Happy 2nd of March, my dear readers! It's time for a delayed "Not Every Royal Wears A Crown" update. Life a bit came in the way, but the 22nd chapter of this story is here now. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think with a little review. Now, don't mind the possibly typos and enjoy! I'll see you next week with a new chapter! Stay safe, darlings :-)
Monday 16th of August 1929, Downton Abbey
"Morning post, milord."
The footman handed the Lord his letters and three as well to Lady Mary sitting on his right.
"Thank you, Andrew."
With a slight bow the footman was out of the dining room, where the family was having their breakfast.
"When did you say Barrow would be back again?", Lady Mary asked, skimming through the letters in her hand.
"Tomorrow, in the afternoon train."
"I don't understand why you would send him to London, I'm sure Andrew could have easily gone instead."
"I wanted him to go. A few days without a butler will do us good.", Robert Crawley explained while taking a sip of his tea."Anything interesting? Have you heard from Edith?"
"Not yet.", said the Lady, absentmindedly reading one of the letters.
"Hmph."
"Good morning.", came Tom Branson's voice from the doorway.
"Good morning. Did you get a hold of Ms. Smith?", asked Robert.
"I did. And you should really start calling her Lucy."
"I'm afraid that's not quite what papa is accustomed to.", Mary teased, ignoring the glare from her father."How is she?"
"Busy, but well."
"Well, that's good to hear.", Robert shrugged."Shall we ask Andrew to bring some more tea for you?"
"No, that's alright. I don't have long. I'm meeting with the tenants half past."
They all turned to their breakfasts and letters, Tom and Mary chatting about the meeting.
"I'm sorry I can't join you, but I really need to do a bit of catching up on my writing."
"No worries. I'll manage."
"Crikey-"
Both Mary and Tom turned to face the lord who now held a little letter in his left hand.
"What is it?", asked Tom.
"It's from Buckingham Palace."
"What?"
"Well, open it!", prompted his daughter.
Robert tore open the letter, his eyes scanning through the words written on the white paper.
"What does it say?", Lady Mary wanted to know.
A silence remained, but it was broken when Cora Crawley stepped into the room.
"I've been looking for you, Mary. When did you say-"
"Hush mama, Papa is reading a letter from Buckingham Palace."
"Buckingham Palace? My my, what does it say?"
"Well, if you didn't constantly interrupt me while I'm reading it, we would know.", sighed the lord.
"Give it to me, I'll read it.", his wife prompted.
Robert didn't resist and handed the piece of paper to his wife's waiting hands.
"Read it out loud mama."
Clearing her throat, she began reading;
"Dear Lord Grantham,
I hope this letter finds you and your family well? As you have probably read from the papers, there is to be a grand coronation ball next Friday. And both me and my husband would be delighted to have your family attending. We owe you a great deal and I hope you accept this invitation. You will receive a proper invitation through the post tomorrow, but I wanted to write to you in advance. You don't need to write back, but if you just have the time, we hope to see you all next Friday. Please relay my good wishes to your family.
Princess of Scotland, the Royal Court of England."
Cora finished reading the letter, a genuine smile on her face as she turned to face her family.
"I didn't think we'd be invited.", Robert shook his head.
"Of course they would invite us. She would take care of that.", Mary told her father, surprising everyone with saying something nice about the former housekeeper.
"That might just be true.", her brother-in-law agreed with a smile.
"Will we be going?"
"Of course! Mary, won't you give Edith a call, ask her if she'll make it?", Cora folded the letter and put it back to its envelope.
"Alright. But I guess the letters must wait. I need to go do some shopping for a new dress."
"I'll let the servants know we'll be gone for the weekend, I'm sure they are as excited for the news as we are, and call Rosamund, ask if we can stay in Grantham house."
"She won't mind. Should we ask her if she wants to join us?", Tom wondered, sitting up from his seat.
"Let's wait for the proper invitation and see what it says about the number of guests we are allowed to bring."
"I'll mention it to her anyways.", Cora shrugged.
"Oh, I can't wait!", Lady Mary beamed, making them all laugh slightly.
It seemed that they would have a very glamorous weekend ahead of them…
Back at Buckingham Palace, London
Like at Downton, the royal family of England was also sitting around a crowning breakfast table, getting ready to face yet another day of glory.
"More tea, your highness?", asked Mr. Wilson, hovering behind the new princess with a pot of freshly made tea.
Elsie gently shook her head as an answer, as she listened to her husband explaining something about a detective, which the butler didn't quite understand.
"Are you ready for Friday?", queen Mary asked gently from the other side of the wide table, sipping her morning tea.
Elsie and Charles exchanged looks at this.
"As ready as we can be.", came Elsie's response.
"We can go everything over once more before Friday if you like?", the king offered.
"That would be wonderful."
"I'm sure it will all go well, and you'll remember the day with a smile one day."
"Yes, I suppose so.", Elsie shrugged.
"Join us in the library after breakfast and we'll talk it over."
Charles watched his wife nod her agreement, noting she next hid her frown in her teacup as she took a long sip. He concluded that it was high time someone spoke up.
"Actually-", his voice made them all turn to him, including his wife with a questioning look on her face."-would it be possible if Elsie and I had the day for ourselves?"
"What?", the king blurted out.
"It's just that we haven't really had time to just talk in over a week."
A short silence followed, and for a minute Charles even worried he might have overstepped a little. But luckily the queen soon spoke up and his worries were eased.
"Of course. You needn't even ask."
And as if nothing had happened, the king and queen both turned back to their breakfast.
"Thank you."
Charles turned his head to his left when he heard her speak, only to be met with the brightest smile on his beloved's face.
"It was all worth it.", he replied gratefully as he stretched out a hand.
"I know, but thank you, Charlie. I truly mean it.", Elsie smiled, taking his offered hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
And this whole exchange didn't go unnoticed by the king and queen on the other side of the table, where they in turn exchanged a look between them.
Thanks to Charles, he and Elsie could enjoy the day to the fullest, talking and cuddling. They had tea in their own little sitting room and when it was time for lunch, they decided to join the other two in the dining room. But after their lunch Charles disappeared somewhere, which was very not like him. Not even any of the passing servants knew where he had gotten to.
And even if Elsie knew better than to think he came to regret having cleared out their day to spend it with her, she couldn't help but feel a bit anxious. She made her way to their bedroom and slumped on the mattress with a sigh. But to her surprise, the next thing she knew was a gentle knock on the door.
"Yes?", she called out, quickly standing up and smoothing the imaginary wrinkles on her dress with her hands.
And then her maid, Mabel Rutt, popped her head in, slowly pushing the door open.
"Mabel?"
The fact that Elsie refused to call the maid by her last name, always made Mabel smile. The princess simply explained it didn't matter to her and in private she would call her Mabel.
"Your highness, you have a letter."
"You can put it on my desk in the sitting room.", Elsie answered.
"It's urgent, your highness.", Mabel said shyly.
"Urgent? I very much doubt it."
"It is from Prince Charles.", the maid blurted.
"My husband?"
Without another word, Elsie took the letter from Mabel's hands and tore it open and read the few words written on the paper;
"Put on one your new summer dresses and meet me in the Palace Gardens. I'll be waiting for you.
With love, your devoted husband."
And all Elsie could do was shake her head.
"I've chosen you something, I hope you like it, your highness."
"Oh, I'm sure I will."
Mabel helped Elsie get dressed in a beautiful, flowery summer dress and a sunhat. They had bought the dress last week when they had gone to fit her dress for next Friday, but she never thought she'd have use or it so soon. Her hair was left open, and Mabel handed her a white parasol, adorned with lace. When looking at her outfit through the mirror, Elsie couldn't help but wonder what on earth her husband had planned.
And as she walked out to the gardens a few minutes later, she was greeted with both her husband and a delicious looking picnic laid out on the grass. Her questions were all answered in that moment.
"Hello.", was all she heard him say as she came closer.
"I thought you had run away when I couldn't find you anywhere.", she immediately said.
"I just needed a few moments to execute my plan."
"Well, I dare say you succeeded."
"I do hope so.", Charles let out a slight laugh, taking a look at her."You look beautiful."
"Thank you.", his wife blushed."You don't look too bad yourself either."
"Well-"
"I don't understand how you've managed to put all this together?"
"I used to be a butler, your highness. I know a few good tricks.", he teased, making her laugh out loud.
"Oh, I see.", Elsie laughed."Well, Mr. Butler, shall we enjoy a nice picnic then?"
"With your highness' approval."
All she could do was gently shake her head at him…And then with a few hurried steps forward she leant to kiss his lips, letting her lips linger against his.
"Let's pretend were just Charles and Elsie for a while, alright?", she quietly whispered, her right hand caressing his cheek as he held her upright in his steady hold against his chest.
"Mhm. If that's what you want."
And if even just for a while, they could forget titles and their duties, and just enjoy the moment. Just like in the old days, eh?