Elsie stood opposite Charlie and they both smiled at each other, whilst staring lovingly into each other's eyes. Neither could believe that this moment had finally arrived, as they swapped their vows and held tightly on to each other's hands.
'I Elspeth Mhairi Hughes, take thee, Charles Edward Carson to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor and to cherish, till death us do part.' Elsie said quietly, as instructed by Reverend Travis and Ella couldn't help but take a deep breath of pride as she heard her mam say the words. She had also never thought about her mother's middle name before or that Elsie might have been the shortened version of Elspeth. She realised that, although she had shared so much with her mam in the last year, she still had so much that she wanted to learn about her.
Once Elsie had repeated her promise to Charlie, it was now his turn to make his to her. Ella knew that he would look after her mam, just the way he was looking at her now proved that. He was so deliriously happy, that he had tears in his eyes and his bottom lip quivered ever so slightly as he formed the words to his promise to her.
'I Charles Edward Carson, take thee, Elspeth Mhairi Hughes to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor and to cherish, till death us do part.' He replied with as much love and care as one could convey in one sentence.
As Ella stood just behind her mam, she happened to catch her own husband's eye, who was standing behind Charlie and glancing at his wife. They both smiled at each other, happy for themselves and happy for the man and woman saying their vows. Henry was so lost in his own happiness, that he very nearly missed his cue to hand Charlie the rings, which made Elsie stifle a laugh when she noticed it, but the distraction slightly unnerved Charlie, who fumbled a little as he placed the ring to Elsie's finger and she placed her hand over his to steady him. He briefly looked up at her and smiled, before calmly pushing the ring neatly into place and saying the words that accompanied it.
'In the presence of God, and before their witnesses, Elspeth and Charles have given their consent and made their marriage vows to each other. They have declared their marriage by the joining of hands and by the giving and receiving of a ring. I therefore proclaim that they are husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.' Reverend Travis said and Charlie took a step toward his bride and placed a tender, chaste kiss to her lips, which was followed by a short round of applause by Ella, Sybil, Tom and Henry. When they pulled apart, Elsie and Charlie beamed with love, devotion and utter blissful delight.
'Mam I'm so happy for you,' Ella whispered as she held her mam close and hugged her tightly, which was very much reciprocated by Elsie, as the wedding party began to make their way out of the church.
Sybil ushered Tom and Henry out first, citing that they should give the newlyweds and their daughter a few moments alone, a comment that really touched and pleased Ella in some respects, but coming from her own sister, it still, occasionally, felt a little strange. Just before she departed, Sybil turned to face her sister and they passed a very loving and knowing look between them, before she disappeared and the outside door to the church was heard closing, and Ella, Elsie and Charlie stood together halfway up aisle.
Ella wrapped her arm around Elsie's waist and rested her head against hers as they faced Charlie, who was smiling uncontrollably at them both and held tightly on to Elsie's hand, which now had her shiny new wedding band.
'You must promise me that you'll take very good care of her,' Ella said to him, but she knew that he would and knew that he always had, but she wanted to make sure that he would. It still amazed her at how her relationship with the housekeeper had changed and how natural her relationship with her mother had formed, but she still felt so very protective of her mam and was never afraid to show that defensiveness, which made Charlie smile all the more.
'I can promise you Ella, I will take very good care of her, from now and forever.' He said as he gently squeezed Elsie's hand. 'And I very much hope that you will let me take good care of you too.' He added.
'You always have Mr Carson, but I am so pleased that it will now be as my dad.' She said and he puffed out his chest a little at her words.
The door to the church opened once again, putting an end to their tender moment, but the look of delight on Sybil's face as she peered round the door, piqued the interest of the new family.
'Quick Aurie, you must come outside, it's so beautiful!' She exclaimed before dashing off again. Charlie, Elsie and Ella looked at each other with furrowed brows and questioning looks, but did indeed follow the other young woman out into the cold December air and they finally saw what it was that Sybil had been referring to.
When they had entered the church there hadn't been a single snowflake on the ground, but now everywhere was covered in a very thick blanket, with the gravestones covered to halfway up and a constant, slow flurry still falling, just as the sky was beginning to turn pink.
Charlie quickly disappeared back into the church to grab his and Elsie's coats, which he lovingly helped her to put on, before he considered putting on his own and Ella loved this little display of affection, which neither of them probably realised that they were showing each other.
'I didn't think to order the car to take us back up to the house, as I thought the walk back might have been nice; but I can always use Reverend Travis's phone if you would rather I get the car back?' Ella said as she tightened her own coat around her.
'Not at all Ella; I think the walk back will do us all some good. Besides, the car probably won't even get out of the drive in this, let alone into the village.' Elsie replied as she tucked her arm through her husband's as they all began to walk away from the church.
The two younger couples walked slightly on ahead, leaving the two newlyweds to hang back a little as they walked out of the village and began to walk up the snowy, bare, tree lined road, that led up to Downton Abbey.
'I wonder what they will say when we get back to the house.' Elsie said as she buried herself deeper into Charlie's side.
'I don't think I really care what they think,' Charlie replied.
'My my Charles Carson, you do surprise me. I didn't think there was anything more important to you than what the family thought and about the standards we kept.' Elsie teased with that mischievous grin.
'Ah well that is where you are wrong my dear; for nothing is more important to me than you are, well you and Ella.' He responded as he placed his hand over hers, which was still nestled in the crook of his arm. 'Did you hear her, in the church, she called me dad.' He added softly with a proud smile.
'I did; you've made her so very happy, and me too of course, but she's so delighted that the three of us can be a family, the way she feels it should be, the way it probably always should have been.' Elsie replied quietly and with a little melancholy tone.
'But we're a family now and that's what matters, well it's all that matters to me.' He replied softly and she nodded subtly at him. Neither had realised that they had stopped walking, but Ella had noticed and she too had stopped, a couple of yards ahead of them, soon followed by Sybil, then Henry and then Tom.
'Is everything alright Aurie?' Sybil asked, as she stood just in front of her sister, but she got no reply, as Ella stood rooted to the spot, fixated on her mam and dad and at how happy they looked together and at how happy she was for them; that was until she felt something wet and cold hit her in the side of the head and then heard a mischievous giggle.
'Oh it's going to be like that is it?' She replied with a raised eyebrow, as she then scooped up a handful of snow, smoothed it into a loose ball and then threw it at her retreating twin, which hit her in the back, causing both Tom and Henry to break into raucous fits of laughter, which inevitably meant that their respective wives soon turned their attentions to them.
Elsie and Charlie watched as the grown men and women suddenly reverted to children in a school playground. They did continue to walk up the lane, but in very slow increments; however, neither Charlie nor Elsie minded, as it pleased them to see their daughter enjoying herself.
'It's lovely to see her smile like that.' Charlie said in a deep rumble as Elsie stood beside him with her head resting against his chest as she tried to shelter from the cold wind that was starting to whip around them.
'Aye, it is grand to know that my baby is happy and that we're finishing our year on a high, rather than the sorrow and strife it started with; it makes things a little easier for me when we finally move into our cottage.' She replied with a genuinely delighted smile.
'Do you mean that?' He asked with uncertainty. 'Because we don't have to do anything that you don't want to do you know?' He added and it was a phrase that referred to so many things, none of which she knew exactly how to respond to.
'I'm quite sure Charlie; that house will truly be the start of our new life together.' She said, calling her husband by his name for the first time, which was a new sensation for the both of them. They'd spent the last twenty five years calling each other Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes, so the thought of referring to each other by any other name, was going to take some getting used to, but to hear her say his name, particularly in that delicious Scottish brogue, certainly met with his approval.
As they stood talking something suddenly flew past their faces, quickly followed by "Oi that nearly hit my mam!" and a very hasty "Sorry!" from Tom, who suddenly yelped as Ella launched a rather large, retaliatory snowball at his face. Elsie laughed as she clung to her husband's arm, before gaining her composure to chastise them all.
'Right I think we've had quite enough of that thank you!' She said, as she put on her best, stern-housekeeper-tone, which made Charlie chuckle to himself and the four younger adults did indeed do as they were told and stopped, eventually, exhausted, soaking wet and a little bedraggled, but happy just the same.
'Quite right,' Ella coughed and spluttered with giddiness. 'If we don't set off now, the ball will have finished by the time we get there.' She added with a laugh, as they all regained their composure and set off at a leisurely pace once more, this time they all walked together in a small group.
They sky had soon turned pitch black, the snow had all but stopped now and very little could be seen in front of them, except for the warm glow of the lights from the Abbey that were cast into the dark grounds around them. As they approached the front door, music could be heard spilling out into the driveway; but it wasn't the usual band that they had for the ball, nor was it the usual music.
On hearing the music Ella's face split into a wide smile; she'd clean forgotten about her surprise for her mam and dad, so now she dragged them both inside, where the entrance hall was filled with the sounds of accordions and fiddles, playing a reel or two.
'Surprise mam!' Ella whispered with glee at Elsie's astonishment. 'I thought I'd really get in touch with my Scottish side for the evening.' Elsie had no idea what to say to her beloved daughter, or indeed how to express her astonishment to her new husband, who was trying to help her take her coat off; she was just quite glad that they were currently on their own. However, at the sound of their voices, the door to the library opened and both Robert and Cora appeared with bemused looks on their faces.
'Ella, Sybil, where on earth have you been?' Cora asked as she took in the sight of their sodden clothing and reddened cheeks.
'Hello Mama, well, we have some news for you.' Ella said as she kissed her mother on the cheek, which made Cora wince as she felt the cold.
'What news?' Cora replied as she looked at her youngest daughter with concern and for an explanation.
'Well it's not my news to tell you; so I'll let Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes explain.' Ella said as she looked towards her mam and dad.
'Is everything alright Carson?' Cora prompted.
'Yes Milady, everything is more than alright, I hope you will find. You see, Mrs Hughes and I, well we got married this afternoon Milady.' Charlie explained, a little unsure of how to find the words at first, but at his words, Mary appeared from the library, and all three expressed their delight at the newlyweds' news.
'Congratulations Carson, Mrs Hughes…or should I say Mrs Carson now? This truly is welcoming news!' Robert said as he shook the butler's hand.
'Thank you your Lordship.' Elsie replied with a slight blush.
'But why all the cloak and dagger?' Cora asked, but she had a large smile and was genuinely happy for the two senior staff members.
'Well Milady, I'm sure you can appreciate that I wanted Lady Aurelia to be there; but if we had informed the other staff, or indeed anyone else, then it may have seemed too unusual that she was taking such an active role. We also only wanted a very small, quiet day, so it made sense for us to keep it secret until afterwards.' Elsie explained respectfully and prayed that Cora and Robert wouldn't take exception to Ella being actively involved in their wedding, but she needn't have worried.
'Of course you would have wanted Ella to have been there.' Cora said with sad understanding. She knew about the relationship Elsie and Ella had built together, as Ella had been very honest with her mother, and Cora did appreciate that they tried to keep their relationship separate from the one her daughter had with her; but every so often something would happen, that would just tug a little at Cora's heartstring, that would remind her that, naturally, she was Ella's mother. Not that Ella ever took her relationship with her mother for granted, nor did she think any less of Cora for not being her natural mother, and she did very much hope that she conveyed this to her mama.
'Mama we're going to go up and change before you open the ball,' Ella said as she once more adopted her formal tone and posture.
'Oh quite right; the other servants will be coming up shortly, the band are just warming up, oh and Henry, your mother and father arrived whilst you were all out. We've settled them in the Princess Amelia and I believe that they were getting changed themselves before they planned to come down.' Cora explained.
At her words everyone parted without another word to the other. Charlie and Elsie left through the servant's door and Sybil, Tom, Ella and Henry made their way up the stairs.
'Perhaps I will look in on mother and father before I change.' Henry said as they got to gallery corridor.
'Of course, go ahead; I'm just going to get changed right away though as I'm starting to feel rather cold.' Ella replied as she kissed her husband and cupped his cheek before parting to their bedroom.