Thanks again for your support! I love your reviews. You are great! :) And here as promised the servant's ball. Hope you enjoy! :)
Chapter 12
That was about time
Shortly after the upstairs' breakfast had been served, the staff was gathering in the servant's hall. They were waiting for Charles who would lead them all to the Great Hall where the family awaited them for giving them their presents. Gordon was with them, leaning against the wall and quietly observing the excitement. A small smile spread across his face, but didn't quite reach his eyes. Elsie stood in the doorway to her sitting room. She had to remind herself that her brother-in-law was still in mourning and actually so was she. But she wasn't allowed to wear a black armband. He was.
"He's a handsome fellow, your brother-in-law", Beryl said, coming out of the kitchen.
Elsie raised her eyebrows at the cook and took a closer look at him. She had never seen him like that since he was her sister's husband. He was tall, a little smaller than Charles. His once orange hair had turned grey and white. His eyes were a mix of blue and green and he had grown a goatee. Beryl was right. He was handsome, but Elsie had never doubted the taste of men of the Hughes sisters. "Well, he is", Elsie agreed.
Finally, Charles appeared on the stairs. He checked if everyone was there and glanced shortly at Elsie before announcing: "They are ready for us." Chatting quietly, the staff passed by Charles and disappeared upstairs. Elsie and Beryl had reached him too when Elsie turned around to see that Gordon was still standing in the hallway. "Aren't you coming with us?", she asked.
"I don't think I should. I'm not a member of staff", he pointed out.
"No, you are not", Charles said. "But they'd like to meet you", he added.
"Why would they want to meet me?", Gordon asked.
"You are a guest of this house", Charles responded.
Gordon nodded. "Will I do? This isn't exactly my best suit", he said, looking down at himself.
"Don't worry about that", Elsie assured him. "Some of us servants look worse."
He chuckled in reply and followed them upstairs. The three servants didn't miss how impressed Gordon was the moment they left the staircase and entered the Great Hall. He stopped and stared all the way up to the top of the huge Christmas tree. Charles, Elsie and Beryl smiled fondly at him. They stood in one line opposite of the family who called one after the other's name to hand out the presents one by one. It was only when they were finished that they discovered Gordon. Lady Grantham gave her husband a little knock to make him welcome their housekeeper's guest. "Mr. Wilson", Lord Grantham said and Gordon winced a little. With a rather surprised expression he respectfully approached the Earl who looked him over from top to toe. He seemed to come to the conclusion that Gordon was indeed the decent man Charles had spoken of. "Welcome to Downton."
"Thank you, milord. I'm very grateful for being here", Gordon replied. "I understand that you are used to another kind of guests and that this is an exception."
Before Lord Grantham could respond, Lady Grantham interfered. "We are very sorry for your loss, Mr. Wilson. I hope despite the tragic reason for your stay you will find it enjoyable."
"I think I will, milady. Thank you."
Charles moved closer to Elsie. "He seems to have a lot of experience with aristocrats", he breathed.
Elsie let out a quiet chuckle. "He was a stall boy in his younger years", she explained. "Before he met my sister."
"Was he? Is there anything else I should know about him?", he joked.
"Not that I know", she laughed as Gordon returned to his place beside her.
"Very well, I wish you all a merry Christmas", Lord Grantham said and Charles signalled the staff to return downstairs. Gordon approached her on the stairs. "So, how exactly do you celebrate here?"
"We don't celebrate that much, really. Not until the servant's ball."
"The servant's ball?", Gordon asked curiously.
"A ball including the family and the servants. It will take place in early January. You are welcome to stay until then unless you can't leave the shop alone for that long", she said.
"I can leave the shop to my shop assistant. I'm planning to leave it to the lad anyway when I retire."
"You think about retiring?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe. That depends how well I can deal with… with Ann being gone."
She squeezed his arm reassuringly. "You are not alone."
He smiled down at her. "I know that, Elsie. Thank you."
…
With a deep sigh Charles sat down and gratefully took the cup of tea Elsie offered him. It had gotten quite late. Gordon and James had alternately played the piano and the others had sung Christmas Carols. The atmosphere had been very relaxing and family-like, so that eventually even Charles had started to sing and not only Elsie had thought that his deep baritone voices fitted lovely into the servant's choir. When they had sent the staff including Gordon to bed, some of them had been a little tipsy. It was the first time that both Charles and Elsie didn't say anything at all to spoil their fun.
"Charles, did you think about a specific date for our big announcement?", she asked, looking at him over the edge of her tea cup.
"Well, it would make things easier if we didn't have to make it twice. The family and the staff both have the same right to know about it, not to forget Gordon." He placed his cup on the table and took Elsie's hand in his. "The only time they will be all in the same room in the next weeks is during the servant's ball."
Elsie spit the tea back in the cup and started coughing. Alarmed, Charles carefully tapped her on back. "The servant's ball?", she asked between coughs. "Charles, don't you think that we would shock them like that? To tell them without warning?"
"Well, Beryl knows already. We could warn Gordon and maybe his lordship", Charles suggested after he was sure that Elsie was all right.
"I think we have to tell his lordship at least. We have to talk with him about our replacements, the cottage and sort out the date of our departure", Elsie replied, still a little shocked at Charles' sudden boldness.
Charles leaned back with a sigh. "I think we ought to talk to him shortly after New Year's Day."
"Right", Elsie nodded and decided to move from her chair onto Charles' lap. He gladly took her in his arms. His tiredness got the better of him so he rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. "Have you anyone in mind who should take our positions?", she asked, speaking quietly.
"I thought of Anna, but I suppose she'll want to stay Lady Mary's maid", he mumbled.
"I suppose you're right. And Thomas is to be made butler then?"
"Thomas", he growled. "He is good if it comes to the job, but as a butler he should be more trustworthy, kinder and more…" He let out a cough to make the word less understandable. "Proper."
She smiled at this circumscription. "Who else is there? James seems to dislike life as a servant and I would be surprised if he stays for the next year."
"I thought about Raff", Charles admitted.
Elsie let out a short laugh. "Raff? He has been here for three months. I don't think he is ready to run this house."
"But he is clever. If I trained him he would be ready soon", Charles argued.
"Maybe, but I don't think that will work."
"At least he's got his heart at the right place", he said and stared into the distance.
She knew what he was thinking. She often thought it herself. "He reminds us of William, doesn't he?" She heard Charles swallowing hard. "He does", he admitted quietly and his grip on her tightened. "One would think after five years it stopped hurting…"
She turned fully towards him. "I never knew that you felt like this. I mean, I knew you were fond of William, but…"
"I've always been good in burying my feelings."
That was enough. She hugged him, holding him tightly, stroking his neck and hair, kissing the side of his head. If she had known that William's death had had the same effect on him as on her she would have comforted him all those years ago. Just like when Lady Sybil had died. But instead they had carried on without even speaking about it. Now this was unlikely to ever happen. She would make sure that. He broke the hug to look at her. A smile spread across his lips. "I love you." She leaned forward to kiss him, but a knock at the door made her jump from his lap and she slid back onto the chair. Charles still held is arms in front of him, too surprised by her actions to react to the knock and so Elsie did that for him. "Come in", she said and slowly the door was opened. A small figure carefully poked her head in the room and when the blue eyes saw butler and housekeeper the door was pushed entirely open. It was Miss Sybbie. Charles and Elsie exchanged an amused look. "Did you run away from nanny again?", he asked.
"You are not angry with me, are you?", she asked worriedly and grabbed the door knob.
"Of course not, but you really should stop doing this", he chuckled.
Elsie leaned over to him. "One day that Nanny suffers a heart attack, I promise you", she joked. Miss Sybbie still stood in the doorway. She was barefoot and in her night gown. They hardly saw her in anything else really. In fact, they almost didn't see her at all. "Why are you here?", he asked gently.
"I haven't wished you a merry Christmas", she said, a guilty expression on her face. They smiled fondly at the girl. Charles rose from his seat and crossed the room. She looked up at him. She was hardly reaching his waist. He pulled her up on his arms. "Merry Christmas, Miss Sybbie." Charles carried her to Elsie and let her down so that the housekeeper could give the young girl a cuddle. "Will you bring me to bed?", she asked, looking hopefully at the housekeeper who couldn't possibly say no. She took the girl's hand who willingly followed her.
"Can I come too?", Charles asked and Miss Sybbie offered him her other hand which he gladly took. They tiptoed through the house until they reached her room. Quietly they entered to avoid waking up Master George. They had to give Miss Sybbie the lead since they couldn't see too much in the dark room. They arrived safely at the bed. "Carson?", the girl whispered and he kneeled in front of her to be more or less eye to eye with her. He wasn't too surprised when her little arms went around his neck and she hugged him. She didn't say a word, but Charles understood perfectly. He watched how Elsie tucked the half asleep girl in. When they left the room the young girl was fast asleep. Elsie suddenly felt very tired too and remembered how Charles had almost dozed off earlier. "We need some sleep", she said. He agreed with a nod. Therefore they didn't return downstairs and immediately headed to their attic rooms. They shared a light kiss before each headed in the opposite direction than the other and soon lay in their beds. The last ones drifting off to sleep were as many nights before butler and housekeeper.
The next day was over as fast as it had begun. Christmas had passed so quickly that Elsie felt like she needed something stronger that evening. Charles thankfully had arranged some sherry and she felt a bit better when she had had a drop. They were chatting about how Isis had stormed into the Christmas tree and accidentally destroyed some of the decorations. They came to the conclusion that this year the Abbey was just not a save place for trees. The sound of footsteps in the hallway interrupted them. Hadn't everyone gone up? Quietly they opened the door a crack and saw Raff and Sophie. They were standing in the doorway to the servant's hall. It was impossible to understand what they were saying, but when they both looked up, the two heads of staff too discovered the mistletoe. Charles expected nothing more than a harmless kiss on the cheek for Raff, but instead the lad bent down and kissed Sophie lightly on the lips. Charles led out a shocked gasp and Elsie made him shut up by elbowing him in the ribs. The two were in love and she didn't want her big butler to disturb this private moment between them. She pushed him back in the room and closed the door as quietly as possible. "He kissed her on the lips! What in heaven's name…?" She silenced him by kissing him full on the mouth. "Kissing does no harm as you know", she teased.
"We are engaged! They aren't", he said.
"We don't know that", she challenged him. "Come on now! They are young and in love. That was about time if you'd ask me."
"Young? Yes. In love? I wouldn't be sure about that", he sighed.
"They are both intelligent young people who know what they are doing." She bit down on her lip to stop herself from grinning too brightly. "Looks like you shouldn't count in Raff in your round of possible replacements."
He gave her his most disapproving look, but she only laughed at him. It truly was no wonder that it took him so long to come around, she thought. As soon as love was around Charles couldn't handle it because it was something he couldn't control and that didn't always work with his rules. But when he shook his head and let out a chuckle, only to smile lovingly at her, she knew he had gotten better at that.
…
When the new year began the staff was gathered in the servant's hall and happily welcomed 1924. Charles and Elsie usually left the younger staff after half an hour to clink glasses in the privacy of his pantry, but this time they stayed. During the whole festivities they had enjoyed staying in the staff's company for they knew it was the last time they would celebrate at the Abbey. The thought of their departure gave both mixed feelings, but they wanted to be together. Gordon still wore the black armband and now and then had a sad expression on his face. Still all in all he enjoyed himself more than Elsie had hoped. The same applied to her. The immovable happy character of Ann took some of the grief's depression away.
…
The morning of the servant's ball, Elsie could hardly swallow a bite at breakfast. It was the day of their announcement and she was so afraid that something could go wrong that the way to her stomach seemed to be slightly blocked. Charles on the other hand had more appetite knowing that facing his lordship wouldn't be easy. Since Elsie's long absence he hadn't been in a good mood when it came to matters of the staff. It had taken Lady Mary and her ladyship to handle things with him and Charles feared that without one of them his lordship would get very angry. While serving breakfast Charles took his usual position and nothing in his appearance gave him away. Tom and Lady Edith left, leaving the Earl on his own who always stayed a few minutes longer at the breakfast table to finish his newspaper. Charles glanced over at the door. Elsie would be there any moment now. When she knocked Lord Grantham let out an exasperated sigh, folded the newspaper and laid it aside. He waited for Charles to open and was surprised when he spotted his housekeeper. "Mrs. Hughes", he said.
"Good morning, milord", she greeted him and walked over to stand next to Charles.
"Why are you here?", he asked, looking from butler to housekeeper.
"We need to talk to you", Charles answered.
"And it couldn't wait?", the Earl replied.
"I'm afraid not, milord. We intended to announce it during the servant's ball and decided it would be best if we warned you first", Charles explained.
Lord Grantham raised his eyebrows at that. "Announce what?"
Elsie looked up at Charles who took her hand in his for support. "Mrs. Hughes and I are engaged to be married and therefore wish to retire."
Lord Grantham's jaw dropped and he knocked over his empty tea cup that landed on the ground with a loud clatter. Charles and Elsie didn't move a muscle and waited patiently for the Earl to regain his composure. "Engaged? Retiring?", he blustered. "Don't be ridiculous!"
"Forgive me, milord, but we are most certainly not ridiculous!", Elsie protested. "Mr. Carson and I are in love and…"
"In love? At your age?", Lord Grantham responded.
Charles felt Elsie's temper rising next to him and was at a loss what to do to calm her. "May I point out that you are not that much younger than us?" If the Earl hadn't been shocked already, he was now. Charles could only think that she was right, but anyway he needed to interfere. "Milord, Mrs. Hughes and I have made our decision. We had hoped that your reaction would have been of a more positive nature. We will leave Downton very soon. It is your choice if you want us to help find replacements or not. And of course we will set the date for our departure together."
Lord Grantham stayed silent. It seemed that he was doing quite a lot of thinking at the moment. "You'll want to live in a cottage on the estate, I presume", he then said, sounding defeated.
"That would be very kind, milord", Elsie said.
"And you will tell everyone this evening?", the Earl asked crestfallen. The two heads of staff nodded. "Well", Lord Grantham sighed. "All that's left is that I really wish you happiness, although I hate to lose you both at the same time. As for your replacements if there is anyone out there at all who could replace you for I doubt it, we'll talk about that later when I am no longer in a certain state of shock."
Elsie squeezed Charles' hand and knew that he was smiling. After all the conversation had taken the right course. "Thank you, milord. I can promise you that we won't let you down when it comes to finding a new butler and housekeeper", Charles said.
Lord Grantham nodded gratefully. "Now", he said. "I need some fresh air and I'm sure you'll have to do some work thinking of the servant's ball this evening."
Elsie released Charles' hand. "That is true, milord." And with that the Earl left for a walk with Isis, while the couple returned downstairs.
"That went suboptimal", Elsie told Charles when they were in his pantry. He had already sat down at his desk and was looking for his pen to go through his paper work.
"That was to be expected", he answered. "But in the end I think we got what we wanted. We warned him and gave things the starting shot."
"We did", she agreed and leaned over the desk to kiss the corner of his mouth. "I see you later."
He gave her his lopsided grin and she left his pantry feeling very proud to be Charles Carson's woman. She entered her sitting room and was surprised to find Gordon sitting on her settee. "Hello, Gordon. How can I help you?", she asked while crossing the room to her desk. She let out a sigh when she saw all the paper work she still had do and sat down.
"I wanted to congratulate you."
She turned around with her swivel chair. "Congratulate me?"
"I know you are engaged to Mr. Carson and I wanted to wish you luck and happiness."
"What…? Who told you?"
"Beryl. She thought I already knew. She was looking for someone to talk about it and since it's still a secret she thought at least I knew and gave herself away", he explained.
Elsie had to laugh. "That's typical. But Charles and I wanted to tell you anyway before tonight."
"You will announce it then during the servant's ball?"
"Yes."
Gordon got up. "I'm looking forward to it." She stood up to accept the hug he offered. Hugging was one of the habits he had developed after Ann's death and it was one she didn't mind. "Gordon, you get along well with Beryl."
"Yes, she makes me laugh which makes me feel better. I suppose that's exactly the kind of person you need when you're trying to get over a death", he said and let her go. "I really am absolutely happy for you." He took a look at her desk. "But I better leave you to your work."
She watched him leave. A rather strange thought popped into her mind. What if Gordon and Beryl…? Well, it was a bit early for that, but who knew? One day these two might be the ones who were engaged. Beryl definitely deserved it. And Gordon was a far better match than that Mr. Tufton.
…
Elsie joined the others in the servant's hall. Especially Sophie looked forward to the servant's ball since it was her first one. Everyone was chatting happily, but when Charles, Anna and Mr. Bates entered, silence fell over the room. Charles was a little pale while Anna and Mr. Bates beamed with joy. "Everyone, there is something Anna and Mr. Bates would like to tell you", Charles announced and fled to Elsie's side. "Are you alright?", she whispered.
"I'm more than all right. I'm only so surprised", he admitted quietly. Elsie gave him a suspicious look and then turned towards the couple. "We'll make it short", Mr. Bates promised and let Anna continue: "I'm pregnant and it will become obvious soon, so we thought we tell you the good news."
There were no words to describe the pure joy that exploded downstairs. Anna and Mr. Bates couldn't save themselves from hugs and congratulations. It took at least ten minutes until everyone had calmed down. Elsie leaned over to Charles. "That was about time."
"Yes, and I am so happy for them. But there goes another one who could replace one of us", he pointed out.
"Charles", she began and looked him deep in the eye. "I couldn't care less about that at the moment." She squeezed his hand tenderly. "Let's go now to dance one last time in the Great Hall."
As every year, Charles and Lady Grantham as well as Elsie and Lord Grantham were the first on the dance floor. They were soon joined by the others, but it wasn't before two hours had passed that Charles asked Elsie for a dance. It was the first time that he did so and Elsie wouldn't reject him. "I have never before danced with you", she whispered when he had already held her safely in his arms for a few minutes.
"I know and we really should have done it earlier. You are a marvellous dancer. Besides, if they see us dancing they might be a little prepared for our announcement", Charles whispered back and made Elsie laugh.
While the couple was happily dancing, the Dowager Countess eyed them with two raised eyebrows. "Well, that is something I have never seen before."
Lord Grantham leaned back and took another sip of brandy. "You won't be surprised of it when you know the whole story."
"Why don't I find that reassuring?", the Dowager replied and shook her head in a disapproving manner.
"They look so happy", Lady Grantham said, smiling fondly at the couple.
"They shouldn't be dancing if that makes them happy or not", the Dowager protested.
"Oh, come now, granny! That was about time", Lady Mary said, but there was no way the Dowager would change her mind about the scene. "Have I told you that Anna is pregnant?", Lady Mary continued.
"Well, I don't like admitting it, but that was about time", the Dowager concluded.
Charles and Elsie didn't hear one bit of that conversation. They were lost in each other and their very first dance. "Ready?", Charles asked.
"Ready", Elsie assured him. They left the dance floor and told Raff to turn out the music for a moment. Everyone's attention went immediately to them when the gramophone stopped. Charles exchanged a look with Lord Grantham who nodded his permission and Elsie winked at Gordon and Beryl who smiled happily at them. "I'm sorry for the interruption, but there is something Mrs. Hughes and I have to tell you." Just like this morning he took her hand and held it tightly. "Mrs. Hughes and I will retire and not only that: We are getting married."
For a moment Elsie thought half the people in front of them would pass out, especially the Dowager, but then the staff was once more that day in a state of pure joy and congratulated them. Even Thomas seemed to be happy for them, more because of the new hopes he had on becoming butler, but also because he was grateful for what the two had done for him and therefore he granted them happiness.
"Now I have seen everything", the Dowager said a little shocked.
"I don't why, but somehow I feel like you have said that before", Lady Mary replied and left her grandmother to hug her butler and wish the housekeeper every luck there was. And in the end even Violet Crawley had to admit that what had happened during the servant's hall had been about time.
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