A/N And once again: thank you all for your wonderful reviews! And I am back with the daily updates :). Only a little one today. I hope you like it. Please let me know what you think. (SUNDAY IS DOWNTON DAY!)
Chapter 7 – DAY 7
They had cleared the dining room, put away the china, the fine cutlery. Smoke from the candles lingered in the air. He opened the French windows to let the fresh and cool night air inside. It had been a beautiful, sunshine filled late spring day. Soon the stuffy room was filled with the fragrances from the garden. The fresh air also cleared his head from the nervousness he had suffered from all day. Several times he had tried to talk to Lord Grantham, but it was never a good moment. Now was his last chance before the family retired for the night.
He delegated the rest of the work to Andy and joined Thomas and Molesley in the drawing room. Lady Mary had already gone to bed, the Dowager countess had left earlier. When he entered the room, only Lord and Lady Grantham were left, sitting on the settee, finishing their brandy. His chance to talk to his employer was as bad as it had been all day. He could impossibly disturb him now.
"Carson, there you are. I wondered where you'd wandered off to." Lord Grantham put his empty glass down and it was quickly cleared away by Thomas.
"My lord, I was only overseeing the cleaning of the dining room." He gave a nod in Thomas's direction, telling him without words that his service was no longer required. The underbutler quickly left the room, taking Mr Molesley with him.
"Good but you don't normally do that, don't you?" Lord Grantham rose from his seat. "Is there something you want to tell me, old chap?"
It was true, such minor duties never required his watchful eye. Not as long as he still had two footmen and some maids to do the work for him. But it had been a while since he had enjoyed the evening routines and it had kept his mind off the task he had set for himself: discussing the wedding reception.
"Actually there is, my lord."
"Oh, shall I leave you two alone then, Carson?" Lady Grantham looked up at him and for a moment he wanted to answer with a yes, discuss everything man to man, not expose his worries too much.
"No, my lady. The thing is, I wanted to talk to his Lordship about the wedding reception."
…*…*…*…*…
"Actually, Robert, I agree with Mrs Hughes. It is her special day and she should have the last say. After all, she has planned more than one garden party and servant's ball." Lady Grantham's comment did not make things much easier.
"So you won't be offended when we reject your kind offer to have the reception here?" He still stood between Lord and Lady Grantham although Robert had offered him to sit down after he had explained what he wanted to discuss. "Because we are very grateful indeed and I don't want you to think that we are not."
"Nonsense, Carson. We know that. I just thought it would be nice for you to be the centre of attention for one day." Lord Grantham rose and walked over to the small table next to the door where a carafe with brandy stood ready. He poured a healthy measure into two tumblers. "Here, I want you to enjoy your wedding day, not worry about us. To your health."
Charles hesitantly accepted the glass and took a small sip. "Thank you my lord."
"Carson, there is one thing I'd like to ask." Lady Grantham had now also risen from her place on the settee.
"Please do so, my lady." He held the tumbler in his hand, unsure whether he should finish the drink or not.
"I know Mrs Hughes does not want things to be too fancy but maybe she would like to have some flowers in the church? I'd be happy to select them with her."
…*…*…*…*…
She waited for him in her sitting room, impatiently looking at the clock every five minutes. He had promised to talk to his Lordship today and of course he had left it to the very last minute. She could not blame him for that, had felt his nervousness all day. He had checked his appearance in the mirror more often than usual, tugged at his waistcoat whenever they had the chance to talk and she had seen him mumbling possible answers and questions when he thought no one was watching him.
Dinner was long over, the dining room cleared. She had seen the footmen and Thomas come downstairs for a last cup of tea after a long day. However, Charles was nowhere to be seen. She gave him five more minutes before she would take matters into her own hands. Things needed to be discussed today because there were only three weeks left for her to plan their special day.
The minutes ticked away. Andy went past her sitting room, casting a glance inside. "Oh Mrs Hughes. Mr Carson's still upstairs."
"Thank you Andy, I thought so. Did he say anything? When he might be downstairs, perhaps?"
"Not that I'm aware of, no." He shrugged his shoulders. "Can I help with anything?"
"Not this time, Andy but thank you." The footman left for the back yard and she remained standing in her doorway, impatiently awaiting the arrival of her butler.
She wondered what took him so long. Surely his Lordship would understand how they felt about the too generous offer. And in case her Ladyship was also present, both men did not stand a chance to disagree. Perhaps she should have talked to Lady Grantham instead. Elsie bit her lip in frustration. Things might have been settled by now and their fight from earlier that week would never have happened.
Elsie turned around to check the time again. His five more minutes had passed. She switched off the light, closed the door with a deep sigh and went to go upstairs in search of him. Once she had reached the green baize door that led to the great hall, it was opened and almost hit her.
"Mrs Hughes! Elsie! What are you doing here?" He stumbled backwards against the door.
Elsie escaped a childish giggle that earned her a stern look but quickly turned into a smiling face. "I was looking for you! Have you checked the clock? It is almost midnight."
He regained his composure, adjusted his waistcoat. "It took longer than expected."
"I can see that." Elsie held out her hand, wanted to take some of the nervousness away from him, make him feel steady again. "You can recount the conversation on our way upstairs."
"I haven't finished work for today. There's still the silver that needs to be put away…", he started to protest but she dragged him along, step after step. Their workday was over now, she decided.
"Thomas surely already did that. That's why we still employ an underbutler." She stopped on the first landing. "Besides, I am tired and all I want now is sleep and know about the outcome of your discussion."
Charles reached up to touch her cheek, a sudden unexpected gesture. She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes for a few seconds. It felt wonderful that he slowly started to forget that people might see or hear them. He got more confident with each passing day although she had waited for two months after his proposal, before he finally found the courage to hold her hand. "He agreed with you."
"Like I knew he would." She turned her head slightly and when he did not take his hand away, pressed a kiss to his palm.
"But her Ladyship asked if you would like to select the flowers for the church together with her."
Elsie opened her eyes and at the last second decided against heaving a sigh. Of course Lady Grantham could not stay out of the planning and she would have been involved even if Elsie had talked to her first instead of Charles having a conversation with his Lordship. However, if this was the only part of the wedding preparations she wanted to be involved in, Elsie decided to grin and bear it. "Of course."
tbc
I hope I can update tomorrow because I am on a business trip the next two days and I won't have much time for writing.
