A/N I've taken the liberty and put Carson's birthday in November. I also took the liberty and set this piece before the Christmas proposal happened ;) (just because I love to write interior monologue) . Sorry I didn't write anything yesterday. And THANK YOU all for your wonderful reviews so far. They make me so so so happy!

Day 12 - KNOWLEDGE


Hand in hand the Bates's left through the backdoor like they did every night. The cottage was not far away from the main house. It was only short walk across the gardens, down the gently sloping hill towards the village and through a small grove. Anna leaned on her husband, laughing contentedly. With one hand she playfully slapped his upper arm, "Mr Bates! Seriously!" He joined her laughter. The door closed behind them and aside from the distant chatter coming from the servant's hall, Elsie was alone now. She retreated into her sitting room but did not shut the door. Sitting down at her desk, she stared at the small clock, watched how the minutes passed by. Soon the subdued laughter and talking died down. Footsteps on the stairs and 'good night' wishes indicated that the last of the staff had gone to bed. For a moment longer she remained in her room until she was sure that no one had returned downstairs.

The corridor was dark now and the only source of light was the small lamp on her desk. Elsie left it on when she slipped out of her room and into his pantry. Even in the darkness she found what she was looking for so familiar was she with everything in there. He had left the fountain pen on his desk, on the right, next to the ledger he had been working on all day. She took it and replaced it with a longish and flat box. His old pen went into the tray on the head of his desk, next to the inkwell.

-x-x-x-

Sleep did not come easy that night. She stared at the ceiling for a long time wondering if she had overstepped a limit. Their friendship was based on respect, trust and loyalty. They both knew private, secret things about the other they would never share with anyone else. He was the only person who knew about Joe Burns's proposal. Apart from Charlie Grigg, he had solely confided in Elsie how he felt about Alice. A few weeks ago she had revealed the truth about her sister. They knew so much about each other and yet there were a few things they both kept hidden. He had never spoken to her about his birthday, but after having worked side by side for so many years, she had one day figured it out by herself. November 14th was the one day when he spent at least one hour of his valuable time outside near the stables. At first she had thought he visited his parent's grave, that either his father or mother had died on that particular day, when in reality he visited the old groom's cottage. She was not proud of what she had done a few years back, following him and eavesdropping, hidden behind a huge old tree. It was not his habit to soliloquise but he did so that particular day, told his parents that he missed them on his birthday. That year was 1914 and the war had broken out only recently.

Why he kept his birthday a secret she did not know. She had smaller presents for him every year but always made them look like things that had been in his possession for some time already. Sometimes it was a book she hid between the ones he already owned, the other year she replaced the almost empty inkwell on his desk. He never noticed a pattern. This year she had changed her tradition. He knew her most well kept secret so why shouldn't she let him know that she was aware of his?

-x-x-x-

She was one of the last people to come downstairs, had been anxious to meet him before breakfast. With the servant's hall full of people he could not bluster and expose her, call her behaviour inappropriate. When she entered the room he was not there yet but someone had already poured her some tea with an extra splash of milk. It had probably been Mrs Patmore whose gaze she caught when she sat down. There was that mischievous grin on the cook's face she knew all to well.

"Good morning everyone." Everyone stood when he entered the servant's hall. He took a look around like every morning, made sure everyone was present, then sat down to her left.

"Good morning Mrs Hughes." He often wished her a good day individually but today his voice sounded different, softer, even lovingly. She bit her lip.

"Good morning to you too, Mr Carson." Her hand reached out to take her cup. The tea was slowly getting cold and the tone in his voice had made her too nervous to talk to him now. Starting with her breakfast was a good excuse to avoid conversation. But then something happened she did not expect. His hand covered her wrist and his thumb slowly caressed the back of her hand.

"Thank you for your gift."

She bit her lip again and managed a smile. He liked the new fountain pen, had obviously found his present earlier this morning, just like she had expected him to. "You're welcome."

"How did you know about it?" He let go of her hand but still held her gaze.

"Nothing stays secret for long in this house, Mr Carson." She attempted a lighter tone to cover her nervousness.

"But it will remain our secret?"

"Of course."

He turned his attention back to his tea but kept giving her small smiles all throughout breakfast. Her secret knowledge of his birthday had not compromised their friendship and it made her inexplicably happy. It was one more thing she knew about Charles Carson, one vital piece of information that made him less a butler and more a person, her friend, her very best friend.


TBC (see: no angst, no smut. heheh. boooring. I know. Let's see what happenes tomorrow...)