SEPARATE BEDS

The next morning Elsie, Charlie, Daisy and Andy all woke up very early. The footman and the assistant cook had to catch the earliest train to return to work.

The group of four met in the lobby: Daisy and Andy all packed up, Mr Carson all dressed up; only Mrs Hughes was in her night robe, and with her hand in front of her mouth, covering a big yawn.

"I'll walk them to the train station; you ought to go back to bed." Mr Carson informed his wife. "You can have breakfast with the Masons as well, I will see if they can get the three of us something wrapped." He nodded towards Andy and Daisy and left them in the hotel's lobby, heading to the kitchen.

Now Andy was the one letting out an exaggerated yawn, almost dropping their bags.

"Are you ok?" Daisy turned to him.

"Uugh.." Andy grumbled and stretched. "How do you do it, Mrs Hughes?" He looked as if he was in pain.

"Do what?" She looked at him with curiosity.

"Get any sleep?" Andy clarified his initial question. "With all the snoring."

Elsie laughed wholeheartedly at that. "I am sorry, Andy." She kept chuckling. "He only snores when he's drank a bit more than what he's used to." She explained. "He just needs a change of position, or you have to rub his-" She stopped herself and her face turned a bright shade of red as she heard her own words echo in her head. "Never mind."

The newly betrothed both froze, their eyes wide.

"Well, I am going back up now, it was good to see you both." They all bid their goodbyes.

Once Mrs Hughes was out of their sight, Andy, and Daisy both started giggling, hardly believing what they just witnessed.

"What a night that was." Andy commented. "Hopefully I'll be able to take a nap on the train."

"Well, at least you had single beds!" Daisy snorted and continued speaking in a very quiet voice: "Mrs Hughes hugged me at one point during the night!"

"That's quite nice really, isn't it." Andy pointed out after he'd stopped laughing.

Daisy slowly came to the same realisation. "Yes, it is." The right corner of her mouth twitched into a half-smile. "Do you think we will be like this when we're old?"

"I hope so." Andy squinted his eyes, thinking about the future. "I think so." He gathered and it reassured Daisy.

"Shall we get going?" Mr Carson returned to the scene (oblivious to their previous exchange) and handed them some sandwiches he triumphantly managed to obtain in the kitchen from a particularly grumpy hotel cook.

They arrived at the train station a couple of minutes before the departure time. Only a handful of other people were hanging about the station. It was starting to get warmer with the sunrise - a promise of a beautiful day.

"Congratulations again. Glad you came down to liven things up a bit. Sorry if I've been… cranky at times, hope you enjoyed it anyway." Mr Carson surprised them with his earnestness.

"We really enjoyed it." Andrew assured him. "Thank you for everything, Mr Carson."

"There is no one we'd rather celebrate with than you four." Daisy added with a grin.

"Well, I hope you mean that." Mr Carson was relieved to hear them say it.

A loud train whistle and a conductor's 'all aboard' cry prompted them to finish their chat, hop on, find seats, and wave the butler goodbye.

Mr Carson headed back to the hotel as soon as the train was out of his sight. He walked fairly quickly – not too quickly though – just the right pace for him to be able to enjoy his wrapped sandwich. He arrived just in time – his wife had just come back up to their room after breakfast with the Masons.

Charles made himself comfortable in their bed, while she was milling about the room.

"Mrs Patmore was talking about going swimming again." Mrs Hughes informed him about the conversation they had over breakfast.

"Swimming again…" He grumbled incomprehensibly and rolled his eyes.

"Not here in Brighton, in Dorset." She clarified. "On a private beach."

"Hm."

"But while we're here…" Elsie continued carefully. "..and doing some shopping… We could buy ourselves some swimsuits."

"You can get yourself a swimsuit." Charlie surprised her with his steady answer.

"And what about you? Will you not get one?"

"No." He said with determination. "I will just watch you."

"Oh," She was pretending to be shocked. "You will watch me, will you?"

"Hm." The butler insisted. He inhaled deeply and cleared his throat. "I feel cheated after last night. You owe me some time in bed, Mrs Carson." He patted the duvet next to him, tempting her to come to him.

Familiar energy ran through her chest sharply at hearing that. "We don't have time now, Charlie, they'll be waiting for us downstairs."

Mr Carson just murmured in disappointment.

"But don't worry, we've still got a few nights ahead of us." She stated shyly, her cheeks turning rosy.