After church

Elsie's attention drifted from her conversation as she scanned the churchyard seeking her husband and daughter. While she considered Mrs. Molesley a dear friend, she was more than eager to get home. Charles had lifted an eyebrow at her and escaped with Gracie as soon as the conversation turned to the difficulty of potty training boys. She rather hoped that she might explore those mysteries herself one day soon, but for now had no practical advice for her friend and was looking for a means of escape herself. Her feet ached and she just wanted to go home and nap with her husband, especially if they could manage to keep Gracie awake long enough now that she took a long nap herself.

It took her longer than it should have to spot the curly brown head she'd grown to love because it was rather lower to the ground than usual. Charles was crouched near the large oak tree in the churchyard with Gracie between his knees. After a moment, she saw that Gracie was picking up various objects, acorns, leaves, rocks, and twigs, and handing them to her Da. Charles would carefully examine each one, thank his daughter gravely, and then tuck it away in his pocket. Silly man. What a pile of stuff they'd have at home. She would have to surreptitiously remove them to the 'safe place' in the back garden.

As she approached, she noticed Lord Grantham break away from his family to approach Charles as well. Charles rose so quickly to his feet that only a graceful last minute dodge kept him from banging his head on a low hanging branch.

She stopped, waiting to see what his employer would want from her husband and hoping that it would not be for him to work today. She very much wanted her husband at home today. In their bed. With her. With Gracie asleep in the other room.

"Milord," Charles doffed his hat to acknowledge his Lordship and stood respectfully but with Gracie on one arm.

"Carson," the slightly younger man nodded and then reached forward to chuck Gracie on the chin. Gracie became suddenly shy and ducked her head against Charles's shoulder, hiding her face from the strange man. "Is this the daughter I've heard so much about? Mercy is it?"

"Grace, your lordship," Charles replied, and Elsie could see his chest puff up. She moved closer to relieve Charles of his burden so that he could speak more freely. Charles inclined his head toward and said, "Yes, she's our daughter, just over a year old." Gracie apparently decided that anyone her Da was talking to might possibly be acceptable and turned her face to glance at the strange man.

"She looks a bit like you," Lord Grantham said when he got a better glimpse of the child's face. Charles merely smiled, but he rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. Then the young Earl turned to smile at Elsie, "But she has her mother's eyes and hair, I believe."

Charles twirled one of Gracie's auburn curls around his index finger and smiled down at her. Elsie out her arms to Gracie who leaned into her arms and hugged her neck. Charles relinquished her only a little reluctantly and then turned back to Lord Grantham.

"Am I needed today Milord?" he asked, and Elsie noted the hint of trepidation in his voice. She had no doubt that he had been looking forward to their nap nearly as much as she.

"No, no, not at all," the Earl shook his head, "I merely wondered if you had considered my proposition."

Charles's shoulders rolled, and he glanced quickly toward Elsie before meeting his Lordship's gaze, "I have considered it, but it has only been one day Milord. We've not had time to discuss..."

"Ah, I see," he replied, glancing toward Elsie, "Yes, of course, well, then, I'll leave you to your day. If you could let me know your decision by Wednesday?"

Charles gave a half smile of relief and nodded, "Yes, Milord, that should be no trouble."

Just as Lord Grantham took his leave of a decidedly confused Elsie, Mrs. O'Brien, the mother of the lads who worked in the stables, bore down on them with more energy than Elsie had ever seen.

"You should be ashamed," she said. The full force of her indignation was focused on Elsie. Charles stepped quietly but quickly in front of Elsie, shielding her and Gracie from the other woman.

Lord Grantham looked at the interloper in confusion. "Mrs. O'Brien?'"

The woman in question turned toward Lord Grantham, fury still at full sail, "Do you know what this, this woman has done?"

Elsie watched Charles's shoulders stiffen and face harden. He, there was no other word for it, loomed, staring down at the little woman with a dark look on his face.

Lord Grantham merely quirked an eyebrow at her and said smoothly, "I know that she has given my nanny a tincture to help my daughter with teething, and she's given my wife a tea that has helped with her headaches. I also believe she provided a salve for the bruises your son received when he ruined one of my best horses. Was there something else she might have done, Mrs. O' Brien?"

Surely it took a great deal of breeding and years of privilege to infuse one's words with that degree of condescension, Elsie thought but was happy to see Charles's shoulders relax slightly.

The wind had gone out of the woman's sails a bit, but only a bit. "She killed her husband."

"Did she?" Lord Grantham asked, in a surprise so well feigned it could have been genuine. "I was under the impression that her husband was one of the best grooms I've ever had."

The woman glanced up at Charles with a disdain so palpable that Elsie could have gladly scratched her eyes out. "This one perhaps, but what about the other one. I have it on good authority that she seduced this one in order to save herself. No wonder they came here with naught but the clothes on their backs and a babe. There's the evidence in her arms. Who knows? She probably had to kill her husband to hide..."

Charles erupted, "Enough!" He thankfully kept his hands clenched at his sides. Gracie began to cry, and Elsie tried to hush her.

She touched Charles's arm and said, "Charles, you're scaring her."

He turned to her with a ferocity she'd never seen and growled, "I mean to."

His face crumpled when he saw Gracie crying, and he patted her back gently, bending to whisper in her ear, "Not you, pet, never you." He turned back to his other conversation, and in a dangerously quiet voice asked, "Who's authority? You said you had it on good authority. On who's authority are you spreading these lies?"

By this time, nearly everyone who was still in the church yard had gathered to watch what was probably the best entertainment in years. Lord Grantham had smoothly stepped between Charles and Mrs. O' Brien, Rev. Clarkson was approaching in a graceless half run, Mr. Jerkyns was at Charles's side, and Mrs. Molesley had her hand on Elsie's arm.

The odious little woman attempted to glance around Charles to Elsie, but he stepped deftly and menacingly to the side to block her gaze. Her mouth tightened in frustration and she looked up at him, "My cousin, Joss Tufton. You may remember him. He wrote to me last week. He was shocked that we would have such a dangerous criminal in our little town and around my boys."

"Joss Tufton?" Charles snorted in derision, although Elsie had no idea who he was. "If I had a pence for every time I had to warn him off a woman or caught him cheating at cards, I would own the stables and all the horses in them."

"Why you...," Mrs. O' Brien took a step toward Charles, and Elsie caught the distinct whiff of alcohol. Lord Grantham put up his hand to warn her. Elsie looked up to see William and Alfred O' Brien trotting red-faced toward their mother.

"Mrs. O' Brien," he asked, "Do you really believe that I would allow someone to work with hundreds of pounds worth of horseflesh without knowing his entire background?"

She glanced at his Lordship in surprise, and he continued in a voice loud enough for the entire gathered crowd to hear, "My cousin, Judge Matthew Crawley himself, issued a full pardon for Mrs. Carson and sent them here with his best wishes. So, unless you'd like to question the judgment of my family?" When Mrs. O' Brien shook her head in confusion, he smiled coldly, "Then I believe we should consider the matter closed."

Rev. Clarkson added, also loud enough for everyone to hear, "And for my part, you should know that my seminary brother Rev. Bates assured me himself of Mrs. Carson's good nature. She was married to Mr. Carson from the Bates' own home. Certainly not what one would expect for a dangerous criminal is it Mrs. O' Brien?"

Mrs. O'Brien glanced from Lord Grantham to Rev. Clarkson to Charles and finally to Elsie who was trying to soothe a frightened Gracie with soft whispers. Charles's anger seemed to dissolve into disgust, and he turned his back on the interloper to comfort his daughter. By this time, the two O' Brien lads were on either side of their mother and urging her away. With one last glare at Charles's back, the woman allowed herself to be led away by her sons.

Elsie concentrated on her daughter, blocking out the neighbors that she was sure were now looking at her in disgust and possibly fear. She should have known this would happen. She should have taken Gracie and gone far away. Charles would be disgraced. He would lose his job. The life they were building was all but destroyed.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the touch of a hand on her arm. She looked up into the face of Lady Grantham. In her surprise, she forgot even to curtesy.

"Mrs. Carson," Lady Grantham said, "I wanted to thank you personally for the tincture that soothed Sybbie's gums. I believe she and Nanny were able to sleep soundly for the first time in days."

Charles had taken a respectful step back, but Elsie could see that he was regarding her with open pride. Elsie inclined her head in gratitude for the compliment and said, "I am more than happy to help Milady. We well know how difficult that can be."

"I just wanted you to know that you should never wonder where your place is, because the answer is that it is here, with us."

Elsie chanced a glance around the churchyard and saw no disgust, no fear, no anger. There was only concern. She felt her own eyes stinging with tears of relief. Looking up at Charles, she managed to ask, "Do you think we could go home Mr. Carson? I'm feeling very tired."

Mrs. Molesley and Mrs. Drewe brushed her arm as they passed and murmured words of encouragement and promises to visit tomorrow, and Mr. Jerkyns took Charles aside to speak quietly into his ear before clapping him on the shoulder and pushing him back toward Elsie.

As soon as they moved away from the crowd, Charles held out his arms for Gracie, but she clung to Elsie and buried her head in her neck. Elsie shook her head at him and just held her daughter. They walked along in a not entirely comfortable silence, until finally Charles spoke.

"I've frightened her."

Elsie smiled to try to comfort him. "She's never heard you raise your voice before. She'll come around." Then she added in a quieter voice, "Neither have I."

He quirked a half smile at her, "We get on rather well together, don't we?" There was a hint of worry in his voice, so she answered him as honestly as she could.

"I think we do," she said, and then hesitated as she tried to find the right words, "I hope you don't think we'll never fight. I'm sure we will eventually, but I know you'd never hurt me."

He turned his head to look at her seriously, "You've had enough unpleasantness in your life. I've no desire to add to it." The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile, "I still can't believe how fortunate I am to have you. Both of you. All three of you."

She opened her mouth to disagree, but just as quickly shut it. She wasn't going to argue about not arguing. That was a discussion best saved for another time.

Their quiet tones and walk had done more to quiet Gracie than any amount of petting would have. She turned her head toward her Da, and then leaned toward him. Elsie relinquished her gratefully, carrying around two children was a bit too much for her at the moment. She kept her eyes fixed on the road ahead. "That was awful."

Charles's mouth pulled down in a frown. The disgust was evident in his voice, "She was drunk."

Elsie nodded, "I know. I had wondered."

"No wonder the lads would rather be at the stables than home," Charles said, "There are some days that I have a time of it getting rid of William."

"I wonder how they get along," Elsie said, "Alfred's thin as a rail, and he always eats as though he's starving when you send him with a message."

"Mmm," Charles agreed thoughtfully, "That's why I always have them take turns. Does William not eat?"

"Only enough to be polite," Elsie said, "but I think that might be more pride."

They continued in silence for a few more steps, Charles shifted Gracie to his right arm so that he could offer his left to Elsie. She leaned into him a little more than usual, and he looked at her sharply.

"It's done you in," he said, "you should have a nap. A real nap."

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. I was expecting it at some point really."

"Were you?" he asked, eyebrows drawn low.

"Were you not?" she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, I was," he admitted. "I suppose we should be grateful that it was a straightforward attack. I was expecting gossip, whispers, averted eyes, hushed conversations."

"Grateful," she snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Perhaps grateful is too strong a word, but I was surprised by his Lordship and more so by her Ladyship."

"And the vicar," Elsie added.

"And the vicar," he agreed, then his mouth pulled down again, "There may be whispers now, of course. If you wish, we could leave. I could ask for references, make inquiries."

She turned her head to study his face carefully. "What is it that Lord Grantham wants of you?"

"What? Oh, that," he rolled his shoulders and shifted his eyes away from hers, "just a minor question..." He trailed off when he saw she was not to be fooled. "He wants me to become head groom."

"But Mr. Jerkyns is still in good health," she said, confused, "Does he want you to usurp him?"

"Mr. Jerkyns is in very good health," Charles agreed with a hint of a grin and lift of his eyebrows, "And eager to get married himself."

She looked at him in astonishment. The man might be in good health but he was sixty-five if he was a day.

Charles's grin widened. "He and the housekeeper have apparently had an understanding for some time."

Elsie looked at him, slightly guilty for the bit of gossiping, but only slightly, "For how long?"

"Well," Charles said, "I saw her going to his cottage the night we had to put down the horse, and she knew the path well enough to not need a lantern." Then he added with a significant look, "And she didn't knock on the door."

Elsie paused for a moment, picturing the housekeeper in her mind. She wasn't unattractive. Handsome rather than pretty, and with gray streaking her hair. People that old in a heated romance? Visiting each other in the wee hours? She wondered if she'd still be eager enough when she was that old to walk through the dark and rain to her lover's house. A picture of Charles with grey streaking his hair and wrinkles around his eyes came to mind, and she knew without a shadow of doubt that she'd gladly walk through a gale to be with him. She smiled, and her wishes for a nap this afternoon were renewed.

"I still don't understand," she said, "Why would Mr. Jerkyns need to leave to be married?

Being deliberately obtuse and with a smile tugging at his lips, Charles said, "Most married men like to live with their wives, I suppose."

"Charles," she warned. She wasn't quite up to teasing, and to his credit, he quickly realized it.

"Mrs. Pratt just inherited a house by the sea in Scarborough," he explained. "She has a mind to turn it into a hotel or at least a bed and breakfast."

"That sounds lovely," she said, "but what would a groom do at a hotel?"

Charles shrugged and made a face when Gracie tugged on his ear. "I don't know. Brush down the guests. Feed and water them. Not too different from horses, I'd wager."

She rolled her eyes, and he chuckled. "I suppose he'll do whatever she tells him. Mrs. Pratt is a formidable woman, and he's besotted."

"So," Elsie said thoughtfully, "Lord Grantham needs a new head groom."

Charles kept his eyes on the road ahead. "It's a good chance, Elsie. There's a bit more pay, of course, and the tips, but the best thing is that the head groom's cottage has three bedrooms. There'd be one for us and then one for the girls and one for the boys." His ears reddened immediately at his slip, and Elsie looked at him sharply.

"One for girls and one for boys? How many of each were you hoping for?"

He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. "I love Gracie." Gracie responded to hearing her name by repeating it and then tugging his ear to pull him down so that she could kiss his cheek. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead before continuing, "I'd love another girl, but I'd like to have at least one son. If we're blessed in that way, of course." Then, his lip twitched, "And if we keep on as we have been, we're likely to have at least a half dozen."

She hugged his arm closer in agreement and smiled to herself as she remembered the path her thoughts had been taking during church.

"And the drawbacks?" she asked.

He tilted his head to the side. "Travel. There'd be nothing I could do about that. I don't like to be away so much, especially now with a growing family, but it would be my responsibility."

"And?" she asked, "There's something else. Don't try to hide it."

He met her eyes squarely. "I'll not take this job just to leave. It wouldn't be fair to his Lordship or to the other grooms. It would mean that we're deciding to stay. If you'd like to move farther away to get away from any rumors, we need to do it now. If I take this job, then we stay and face whatever gossip and whispers they are. We build our life here."

He was right, of course. She thought back to how mortified she'd been when Mrs. O' Brien accosted them in the churchyard. She wondered what it might be like for Gracie in a few years when she'd be old enough to understand. Finally, she looked up at her husband's steady hazel eyes that were studying her carefully. There was no doubt what they'd do. There never had been really.

"We'll have to plant a new garden, but I suppose it will be worth it for the extra bedroom," she said, and Charles smiled before bending down to capture her lips in a kiss.

Perhaps they'd have a nap today after all.

Next, a nap. Maybe.