Early Afternoon
"Anna? Dr Clarkson is here," Miss Baxter says and leads him into Elsie´s room.
"Thank you, Miss Baxter." Miss Baxter smiles shyly at the doctor and gives Anna a sign, that she wants to have a word with her.
Anna follows Miss Baxter into the corridor. "What is it, Miss Baxter?"
"I found this next to Mrs Hughes yesterday." Miss Baxter gets Isobel´s letter out of her pocket and hands it to Anna. "I haven´t read it of course, but it looked to me like a personal letter, so I rather took it, before it lands in the wrong hands."
"Are you sure that no one has seen it?" Anna asks concerned, because she has recognised the colour of the paper immediately and knows, that this is indeed a very personal letter.
"Well, Mr Barrow has definitely seen it, when he picked Mrs Hughes up, but I took it as soon as I saw what he was staring at. I can´t say for sure if he has read anything or how much. Everything was so hectic."
"I guess, when Mr Barrow has seen something, we will soon find out ," Anna sighs. "Thank you, Miss Baxter." Anna puts the letter in her pocket and goes back into Elsie´s room.
"How is she, Dr Clarkson?"
"Well, to be honest, I´m a bit concerned that she´s still unconscious. Didn´t she regain consciousness at all today?" Dr Clarkson asks, while he puts his stethoscope into his bag.
"She was conscious for a very brief moment, but got unconscious again and was very unresting after that. I had troubles to calm her down and nearly wanted to send for you," Anna tells him, but she leaves out that Elsie was calling Isobel´s name before she got unconscious again.
"Please do so next time. Then I can give her a tranquiliser. She must rest," Dr Clarkson says with an worried expression on his face. "At the moment we just have to make sure, that she doesn´t catch a fever. I´m sorry, Anna, but I have to go back to the hospital, but I am coming back later this afternoon."
Anna sees Dr Clarkson out.
Anna sits down on the edge of Elsie´s bed and puts a wet cloth on her forehead. Elsie gets bit restless again, when the cold fabric is touching her skin.
"Iso... don´t ... plea... ," Elsie starts to mumble. "Forgi..."
"Shh, Mrs Hughes, everything is alright. You are in a safe place."
Anna is lost in thoughts, when she hears Miss Baxter´s voice. "Anna? I spoke to Mr Carson and he agreed, that I take care of Lady Mary tonight. I thought that this might disburden you a bit."
"Thank you very much, Miss Baxter, that is very kind of you."
"Is there anything else I can do? " Miss Baxter asks.
"Well, actually... if you could take care of Mrs Hughes for a bit. I have to go to the village and I rather don´t want to leave her on her own. Dr Clarkson said, that he wants to look after her later. I promise to be back before the gong." Anna gets up and makes room for Miss Baxter.
Anna went to the pros and cons of her plan over and over again. She knows, what she´s going to do is the right thing, but does she really have the right to do this? But one last look at Elsie confirmes her decision.
Isobel tries to distract herself with a book, but after reading the same sentence over and over again, she throws the book frustrated on the table and gets up. She can´t explain where this sudden strange nervousness, that has befallen her this morning, comes from. Even her uncertainty, whether Elsie has read the letter or not, does not explain this stir. Isobel rearranges the flower in the big vase on the table, when Molesley comes in and announces a visitor. Isobel hopes, that this might put her mind at rest and tells Molesley to send the visitor in, but her stomach cramps, when she sees who it is.
"Anna? Please, come in." Isobel gets nervous, because Anna has never been at her place before and after the events of yesterday, Isobel isn´t expecting any good news. "Don´t be ridiculous. Elsie would hardly send Anna with a message for you. Anna doesn´t know anything," Isobel tries to calm herself down. "Please, take a seat. Can I offer you a cup of tea?"
"No, thank you, Mrs Crawley, I won´t stay long." Anna sits down on the settee and Isobel on the chair next at the fireplace.
Isobel studies her concerned face. " What brings you here, Anna?"
"There has been a fire in the kitchen at Downton."
Isobel gasps. "My God, is anybody hurt? Matthew... what..."
"I´m sorry, Mrs Crawley, to have upset you. I should have made myself clearer. A cable on one of Mrs Patmore´s new machines caught fire somehow. It was soon discovered and put out, but there was a high formation of smoke."
A feeling of releave spreads in Isobel, but is soon replaced with anxiety.
"I don´t understand. Why are you here then? I mean, even Matthew didn´t telephone me about this incident."
"Well... it´s Mrs Hughes, why I´m here."
Isobel is clenching her hands so hard, that her knuckles turn white. She hopes that Anna hasn´t noticed her shock, when she heard Elsie´s name. Her worst fear has come true. Elsie has send Anna, has send her to tell her to stay away from her. It takes a moment before Isobel has collected herself, she takes a deep breath and prepares herself for what Anna has to say. "What about Mrs Hughes? I... I don´t understand."
Of course has Anna seen Isobel´s reaction and this is prove for her, that it was the right thing for her to come, even when this means to betray Elsie. "You see, Mrs Hughes got injured last night. She was in her room, some of the smoke got in there and when she wanted to get out, she must have stumbled over something, because she´d hit her head on the table and was unconscious when we found her." Isobel gets up, when she hears this, suddenly being very interested in the objects that are standing on the mantlepiece. She can´t look at Anna, she can´t let her see how she is slowly losing her composure. When Isobel thinks, that she can trust her voice, she says," I´m sure Dr Clarkson can spare a nurse, who can take care of Mrs Hughes, if this is why you are here." Isobel still stands with her back to Anna.
"I´m not sure if a nurse is what Mrs Hughes needs right now, Mrs Crawley. You see, Mrs Hughes gained consciousness for a very brief moment this morning and... and... she was mumbeling your name." Isobel supports herself on the mantlepiece, feeling dizzy, when she hears this.
"Mrs Crawley, may I talk frankly to you?" Anna asks and wonders at the same time, if she hasn´t gone too far already.
Isobel nods, but still can´t face her. Her thoughts are swirling around Elsie, her mind painting the bleakest pictures of Elsie.
"I know, that you and Mrs Hughes have become friends and that you have become very important to Mrs Hughes," Anna pauses and lets this words sink in. Isobel heart starts racing.
" I also know, that you are as concerned about Mrs Hughes as I am, because I have seen your reaction, when Mrs Hughes has left the concert yesterday. I... I have seen that you care very much for her," Anna says, carefully tiptoeing around the pink elephant, that stands in the middle of the room. She knows, that she has already crossed a line with coming here, but what she has just implied, crossed more then one boundary. She wouldn´t even dare to speak to Lady Mary like this, who she knows for years. But she hopes, that her innuendos will have an impact and when Isobel gets cross with her because of that, then she´s willing to live with the consequences.
Isobel sinks back on the chair. Her composure completely gone now, but she still doesn´t say a word.
"Mrs Crawley," Anna makes one last attempt," please come with me. Mrs Hughes needs you."
Miss Baxter and Dr Clarkson are surprised to see Isobel following Anna into the room and their surprise turns into irritation, when they see Isobel´s reaction. Isobel´s heart skips a beat, when she sees Elsie laying there. She hurries to Elsie´s bed, kneels down and takes her hand. Holding it close to her heart. She doesn´t care who is seeing her, doesn´t care about the possible consquenses. Isobel has only eyes for Elsie. Although, already expecting the worse, is this nearly too muchto bear for Isobel
"Elsie, what happened to you? " Isobel is barely able to speak.
"I think, we should better go, Miss Baxter," Dr Clarkson whispers. Miss Baxter agrees, they and Anna are leaving.
"Richard? Wait," Isobel calls after him, when she sees him leaving. Isobel plants a kiss on the back of Elsie´s hand before she gets up.
"How... how bad is it? And please be honest with me," Isobel says with a thin voice.
He sighs. "Very well then, I´m very concerned about her unconsciousness, because there is no medical reason why she hasn´t gained consciousness yet. Her injuries aren´t that serious. The wound on her forehead didn´t even need stitches and two of her ribs have contusions. Luckily was she found right in time, so that she just had a light smoke poisioning. Anna told me, that Mrs Hughes didn´t feel well lately and I´ve noticed her weightloss of course, maybe this could explain her condition or maybe not. I honestly don´t know."
"Yes, maybe," Isobel says quietly and looks back at Elsie.
"Isobel? I never stood a chance, didn´t I?" Dr Clarkson suddenly asks. Isobel knows, that he´s referring to the failed proposal he made weeks ago at the annual fair.
Isobel looks back at him and shakes her head. " No, I don´t think so. I´m sorry, Richard."
Anna and Miss Baxter witness this scene from afar and even when they didn´t hear what thas been said, do they exchange a knowing look.
"Don´t be, Isobel."
"Will this change anything between us?" Isobel looks down at her hands.
Richard can see the uncertainty in Isobel´s eyes, when she finally looks at him. He puts his hand on hers. "No, it won´t. You know, I am very fond of you, Isobel and it might sound strange, but I´m glad that you´ve obviously found someone, even when it won´t be easy."
"I know, but I didn´t choose it, it chose me."
The doctor nods. "And who knows what it´s good for. Maybe we would have drove each other already mad with the whole wedding preparations, " Richard chuckles and Isobel joins in.
"Yes, you are probably right. I know, that I can be a bit... well... "
"Exhausting?" Richard offers and laughs.
"Yes, lets call it exhausting. I´m sure you´ll soon find a woman, that is less exhausting than me. You deserve it, Richard." They smile at each other.
"I... I should go back inside. I don´t want to leave her alone for too long."
"Please send for me as soon as her condition changes. Mrs Hughes is in good hands now, Isobel."
"I hope so," Isobel says quietly.
"I know so," Dr Clarkson says and smiles at her.
"Thank you." Isobel sighs and goes back into Elsie´s room. The doctor looks at her for a moment. Anna walks pass him into the room and he leaves.
"I´ll see you out, Dr Clarkson."
"Lead the way, Miss Baxter," he says and smiles at her.
"Mrs Crawley?" Isobel kneels next to the bed again and wipes the sweat from Elsie´s forehead. Dr Clarkson´s words have deeply worried her, she hasn´t noticed how Anna came back into the room. "Mrs Crawley?" Anna repeats a bit louder.
"Hm? Oh, Anna. I didn´t see you standing there," Isobel looks up and her look falls on the letter in Anna´s hands. "Where... where did you get this from?" Isobel gets up.
"Miss Baxter found it yesterday. It was laying right next to Mrs Hughes, when we found her and she thought it would be better to take it, before it gets lost," Anna says and leaves out the part with Mr Barrow , because she doesn´t want to worry Isobel more than necessary and after all, Miss Baxter wasn´t sure what he´s seen. "I can assure you, that we haven´t read anything."
"I didn´t mean to imply that you have and ... oh, well as if this would matter now." Isobel looks down at Elsie. " You... you know that... I love her, don´t you?" Isobel asks and adds after a short pause,when she remembers what happened earlier in this room," Of course you do. And Miss Baxter,too." Isobel sits down on the bed, when she suddenly realize what this could mean for her and Elsie.
Anna sees Isobel´s worried expression. "I can assure you, Mrs Crawley, that everything that happened in this room, will stay in this room. And the same applies for Miss Baxter. She is very loyal to Mrs Hughes. After all, Miss Baxter and I are maids and secrecy is part of our job description," Anna smiles and hopes to calm down Isobel with this.
"Well, I wouldn´t know, would I? Don´t really have much experience with maids, much to Lady Grantham´s disapproval," Isobel smiles back weakly.
Isobel looks at Elsie again. Studying her pale face. "Do you think she knows that I´m here?"
"I... I don´t know, Mrs Crawley. You are the trained nurse and have experienc with these things."
"You know, I always told the patient´s relatives that they definitely feel their presence, but I´m not so sure anymore. I know, that nurses are telling a lot of things." Isobel wrings out the cloth and pats Elsie´s forehead dry.
"But don´t you think, that there was a reason why she called your name, when she was conscious?"
"I would very much like to believe this."
"Then do it, Mrs Crawley." Anna puts the letter on the nightstand and asks Isobel if she needs anything before she leaves.
Isobel gets back on her knees again and takes Elsie´s hand in hers. "Maybe Anna is right. Maybe I should believe it." Isobel can no longer hold back her tears. "I´m here, Elsie. I will be here when you wake up, I promise. But where are you, Elsie? Where? "
