to her breast.
"I believe that I could be persuaded," he said as his hands moved to the buttons of her dress, "Would you be interested in the Jack of Clubs after?"
"Mmmmm," she agreed as she turned her head to capture his lips in a kiss, pulling away while sucking lightly at his lower lip, she said, "Or the King of Hearts."
He pulled his head back with a surprised frown, "How did you know about the King of Hearts?"
"Charles," she said, drawing his head back to hers and hand snaking down to his waist, "There is light up in the servants' rooms as well."
"Did you manage to look at all of them?" he asked in amusement.
"Not likely with the maids watching," she scoffed, "I only saw a few. Enough to whet my curiosity."
"We could look at the rest of them together," he suggested before catching her earlobe between his lips.
"After the Two of Hearts," she agreed emphatically, turning in his arms and reaching for his tie.
"And the Jack of Clubs," he nodded before backing her toward the settee.
If you're interested, the cards described here can be viewed at 'The World of Cards' website and have three layers so that when they're held to the light a 'scene' is revealed. They are believed to be of French design and are dated around 1850.