Just a little fluff to take my mind off the trailer and speculation.
Disclaimer: I don't own them. If I did it would be all fluff, rainbows, and blue bedroom. Also, likely very boring.
Charles was still stunned as he walked over to the table. He was not sure exactly what to do. What was the proper etiquette when caught sneaking out of one's lover's room? That thought brought a warm smile to his face, and he looked at Elsie, his lover. She was no longer just his dearest friend, his secret love, his future wife; she was his lover and he was hers. Nothing that happened this morning could take that away. He stepped over to the table and sat down, waiting for Beryl to do her worst.
Beryl's worst was apparently a bowl of porridge which she was prepared to set in front of him. Elsie, however, took the bowl from her hands.
"I believe our guest should have a full breakfast, don't you?" she asked the former cook primly.
Beryl snorted, "I'm sure he probably needs it."
Elsie's mouth dropped open, and Charles decided to step in before blood was drawn, "You heard me then?"
He really didn't want to think about exactly when and what Beryl might have heard. This conversation was going to be difficult enough as it was.
"No, I did not," Beryl answered forcefully, "Thank goodness, until you opened the door, of course."
"What gave him away?" Elsie asked quietly.
Beryl rolled her eyes, "Just because I'm nearly blind doesn't mean I'm completely daft. I almost tripped over his collar and tie on the stairs, and his coat was draped over the back of my chair. I knew he wouldn't have gone out without at least some of those items."
Charles scratched the back of his head. They really had taken leave of their senses last night to have left so many items of clothing lying about. He supposed it was a testimony to just how desperate he'd become over the last several weeks.
Elsie had put sausage into the pan and was now cracking two eggs. She was obviously planning on feeding him a hearty breakfast. He caught her eye and smiled broadly, thinking that he really must have made her happy last night, and it was on the tip of his tongue to ask if she wanted to build his strength up for tonight. She rolled her eyes at him but smiled shyly back. His eyes traveled down her back when she turned from him, and he wondered briefly if Beryl would notice him kissing that spot behind Elsie's left ear.
Before he could rise and put his plan into action, Beryl cleared her throat to get his attention, "I was asking, Charles Carson, what are your intentions?"
Elsie set the spatula she was holding down a little more forcefully than she normally would and started to turn around. He spoke before she could open her mouth, "My intentions are what they have always been and are our concern not yours."
"Charles Carson is too much of a gentleman to toy with a woman's affections," Beryl said thoughtfully and pretended that it was to herself, tapping her chin, "It's obvious even to a blind woman like me that you love each other. This morning proves there's no lack of attraction. Why haven't you two married already?"
Elsie had finished his breakfast by this time and set it in front of him with a thump, nearly knocking one of the sausages into his lap. He gave her a sharp look, but she was concentrating on Beryl with a worried frown.
"Beryl," she began, but was cut off by nearly hysterical laughter from the cook.
"You're worried about me," she said, grinning now, "That's it, isn't it?"
Elsie sighed, "We wanted to wait until things were settled between Joseph and you."
Beryl continued to laugh, until Charles began to grow a little worried about her. He looked at Elsie with a puzzled frown, but she just shook her head. She obviously had no idea what Beryl was laughing about either. Maybe she was starting to go senile. That would set off a whole new series of problems for them.
Unable to completely concentrate on Beryl with the delicious plate sitting in front of him, his stomach growled loudly. Finally deciding that she was not going to either stop laughing or enlighten them anytime soon, he picked up his fork to begin eating. Last night had given him a rather large appetite after all, and he did want to keep his strength up for tonight. Elsie just lifted her eyebrow at him in surprise and shook her head in wonder. He wondered what she was puzzled about. Did she think he wasn't going to eat this large and delicious breakfast just because Beryl had gone insane?
Beryl finally calmed down enough to speak. "We've all been silly," she hiccupped. "You two were waiting on Joseph and me to settle things," here she broke down into laughter again for another moment, and Charles noticed that Elsie was just nibbling on a piece of toast. He caught her eye and slid one of the eggs and one of the sausages from his plate to hers. She needed to keep her strength up as well.
Beryl began again, "And for weeks we've been waiting for Charles to stop being such a stick in the mud."
"Me?" Charles asked, genuinely offended now, "I asked Elsie to marry me weeks ago, and she accepted. I'll have you know that for once it is not me who is being the reticent and slow one. When is Joseph going to do the proper thing and marry you?"
"I'll have you know, Charles Carson," Beryl said, sharply, all humor gone from her voice, "That Joseph Laughton asked me to marry him nearly a full month ago, and I accepted." She finished with a sharp nod.
"When exactly?" Elsie broke in with narrowed eyes.
"The night that we caught you two in flagrento," she mispronounced, "in the office. Really, Elsie, you must learn to keep such things away from the tea room."
"I'll thank you not to lecture me on appropriate behavior, Beryl Patmore," Elsie said sharply.
Beryl snorted, "Considering that I just caught a man sneaking out of your bedroom in the not so wee hours of the morning, you might need that lecture, Elsie Hughes."
Charles had the good grace to blush, and noticed that Elsie's cheeks were positively flaming. Beryl did have a point.
He cleared his throat to change the subject, "I think we're missing the key point which is that all four of us have been delaying our happiness for the past few weeks. Now, we are all free to proceed as we wish."
Beryl and Elsie both smiled, albeit a little reluctantly at his observation. Then Elsie brought up the next problem they needed to deal with, "In the meantime, how are we going to proceed to get you home without anyone noticing? It's full morning now."
Charles glanced out the window and shook his head. She was right. There was no way he was going to make it back to the tea room without likely meeting nearly half the village. He had come up with a possible solution while he'd been listening to Beryl's laughter and eating.
"Perhaps I just rose early and decided to go for a walk?" he said and Elsie actually sniggered. He looked over in annoyed astonishment having never thought to hear such a sound from her.
She smirked at him suggestively and said, "Well that would certainly be true."
He blushed furiously remembering his morning state and hoped that Beryl didn't pick up on Elsie's hint. She apparently didn't because she had her eyes closed in thought, "I suppose you could have stopped by to have breakfast as well. You have nearly every other meal here. It wouldn't be that unusual."
Reaching up to scratch his cheek, he realized why that particular plan would never work. No one would believe that he'd left his rooms without having shaved and looking down at his clothes, he realized that they were far too wrinkled for him to have put on fresh this morning.
Elsie caught his glance. "I could iron your trousers and shirt. You wouldn't look quite so much as if you'd been dragged through the bushes."
Beryl clicked her tongue, "I suppose you'll need to shave as well. There's a razor in my room. I can fetch it for you while Elsie heats the iron."
Charles turned his gaze sharply on Beryl in surprise and noticed that Elsie did the same. "Why do you have a razor and shaving things in your room?"
Beryl's face flamed a far deeper shade of red than her hair had ever been, and she spluttered, "I, I, um, I don't see that matters. Charles, you need to hurry if you're going to make this believable."
"When I went to visit my sister!" Elsie exclaimed, "You had him here when I went to visit my sister. Beryl Patmore! I thought Sally stayed with you."
Beryl rose nervously to carry her bowl to the sink, and Elsie met Charles's eyes in triumph.
"You did, didn't you?" she said, "And here you were scolding me for one night. How many times did Joseph stay if he left a razor here?"
Beryl was for once in her life completely speechless, and Charles couldn't contain his laughter any longer. She looked in his direction and likely would have thrown something at him if she could have been sure of her aim.
"That's enough of that, Charles Carson," she said, "or the whole village will know where you were last night before you're able to get out of this house."
Elsie just looked at her coolly, "How many nights Beryl?"
Beryl muttered something, and Elsie asked, "Beg pardon?"
"Three," Beryl spoke loud enough that Charles was afraid the neighbors would have heard.
"Three? I was only gone four nights."
Charles snorted and quipped, "Three? How did he manage that? I got caught after my first night. I need to ask him for some advice."
Beryl and Elsie both fixed him with a glare, and he decided that he really did need to find the razor so that he could be on his way.
Reviews are welcome as always.
