A./N.: I apologize for the long delay. My life has been particularly crazy this month. Updates will now come sooner, I promise. Thank you all for your kind reviews to Chapter 1. As promised here are some answers. Enjoy and please leave a review, they really do make my day.

When the Past Comes Back to Haunt Us

Charles couldn't for the life of him remember a more perfect moment in his life … not his promotion to butler and certainly nothing he had experienced on stage. In his arms lay Elsie Hughes, after he had confessed his love for her and she accepted his hand in marriage. He knew that they had a rocky road before them, but he was sure they could master it together – as they had countless situations before. Of course it was different this time; they were facing difficulties of a personal matter – for the first time in their acquaintance – and not some professional crisis. And yet the feeling of Elsie's head resting against his chest, while her right hand still held his much larger one against her stomach, was filling him with an indescribable mixture of love, elation and positive energy. Closing his eyes in bliss, he inhaled her scent of lilies and honey. He had known from the first time he had smelled her unique scent that it would be edged into his memory and he would always associate it with her warmth and the sunny summer's day when she had first set foot into Downton, the day his heart had been stolen by a softly spoken greeting in the most charming lilting, rolling accent he had ever heard. For so many years he had dreamed of confessing his love for her, sweeping her off her feet, but he was dismayed by the circumstances under which he had finally confessed his love to her. Silently he cursed his past – the very reason she was hurt now.

oOoOoOo

Mr Carson, esteemed butler of Downton Abbey, felt the breath forcefully leave his lungs and his hands clench into angry fists, crumpling the letter in his right hand. How dare that man ask him – of all people! – for help? Charles Grigg, after all, was the author of his own misfortune and then some. In all the time Charles had known Grigg, the man had always let others work for him and profited from their talents while not showing any of his own, except pilfering money and pulling the wool over other people's eyes.

Now he was in Downton and expected Charles' help or he would expose his past to his employers and colleagues, effectively making him look like the fool he was in front of the people he respected or whose respect he commanded. He would be disgraced and most likely lose the job which meant so much to him and he had worked so hard to get.

He hated to admit it, but he was vain enough to dismiss this notion immediately. Too much work and self-denial had gone into his job and Grigg would not ruin this for him. Charles had left behind the carnival and the dissolute lifestyle that went with it. He had to protect his self-made good name and to Hell with Grigg. The man was more trouble than he was forth.

So he stole food from the kitchen and the store cupboard. Intentionally he took advantage of the on-going feud between Mrs Patmore and Mrs Hughes in regards to who had the cupboard key and the ensuing confusion. Mrs Patmore accused Mrs Hughes not to have ordered important ingredients or not in sufficient number, and Mrs Hughes saw her own fears of the cook's liberty with food realised and accused her of going behind her back whenever the cupboard was opened. Only Anna found out about the truth. She happened upon him while he was gathering the latest provisions for Grigg. He had been flustered and fearful that she would expose him, but nothing happened and he allowed himself to breathe more freely again.

Luckily he was more successful in hiding Grigg away from any prying eyes. One of the empty cottages was the perfect hide-out for a minor criminal on the run.

Only one request was too ludicrous to even entertain the thought of fulfilling it. Grigg had asked for money in exchange for his silence, but every penny Charles owned had been saved frugally over years and worked hard for. Besides Charles knew Grigg enough to know that once offered the little finger he would take the whole arm. There was no guarantee that Grigg wouldn't demand more after he received the first payment.

Then the big escalation happened; Grigg showed up at the Abbey and told Lord Grantham about their past on the stage. He exposed Charles' shameful past to the man he respected most. Both Anna and Mr Bates were also present, but behaved most honourably, not judging him openly and not faltering in their loyalty to support him. Furthermore neither of them exposed his past to the rest of the downstairs staff.

"You'll be sorry," hissed Grigg, pointing a finger at Charles. "Mark my words; you'll be sorry!"

But Charles hadn't believed him. After all, Grigg had made false promises all his life. This wasn't any different … or so Charles had thought … he had been mistaken.

Grigg hadn't left the village on the night's train as Charles had thought, but had returned to the small un-used cottage he had been hiding in. It was hard for him to accept defeat in this situation. Up to this day Grigg had always gotten what he wanted – through flattery, bribery, or an open threat. Now Carson had not only withheld the money, but he had also bested him. His employer still respected him and even the maid seemed more sympathetic than disgusted by their story. The height of shame was that Lord Grantham had just bought Charles out of his misery with the flippant words "I think it …because it is true" and shut him up with a sum of money the Lord could easily afford and more than Grigg had asked of Charles.

Yes, Charles Carson would pay for making him look like a fool. Grigg only needed to know what would hurt the high and mighty Carson the most. He had thought a personal attack on his good name and reputation, but Lord Grantham had thwarted that attempt. Nevertheless Charles would have his comeuppance!

Grigg didn't have long to wait. The following Sunday Grigg observed the procession of Downton's staff into the village through the cracks in the boarded-up windows. Charles was strutting at the front of the procession like a rooster … with a woman on his arm. In that moment Charles leant down and spoke to her, drawing a soft smile from her lips and a tender expression from her eyes.

It seemed that he had found what would destroy the Great Charles Carson, Butler of Downton Abbey.

oOoOoOo

Charles arm around Elsie's shoulders tightened, drawing her closer into him, and his lips softly caressed a strand of hair. He closed his eyes more tightly and damned Charles Grigg straight to hell for what he had done to this wonderful woman.

"Charles?" Elsie's soft voice broke through his troubled thoughts. He couldn't look at her, knowing that at the heart of things he was the cause for her pain. That because of his connection with Grigg, she had to go through the worst that could happen to a woman. He turned his head away from her prying eyes, his heart hammering painfully in his chest. He felt Elsie reluctantly disentangle herself from his embrace.

"I see," she said quietly, the sadness back in her voice tenfold. "Your words were empty. You are disgusted by me …"

Charles' head whipped around and he locked his gaze with hers. "No, Elsie," he said simply, his own voice mirroring her sadness and his guilty conscience weighing him down. "If anything, you must be disgusted by me."

Elsie took a step back in surprise, staring at him disbelievingly. "What do you mean?" she asked incredulously, her voice raising an octave.

Again Charles' gaze swivelled away from hers and he scoffed the toe of his shoe against the floor. His arms dropped back to his sides and he felt strangely bereft without her in his arms, even though he had allowed himself that indulgence only very recently. His voice was quiet and broken, reflecting how he felt. "Grigg," he said, his heart breaking at the sight of her cringing away and fear seeping into her eyes, her arms hugging herself convulsively. Charles closed his eyes, but ploughed on, hating himself for hurting her again. "He hurt you because of me …"

"Oh Charles," Elsie's voice had gone soft again. "Oh, you dear man …" A tender whisper this time, accompanied by a gentle hand cupping his cheek. "Don't you dare blame yourself for what this … this man did, back when you were young or now. Do you remember what I told you on that Sunday?" she asked softly.

He nodded mutely.

"Please open your eyes, Charles," she whispered, his name flowing from her lips easily – Hadn't he been Charles to her all along? – and her voice begging him to trust her the same way she did.

Cautiously Charles peeked at her, but took strength from the reassuring, yet somewhat shy smile gracing her lips. He spoke as softly as she, even though his voice still seemed to boom. "You basically told me not to go on so." He smirked and Elsie chuckled softly, the sound of it lifting Charles' heart into the heavens.

"Well, you do have a tendency to the melodramatic," she teased lightly. "I said you were a man of integrity and honour. Your actions have always been the most honourable. In these last months you comforted me without frightening me. The only reason I withdrew from you … from everyone really … but especially from you … is that I was made so weak and you shouldn't see me weak. I was made to feel that I let you down."

"Elsie!" Charles exclaimed. "You could never!"

"And he … he made … he r- … I was made a hypocrite to the girls. How can I look them, or you, or those upstairs in the eyes?" Elsie wailed, finally letting part of her anguish out and revealing her fears to him. So she really had felt unworthy of meeting his gaze. He could reassure her on both fronts.

"Elsie, have you really listened to your girls lately?" he asked. At the shake of her head, he continued, "They still respect you and think you are a strong woman. Of course, they worry about you. I heard Lucy and Daisy say that you are a better mother to them than their own ones. Lady Sybil does everything but put on a clown's costume to make you smile again. And I … I would give everything to undo what happened to you. I feel incredibly sorry that you were hurt because of my past, but I will happily spend my future loving you and seeing you happy."

Tears glistened in Elsie's eyes as she looked up to him. "Does this mean we are worthy of each other?"