"Second post." Mr. Carson said gently rapping on the doorframe to Mrs. Hughes sitting room. It was one of his favorite pass times to walk by her office as frequently as he could. For some reason seeing her many times throughout the day, even without her knowledge made him feel much steadier as the ever changing world descended upon his head.
He'd once made reference to himself being the one wearing the crown, but as his days drug on he wished more and more that he could divest himself of his crown, in fact what he truly wanted was to spend his days divested of clothing laying naked in bed with Elsie. But that was not to be. In fact, he thought sadly, by the time they did retire they might be past the age of being able to enjoy the sins of the flesh, though Charles was unsure exactly when that might happen to a woman.
"Oh thank you." Elsie said turning and getting up to retrieve her letter from his hands. She quickly noted the lack of people around and flashed him a brilliant and loving smile. They had both decided that during working hours they were to remain completely professional and ought to leave doors open whenever possible but that certainly didn't stop her from smiling sweetly at him whenever the opportunity arose. Indeed it was the simple things that made her feel grounded and she knew he had similar habits. How many times had she heard his footsteps falter slight as he walked by her door. He surely didn't know that she knew, in fact she was certain he would be horribly embarrassed if he knew she knew how frequently he snuck a peak at her during the day.
"Only one for you today it seems." He said, giving her a wink and heading on his way.
As he began to continue his trek down the hall he heard her gasp. Quickly he turned around and headed back into the room.
"Is everything alright?" He asked, very concerned to see the blood draining from her face.
"Yes, its fine really, I just…this letter, its from someone I hadn't expected to ever hear from again." She said, trying to quell her nerves, it would do no good letting him know many details.
"Oh, who is it from?" He asked, his interest piqued, both with the mystery of the letter and her unusual reaction to it.
"Um…just an old friend."
"Elsie, there is something you aren't telling me." Charles said with a warning bite in his tone.
"You don't need to know everything about me Mr. Carson." She said defiantly.
"Perhaps not but I would like to know who has written you a letter that has you so out of sorts. Surely there should be no such secrets between us." He said lowing his voice and stepping into the room, gently closing her door behind himself.
"Come love," he said softly taking her hands into his own, "what is troubling you."
"Mr. Frederickson." She said look straight ahead at his chest, unable to make the eye contact she so desperately needed to.
"What!?" Charles said shouting and dropping her hands in fury.
"SShh! Mr. Carson! If you cannot be quiet and reasonable I shall have to ask you to leave."
"What does he want?" Charles said is an urgent whisper.
"I don't know!" she said in just as urgent a whisper. "I gasped when I saw who it was from and then you came galavanting in here like King Arthur and his fleet of knights before I could read it."
"Go on then and read it." Charles said, starring at her with annoyance written on his face. Of all the things that he had expected to happen today he did not believe one would be a letter from her former lover.
"Alright then, just go and sit while I read it. You will burn a hole in my rug pacing and you are far too frugal to replace it should you destroy it!" She said taking a seat in her desk chair.
Charles sat nervously watching her face as she quickly read the letter. As she finished the last few lines she turned quickly and threw the letter into the fire in an impulsive act she regreted almost instantly.
"What in Gods name-" Charles shouted as he stood up and raced towards the fire.
"It was nothing important. He is coming to Ripon and would like to meet with me." She said sitting back down to her ledgers.
"And you intend to meet with him?" Charles said, building himself up to his full height. Mr. Frederickson had been a terribly handsome fellow in his prime and Charles began silently praying that aging had been a revengeful event for Mr. Frederickson.
"Of course I don't! Why on earth would I go to see him." Elsie said looking back down at her ledgers, hoping Charles would take her hint and leave the room.
"He was your lover for a very long time-" Charles began, crouching down next to her and speaking in hushed tones.
"And you are my lover now." She interrupted. "I'm sure if I went to meet with him he would only have one thing on his mind, he ever did only have one thing on his mind and since I've absolutely no intention of indulging him I will simply not reply and I will not go and see him." She said leaning forward to place a chaste kiss on his nose, knowing his bruised ego would need a bit of a fluff.
"I don't like the idea of that man sniffing around Ripon, I don't like it at all." Charles said.
"Well perhaps tonight then you can come to my room and keeping me safe from strange men who come to sniff around." She said in the most seductive voice she could muster.
"Perhaps I will." He said leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers in a searing kiss with all the promises of future treats.
"Now, please be off. I've work to do that wont get done by sitting around kissing the butler." She said.
"What a pity." He said as he walked out of her sitting room.