Okay I officially love you guys! Your reviews have made my day, which was rather depressing because I kept repeating a nasty thing a woman said to me last week in my head. But as they 'haters gonna hate!' :) also, I was recently haunting Youtube for downton vids and there's two I want to mention. First off, there's a Chelsie fanvid done to 'Make you feel my love' by Adele. Who ever did this deserves an award! I cried my eyes out over it (which is no small thing for me). Second in the one interview Phyllis Logan said that 'the Jury out on this one for me still" referring to chelsie. Omw if Carson and Hughes are not in love then I swear Phyllis and Jim are. They just scream 'in love' at me on screen. Is it possible they've been asked to seem in love and then deny it in interviews? P.S I love what she's wearing in that one! Ok enough rambling, on with the story

"Excuse me? Would you mind fetching Daisy or Beryl for me please?" Charles asked a waitress who was slowly wiping down a table. She nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Mr Carson! I wasn't expecting to see you here so soon." Beryl said in surprise as she came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. "Oi Daisy?! Bring us a pot of tea will you please...unless you aren't planning on staying long enough?"

"I'm staying long enough" he confirmed and Daisy disappeared

"How can I help Mr Carson?" She asked as they sat down at a table

"I want to know why Elsie got upset when you mentioned your late husband and I want to know why she never mentioned you" he said as Daisy set down a tray

"Shouldn't you be asking her this?" Asked Beryl as she fussed with the teapot

"I did" he said heavily "but she refused to talk about it"

"Typical" Beryl muttered, then seeing his confused look she added "when ever Elsie is hurting or is under strain, she blocks everyone around her out. I think its because she doesn't like appearing weak"

"I've never seen her cry before today" he mused, more to himself than anything

"Exactly." Beryl said

"So will you tell me?" He asked. Beryl hesitated before nodding and starting her tale

"You probably won't know this but Elsie's life hasn't been and easy one. Her father was an alcoholic and drug addict and got violent very easily. Her mother died when Elsie was only nine months old and for awhile her father managed to pull himself together until she was about three years old but I think the pain and struggle was too much and he reverted to his old ways. For awhile it wasn't bad, he still managed to put food on the table and keep them all healthy but it got progressively worse until one day Jack, her elder brother was forced to get a job at our families bakery so that he could feed his sisters. Their father insisted that his salary be paid directly to him as he didn't want his son getting above himself, or so he said. The only money Jack got directly was tips from the customers. Sometimes if there were left over pies or rolls he'd get those as well. The two girls were given Scholarships into the local school and both of them worked hard to get their grades and both of them waitressed when they got to high school. Jack couldn't do school and work so he dropped out and continued to work for us, learning what he could from the girls when he had time. On his 15th birthday we decided to throw him a small birthday party and invited his father and the girls for tea and cake one afternoon. We didn't realize how bad life had got for them until their father walked in stinking of drink and looking as though he hadn't had a bath for a month. My father and him and a minor argument about football and Mr Hughes lost it. He started flinging things around and breaking everything. My mother managed to get Gail and I out of harms way but Elsie wasn't so lucky. Her father pushed her and she fell into on of our glass displays. She still has the scars on her back. Jack managed to escape and phoned the police who removed him and he lost custody of them. They ended up in a foster home not far from us and my mother and I would often go and visit them. Jack managed to catch up on his education and Elsie the clever clogs got herself into law school while Gail became a nurse and went to Ireland. We hear from her occasionally. But Elsie always blamed herself for what her brother sacrificed for her. She felt that she had stolen his childhood away from him"

"Oh my god" said Charles quietly "I never knew"

Beryl patted his arm gently, and dabbed away a rogue tear

"Don't tell Elsie you know, she'll never forgive either of us."

"What happened to Mr Hughes?" Charles asked gently

"Rotting in some prison somewhere I hope" Beryl said bitterly. Charles got the sense she wasn't telling him everything but decided not to push it.

"Why does Elsie call herself Mrs?" Charles suddenly said as Beryl finished her tea

"I'm not too sure actually" said Beryl thoughtfully "she always has done, never thought to ask her. I call myself 'Mrs Patmore' purely because the business was a family one"

"I see. Well thank you very much for the tea and the story, Beryl, its cleared up a lot I've never understood about Elsie" Charles said, standing up to go.

"It was nice talking to you Charles." Beryl said "Elsie talks a lot about you, you know?"

"I didn't know. But I'm honored that she does" said Charles going a little red on the tips of his ears

"Oh be off with you" Beryl chuckled and Charles laughed and left.

Her feet hurt, her head hurts and she was sick and tired of shopping. She didn't like anything she'd seen so far and she was running out of hours and shops. If another shop assistant told her she looked 'absolutely fabulous' in something she felt absolutely hideous in she was going to scream. Why couldn't they have got a decent judge? Who had some appreciation for slacks? Was that really so much to ask for? Her phone was ringing again so she sat down on a stool and fished it out of her bag.

"Hello?"

"Mrs Hughes you sound absolutely knackered" came the silky voice of Thomas Barrow "how's the skirt shopping going?"

"Horribly thanks Thomas, I'm assuming Mr Carson told you where I was?" She asked wearily

"He did" the man confirmed "he also asked me to inform you that we're all meeting for supper at The Unicorn at around six."

"The Unicorn?"

"Its just down the road from the Hotel, a friend of O Brian's owns it." He informed her and she groaned

"He also said to tell you that he quite understood if you were too tired to make it" Thomas chuckled

"I'll see how I feel. Thanks for letting me know" she said

"No problem. Oh and Mrs Hughes? A little advise. With this judge I would suggest you dress to kill so look for something you'd want the love of your life to see you in" he advised

"Hmph. Thank you Thomas I'll try" she assured him and disconnected the call.

"...after all the love of your life will be seeing you in them" thought Thomas with a smirk.

Read...review...repeat ;) please let me know what you think of Elsie's back story...my friend liked it but I'm still nervous about it.