"Just do your best, Barrow." Lady Grantham sighed, excusing him from the parlor where she sat with Mrs. Butte finalizing the guest list and menu for her end of Season dinner party. She was tired of hearing excuses from Thomas.

Mrs. Butte had accepted the news of an end of Season dinner party with mixed feelings. She saw this event as an opportunity to redeem herself for missing Rose's ball, but she also knew that coordinating such a large event with Mr. Barrow was going to prove very difficult. To say that he was overwhelmed was an understatement.

The latest issue was finding enough of His Lordship's preferred claret to serve at the dinner. The ball had decimated the Grantham House cellar. Carson had planned to wait until the off season to replenish in order to avoid demand driven costs, but this dinner had rendered that plan moot. Even with his letters of introduction from Mr. Carson, none of the local wine merchants seemed interested in dealing with Thomas. Only a select few would even return his calls and as soon as they ascertained that Mr. Carson was still not at Grantham House, they became decidedly less helpful. "Have Mr. Carson contact us when he returns," was a phrase with which Thomas was becoming very familiar. He was starting to suspect the whole world was against him.

"I shouldn't worry too much, My Lady. Mr. Carson will be back before the dinner. He'll know whom to call. And he'll be sure to catch anything Mr. Barrow has missed." Mrs. Butte assured Lady Grantham.

"Who knew Mr. Barrow was such a nervous creature? He always struck me as so calm and sure." Cora said disapprovingly.

"If I may observe, My Lady, it is easy to be self assured when you know Mr. Carson has your back. I won't say Mr. Barrow is lazy, but I will observe that he has never shown much interest in learning the more specific details that the job of butler requires." Mrs. Butte was also keen to redeem herself for being tricked by Mr. Barrow into betraying Mr. Carson.

"I believe Mr. Carson has spoiled us, Mrs. Butte. I never sympathized with my friends when they complained about their butlers, but less than a week with Mr. Barrow has shown what a difference our butler makes. I am very fond of Carson, but I always thought Lord Grantham was exaggerating when he said we'd be lost without him. Now, I could well believe it."

"Is there any news from the clinic, My Lady? The downstairs staff would be glad to hear anything of Mr. Carson."

"Lord Grantham spoke to the doctors yesterday. They still say it will be next week until they release him, but he is doing well, so far as I know." Lady Grantham confided, wishing she had more to tell. "Lady Mary says she will visit him today on her way back from Downton. Perhaps she can tell us more."

"Will that be all, My Lady?" Mrs. Butte asked as she gathered her notes together.

"For today, Mrs. Butte. Make sure the linen in the Dowager Countess' room has been freshened, or I shall never hear the end of it. I cannot believe Lady Mary convinced her to come back." Cora did not sound very happy about Mary's success. "But then, this whole dinner was Lady Mary's idea, so we'll leave the tricky parts to her."

-00-

Thomas pouted his way down the stairs. Lady Grantham was his biggest, only, supporter upstairs. If he lost her good will, he would never be awarded the position of butler. As bad as it was to have to be subordinate to Mr. Carson, Thomas would be mortified if he remained under butler while the family hired someone else, like Mr. Sprat, or perhaps even, God forbid, Mr. Molesley.

"Something on your mind, Mr. Barrow?" Mrs. Patmore asked as Thomas almost ran her over on his way to the butler's office. "Or were you just training to join a rugby team?"

"I beg your pardon, Mrs. Patmore. My mind was elsewhere." Thomas stammered.

"Well, your body is here and it bally well nearly bowled me over. I suggest you try to keep the two together more often."

Thomas' already foul mood darkened even further. "I shall do that, Mrs. Patmore, but I suggest you do a better job of staying out of my way in future."

"Oh, ho! Do you now? Thank you for that bit of advice, Mr. Barrow." Beryl had been very tetchy since losing Daisy, Elsie and Charles' company all on the same day. The kitchen staff left at Grantham House were good girls, but none of them could read her mind like Daisy and none of them were very good company over a spot of tea like Elsie and Charles. "And you can be sure I'll thank you for it properly someday."

Thomas looked as though he were about to deliver a fine rejoinder, but thought better of it. Instead, he silently turned and marched into the butler's office, shutting the door firmly behind him. He looked around the butler's office. Everything was so perfect. There was not a leaf of a ledger out of order. The office spoke of experience and control and competency. Thomas felt like the very room was judging him for not being Charles Carson.

In frustration, Thomas picked up the nearest book and threw it at the great ugly chair that dominated the room. The binding ripped partially away from the pages as the book bounced back at him and onto the floor at his feet. Thomas cursed as he bent to pick it up. It was one of Mr. Carson's Dickens novels. He would definitely notice the damage.

Thomas slammed the book shut and placed it forcefully back on the desk. He was about to walk around to his chair when he noticed the slip of paper on the floor. It must have fallen out of the book. Thomas picked it up and was about to place it back in the book when something written on the paper caught his eye; his own name.

-00-

Carson sat with Lady Mary in the clinic's large visiting room. It was not the usual visiting hours, but Lady Mary was not one to let such trivialities deter her. They had called Carson out of his morning exercises. He was very self conscious to be sitting before Lady Mary in such a sweaty and disheveled state.

Lady Mary had spent ten minutes giving Carson a report about everything going on at Grantham House and Downton. Mary's report about their plans for Mr. Barrow was vague and she waved off his questions. She told him that Anna was out this very second researching Miss Baxter's former place of employment. She then spoke of Rose's latest beau and the upcoming dinner party. She spoke of Mr. Branson's attentions to Miss Bunting and of his plans to move into the agent's house after the garden party. She spoke of everything except the thing he wanted most to hear about; Elsie.

Finally, Carson had reached the limit of his patience.

"Please, My Lady, if I may ask, how is Mrs. Hughes?"

"She's perfectly well. I should have told you right off if she was not."

"And did you give her my letter?" He pressed, hungry for any news of her.

"Oh, yes, of course I gave her your letter. She said it was very sweet." Mary said dismissively.

"Sweet?" He looked disappointed in this descriptor. He had been rather proud of that letter. Perhaps it wasn't the most amazing letter of all time, but he would have expected it to be described as passionate or romantic or even lovely. But sweet?

"And did she not send a note back for me?" He tried not to sound desperate, but Mary saw right through him.

"Now that you mention it, she did want me to deliver a message. Have you a pen and paper?" She asked casually.

"What?" Carson was thoroughly confused. "No, I haven't."

Mary rummaged in her tiny beaded handbag. Charles was exasperated. How hard was it to find something in such a tiny bag?

Finally, Mary brought out a calling card and a tiny ladies pencil. She looked as though she were trying to remember exactly what Mrs. Hughes had asked her to convey. Then, she wrote a very short phrase and turned the card over so he could not see the words.

"You mustn't read it until I've gone." She warned before sliding the card over to him. "I shall try to visit you again very soon, Carson. Stay strong."

As soon as Mary's back was turned, Carson reached for the card, but Mary spun around and caught him in the act. "Not until I've left, Carson. I must insist."

For the first time in her life, Mary saw Carson look at her with something less than total devotion. She did not like the sensation, but, given the circumstances, she found it very funny. Fighting a smile, she repeated, "Not until I've left."

Mary backed towards the door, holding his gaze. Without looking, she opened the door and backed out. Just before she shut the door, she gave him a wink. Her wink confused him, but it did not delay his swift motion as he snatched up the card and flipped it over. There were only three words written on the card in Mary's confident hand.

'Look behind you.'

There was a sudden electricity in the room. The hairs on Carson's neck stood up. She is here. She has to be here. If he was wrong, he wasn't sure he would ever forgive Lady Mary for toying with him like this.

The promise of seeing Elsie again was the only thought sustaining him through his experiences at the clinic. Brooke and Josh had helped, but without his thoughts of Elsie, he would have crumbled on the first day. He had endured the near starvation, the hours of bizarre exercises, the sessions with wires taped to his chest, the seemingly endless draws of blood, the humiliation of wearing shorts in public, the threat of colonic irrigation and, worst of all, the separation from Elsie. He had not understood how much it was affecting him until he let himself believe that she was here.

Seconds ticked by, but still he could not bring himself to turn around. He stared at the note. It kept going in and out of focus as he fought his emotions, as he blinked tears back from falling. Pull it together, man, he ordered himself.

Finally, he dared to look over his shoulder. And there she was, standing just behind him with a tearful smile on her face, only a few short feet away. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Had it really only been three days since he had last seen her?

He bolted up from his chair and grabbed her around the waist so quickly that she only had time to let out a tiny squeal before he was kissing her.

-00-

Sitting behind the screen, waiting for him to arrive, Elsie already regretted going along with Lady Mary's 'little surprise' for Charles. She had wanted to protest that this was not some game and their lives were not toys for Lady Mary to play with, but after everything Mary was doing for them, it was impossible for her to protest.

She could feel Charles' frustration with Lady Mary growing with each new topic that was not Elsie. She could see around the screen how his hands flexed open and shut in his attempt to calm his nerves. After Mary's five minute description of the improvements Mr. Branson was planning for the agent's house, Elsie's own impatience almost overwhelmed her to the point of revealing herself. But it was at this point that Charles dared to interrupt his precious Lady Mary and ask about Elsie.

Lady Mary toyed with him a bit more, but soon, she was backing out of the room and Elsie had left her hiding place. Now she stood, waiting for the door to close and for Charles to turn around.

Based on the speed with which he grabbed up the card, Elsie had expected him to spin around immediately, but he did not. What had Lady Mary written on the note? Had she not told him to turn around as they had agreed?

But turn he finally did and then he moved with the speed of a cobra striking as he flew to her and held her to him, kissing her as they both somehow managed not to sob.

"You're here, you're here…" He kept repeating as he kissed her lips, her eyes, her nose, her cheek, her ear, her neck and then began the circuit again. She could not help but laugh at his eagerness. After several rotations, he began to calm. Eventually, he rested his forehead on hers as he held her face in his great hands and stared smilingly into her eyes. He gave a great, contented sigh. "You're here."

Realization dawned in his eyes and he looked at her with deep concern, as though something might be wrong. "Why are you here?"

She smiled at him with all the love in her heart. "You lovely, daft man, where else would I be on our wedding day?"

TBC…


AN/ I just could not keep these two apart any longer. Next chapter...um, I'm not sure, it seems like something major is supposed to happen;)

Thank you for your continued support. I know it is difficult to come up with new and fresh reviews for each chapter (especially this far into a story), but please know that I very much appreciate those of you who do. I do not often reply to individual reviews, but I do read them all. Several of you will be gratified to see that you guessed correctly in the next chapter, I think.