SIMPLY THE BEST-2
Hi everyone. Many thanks for all your wonderful reviews after first chapter. It was lovely to read them all. Yesterday's chapter was rather sad and depressing, but in this one, I will find a solution and a happy ending for our beloved couple. Hope you will like it ;-)
Things have not changed for the better in the last few weeks. Elsie was still trying as hard as she could, to please her husband and yet, there was almost never any sign of happiness from his side. After a while, Elsie already got used to the thought, that no matter how hard she will try, Charles will find something that she did bad, or in his opinion should have been done better.
They were both working hard in the house, they both came home every night with the same level of general exhaustion, but she was the only one, who devoted their private time to make things better, to do everything the way Charles liked.
If she could only receive one good word from him, one praise for something she did, but no. All the domestic activities, were done incorrectly in his eyes. In fact the only time in their marriage when he wasn't really complaining, was when they had their most private moments in the bedroom. Elsie thought ironically, that she was glad about being able to satisfy her husband in at least one thing.
The irony was, that the thing that she was most afraid of before marrying Charles, seemed to be the thing that she was really doing well, while all the other wifely duties, outside the bedroom, which she thought she was pretty skilled with, met with his disapproval.
There were moments and there were a lot of those moments recently, where Elsie realized, that she started to get angry about all this and there was a protest arising in her. Why she was the only one in this marriage, who was trying so hard and Charles did nothing, but in spite of that, he was the one who criticized her all the time?
Why she was doing all the work in the house, but never received a one good word for that? Elsie began to think, that marriage was not a sweet vision, that she had in her mind earlier, a vision of having her own cottage, of being alone with the man that she adored so much, spending time in a pleasurable way.
Of course they had moments like that, but with time, there seemed to be less and less of those moments, as Elsie had a feeling, that Charles was being more and more critical towards her. To the point, where her warm feelings like love and adoration for her husband, that she felt before, seemed to fade away, being buried under the constant critcism, which Charles was throwing on her every day.
Elsie sometimes went back in her mind, to the times when she was talking about marriage with her mother and she still remembered the warnings, that her mother gave her, saying, that being a wife is not an easy job. Elsie still had a vision in front of her eyes, of her mother sighing heavily and explaining to her, that one day she will understand the duties of a wife.
She didn't know what her mother meant back then, but now she was fully aware, that her mother was rather referring to the intimate side of marriage, which was common back then, not the house duties. It was a long time ago, but Elsie remembered, that her father appreciated her mother's skills with running the house, he was praising her cooking and always repeating, that she was the best wife that he could ask for.
Elsie would have given anything, to hear something like that from Charles, but unfortunately she never did...She was wondering if Charles maybe regretted marrying her now, if he obviously thought, that she was so hopeless as a wife. It took him so much time to ask her to marry him, but it was possible, that he was disappointed with his choice.
Elsie was angry at Charles's attitude from time to time, but mostly, she was simply sad, that the greatest joy of her life, the biggest hopes, that she had marrying Charles, were now buried into a pile of her own sorrow. She was afraid to ask him about it, or let alone talk about this problem...
Instead, one afternoon, when they both had a day off and Charles went to the village, to buy some things, leaving her alone in the cottage, Elsie let herself sink in her own misery...She felt disappointed, sad and depressed, with a fact, that she was not the wife that he wanted to have. Thinking about all this, has brought tears to her eyes and she was weeping in the quiet corner of the cottage.
She was so preoccupied with with her overwhelming feelings, that she didn't notice, that Charles unexpectedly came back to the cottage, only to find his wife crying her eyes out. This sight has made his heart cut in two, as Charles, in spite of his stiff exterior, had a loving and caring heart and simply wasn't able to handle anyone's sadness, especially the woman that he loved.
His first and immediate instinct, was to protect her from the pain and discover the cause of her misery.
"Elsie, honey what's the matter? Why are you crying? Has someone hurt you?"-he was right with her instantly and he gave her the handkerchief, to wipe her eyes...
Elsie was so surprised with his sight. She didn't expect him to go back earlier than in an hour and she thought, that she can cry out her pain safely...She looked at him, with her eyes still full of tears, so beautiful and so full of sorrow, that he felt, he would do anything to make her feel better...
"Charles? You are back already? I wasn't expecting to see you so soon..."
"I had to go back, as I realized on my way to the village, that I forgot to take my wallet...What happened Elsie? Has someone hurt you?"
"No, yes...I...I don't want to talk about that Charles...Not now..."
"Elsie, we have to talk about it...I will not let me wife be sad and miserable, whatever or whoever caused that state, I need to know it..."
Elsie understood, that this time she will no longer be able to put away the difficult conversation...
"To tell you the truth Charles, I was crying because of you..."
"Because of me? What have I done? Elsie please tell me..."
"Oh Charles...Ever since we got married and even before, I was trying, I made promise to myself, that I would do anything to make you happy, to create a safe and enjoyable home for you. I wanted to be a perfect wife, that you would be proud of, the wife that you fully deserve"
"And you have done this Elsie...You've made your promise..."
"Have I really Charles? Are you absolutely sure about it?"
"What do you mean Elsie? I don't understand..."
"If I'm the perfect wife for you, why are you always unhappy? Why are you always criticizing me for everything I do? My cooking skills, my washing skills, everything...You have never praised any of the things that I'm doing in our cottage..."
Charles blushed, when he heard that harsh evaluation from his wife...His mind started to work intensively, trying to remember, what could he possibly said or do, that led Elsie to the state, that she was in now?
Nagging and being unsatisfied, seemed to be a constant part of his character, he was so used to that, being a butler of the Abbey for so many years, that it was a part of who he was, yet until now, he never realized, that this part of his character and the things that he was saying to Elsie, could cause such pain for her...He felt totally embarrassed now, even more embarrassed, than he was during their wedding night, if that was even possible...
"Oh Elsie...I never realized, that you took it so hard...I just...I was being grumpy for the major part of my life, this is who I am and I got so used to that, that I didn't think that transferring such behavior to our private life can have that effect..."
"It does Charles...You see, I had so many doubts before we got married...You know that, you were there...I was hesitating whether becoming a wife in such late age, will be something that I'm capable of and I was really doing everything I could to make you happy, but it seems that you are not..."
"No Elsie, you are so wrong! So very wrong! You've made me the happiest man in the world...I lived for such a long time, never knowing a definition of happiness...I can't even tell you, how much I love you and I know that I'm not saying that enough..."
"No Charlie...You are not...In fact I believe, that only in our intimate moments you are mentioning your love for me, never in other situations..."
"Now it turns out, that I'm the awful husband Elsie...I'm sorry...I'm really sorry...You know me, like nobody else does. I'm not particularly romantic, or expressive with my feelings, but I do adore you Elsie...I wanted you to be my wife for so long and I can't imagine anyone doing it better than you..."
"In that case, what is it with all those nagging about cooking and other things? Am I really that bad?"
"No, you are not...It's me who is being the old fool, not deserving such miracle as you are my love... Most of the men from this village, would die to be in my place...You just need to understand Elsie, that sometimes, I'm transferring my habits of being a butler to our private life..."
"In another words, you are not treating me as your wife, but as a servant, who is not capable of doing her work properly?"
"I guess you nailed it Elsie...That's exactly what I have been doing, but I will not do it anymore...I promise...Oh Elsie...How in the world you agreed to married such and old, grumpy idiot like me?"
"Well, there was at least one specific reason for that Charlie...I happened to love that old idiot very much and I have been dreaming of being his wife for ever since I can remember..."
"In that case, will you forgive the old idiot and promise, that you will never leave him and run away with some handsome guy from the village?"
"That would be rather difficult Charles, as you are undoubtedly the most handsome man in this village"
"Elsie...You are a wonder, you know that? A true miracle, that appeared in my life, to give me such happiness, that I could never dream about and yet, I was ready to ruin all this..."
"So no more grumpiness from now on Charlie? You swear? Swear on the safety of the Abbey? Remember that if you will break your word, the Abbey will collapse..."
"I solemnly swear Elsie...I will be the perfect husband from now on, the kind that you deserve...I'm sure, that even such nagging pain in the neck, can have some good qualities...Surely there must have been at least one sphere of our life, that I was doing good in..."
"There was one thing in our marriage that never needed any kind of repairment..."
"What was the thing Elsie, I'm curious to know?"
Elsie got closer to Charles and whispered something to his ear, something that nobody besides the two of them meant to hear, as she did, his face brightened immediately and the feeling of endless pride filled him completely...He looked at Elsie with eyes full of love...
"Elsie that is...I have never heard something so precious.."
"I should hope not! I wouldn't want you to hear it from anyone else but me...I love you Charlie, in spite of everything, I really do love you...And you don't have to loose all your nagging, you can save a bit of that, but only on special occasions"
"It's a deal Elsie...I love you too...So, I'm thinking that..In the light of what I just heard from you few moments ago, would you like to develop this thought into actions, perhaps upstairs?"
"I think that it is quite a good idea Charlie..."
That's all for chapter 2 and this story, as I mentioned yesterday, it was just a mini Chelsie story for a summer weekend. I'm glad, that they straightened it all out and now, nothing can stop them from being happy together, cause that's my favorite Chelsie- the happy one. Hope you had fun reading it, as I had writing it. Have a good week everyone!