The light in the room was the warm yellow that signaled the beginning of a long, lingering summer sunset. The windows of the room faced west and every object and person in the room seemed gilded in gold. Lady Mary, holding the squirming child, stood over a seated Mrs. Crawley.
Backlit and golden Lady Mary looked like a dark-eyed, Italian Madonna.
Oh, Mrs. Hughes would love that imagery. Carson thought wryly.
She already thought he worshiped the Crawleys, especially Lady Mary, quite enough. Still, he could not shake the image from his mind.
"Carson, I should like to go home now."
"Arrangements have been made, my Lady." When they left Downton earlier, the plan was to bring Lady Mary and Mrs. Crawley back with them before nightfall if they would both agree. The car was indeed waiting for them and rooms were prepared at Downton. Carson turned to Lord Grantham, "Will Mrs. Crawley be accompanying you?"
"Please, Isobel." His Lordship nodded, taking up the lead from Carson. "You should not be alone over the next few days. Mama is staying with us. She and Cora want so very much to see you."
Mrs. Crawley's eyes lifted reluctantly from her son's face and traveled to the door. She seemed at a loss for words. Carson realized that she was probably wondering exactly where Dr. Clarkson was.
"Might I suggest that the doctor accompany you all to Downton, m'lord? Some of the ladies may need sleeping draughts for tonight. Indeed, Lady Grantham did not look at all well when we left her."
"Of course, Carson. Please, would you ask him if he is available?" Lord Grantham seemed to like the idea of having the doctor at his family's immediate disposal. Carson did not think the lord had realized how much easier it had just become to convince Mrs. Crawley to accompany them.
Carson waited for the matter to be settled before going for the doctor. He knew that he would not have to look far.
"Isobel, would you please come with us?"
"My things…" her voice was barely audible as she turned back to the figure on the bed.
Lady Mary took over here. Her voice was so calm. Carson was saddened to hear the playful ease of earlier replaced with the icy pragmatism she was so often misunderstood for.
"You already have the essentials in your room at Downton. Carson will stop by Crawley House and pick up anything more you need. Please, mother." Mary's term of endearment finally shook Mrs. Crawley from her troubled thoughts. She nodded.
The time had come to say goodbye to her son. Isobel reached out and took Mr. Matthew's hand with her left hand, as she raised her right towards Mary's hand that rested on her shoulder.
The sun had dropped below the scattered clouds and was now shining almost directly through the windows. The curtains that Carson had carefully arranged over an hour earlier were useless. Mr. Matthew's face shone in the blazing light of the day's last brilliance. Carson could only see the silhouettes of the two mothers as Isobel began to shake with tears and Mary leaned down to hold her.
Nothing in the world breathed in those moments. Carson was transfixed with a strange mixture of grief, reverence, hope and something he could not identify. Finally, he turned to leave and make the necessary arrangements. He thought inexplicably of the first time he'd seen the inside of Westminster on his first trip to London.
"And now abideth faith, hope and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."**
A/N ** Corinthians I, Chapter 13 v.13.
I'll be posting the next 3 chapters pretty quickly. Elsie isn't too far away...