A/N: I'm glad that I could redeem myself with Chapter Three – I was beginning to fear that a team of Ninja Chelsie Shippers was going to kidnap me in the middle of the night and force me to read non-fanfic for days on end as punishment! ;-)

I would also like to comment that I hope that I didn't offend anyone by moving too swiftly from assault to comfort in this story. It was not my intention to treat the subject of assault, abuse and rape lightly or as something that could be overcome quickly but I also did not want to have this become a completely dark fic. I will take my cues on re-writing any parts of the story from the review comments I receive…so please don't be afraid to leave me even an anonymous review if I have treated this too lightly.

Well…we got Charles and Elsie through that very stressful night but what about Richard and Isobel?

Disclaimer: They still belong to Fellowes and I'm still not making any money off these little rants of mine. And no copyright infringement is intended!

Richard closed the door quietly behind him and turned to find that she had left the bedside lamp on low for him as was her habit at home when he would let himself into her house after a late night at the studio. He could see her profile on the pillow and noticed the frown that creased her brow in her sleep. He stepped over to hang his jacket on the chair at the vanity across the room and undressed down to his undershirt and shorts before slipping between the sheets.

She turned in her sleep and snuggled up against his side as he lay on his back with one arm behind his head. He slid his other arm around her shoulders and started drawing small patterns lightly between her shoulder blades.

He was stretching over to towards the light when he heard her soft voice against his chest, "Schilling for your thoughts?"

"An entire schilling?" he chuckled and planted a soft kiss at her hairline.

"With everything that's happened tonight, I thought you might have a lot of them."

"Hmm...thinking about Charles. He's feeling a bit lost and left out where Elsie is concerned," he replied.

"I can imagine," she sighed, "I really think it's just the shock but he's going to have to be patient and let her come to him when she's ready."

"That's what I told him," explained Richard. "Elsie is a strong one, I don't think she'll be down for long."

"I'm worried that she'll keep it all bottled up inside and that won't help either of them," she said tightening her arms around his chest. "Do you think they should see a counselling psychologist?"

"I can't see that either one of them would even consider that as an option," he said wearily, "We'll just have to watch and wait to see what happens."

"Which puts us in the same boat as Charles...now I understand better how he feels...waiting and watching."

Richard murmured in agreement, "I've been trying to imagine what I would have done if it had been you instead of Elsie."

"And?" she pulled back to look up into his face.

He looked deeply into her eyes and planted a soft kiss on the end of her nose before replying softly, "You would be visiting me in the gaol."

She smiled at him and leaned in to place a tender kiss upon his lips when she heard a sudden gasp as he brought his arm from behind his head to slide it around her shoulders. She looked down at his other hand as he held it to his stomach and saw the purple and blue bruises swelling on his knuckles.

"Oh! We should have put some ice on that hand," she exclaimed reaching out to gingerly touch the knuckle of his middle finger which looked like it had split open and was bleeding. "I'll go down…"

"No," he interrupted drawing her back against his chest with the arm he had around her shoulders. "The damage is done and I'd rather have you here with me."

She hugged him around the chest and then slipped her hand under his injured one and lifted it to her lips to place a small kiss on the back of it. "There, is that better?"

He smiled into her hair and replied, "Much…but I think you missed a spot."

"Oh? And where would that be?"

"My wrist is a little sore, I think I might have twisted it when I connected with his nose." She gently turned his hand enough that she could plant a kiss on the tender skin of his wrist.

"Are there any other spots I should kiss and make better?" She looked up at him with an impish smirk on her face.

"Just one more," he said as she quirked an eyebrow at him. He slowly raised the injured hand to point to his lower lip.

"You injured your lip when you punched Mr. Branson in the nose?" she asked.

"No, but you asked me if there was any place else that you could kiss and make it better…and I always feel better after you kiss me on the lips," he smirked at her. She laughed and stretched up to kiss him trapping his injured hand between them causing him to grimace and pull away.

"Richard, I'm sorry," she gasped and looked down at his hand. "It looks like it's bleeding again. Let's go into the bathroom and I'll see if I can't find something to bandage it up with."

"Come here, I'll be fine," he tried to coax her back into his arms.

"You may be fine but we don't need you bleeding all over these beautiful bed linens." She pulled back the covers and pushed him out of the bed. She pulled Elsie's spare dressing gown around herself as she padded after him into the bathroom.

He sat down on the toilet seat cover and ran his good hand through his hair. He squinted against the bright lights and watched as Isobel searched through the cabinets, finally finding a box of Elastoplast and some ointment. She looked over to see him rubbing the back of his neck and stretching his shoulders and back.

"Why don't you have a hot shower before you come back to bed?" she said reaching out and brushing the hair out of his eyes. "Might help you sleep better."

"I will if you'll join me," he reached out and slid his good hand around her hip and squeezed her bottom.

With as much as he'd had to drink tonight, she didn't think he'd be up to any hanky-panky and it had been a very stressful night. A hot shower would likely do them both a world of good. "Go on with you then, I'll run the hot water and you get undressed."

The shower was an oversized square affair set in the corner of the bathroom. It was one of those modern showers with stone tile floors, water jets in the walls and a large bench seat across the back corner. She reached in and turned on the water although it took several tries to get the proper shower heads running and the temperature right. The steam was just beginning to cloud the glass walls when she felt his hands slide around her waist from behind. He unfastened the belt of the dressing gown and pulled it from her shoulders to puddle at her feet on the tile floor.

"You're supposed to be relaxing…mmm…" she trailed off when she felt his lips on the side of her neck.

"Touching you is very relaxing," he murmured as his hands smoothed over her pyjama shirt to cup her breasts. He looked over her shoulder as he began to unfasten the buttons, "This is one of our Richobel sets, isn't it?"

"It is but I think there's a problem with it," she replied, glad of the distraction to keep him on task for his shower. "I don't care for the way it fits through the shoulders. We should take a look at…" She started to pull back when he pushed the pyjama shirt down her arms to join the dressing gown on the floor at her feet.

"We'll look at it…tomorrow…" he smiled down at her and pulled her against his bare chest and kissed her hungrily.

"Richard, the shower is running," she whispered as her head began to swim.

He slid his hands beneath the waistband of the pyjama trousers and down over her hips. "Then you'd better get rid of these," he whispered against the side of her neck. He reached out and opened the shower door and ushered her into the steam. He followed close behind and hissed as the hot water cascaded over his shoulders and arms causing his injured hand to throb and the cut to sting. His hiss turned to a heartfelt sigh as he realized how sore his muscles really were.

She had turned to face him and stood watching as the expressions played across his face. There was a small stack of flannels on the end of the bench and she reached down for two of them before nudging him around so that she could reach his back.

Handing him one of the flannels she said, "You do the front and I'll do the back."

"But it's more fun when you do the front," he whimpered playfully.

"Someone has to scrub your back, my dear," she returned and began to massage a large knot that she'd found near the top of his injured shoulder. She could hear his groans and sighs as she worked her way across his shoulder blade and down his back.

"Mmm…that is better…must have been the impact," he smiled appreciatively as he scrubbed his chest and stomach. "Your turn," he grinned wolfishly as he turned to face her and pull her into his arms.

"Yes, well, I expect a full back rub as well," she said pointing over her shoulder and turning to face away from him.

He laughed and proceeded to rub her shoulders and back. Soon the firm strokes of his hands became gentle caresses to which he added his lips and tongue. His hands moved around her waist and one rose to cup her breast while the other came to rest on the swell of her lower abdomen below her navel.

He rested his chin on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Your beautiful body always makes me go weak in the knees, Belle."

"Are you alright?" her voice held a small note of panic.

"I'm fine but I think perhaps I should sit down," he murmured as he began to back them up to the bench seat in the corner of the shower. He sat down and pulled her into his lap in a single motion. Her eyes widened and she turned to look at him over her shoulder in surprise. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her and waited for her to explain.

"With all the excitement…and all that you've had to drink tonight…"

"I told you it would be a very cold day when a Scotsman couldn't hold his drink," he leered and shifted her back against his growing arousal.

Her giggle turned to a moan when his uninjured hand found its way to her center. He teased her for a bit and she stretched and rubbed her back against his chest. She reached one arm up behind her to caress the back of his neck as he nipped and bit the top of her shoulder. It wasn't long before she had the need to feel him inside of her so she raised herself up and traced her fingers firmly along his length. He growled into her back when she paused and placing his hands on both of her hips, firmly pulled her down along his length.

For the next few minutes their thoughts were of nothing else but each other. He felt her hand snake up around his neck when she turned her head to kiss him as the first pulsing waves of her release started. He wrapped his arms around her waist and started to thrust a bit more aggressively as his own release washed over him.

It was gentle and loving and sweet…and when they were finished, she sighed in contentment when he curled himself around her and left a trail of soft kisses along the inside of her left shoulder blade. After several long minutes, she sat up and turned to speak over her shoulder when he placed two fingers over her lips to silence her. He began to rise and eased her to her feet to face him. He took her face in both of his hands and looked deeply into her eyes revealing all of the love and desire that he continued to feel for her before he leaned in and covered her mouth with an achingly slow kiss.

When he finally broke away from the kiss, he turned off the water and led her from the shower by the hand. They took turns placing soft sweet kisses on each other's bodies as they dried each other off. She led him back into the bedroom and pulled back the covers before climbing in and making room in the bed beside her. He leaned over to turn off the lamp and returned to gather her into his arms as she snuggled against his side and settled her head in the crook of his neck. Not another word was needed as they both drifted off into a peaceful slumber.