Not quite on our Elsie/Daisy time yet - next chapter, though, will be the trip back to the States!

Enjoy, everyone! With MoOL being finished I will have more time to devote here.

Thanks to brenna-louise for the proofreading! :)

xx

CSotA

Friday, February 20, 2015

Elsie was half-packed on Friday morning for her flight with Daisy the next afternoon. She'd left out a few things to wear, but managed to squeeze most everything else in her suitcase. She'd purchased a few souvenirs while they were away, but had been smart enough to bring an extra carry-on for them.

"I can take those in mine if you want." Charles's voice startled her, and she looked up to see him standing in the bathroom doorway, pointing at the gifts that were sitting beside her suitcase.

She gasped softly, the now-familiar feeling of desire settling low in her abdomen as she took in his appearance: towel wrapped around his waist, droplets of water sparkling on the hair of his chest, and him furiously drying his hair with a second, smaller towel.

"Something wrong, Els?" he smirked, knowing full well what was 'wrong' as he tossed the towel on the counter.

"Well," Elsie said, slowly walking over to him. "Don't you look rather … delicious?"

He laughed, then reached out for her hand, which she readily gave him. He tugged her toward his body quickly, and she wrapped her hands over the edges of the towel at his waist, tucking her thumbs underneath it and gently scratching his skin in the process.

"Elsie," he warned her. "We're expected at breakfast in -" He glanced at the clock. "- thirty-five minutes. And you still need to shower," he reminded her.

"I can shower and be ready in ten," she challenged him, already loosening the towel and dropping it to the floor.

He smiled broadly and kissed her rather forcefully, pushing her across the room and onto the bed. She laughed, then immediately quieted her voice lest they be overheard.

"Challenge accepted," he said, reaching for the hem of her nightgown.

"Oh, thank God," she murmured, her lips and tongue already at his neck. "I really thought you'd turn me down."

"Funny." Then his eyes shot open, and she smiled as he realized she wasn't wearing anything underneath the gown.

"You little minx," he whispered. "You put them back on last night, I watched you."

The smart-ass reply she meant to utter flew from her mind as his wandering hand quickly found its target destination, causing her to moan rather loudly before he slid her back further on the bed and settled in between her knees, his gentle ministrations having ensured she was more than ready.

Elsie reached out and pulled him closer, quick to welcome his body within hers as she closed her eyes, her pleasure clearly written on her face.

"I love you," he said meaningfully, and she opened her eyes to look in his own, his gaze intense and full of feeling, full of love. She reached up and gently held his face in her hands.

"I know," she whispered, moving her hips to encourage him.

Slow movements quickly turned frantic, the limited time they had driving them with an intensity they'd rarely experienced before. After a couple of minutes Charles reached for her calf, gently moving it to bend her knee more.

"Oh, Christ," she murmured, "Yes."

The slight change of angle produced the desired result and she quickly fell over the edge, moaning and panting loudly as she dug her fingertips into his back. The sharp prick of her fingernails was all he needed to follow immediately after her, and he managed by some small miracle to keep from shouting out.

He collapsed next to her on the bed, then lifted himself up on his elbow, chin in his hand, and Elsie tilted her head a bit for a kiss.

"I love you, too," she whispered, and he laughed.

"Well," he said breathlessly, "that was something."

"Mmm. I'm going to miss this," she said, reaching her hand out and brushing her fingers down his arm. "Making love every day, sleeping in your arms every night."

"I know," he sighed. "And I'm sorry I have to stay here for an extra five days."

"It's alright - don't be," she reassured him. "I'm happy for you, glad you have a chance to take care of everything so quickly. That's a godsend, truly. And we don't live together," she reminded him unnecessarily. "This was just an amazing little detour from our normal lives."

"Well," he said hesitantly, "perhaps we might want to consider discussing that when I get back."

Elsie's eyes widened a bit. "Really? You'd move in with me? Because I couldn't leave the farm, Charles. Someone has to live on premises or it's not fair to the animals."

"I know," he said softly. "But, if we could …"

"What?" she asked, her brow furrowed.

"Would you have room for one piano?" he asked, smiling.

Elsie rolled onto her side and kissed him soundly, pulling away before they got too distracted.

"I do have that third bedroom," she said. "Now, on that note, I have ..." She peeked over his shoulder at the bedside clock. "... eleven minutes to get ready." She jumped off the bed and grabbed her clothes from the pile she'd left on the chair.

"Best hurry then," he teased. "But, Els … do think about it when you get back. Please."

She reached out her hand, and their fingertips grasped one another's.

"I will," she promised.

Charles, Elsie, and Daisy spent their last afternoon in Yorkshire horseback riding. Charles hadn't been riding in quite a while, but Elsie and Daisy twisted his arm until he agreed.

"The trails through the woods are too icy," Robert warned, "but you should be fine if you stick to the cleared pathways through the fields of the estate."

"Sounds good," Elsie said as she mounted the horse to which she'd been assigned. She then turned to Daisy. "Ready?"

"You bet!"

They spent about an hour and a half meandering all around the estate. Daisy was itching to ride faster but knew it wasn't safe for the horse with the potential for ice underneath the snow.

Elsie moved up ahead, letting Charles and Daisy spend some time chatting amongst themselves before she and Daisy had to leave. She marveled at how nonplussed Daisy seemed to be about leaving her Papa, but worried that once they were on the plane and taking off that it would become harder for the poor girl. She'd never been away from her father for more than a few days, and never without family to stay with.

And you're not quite family yet, Elsie reminded herself. Almost … but not quite.

"Elsie!" Charles called eventually.

She stopped the horse and turned, and saw him waving at her from quite far back.

"We're heading in!" he called, and she gave him a thumbs-up sign. She expected them to precede her back to the house but, instead, they waited.

"You didn't have to wait for me," she said when she reached them, but Charles shook his head.

"Daisy insisted. Making sure we all stay safe, or some such thing," he teased, winking at his little girl.

"'Don't ride alone, especially somewhere you're not familiar with or on a horse you don't know,'" Daisy recited. "Elsie's never ridden Shadow, and she doesn't know these trails that well."

Elsie was touched, not only because Daisy remembered the words she'd said to her months ago, but that she was clearly using the advice to protect Elsie now.

"Thank you, Daisy," she said with a smile. "I appreciate that."

Charles's heart swelled as he watched the exchange between them.

My girls.

Cora pulled out all the stops for dinner, and even hired a chef to make an amazing five-course meal. She was in the kitchen consulting with her when Charles found them.

"Don't you even start," Cora said when Charles teased her about it. He slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug.

"I know," he said fondly. "You've got us three plus both your girls here, and you mean to enjoy it." He kissed her head as she nodded, and squeezed her again as she brushed a tear from her eye.

"Now don't you start," he teased, "because then Elsie will start, and then Edith, and then you'll have a real mess on your hands," he added in a whisper, and she chuckled.

"What's this?" Robert said, coming around the corner into the kitchen. "Hey, mister - get your hands off my wife!"

Charles broke away quickly, hands in the air. "Sorry, mate! But you left her unattended!" he joked.

Robert laughed and clapped Charles on the back. "I know, I know … neglectful husband, that's me."

"Hardly," Cora said, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

"I'll be in the dining room," Charles said. "You kids take all the time you need."

"Cheeky devil, that one," Robert joked, turning around to kiss his wife.

"But you love me!" Charles called, narrowly avoiding the towel that Cora chucked his way.

"What's all that?" Elsie asked. "Are you causing trouble for our gracious hosts?"

Charles pulled out her chair. "Every spare minute that I can," he quipped as she sat down. He took a seat next to her and poured their wine.

Elsie sighed deeply and looked around the table.

"You alright, Els?" he murmured in her ear, and she nodded.

"I'm wonderful, actually. This whole week, Charles - this family. It's … well, it's rather a new experience for me," she said, keeping her voice quiet so as not to be overheard by the others. "You all have such an amazing bond, full of love and friendship and camaraderie. I never knew that growing up, and certainly never had it as an adult. It's truly remarkable."

He reached for her hand under the table and squeezed it gently, then placed it on his leg. "It is. I take it for granted sometimes, but I do know how amazing it really is."

Just then, Cora and Robert came into the dining room and took their places at the ends of the table as the first course was served.

Dinner was a slow affair, taking over two hours as various courses were brought in and empty dishes cleared, served with wine pairings that impressed Charles - including one he'd never even heard of from a vineyard that Robert and Cora had visited recently, only ten kilometers from the estate.

Eventually, though, yawns were stifled and conversation dwindled. Charles checked his 'new' watch for the time.

"Oh! It's nearly half ten! I think some children need to head up to bed," he advised, and everyone giggled as Daisy yawned widely as if on cue.

"I'll bring them up," Edith said. "I'm completely exhausted myself and I still need to pack in the morning." She rose from the table as the girls said their goodnights to everyone.

"I suggest the rest of us retire to the library for a nightcap," Robert suggested.

"A splendid idea," Richard answered.

Elsie silently congratulated herself for not rolling her eyes in exasperation, having managed to hold her tongue throughout dinner as the man had spewed vitriolic comments about everything from education to politics. He'd even made vague references to his wife's weakness when it came to running their paper as it should be run, alluding to the fact that she let certain deadlines slide and allowed a few accounts to go overdue. Elsie had noticed Robert open his mouth to argue at that last one, but Cora's not-so-gentle squeeze of his forearm had stopped him, no doubt saving everyone a good deal of embarrassment.

At midnight, though, even the rest of the party had to admit defeat. Hugs were given and everyone meandered up to their own rooms.

But as soon as Elsie and Charles reached their room, she swore softly.

"What is it, Els?"

"Oh, I left my damn phone downstairs," she muttered. "It must be in the library, I'll be back in a minute."

"Do you want me to go?" Charles offered.

"No, I'll only be a moment," she said, toeing off her shoes.

Elsie padded down the corridor and hurried down the massive staircase, then headed into the library where she located her phone, which had fallen behind one of the sofa pillows.

"There you are," she muttered, tucking it into her back pocket.

She walked back more slowly, the quiet of the downstairs settling her nerves from the somewhat loud dinner and after-dinner drinks they'd all shared. She took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the portraits, and she ran her fingertips over the scrolling woodwork of the banisters.

Just as she crested the top of the staircase, however, she heard voices - mumbled, angry voices, she thought, and she tiptoed down the rug in her stocking-clad feet so as not to be heard.

"Just shut up," she heard Richard growl, followed by a bump. "You don't have a leg to stand on and you know it."

"Let … me ... go," Mary hissed, and Elsie stopped dead in her tracks, a cold feeling of dread running throughout her entire body.

"You're going to do exactly what I tell you, my darling wife," he slurred, "or else."

"Go ahead and tell them, I don't even care anymore!"

"We both know that's a lie, though, don't we?"

What the hell? Elsie didn't move a muscle, torn between her desire to break up whatever was going on, her need to know what was going on, and a decades-old instinct that kept telling her to stay completely still and silent lest her presence be discovered.

The sound of a whimper pulled her out of her thoughts, though, and she rushed over to where the voices were coming from, discovering that Richard had Mary pinned behind one of the pillars that lined the corridor. He was grasping her arm tightly in one hand and twisting it at a painful looking angle, and Elsie could easily see that Mary wasn't going anywhere anytime soon unless someone distracted Richard.

He hadn't spotted Elsie at all, but Mary had. Her eyes widened slightly as she tried to send Elsie a silent No, but Elsie was having none of it. She saw Richard raise his hand and she growled, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Richard whipped around, letting Mary's arm go. She slumped slightly against the column, eyes closed, and she let out a sigh as she rubbed her arm.

"Mind your own business, bitch," Richard warned Elsie, clearly trying to scare her.

"Right now, Mary is my business," she said, managing to keep calm. "And I'd think even you would know better than to treat her so horribly in her parents' home. Don't you keep this sort of behavior confined to your own?"

Richard's eyes blazed and Elsie wondered if she really should have kept her mouth shut. She took a step backwards, and noticed a familiar shape out of the corner of her eye.

"Go ahead," she seethed at Richard. "Touch me. It wouldn't be the first time a man has hit me, but I warn you ... I fight back."

Richard made a quick move to grab her just as Charles's blurred form nearly tackled him, knocking him to the ground.

"Lay one hand on either of them and you won't have to worry about Elsie, because I'll fucking kill you," Charles whispered, remaining perfectly calm as he stood over Richard's now prostrate form.

"She threatened me," Richard sneered, "or did you miss that bit?" He turned his attention back to Elsie. "We all know why you really want Charlie here, don't we? Nice rich Englishman, sweet little girl. Ready-made family now, isn't it?"

"Shut the hell up," Elsie spat back at him. "You don't know a goddamn thing about me." The conversation was vaguely familiar, and she wondered somewhere in the back of her mind if it had been Mary's thought originally, or her husband's.

"Oh, you'd be surprised what I know about people," Richard said, getting back on his feet, albeit backing away from Charles in the process.

"Really?" Elsie asked. "And I'm supposed to be afraid of you, am I? You may think you have your wife trapped into staying with you, but you've got nothing on me."

Richard moved toward Mary who, to her credit, didn't flinch. "Let's go," he said to her.

"Screw you," Mary said. "You can sleep in one of the empty rooms tonight - I don't want to see you again until you're sober." She shoved him aside and walked down the hall to her room.

Charles, Elsie, and Richard watched as she went into the bedroom, only to return momentarily and toss Richard's pajamas, robe, toothbrush, and shaving kit onto the floor.

"There," she added. "That ought to do." She re-entered the room and shut the door, and they all heard the lock click.

Richard walked past Elsie, giving Charles a rather wide berth, and gathered up his things. He started to head down the hallway, then turned and stared at Elsie.

"Be sure to tell Becky I said hello," he said quietly, and Charles watched as the blood drained from Elsie's face.

"Don't," Charles whispered, and Elsie nodded.

Richard laughed and headed down to the room across from his wife's. "Good night," they heard him call tauntingly, just before he closed the door.

Charles said nothing, just reached out and took Elsie's hand.

"Come on," he said, tugging her hand gently.

"Alright," she whispered, and she let Charles lead her back to their room as she tried to rein in her thoughts.

Charles closed the door to their room and turned to find Elsie sitting on their bed, tears streaming down her face. He sat next to her, and wrapped his arm around her as she wept silently. He gave her a few minutes, then handed her a handkerchief.

"Care to explain all of this to me?" he asked. "And what the hell was that crack about Becky? Has he ever met her?"

"Not to my knowledge - that was so odd," she said, fear written in her eyes before she blinked it away.

"I'll say. It would be worthwhile to call the home, perhaps, see if he's ever visited there."

"Why did you come?" Elsie asked suddenly, confusing him for a moment. "Did you come looking for me?" she added.

"I did. You were gone a rather long time, and I thought you couldn't find your phone. I was coming down to help you when I stumbled upon that madness. Elsie," he said, his voice a low but controlled rumble … for now. "What on Earth did you think you were doing?"

"Sorry?" she gasped, incredulous. "I thought I was keeping that bastard from harming your niece!" She scoffed, then added, "She's really going to hate me now. She was mortified."

Charles sighed and took her hands in his, squeezing them tightly. "I know she's not kind to you, Els, and that's unforgivable. But he really could have harmed you! You can't just jump into a situation like that."

Elsie pulled her hands from his and stood up to move away from him. She paced back and forth at the foot of the bed, clenching and unclenching her hands in front of her waist as she figured out how to say what she needed to say without completely going off on him.

"Charles," she began slowly, "I know what that was going to turn into. I grew up seeing that sort of thing every day of my life. Richard may not be beating her, exactly, but he's obviously got some sort of ridiculous hold on her. He was clearly causing her pain, and I heard him threaten to blow some secret of hers if she wasn't … obedient, shall we say?"

"What did he want her to do?" he asked.

"I have no idea," she replied, shaking her head as she stopped pacing and turned to face him. "Charles, I can't let any woman experience that, not if I have a chance to intervene. I'm glad you were there to end the situation, but I'd have punched and clawed the shit out of him if he'd touched me. Don't you ever doubt that I can protect myself, Charles."

"I don't," he said, his voice quiet and his palms extended out in an attempt to calm her as he contemplated this new, agitated Elsie who stood before him.

"I'm sorry that I frightened you," she said, moving over to him again. She stood between his knees and Charles wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in until her head rested on his.

"It's alright," he murmured. "But now I really wish I'd punched him," he added, and Elsie laughed softly.

"I hope you never need to do that, but I love that you want to."

"Can I draw you a bath?" Charles asked, and she shook her head.

"No, I just want to go to bed."

"You go first," Charles said, tilting his head toward the bathroom.

"Thanks," she whispered.

When she returned, Charles had gotten the fire going in the hearth and had turned down the bed.

"I rather like those boxers," Elsie murmured.

"They match your eyes," he answered, and she laughed. "I'll be right back."

Elsie took a few cleansing breaths and then peeled off her sweater and jeans. She folded them haphazardly and tossed them onto the top of her suitcase, adding her brassiere to the top of the pile. She went to get a nightgown and then remembered she'd accidentally packed them all that morning.

"Oh, fuck it," she whispered, and got into bed.

Charles came out and shut the light off, then climbed in beside her. Elsie said nothing, just moved over to make room for him.

Charles leaned over her and brushed her hair off of her face.

"I love you, Elsie," he whispered. "So very, very much. I was frightened tonight, terrified that he'd hurt you. I'd have killed him, I think - truly."

She reached up and ran her fingertips through his hair, then down his cheek and jaw before brushing them over his lips. He kissed each one, then grasped them in his hand.

"I believe you would have," she said, "and I'm so glad you didn't."

She rolled over on her side and Charles cuddled up behind her. He stretched his arm under her pillow and she snuggled in, comforted by the feel of his chest - his heartbeat - against her back. His laid his other arm across her waist and she wrapped her own arm around it, squeezing him in a hug.

"Can you sleep?" he murmured, and she nodded.

"Like this? Absolutely."

He squeezed her again and kissed her temple. "Good. Sweet dreams, love."

"You, too."

A little review would make my day! And I've updated on my phone, so pardon any typos, please.