The Acquisition of Memories. Chapter 2- Appellations.
Wow! I certainly did not expect so much positive feedback for my first foray into fan fiction. This is all so new to me and it gave me quite a glow. Thank you all. :)
I hope I can keep up some momentum. However, I should forewarn you that I will have to put this aside across much of September until late November 2016 to write a thesis instead! If that is going to annoy you, I would leave this until such time as it is completed.
A/N 1- I have updated this to remove a paragraph repeat and added a touch of dialogue that will better lead me into subsequent chapters.
Chapter 2- Appellations
"Well, well" sighs Mrs Hughes.
Except that, it isn't Mrs Hughes anymore. She is something more- Mrs Carson. Yes. The change of name a symbol of a new thing- a new way to be. It seems a pity, Elsie thinks, that Charles does not also have a symbol to denote that change. Something that states what being joined through marriage does to him. What does he have that can be uttered in a single breath forever more?
The wheels spin and click: Elsie Carson, Elsie Carson. Elsie repeats the words to herself, clicking them over and over as she sits proudly by the grand old bear of a man she has just married. Both grizzly and cuddly. Even his name sounds like a bear from a children's poem!* She cannot help smiling to herself at that. Her husband, Charles Carson. His name rolls around her mind in rhythm with the wheels. Charles Carson. Charles and Elsie Carson. Elsie Carson. It will take some getting used to- and no mistake! After all these years!
Charles catches the slight upturn of her lips from the corner of his eye.
"A penny for your thoughts, Mrs Carson" he rumbles low and privately into her ear- even though they have this section in first class all to themselves and can speak as openly as they please.
"Hmm, that's just it" she purrs contentedly, leaning a little closer to him, "Mrs Carson." She rolls the 'r' in her relaxed and lilting brogue. "I was just running my new name through my head...You know, I think I am as partial to the name as I am to the man who has shared it with me." She smiles up at him.
Charles' eyes flick down to her left hand as he runs his thumb over her wedding band before turning his eyes to her face, his eyes glinting lovingly and proudly at her. Then he straightens up a little in his chair, much as he would puff out and straighten almost imperceptibly taller when standing in formation to greet His Lordship and Her Ladyship as they arrive home from a long absence or have brought members of the peerage to visit Downton Abbey. Only now, there is a melting softness to the edges of his puffed up straightening. Now the pride he carries in his ramrod straight back and broad chest has a certain a suppleness to it that reveals so much better his truly loving nature. He is a changed man, perhaps not in name, like Elsie, and indeed, the core of him is as it ever was, but he has definitely changed in stature. Being Elsie's husband adds something to his heart of loving kindness and makes it all so much bigger. Brighter. Perhaps this is his symbol- his sign to the world? Elsie senses the shift in his mien and sees his unconscious pride. Where once this change in posture consciously aligned him to the maintenance of Downton and the Crawleys, now it aligns with even greater richness and singularity towards her.
Elsie returns his loving gaze. The allegiance has shifted today. He has changed. He has changed. She feels it. So much closer now. Closer to her.
Closer to Elsie. The wheels spin and click. He has changed. He has changed. Changed for Elsie. Elsie by his side.
As he feels her hand squeeze lightly around his long broad fingers, he turns to the side once more and willingly sinks into his wife's eyes. Again, he feels his heart catch in his chest and sees his thoughts stop in one slick moment. Revelation presses a finger down into the absolute crux of the matter. Charles knows- in that moment- with a blazing and permanent insight, that he is, indeed, unbelievably blessed to take this particular position in life. Even now, as he nears the twilight of his time upon the earth. Click and spin. Click and spin. Even Now. Even now. By his side. His one true place- closer than before. So much more with Elsie by his side.
Charles feels that there will not be a day where he does not want to know her mind. He wants more and now he is free to ask it.
"Is there anything else on your mind, Mrs Carson?" he inquires.
How nice it always is to be asked by him, she thinks. How nice that someone genuinely wants to know my mind.
"Hmm. So many things" she replies. "Too much to say really. But first of all, how is it we ended up in this private first class carriage on the way to London, and not to Scarborough as we had planned? I was left a cryptic message to ensure I change into travelling clothes, but that I must bring my best dress with me- which, as of today happens to be my wedding gown, and that it will be required for a surprise that awaits us tonight in London."
"Ahh" replied Charles, "yes, I have also been told to pack my finest evening livery and His lordship handed me a silk topper this morning as a gift that is to be worn this evening. Mr Bates has been smirking most annoyingly for the past week each time he sees me. No doubt his Lordship employed him to provide the correct sized top hat for me. I have actually never owned one. It seems a rather silly extravagance, really, as I am sure I will not have need of it ever again."
Elsie chuckled, "the same could be said of my wedding dress, I do believe."
"It is apparently all down to the machinations of the very secretive and eternally mischievous Lady Rose," Charles continues, "of all people! Although, I suspect she has garnered the involvement of Lady Edith in London, Her Ladyship and no doubt Lady Mary to pull this one off. The only other things I was told were that we would need to catch this train and not the slightly later one, to Scarborough, that the schedule, extra train travel and accommodations in Scarborough have been adjusted to fit in with this change of plan, including an additional two days off from work to account for all of this flitting around the countryside- and that it is all paid for by his Lordship, no less!"
Charles smiles happily and fairly ripples in his seat with thinly disguised excitement. Elsie sees a glimpse of a happy-go-lucky boy in Charles as his hand that she is not holding in her lap flutters a little at his side. This is new! And how sweet! Elsie thinks, smiling back at him. I hope to see this part of Charles a lot more in the future.
Charles continues, "And the last part I was told is that there will be a letter explaining tonight's events handed to us once we are fully settled aboard. It all sounds rather hectic to me, and I must say, I am not particularly partial to surprises" he remarks in a serious tone, despite the reflex of excitement that has just rolled through his frame, "One never knows what is going to be needed really."
"Really, Mr Carson?" she says in mock surprise, "I would never have guessed that you would have such distaste for the unplanned and uncertain" she ribs him with a wicked smile in her eyes.
"Hmmph," he replies seriously, sporting a faux-disgruntled look before he snuffs out a short laugh and smiles broadly back at her.
"But, oh my!" Elsie continues, "it does seem that they have arranged for us to attend something that may be a little outside of our normal social standing" looking a little concerned. "I am not at all sure that I feel comfortable with this either. All this attention is too much for the likes of me."
"Nonsense, Mrs Carson," Charles states firmly, "you are as worthy as anyone I know of these elegant attentions. Besides which – today is your day to step out from the shadows of the hallways and be centre stage…so to speak." He pauses straightening down his waistcoat in that authoritative Butler-ish manner of his and, looking directly at the wall in front of him, he gruffly states the inarguable fact that "we are not getting any younger Mrs Carson- we can afford to live a little, you and I." He snuffs, a very formal short breath from his nose. Then he glances sideways at her with a twitch of a smile at the corner of his mouth. His eyebrow rises in askance, trying to gauge what she will think of him recycling the phrase she used on him that had clearly marked the point at which their lives veered off in this new, and far more pleasant direction.
"Och, get away with ye," Elsie chuckles back to him, throwing back one of his more memorable lines from a time when they started really noticing each other a little differently and tried to garner smiles from the other whenever daily moments and some gentle ribbing would allow. It is their restrained version of openly flirting, now that Elsie comes to think of it.
Still, Elsie fears she will not be up to the task of presenting herself amiably amongst a different class of people, having made a career of fading unobtrusively into the background. Elsie has even found that, as joyful and short as her wedding morning has been, it was also a somewhat tiring affair. Having to play the hostess and be the centre of attention for the first time in her life was quite a foreign experience for her. Having been the recipient of Lady Grantham's generosity, who had gifted her the new dress and coat Elsie wore for the day, was also somewhat overwhelming. Elsie's train of thought careers through the many scenes of the day in the small breath of a moment before Charles receives further news from the carriage porter of their current adventure to London from. Scenes of her life at Downton also flash past the windows of her mind and beg to be examined in the light of this new day.
CECECECECE
A/N 2:* The first poems for children by A.A Milnes featuring Edward Bear appeared in Punch in February 1924. Perhaps the adventures of Charles Carson, a somewhat gruff and slightly over-stuffed but soft-hearted nursery bear needs to be written?