LIFE IS THE ART OF CHOICE-5
Hello all. Thank you very much for all the reviews and your encouragement for me to continue the story. You are all wishing this story to continue, so I will continue. My life is currently one, big mess, so I'm afraid that the updates won't happen often, but I will try the best I can... This chapter will include dialogues mostly...There are few things that need to be clarified...
Elsie was coming down to the breakfast next day. When she was walking across the servants corridor and passing Charles's room, he suddenly dragged her inside and closed the door behind her. Before she knew what was going on, he was already kissing her with a fervor of a young man...She nestled into him and she let him indulge her with his love...His lips caressed hers so slowly, like he wanted to take his time to taste her..
"Charles...I can't think of a better way to start a day..."
"Me neither my love...We should get use to that, because soon enough, everyone of our days will start like that.."
"I was afraid that you might have changed your mind over night and that you will tell me that you don't want to marry me anymore.."
"Elsie...I will never change my mind sweetheart...Nothing will make me change my mind...In fact, I just realized, that I haven't asked you properly...So I will do it now...Elsie May Hughes, will you give me the honor of becoming my wife?"- Charles kneeled down in front of amazed and extremely touched Elsie...
"Of course I will marry you my crazy, old fool. You may get up now!"
"How warming that sounds...I will speak to His Lordship after breakfast..."
"How do you think he will take it?"
"I'm not sure...You know his temper...He is a good, decent man and a fair employer, but his moods are sometimes unpredictable..."
"Charles..What if...If he will ask you to leave Downton? I have no delusions that he will ask me that and I'm fine with it..But what about you?...Will you be able to take it? To live outside this house?...I'm afraid that you...That you will hate me for that one day..."
"Elsie...I could never hate you...I know how I feel about Downton, but I also know, how I feel about you...I've never been so sure of anything so much...I want to spend my life with you...To be with you every day...Take care of you, love you...Work for you or with you, eat all my meals with you and fall asleep and wake in one bed with you..."
Mr Carson...Am I to understand, that this is all you want to do in bed with me? Just fall asleep and wake up...?"-Elsie asked this innocent question, looking at Charles seductively...
"Mrs Hughes...You are a wicked woman, you know that...I would never expect such an indecent question from a Lady..."
"Well maybe that's because I'm not a Lady.."
"You are a Lady to me and you always will be..."-Charles planted small kisses all over Elsie's face..."You have no idea how much I love you..."
"Probably as much as I love you...We have to go for breakfast now Charles...Everyone is waiting for us..."
"I wish we didn't have to do it...I would prefer to stay here with you..."
"So would I...My dearest, so would I..."
They've exchanged one more kiss and hurried to the breakfast. The atmosphere at breakfast was different than it usually was... Charles was very nervous about the talk he intended to have with the Lord and Elsie sensed that. All the other servants felt that too. Mr Carson, who was the essence of composure, acted very strangely today...Nobody knew the reason for that. Miss O'Brien was exchanging wickedly smiles with Thomas, because she thought, that Mr Carson was shocked by the news of Mrs Hughes night escapade with that man. She has already managed to tell Thomas all about it... But neither of them knew the real reason...If they did, they would have been very surprised...
After the breakfast, Charles went upstairs, to attend the breakfast and ask His Lordship for a talk and Elsie who went to her sitting room, to check the plan of chores for today and she got a surprised visit from her friend-Beryl Patmore...
"Can I take a moment of your time?"
"Of course. How can I help you Mrs Patmore?"
"You can help me by satysfying my curiosity about something...What's going on with you? Yesterday you went to meet your old beau at the fair. From what I've heard, you have not come back unitl midnight and today you and Mr Carson are locking in his pantry for a longer while. You have not said a word to him for days and suddenly this...He was so nervous during the breakfast...Can you please tell me what's going on with you two?"
"Well...I think that there is no need to hide the truth from you...Soon everyone will find the truth anyway...I received a marriage proposal, which I intend to accept and becaise of that, I will no longer work in the house..."
"Congratulations Mrs Hughes! So he did it! He proposed to you! I'm so happy for you, if that is what you really want!"
"Of course! That is something that I always wanted..Something that I've always dreamed of..."
"You have certainly managed to keep that desires well hidden all those years. I would have never guessed, that you were thinking about your old beau all this time..."
"Joe? To tell you the truth, I wasn't thinking about him that often in the recent years.."
"Well you are certainly thinking about him now...So when you are going to tell that to the family?"
"Mr Carson will talk to His Lordship after the brekafast."
"Mr Carson? I don't understand..I know that he is our superior, but why is he talking to His Lordship about such personal matters of yours?"
"He is talking to His Lordship, because it is his personal mattter as well."
"I don't get it...How does this concern him, other than that he will loose his favorite housekeeper?!"
"Mrs Patmore...Mr Carson will talk to His Lordship, because he is the future groom...He is the one who proposed to me and I accepted his proposal.."
"Mr Carson?! Prosposed to you? I thought that Joe Burns proposed to you."
"He did..Last night.."
"So you got to proposals? Are you kidding me?!..."
"Yes. Joe proposed to me last night and I told him, that I will think about it and asked him for a few days and when I came back home, Mr Carson was waiting for me and he... He proposed to me as well..."
"Now, I'm so jealous of you! Nobody has ever proposed to me in my entire life and you got two candidates at one night!"
"Mrs Patmore...Don't be like that..I'm sure that one day you will find love and a candidate for a husband too..."
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't..Time will tell...So you've accepted our grumpy butler, instead of your old friend..Why is that?"
"Because I love him...I have always loved him and he loved me..."
"But...But you were not speaking recently..There was some bad blood between you..I saw that.."
"Yes...We had some misunderstanding, but that's all over now...We are both sure that we want to be married and live together..."
"How do yout think the family will take it?"
"I don't know...I'm sure that they will sack me...Nobody has ever heard about married housekeeper..I'm just hoping, that His Lordship won't make Charles go away...He would feel lonely without this house..."
"I do not envy him of that conversation..."
"I'm sure he will manage.."
"Who would of thought? Elsie Hughes you are a dark horse...Two men in one time..."
"Sometimes that is how it happens...I didn't plan it...I have to refuse Joe..."
"How will he take it?"
"I'm afraid that not very well...He really wants to marry me, but...I love Charles...Only Charles..."
"Can I ask you something?...If you love Mr Carson, why did you agree to meet with Joe and why did you tell him, that you will think about his proposal, if you knew that you love Mr Carson?"
"Because I wasn't sure if Charles...You see..He was hesitating...He was afraid of loosing his job, that's why he wasn't sure if we should marry...And I couldn't live with that thought..I couldn't imagine living in this house, loving him and not being able to be with him...I was thinking of leaving, but when Charles told me yesterday...Nevermind what he told me..It's too private to tell it...I couldn't decide any other way...I knew, that I can only marry Charles, no one else...He is my whole life..."
"And you are his...I noticed how he looks at you..How he brightenes up when you enter the room, how he values your opinion, how he can't take his eyes off you..Even for a moment..."
Elsie blushed, hearing those words...Mrs Patmore was always very honest...Sometimes even too honest...But that was true...Charles loved her and she loved him and that was all that really mattered...
"It's nice of you to mention that...We love each other very much..I won't deny it and we will be together, whether the family likes it or not...Please don't repeat our conversation to anybody...I want this to stay private for the moment..."
Of course I won't...You can rely on me..I'm your friend...I wish you both all the happiness in the world...I'm still hoping, that the family will accept this...I don't want to loose either of you..."
"I wouldn't want to loose your friendship either..."
"Let's cross our fingers for good luck then and wait for the result.."
"Let's do that.."
That's all for today my friends...We still have a conversation with the family ahead and of course Elsie's talk to Joe Burns...So probably, the story will go on for few more chapters...I hope you don't mind...Sorry for any errors and if that chapter wasn't the best one, you need to forgive me...I'm recently in a bad place and my mind is a little off...Anyway, I hope you will like it a bit...Stay safe and see you soon!