Elsie was brought round from her memory by the sound of light tapping on her door and she expected it to be Ella, but was pleasantly surprised to see the very same pepper haired man she had just been thinking about. Of course he was a little older now, with a little more grey on top and a little rounder around the middle, but he was still just the same lovely man she had fallen in love with all those years ago.

'I hope you don't mind me coming to your bedroom Mrs Hughes, but I couldn't sit downstairs wondering how you were coping.' He said shyly.

'That's quite alright Mr Carson, I'm quite sure my reputation can stand to have you in my room.' She replied with a small laugh.

'How are you coping with it all?' He asked with great concern and felt so helpless as he saw the pain etched into her face, which he could see she was trying to hide from him.

'You and Ella need to stop worrying about me so much; I am absolutely fine…' She tried to say, but her voice did crack towards the end of the sentence and Mr Carson wasn't sure how he should react. He wanted to hold her in his arms and offer her protection, but he wasn't sure it was proper behaviour of a gentleman. At first he placed his hand on her shoulders as she began to sob.

'Might I hold you Mrs Hughes?' He asked quietly and it was an invitation she had been waiting for. She took a step forward and allowed him to envelope her in his strong arms which offered her more comfort and courage than he could ever have known.

He allowed her to sob into his chest, her hands pressed tightly against her face, as he very gently rocked them both a fraction. The top of her head sat snuggly under his chin and if the circumstances had have been more appropriate, they would have realised how natural their positioning was; it was just a shame that their first proper embrace was marred by such torment.

'I am sorry Mr Carson, what must you think of me?' She said as she tried to wipe her tears with her hands, but Mr Carson still didn't release his grip of her and she was glad to have him there with her.

'I think you are a very strong, courageous woman Mrs Hughes, who has been forced to be strong for too long regarding something that should never have happened to her in the first place. You had this situation forced upon you and you had to deal with it alone, but I'm here now and you will never have to deal with this alone again.' He replied in a hushed, comforting tone, but with a strong, manly hint to his voice, and he placed a gentle kiss to her temple, which she found particularly comforting.

But their tender moment was interrupted when there was another knock on the door, which made them reluctantly pull away from each other slightly, but they needn't have done, as this time it was Ella who walked in.

'Don't part on my account; I'm glad someone is here to comfort you Mam.' She said as she approached her mother and placed her arm around her waist and her forehead against Elsie's. Charlie stood on the other side of Elsie and kept his arm around her back and rubbed Ella's arm comfortingly.

'How did you get on with your parents? What did they have to say?' Elsie eventually asked.

'Perhaps we should take a seat for a while? I've got lots to tell you I'm afraid.' Ella replied as she indicated the chairs behind them.

'Would you rather speak to your mother alone?' Charlie asked.

'If Mam is comfortable with it, I would very much prefer you stay Charlie.' Ella said as she moved one of the little chairs closer to them.

'I would prefer you to stay Mr Carson; your support means a lot.' Elsie explained with a forced sort of smile as Ella took a deep breath.

'Well, I don't quite know how to break this to you Mam, but it is as we feared I'm afraid; Richard Crawley is indeed alive and he has returned to Downton, but there's a complication. He was injured some years ago and has no recollection of his life prior to it. He didn't know who he was or where he was from, so he fashioned himself a new life in New Zealand where he has been living as David Casey for the past twenty years.' Ella explained calmly and slowly, with no hint of emotion in her voice; now wasn't the time to become upset.

'So where is he now?' Elsie asked fearfully.

'On finding out that he is her son, Granny insisted that he move in with her. The problem is Mam, well one of many problems, is that he has no recollection of the events that happened here; he has no idea what he did to you or what pain his return has caused and as Granny doesn't know the truth either, she's oblivious to the pain his return has caused. She keeps pushing Papa to invite Aunt Rosamund up so they can have a welcome home dinner party.'

'Certainly not!' Charlie said sharply, which made both women jump slightly. 'I will not serve a man like that!' He spat.

'I quite agree Charlie and so do Mama and Papa, but he's finding it ever so difficult to come up with excuses to keep putting her off.'

Elsie had become very quiet and withdrawn from the conversation and couldn't contemplate what it was that she was hearing. She knew that if he came into the house she probably could avoid him, but the thought of being anywhere near the same vicinity as him turned her stomach.

It had taken her almost a decade to eradicate that man's face from her mind and during that time she had woken many a night in a cold sweat, plagued by nightmares of him. She had often laid awake wondering if he ever thought about her and about how he had ruined her life with his vile actions. She used to run every scene through her mind over and over again, wondering if there was something she should have done differently, perhaps she had done something to make him think that that was acceptable, but she knew that that wasn't the truth.

At the time of Richard Crawley's actions, Elsie had been making plans, big plans concerning her future, that would have changed her life forever, but afterwards, the attack changed her life in ways she could never have imagined.