Come Upstairs With Me
It had been one of those days. More than once, Elsie had found herself wishing she had stayed home with her husband. Daydreaming wasn't something she was accustomed to doing, or having the time for, but since marrying Charles Carson, those little moments seemed to pop into her mind more and more frequently. Some evenings, she would share little glimpses of those dreams with Charles. At first, he'd found the notion of her risqué thoughts of him while at work unsettling, but the more she shared with him, the more he began to enjoy hearing about those scenarios. And, to his great credit, he had started to share his daydreams and fantasies with his wife as they sipped wine and talked during the evening.
Spring had finally arrived at Downton and brought with it an abundance of rain. The flowers and gardens, even the lush grass on the expansive fields, welcomed the downpours. However, today was the first time in a week that the sun had actually appeared overhead … bright and warm in all its' glory. As Elsie walked outside to take a breath of air, she noticed that even the wildflowers near the servant's entrance seemed to be reaching skyward in hopes of embracing the sunshine.
No longer willing or able to deny herself of the opportunity to spend an afternoon with her husband, she found Mr. Barrow and arranged everything. She had been granted extra time away from the house by Her Ladyship for a job well done on the magnificent dinner party she'd planned at the last minute. Elsie and Charles had talked about going away for a few days while the family visited London, but she was certain she could take this afternoon and have plenty of time left for their planned getaway. So, with little convincing on her part, she was allowed to take the rest of the afternoon and the following morning with the blessings of everyone in the house … upstairs and downstairs.
As she neared their little cottage, Elsie found herself smiling and humming happily. On the walk home, she imagined what it would be like to surprise Charles. Would he be napping in his chair, glasses perched on the end of his large nose, and snoring lightly? Would he be washing the dishes from their meal last night or perhaps polishing their few bits and bobs of silver? Whatever he was doing, she couldn't wait to see the look on his face when she walked through their front door.
Nothing, even in her dizziest daydreams or fever-induced moments, could have ever prepared her for the sight that greeted her as she opened the door. Standing in the middle of their sitting room was her husband, wearing nothing but his trousers and the cap she wore on her hair sometimes when she bathed. Bare chested, bare feet, clothes discarded in a heap on the floor, and covered from head to toe in mud was certainly a sight to behold. He looked up as she entered the room, and his eyes widened and his eyebrows rose higher than she had ever seen before.
"What in heaven's name happened to you?" she asked, amusement and shock evident in her voice.
"Elsie, I wasn't expecting you home so early. I can explain!"
She closed the distance between them and reached out to wipe a bit of caked mud from his face before bursting into giggles. Her hand traveled across his bare chest and down to the waistband of his trousers, her eyes following the tips of her fingers. "This should be an interesting story," she quipped, walking behind him and running her nails down his back before giving his bottom a swift smack.
He yelped in surprise and quickly removed the cap from his head, running his hands through his unruly hair. He cleared his throat and started to explain, a little quiver in his voice very evident.
"It was such a lovely day, I wanted to surprise you by weeding the garden. You've remarked about the rain and weeds taking over so I thought it would be a nice way to welcome you home. I'd planned to set up a small table outside so we could enjoy our dinner in the garden once you got home."
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed one of the few clean spots on his cheek. "That's a lovely thing to do, Charlie. And we can still do that, but it doesn't explain all this mud! Don't get me wrong, though. It was lovely to walk through the door and see you standing there in nothing but your trousers. Even covered in mud and my bathing cap, you are more handsome than any man I've ever known." Her voice was soft and her words were warm and enticing to his ears.
"Yes, well, thank you for that." He stood slightly straighter and tried to suck in his stomach just a wee bit, very happy to hear his wife still found him attractive. "About the mud, though, because you did ask. I had finished weeding the roses and the foxgloves, and was about to start on the back half of the garden. I wasn't paying attention and my feet slid out from under me. I landed face down in the muddiest part of the garden. Since I was already a mess, I decided to go ahead and finish the task at hand. I had planned to bathe before you came home and to wash my clothes so you wouldn't have to deal with any of that."
"I greatly appreciate you for that, though I'm fairly certain these clothes will need to be tossed or at least relegated to your gardening attire for the rest of the summer. That mud most likely won't come out of that shirt. But, my handsome darling, would you please tell me why you're almost naked in our sitting room and your body is actually muddy instead of the clothes on the floor?"
Charles took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, knowing the moment of truth was upon him. "I had stripped off my clothes and was about to go upstairs for a bath when I remembered that I'd left my pocket watch on the ground outside. I had it next to me and opened so I could keep track of the time. I wanted everything to be perfect when you came home. In my haste to get inside and clean up, I left it behind. When I realized I'd left it outside … well, I … I darted outside in nothing but my trousers to retrieve it. I may have slipped on the mud and made a mess of myself, though the pocket watch is still in pristine condition," he said as he pointed towards the object on the sitting room table.
"And why are you wearing my bathing cap? You have plenty of summer hats you could have worn."
"Yes, well, that wasn't planned at all. I came in for a drink of water when it got a little warm outside. I was going to get my hat but realized I would be tracking mud all through the house since it was a mess outside. You'd just washed your cap, and it was folded on top of the clean laundry. I grabbed it, thinking it would at least keep the dirt out of my hair and this unruly curl out of my way. I'm sorry."
"Oh, my Charlie!" Elsie couldn't help herself. The images running through her mind of Charlie darting outside in an attempt to save his watch, falling in the mud for the second time, and then still being caught out was just too much. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly, peppering his face with kisses through her laughter.
"So, you're not angry at me for any of this?"
She looped her arms around his neck and brought his head down to hers, capturing his lips in a heated kiss which lasted until they both needed a breath. She reached down and took his hand in hers then turned and headed towards the stairs, gently pulling him behind her. "Come upstairs with me, Mr. Carson, and I'll help you get all cleaned up. Later, we can talk about this garden party you are planning for me," she said, giving him a wink and adding a little extra sway to her hips.
By the time Charlie Carson was squeaky clean and the mud was washed from the tub, dinner was long forgotten until it was much too late to even see the roses or foxgloves. The happy, sated couple settled for wine, cheese, and bread in a little picnic on their bed at midnight.
A/N: You guys are amazing and wonderful and supportive and just the absolute bestest! Thank you so much for all of your love for this story and these kisses for Charles and Elsie. This one was inspired by a conversation with a group of hilarious ladies about the Chelsea Flower Show and how handsome Charles Carson would be covered in mud. Hey, I wouldn't turn him away … and it sounds like Elsie didn't either. Tee hee.
