DOUBLE ANNIVERSARY-3

Hi everyone. Hope you had a good week. Mine was rather intense, but luckily a long weekend is ahead of me, so I'm hoping to update more. In the last chapter, Carson got an order to relax, but that will not be easy, especially after a visit in a particular hat shop, that we already know from New Era ;-) Whilst Robert and Cora are taking a trip down memory lane...Hope you will like this one...

Charles & Elsie

Elsie was having such a wonderful time in France. Never before had she felt, that she was having a time of her life. It was similar when they left to Scarborough, for their honeymoon, but that was such a short trip back then, plus she was really nervous about her newly wed life. Now she and Charles were so happy together. After Lord Grantham talked some sense into Charles, he finally relaxed a bit and started to enjoy this trip, as much as she has.

Just as Charles promised, he showed her the gardens and they visited all the most beautiful places, which Charles knew during his first trip. Elsie was really enjoying all his stories about the villa. He learned surprisingly a lot of things about the house history. Elsie was so touched and proud, because she knew, how much he loved history and how much he was willing to tell her all about it.

The only thing that bothered her, was her clothes. She has never spend time in such warm climate and her clothes were not suited for this type of weather. When she mentioned this to Charles, he immediately offered to take her shopping, he himself, has bought some appropriate clothes during his first stay, but now it was time to help Elsie.

When they walked to the village, Elsie was once again amazed, how well Charles knew it, he must have really been here few times, since he remembered that much...Elsie bought herself few lighter clothes and she was most pleased about a beautiful white dress, with blue flowers, which fitted her perfectly. She looked stunningly attractive in it and she noticed with satisfaction, how Charles reacted enthusiastically at her view, when she got out of the changing room.

They were already walking back to the villa, when they passed a hat shop and Elsie noticed a lovely hat with a blue ribbon, which would be a perfect addition to the dress, that she just bought a moment ago. She told Charles that she wanted to buy it and she was surprised with his reaction. He seemed hesitant to go inside and she didn't understand why. She was soon about to find out...

She was watching the hat, when to her amazement, the shop seller greeted her husband with a familiar tone:

"Ah Mr Carson...It's so nice to see you again...It's been a while since you visited my shop...I see you brought Mrs Carson again...Oh wait...This is not Mrs Carson..."

"Hello Mr Blanc. I'm glad we meet again...Let me introduce you to my wife...Elsie Carson..."

"Nice to meet you Mrs Carson...I'm sorry, I am a little confused...I thought that the Lady who helped you pick your hat last year was Mrs Carson..."

"No, Mrs Carson was not with me in France back then...She is here now and she would really like to buy this hat with a blue ribbon..."

"Yes, of course...I will show it to you now..."

The rest of the visit in the shop was rather awakward...On their way back to the villa, they didn't say a word to each other...Elsie was astound, by what she just witnessed and Charles was so embarassed, that he didn't know how to explain himself...

When they got back to their room, Charles cleared his throat and he started his speech...

"Elsie, I would like to explain to you what happened today...It must have been awkward for you to hear what you heard..."

"Indeed it was Charles...Very awkward...Apparently you have been shopping with some woman, who was considered to be your wife...I guess I don't have to tell you how that makes me feel..."

"Elsie please...Let me tell you the whole story..."

Charles told Elsie everything and she listened carefully. She sighed with relief, when she found out the real reason of the shop seller's behavior.

"Was that it? Charles...You could have told me that yourself...You needn't keep it a secret..."

"I wasn't...It was so insignificant for me, that I didn't even mention this...I hope that you are not jealous.."

"To tell you the truth I am a little...You have memories from this place with another woman and I'm not that woman..."

"I wouldn't call it memory Elsie...It was just a trifle, not worth to mention...For me the most important thing is, that I came back here to make real memories, with the most important woman in my life, that's what matters...In winter, when there will be cold, we will sit on the sofa and talk about wonderful memories from this lovely summer, don't you agree love?"

"Well Mr Carson, I can't wait to create those precious memories with you here..."

A tender kiss and a loving hug, seemed to be the perfect addition to that moment...

Cora & Robert

Cora and Robert were spending afternoon lazily, lying on the deckchairs in the garden, drinking some cold drinks, protecting themselves from the sun... Robert was reading a book, gently stroking Cora's hand from time to time and Cora simply enjoyed an idea of casually spend afternoon...

So far, she was loving their trip together...Weather was perfect, food was delicious and she was spending such a lovely time...She really enjoyed the fact, that the Carsons were with them, although so far, they didn't spend a lot of time together, but Cora already had an idea how to solve this... However at the moment, she just wanted this time to never end...

She began to think, that maybe it was a good thing, that neither of their daughters could come with them, because as much as she loved spending time with them, she knew, that it would mean a lot of commotion and she felt, that she needed some quiet time, a pleasurable time, with just her beloved husband...She smiled warmly to him and leaned his way to give him a kiss...

"Mmm...That was nice...What have I done to deserve it?"

"Nothing particularly...You simply took me to this wonderful holiday and I feel grateful..."

"Very grateful indeed..."

"Yes, grateful for being alive, in a good health, well better than the last time we were here..."

"Yes, I will never forget when you told me about your disease...The very thought, that I could loose you made me cry..."

"I remember...But you also gave me a very passionate kiss, the kind of kiss that I was missing for a long time..."

"Was it like that?"- Robert put his lips on Cora's lips and they gave themselves a moment of pure pleasure...

"Almost as good as it was then...Oh Robert...I'm glad, that at least now, we know that I'm healthy.."

"You have no idea how happy it makes me...Every single day...We are almost perfectly happy, aren't we Cora?"

"Why almost perfectly?"

"We can't be totally happy, because of Mary's situation...Edith and Tom are having great marriages, but Mary is not doing so well..."

"You know our Mary...She can definitely take care of herself...She is very strong...She was always like that. Stubborn to the core...Even on the day of her birth...I thought that she will never come out of me... She was resisting so hard.."

"I wasn't there with you, but I remember, that it felt like forever, before I heard her screams..."

"Yes, but when she screamed she was heard in the whole Abbey..."

"No doubt about it and I could finally go to the room and see you both...I was so happy..."

"And I was exhausted...But you would be more happy if she was a boy, am I right Robert?"

"Well, I expected a boy, but then I thought, that we have plenty of time and the boy will arrive...To tell you the truth, I was more disappointed when Edith was born...Because at that time I was certain that she will be a boy..."

"I had the same feeling...Do you think that it was the reason why we always overlooked Edith? I still feel guilty about concentrating on Mary all the time and forgetting about Edith.."

"I think it may have something to do with it...But it all ended well and Edith is now the happiest one of our children..."

"Yes, she fully deserved her happiness, after so many years of struggles...What about when Sybil was born? Were you disappointed too?"

"Not so much...By the time Sybil was born, I already got used to the thought, that I'm not good in making boys...Besides Sybil was such a beautiful baby...She looked like a little angel..."

"Yes, I remember...She was so sweet, that I wanted to kiss her all the time...And she was an angel...Beauty and good...Now she is a real angel in heaven..."-Cora's eyes filled with tears...

"Oh don't cry my love...I know that it still hurts...Even after all those years..."

"It really does...The same as loosing our little boy...Those were the saddest moments of our life...We were blessed with four children, but we had to say goodbye to two of them..."

"But even such tragedies were not able to part us...We are here, together, celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary...I'm so happy..."

"As am I...Oh look, the Carsons are having their pre dinner walk in the gardens...Don't you just love to see them so happy together, enjoying this trip?"

"Yes Cora...Thank you for your wonderful idea...It couldn't be any better..."

"Actually Robert it could...I think that we are not spending enough time together. The point of this trip, was to let them know how much we value them and until now, we spend almost no time together, how about we eat dinner, all four of us?"

"I think that would be lovely, as long as Carson will not faint hearing this offer..."

Cora and Robert both burst with laughter, imagining Carson's reaction...

That's all for today's chapter my lovelies...Hope you had fun reading it. I will only tell you one thing- the next chapter will be a little more crazy...They will have dinner together and there will be a lot of fun and the night will end with a pinch of craziness ;-) I always look forward to hear your opinions. Have a great weekend and see you soon!