As Elsie woke she heard the familiar sounds of the junior staff moving around their rooms and in the corridor, getting ready to start a brand new day and for the usual chaos that ensues. But today, she was not going to be a part of that chaos; today she was not going to be rushing around and worrying about whether or not fresh linen was needed on the beds, or if the maids had cleaned out the bedrooms, or if they needed fresh flowers in the hall way. For today, she became Mrs Carson.
She smiled as she laid on her back, staring up at the white ceiling, until she heard a gentle knock on her door. She decided to ignore it at first, hoping it had been an accident or just a sound from one of the nearby rooms, but after a few seconds there was a second, more prominent, knock. With a grumpy frown she put on her dressing gown and approached the door, about to wrench it open until she suddenly thought that it might be Mr Carson.
'Who is it?' She asked through the door, with her hand resting on the door handle.
'It's me Mam and Sybbie too.' Ella whispered back, so Elsie quickly opened the door and ushered the two girls inside, who were carrying a rather heavy looking tray full of breakfast, toast and tea. 'We guessed you might be in hiding this morning, so we thought we better bring you something up. We also thought we could spend the morning with you and then help you to get ready, if you'll let us.'
'Oh Ella, you didn't have to do that; but didn't the staff think it was unusual that you were down in the kitchens?' Elsie replied as she climbed back into her bed, under the warmth of the duvet and her three blankets.
'We managed to get it all done before anyone came down and we made sure no one saw us coming up, so we're quite safe.' Ella explained as she sat beside her mam on her bed and Sybil sat in the chair at the side; of course what they didn't say was that Daisy had in fact helped them, but Elsie didn't need to know everything.
'Well, as long as you are quite sure. I suppose you might be able to help me eat some of this, I think you've made enough to feed an army!' Elsie joked as she buttered them all a slice of toast.
The three of them sat together for hours, chatting and eating what the girls had made, before they finally decided that it was time for Elsie to start getting ready and both Sybil and Ella delighted in helping her. Ella was standing doing her mam's hair and was amazed at how long it was. In all her life she couldn't ever remember seeing her mother with her hair completely down; even in London she had kept it tied up into a plait, so Ella was astonished when she started to brush it and found that it naturally fell to just above Elsie's waist, but it also made her smile to see that it was naturally wavy, just like her own.
'Have you always had curly hair Mam?' She asked as she took her curling tongs and began twisting Elsie's hair into tight corkscrew curls to give her a more prominent wave.
'Yes I have, more so when I was a wee girl mind, but I think I've worn it in the same sort of style for the last forty years, that it naturally takes its shape.' She replied with a laugh. 'Now make sure you don't make it too modern Ella!' She added with a slightly concerned tone and a raised eyebrow.
'I won't Mam, I promise, but I want you to look extra special.' Ella replied as she curled more of Elsie's hair, until her face was framed by lots of corkscrew curls, which Ella then pinned up and into place. When she finally let Elsie look in the mirror, she was pretty pleased with her daughter's handy work.
'You'd make quite a good Lady's maid Ella,' Elsie joked as she turned her head this way and that to admire her reflection.
'I have some of my make-up here if you want any,' Sybil said as she handed Elsie some powder, eyeliner and lipstick. They were very soft colours that Sybil had chosen and not at all garish.
Elsie hadn't properly worn make-up in years; in fact, when she thought about it, the last time she had worn any was when she had courted Joe Burns over twenty years ago! She couldn't believe it had been that long ago, although, at the same time, it now seemed like a lifetime or a different life.
Once she had applied a light layer of make-up she then turned her attentions to her dress. It was a very simple style in a greyish purple colour, with a plaited skirt. She had picked it out only a week earlier, when Ella and Sybil had demanded that they buy something new for her. So they had taken her into Ripon and they had spent a most lovely afternoon together.
'We'll leave you to get changed Mam; it's probably time we started getting ready now any way. I don't think Reverend Travis will approve if we turn up in our night things,' Ella joked.
'No I should think not; off you go and get ready, I'll be perfectly alright from here.' Elsie replied with a very contented smile.
Both girls did as they were told, kissed Elsie on the cheek and left her to finish the final touches to her outfit. They went quickly downstairs and out through the door that led them to their other life, the one where they were surrounded by fine things and clothes.
When they got to their own bedrooms, their respective husbands were already getting dressed into their suits, no tails, no fancy dinner jackets, none of the usual attire that being married to a Crawley girl entailed; no, on this occasion they got to wear their own three piece suits, which looked very smart, but felt far more normal to them than they had felt in a long time.
'Are you alright my love? You're looking very tired; perhaps you should sit for a while?' Henry said on seeing Ella as he guided her to the chair by the fire.
'I am absolutely fine Henry; I hope I won't have to put up with you spoiling me like this for another seven months you know; I'm pregnant, not an invalid.' She replied as she gentle stroked his cheek with a smile.
'Of course I'm going to spoil you and pamper you and take good care of you. My darling you have made me the happiest man on this earth and there isn't anything that I won't do for you; so be a good girl and just accept it.' Henry joked as he sat beside her, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and held her closely, gently kissing her temple. 'How are you feeling, in all honesty?' He whispered as he rested his head against hers, tickling Ella's neck which made her giggle.
'Well Doctor, I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I feel completely washed out, nauseous and like my stomach is doing a thousand summersaults; but I'm all the happier for it, because I know that in a few months we will be sat here, with a mini-us in our arms.' She said with a smile as she rested her hand on her stomach. 'And I meant what I said months ago, when we were talking about starting a family; I don't want anyone else looking after our child or any future children we might have. I want us to look after our children and I want to be a mother to my baby, the way that neither of my mothers were allowed to be to me. Mama was dictated to because of her status as the Countess of Grantham and Mam was forced into hiding. I want our baby to know who its mother and father are.' She explained with tears in her eyes.
'I promise you Ella, you will be mother to our child and no one will take that away from you. You will be such an amazing mother.' Henry replied softly.
'And you are to be an amazing father, for you are already a wonderful husband.' She replied as she raised her head to kiss him tenderly. 'I am so looking forward to telling Mama and Papa tomorrow and to your parents too. I hope they'll be able to make it up alright this evening.' She said as she returned to her normal composure. Her hormones were certainly playing havoc with her emotions today.
'I'm sure they'll be fine; I know they were very much looking forward to spending Christmas with us and I know that they will just love our news. But what about Elsie? It seems hardly fair that she should be the last to find out; she is your mother too.'
Ella paused for a few moments before replying, remembering that her husband had no idea that her mam did in fact already know. She couldn't lie to him though; she was always a hopeless liar, she just hoped that he wasn't angry at her.
'Ah, well about that; would you be terribly angry if I told you that she already knew?' She asked slowly as she watched him, trying to gauge his reaction, and he did look a little hurt.
'You mean you told Elsie before you told me?' He asked as he pulled away from her slightly.
'No, not exactly; I wasn't feeling very well the other morning and I didn't want to get someone up from downstairs just to bring me a glass of water, so I went down into the kitchens to get it myself. She saw me and asked me if everything was alright and she got so worried when I couldn't tell her what was wrong, so I had to tell her!' Ella defended but she could see that she had hurt her husband, which was the very last thing she had intended to do. He moved away from her and began to get dressed, a mix of emotions playing on his face. 'I'm sorry Henry, I didn't mean to hurt you; I know you would have wanted to have been the first to know, but it couldn't have been helped. Please don't be angry.' She said softly as she got up from her place by the fire and went to him.
'I just wish you had come to me first Ella; I'm supposed to be your husband, did I not have a right to know that I was going to be a father before anyone else was told?!' He spat in a more agitated tone than he had intended.
'You are absolutely right my love, I should have told you first and I am sorry, truly; but Elsie has known me my whole life, she knows when I am lying to her, she knows when I'm ill, well she knows everything there is to know about me, she's my mother for crying out loud! If you'd have seen the look of worry on her face when she thought that there was something wrong with me, well you'd have told her too. I couldn't bear the thought of lying to her and letting her then worry about me for days on end, until we were ready to announce it. I think I've caused her enough worry, stress and concern over the years, don't you?!' Ella replied defensively, her inherited Scottish fire burning within her as her nostrils flared angrily and she gave him that very well-known Hughes glare.
Henry relented under her stare and he knew that Ella would never do anything to deliberately hurt him. He held out his arms to her and enveloped her into a loving embrace; he was still mad at her, but the pride and joy he felt at the prospect of becoming a father overrode that and he couldn't stay mad at her for long.
'Alright, I understand; but in future, will you please let me know things before telling the rest of your family?' He said as he placed a kiss to her lips.
'I promise, in future, you will be the first to know anything that goes on.' She said apologetically once more and kissed him passionately, before removing herself from his arms and took her dress from the wardrobe.
She dressed quickly, having not realised how little time she had left to get ready. She had ordered two cars to take them to church. Henry, Tom and Charlie were to go in one and Sybil, Ella and Elsie were to follow shortly after them in the other. As Charlie and Elsie had known the two girls since birth, they had asked that they be their witnesses and of course, the girls willingly accepted.
Charlie had slipped away from the family and from his duties as soon as he could, leaving Thomas in charge until his return. Of course Thomas had tried to enquire as to Mr Carson's whereabouts, but Charlie had, in a round about sort of way, told him to mind his own business, before he went upstairs, where he met with Henry and Tom outside.
'Are you ready Mr Carson?' Tom asked politely.
'As ready as I'll ever be.' Charlie replied nervously as they all got into the vehicle, watched from the window by Ella and Sybil who were in Ella's room with Elsie.
'How do you feel Mam? Are you nervous?' Ella asked as she helped Sybil with her coat, before Sybil returned the favour.
'I feel, in a daze really; so much has happened to me this year and I still can't believe any of it has happened. As for feeling nervous, I thought that I would, but I'm not. I love him and I know that he loves me and that's all that I need to feel.' Elsie replied as Ella then went to hug her mother and held her in a tight embrace.
'Come on you two, we need to get going, otherwise we'll be late.' Sybil said softly and with a large smile as she held Elsie's coat out for her.
All three women made their way down the stairs and out to the awaiting car and were relieved that no one saw them. Although the journey to the church was usually a quick one, today it felt to be taking forever. Even though Elsie wasn't nervous, Ella certainly was, for her mam and for her soon-to-be father. She wanted this day to be perfect for them, with no mistakes or interruptions or delays. In some respects she was very glad that there was still no snow, although a part of her was still a little disheartened by it, as she loved the snow and thought that it would make everything look that little more romantic.
Finally the car pulled up outside the church; Mr Davis, the chauffeur helped the three ladies out of the vehicle and they walked excitedly up the church path. They could feel the cold air on their faces, which made them walk all the quicker up the path until, at long last, they made it into the vestibule of the little church.
'Elsie I'll take your coat and keep it with me until after the service.' Sybil said as Elsie removed her coat and shivered slightly, although she wasn't sure if that was because of the cold or her excitement.
Sybil then gave Elsie a kiss on the cheek, wished her luck and then slipped through the door into the church, leaving mother and daughter quite alone.
'Are you ready then Mrs Hughes?' Ella said with a mischievous smile.
'Mrs Hughes is it now?' Elsie replied, matching her daughter's mischievous tone.
'Well, it's the last time I will ever say it; because the next time I have to address you as anything other than mam, it will be as Mrs Carson.' She replied as she opened the door. 'Come on, before he thinks you've stood him up.' She added and the two women walked down the aisle together, towards a beaming Mr Carson.