'Mam you don't have to do this,' Ella said with astonishment at her mam's bravery, but she also feared what this found confidence would do to her, as did Charlie.

'Ella's right Mrs Hughes, there is no need to put yourself through this!' He implored as Robert ushered David and Violet into the library again.

'But I do have to do this. I have lived with this for too long and now it's time I faced it properly.' Elsie replied as she stood wobbly from her seat, supported by her daughter on one side and her future husband on the other; her family.

'If you're sure this is what you want then I'll be right here beside you.' Ella whispered as she placed a comforting kiss to her mam's temple.

Charlie clasped her hand in his and placed his other hand at the small of her back.

'You can hold my hand to make you feel steady, for a change.' He whispered and they gave each other a brief, encouraging smile as she took those first tentative steps forward, but as they got into the library she made a very difficult decision.

'I'd like to speak to Mr Crawley on my own.' She said weakly and both Ella and Charlie's concern for her grew.

'Mam I'm not sure...' Ella began to say before Elsie cut her off.

'It's alright Ella, I have to do this. This started between me and him and now I want to finish it.' She said. 'Your grandmother needs you now more than I do.' She added as she gave a gentle nod in Violet's direction, who clearly looked distressed.

Charlie looked at her with nervous anticipation. He wanted to say so much to her, but her quiet determination seemed to prevent him from saying anything. His mouth opened and then closed, before he opened again, 'We'll be just outside this door if you need us.' He said as he tried to convey his support to her in his tone, but his eyes told her so much more.

'That's quite alright Mr Carson; he won't do anything to hurt me now. '

Everyone did as she asked and slowly, but reluctantly vacated the room, leaving David to sit on the sofa by the fire and Elsie standing behind the one opposite him. There was silence for a few moments as she stared intently at him with her anger burning inside her.

'I must have really broken your heart to cause you to look at me with such hate.' He said nervously.

'Broken my heart? Broke...you did a lot more to me than break my heart, you nearly destroyed it!' She said angrily and the extent of her Scottish accent became very clear. 'I had plans for my life and I had self-respect. Because of you I was forced to bring my child into the world and had to endure watching her grow up with someone else as her mother. I'm very grateful for what Lord and lady Grantham did for me, as the alternatives would have meant me never seeing my child again; but I missed out on so much with my daughter and so much in my life because of you! And in turn the pain and suffering that that poor child has had to endure in the last six months…you have no idea, none at all; and you caused all of it!'

'I'm sorry Mrs Hughes for your pain, but I still don't quite understand what it is that happened between us.' David said with genuine sincerity.

Elsie took a large, deep breath as she prepared herself to relive her experience one last time, vowing that no matter what, this would be an end to it and this time she didn't hold back. Although she struggled with it, she went into every detail about what he had done to her and what he had put her through and as she finally came to the end of the sordid tale, she felt something lift from her. She no longer felt guilt, she no longer felt shame and she no longer felt consumed by anger.

She now pitied the man in front of her; a former shell of the once devious, conniving, sinister being that he once was, who had taken such pleasure in torturing her. No, this man was now devastated by her words and he couldn't believe that any part of him could have committed something so cruel; but he admired the courage of the woman in front of him and how much strength it must have taken her to confront him like this.

In the drawing room, Robert was trying to comfort Violet, who was very obviously distressed by what had occurred and Ella was torn between listening at the library door with Mr Carson, or joining her father and grandmother in the drawing room. She realised, possibly for the first time, that, in effect, she actually had two families now, one quite different from the other and her heart felt very torn. As she and Mr Carson stood side by side, their ears pressed against the door, she could feel her heart pounding beneath her ribs and it gave an especially hard, painful stab, each and every time Ella heard her mam's voice raised.

At the same time, she wanted to be sure that her granny was going to be quite alright. She knew and very much understood that it wasn't Violet's fault that Richard did what he did. The whole point of this evening had been to avoid causing her pain and now Ella very much felt that her own pain was for nothing.

As she continued to stand by the door she forgot herself for a moment and allowed herself to cry and slumped against the door, only to find two very strong arms wrapped around her and supporting her, as Mr Carson held her steady in his arms. He stroked her hair soothingly and made very gentle shushing noises and listened as her sobs began to ease.

'I remember doing this with you when you were very, very small Ella.' He whispered tenderly and he did allow his mind to drift back to a much happier occasion, many years earlier.