B&B OF LOVE AND FUN
Hello dear people. I decided to make this summer a summer of Chelsie, so today I'm very proud to start a story, that has been sitting in my head for over a year and maybe even longer, but somehow, it was always put aside for later. Now, the later has finally came. I will do my best to make it funny and interesting, but because I wrote so many Chelsie stories, it is possible, that it won't be fantastic, but I do hope, that you will like it a bit.
Story summary: Mrs Patmore decides to sell her B&B, after the house of ill repute scandal and she is devastated, but unexpectedly the Carsons decide to give her a helping hand. AU-different plot then we had in the series. Placed by the end of season six.
Legal note: I do not own rights to any of the DA characters, they are just the greatest inspiration of my life.
This story will be multi chapter, but at the moment I don't know how long precisely. It will also be full of love, fun and good emotions (I hope). With a major participation of Mrs Patmore.
Few weeks has passed, since the beginning of the the "house of ill repute scandal" and Mrs Patmore was still not able to go back to normal life. She has been trying very hard, to fight with the implications coming from this awful event, but somehow it was not possible.
Mrs Patmore was not sure, if that was because of the summer season, when not much things has been happening and the papers were lacking of interesting stories, or the subject was particularly juicy, but one way or another, it seemed never ending.
In the beginning, she was hoping, that the visit of Lord and Lady Grantham and Lady Rosamund, will help to cover that scandal, she thought, that one afternoon tea, will be enough to convince people, that her B&B was a respectable place for decent people.
To her great disappointment, it turned out, that it was not enough. If she was hoping, that with time it will all go quiet, it certainly didn't...Not only she had to face the fact, that she stopped having any guests, all the earlier reservations were cancelled, but there was no new ones and that meant a huge financial loss for her.
Her niece, who was send here to help her, felt very guilty, even though it wasn't her fault at all. There was no way, that she could know, that the doctor and the woman who was accompanying him, were not married, it's not like she could ask him to show her their marriage certificate!
Mrs Patmore felt guilty, that in the beginning of this madness, she often addressed her anger to her niece, which could cause, that the unhappy girl was doing all she could, to get out of her sight. She was very frightened and she was cleaning the B&B from dawn till dusk, like she wanted to make up for the loss, that has already happened.
Beryl Patmore was not a bad person, she had her angry outbursts, most often caused by the circumstances, that she had no control over and she was masking her fear with anger, but she had a heart of gold and couldn't stand the thought, of anyone suffering because of her.
So she had a long conversation with Katie, explaining her, that she was in quite a shock after what happened, that she didn't notice her awful behavior towards her. Katie was flooding with tears, still feeling guilty, but Beryl hugged her cordially, asking her to calm down and just carry on with her work.
Katie was so excited, when her aunt asked for her help with the B&B. For her, it meant the change of her whole life. She always wanted to get out of her family village, when nothing interesting was going on and every day was the same, so this was a huge opportunity for her.
However now, it seemed that everything was lost...And she already imagined going back to her empty, boring life, after she failed her aunt. The conversation with Beryl made her a little more calmer and she promised her aunt, that she will indeed carry on and keep the B&B in ideal order, in case if there were some new guests, wanting to accept their offer.
Time was passing and Beryl had to accept the fact that, she is going straight to a financial catastrophe and that the investment, that was suppose to secure her future retirement, was simply falling apart...
One night, drinking Sherry with her best friend, Elsie Hughes Carson, she decided to share the unhappy thoughts, which were developing inside her head...
"I'm telling you Mrs Hughes. I can see no light of hope anymore. I didn't have any guests since that awful business, no new reservations. What is even worse, the papers are still writing about that damn thing...And there is really nothing I can do to stop them..."
"I was hoping, that after that famous tea with the Granthams, you will get back on track Mrs Patmore..."
"I was hoping that too, but it seems that I won't...It's getting worse and worse...Recently, when I went to visit Katie and asked her if something has changed, I met few women from the local church. You know what they told me?"
"What Mrs Patmore?"
"That my B&B should be destroyed, as it is a cursed place and that they will pray for it to happen.. You can imagine how I felt..."
"I sure can...I'm so sorry Mrs Patmore..You are the last person on the planet, who deserve such thing... You have done nothing wrong, nobody has done anything wrong, even your niece is an innocent victim of all this.."
"I told her that recently..When all that bloody business started, I yelled at her and blamed her, I wasn't being myself back then..."
"I'm sure she understands that..."
"She does now...I talked to her and told her to carry on-to keep the B&B in order, just like she did till now... I have to admit, that she is doing a great job with this...But to tell you the truth Mrs Hughes, I'm not sure, how long I will be able to carry on like that.."
"Do you have any ideas what to do next?"
"At the moment I see no other options, but to sell this place and forget about the business.."
"Oh no...Mrs Patmore...Surely you can start it somewhere else..."
"Not really..As you recall, when I bought it, it required some huge financial investment and serious renovation and a lion share of my inheritance was used to do that...Now the only thing I can do, is to sell it and buy some small cottage for me to live in during my retirement, but I have to say goodbye to my financial independence..."
"You have no idea how sad it makes me to hear that...You have not deserved to be treated that way... If only I could help you somehow Mrs Patmore, I would...Believe me..."
"I do believe you Mrs Hughes..You are a great friend...Just the thought of your emotional support, makes it so much easier for me..."
"You will always have my support...No matter what happens..."
"I know and I'm grateful..."
Elsie gave Beryl a warm smile and she poured some more Sherry for her, hoping to ease the pain, that the pour soul was experiencing at the moment...
Elsie was still thinking about all this, coming back to their cottage this evening. Charles finished earlier today and he was already waiting for her at home. Elsie sighed, thinking about her dear's friend misery...Her big life chance, has quickly transferred into a nightmare and it was only because of one, irresponsible man, who wanted to have some fun..Elsie felt, that she would be able to rip him apart, for what he did to her best friend...
As for herself, Elsie was not free from her own problems recently...Ever since she found out about Charles's tricky palsy, she was tossing and turning at night, wondering, how she can help her husband. He was a stubborn, old goat and he never wanted admit to Elsie, how much he was really hurting and how difficult it was for him, to execute all his duties daily.
He still wanted to be a great Charles Carson, the lynchpin of the Abbey, as nothing has changed, when in fact everything has changed...Elsie would never tell that to Charles, as she didn't want to hurt him, but she noticed some clear signs of his health problems. At the Abbey and at home.
She was wondering how long will it be possible for him to carry on, as if nothing has changed?
Sunken in her unhappy thoughts, she finally reached her home, just to find out, that her beloved husband was already waiting for her, with a pot of tea, a plate of cookies and a loving smile, mixed with a sigh of relief, that she was finally home...
She took her hat off and sat with Charles at the sofa, sharing a hot cup of tea and a pleasant conversation. They both adored the evenings, the only part of the day, when they could finally be alone and enjoy their mutual time.
Elsie told him about Beryl's problems and her face was so sad and full of melancholy, that Charles immediately wanted to give her a hug.
She gladly nestled into his arms, feeling secure and loved as always...
"So you are saying Elsie, that the situation is that bad? She wants to sell the house?"
"Looks like she has no other choice...The scandal is still on and she has no guests"
"Poor Mrs Patmore...She had such hopes with that B&B...She wanted this to be her safe space, during her retirement years...I feel bad for her...After all, she was the one who inspired me to do the same..."
"Yes Charlie, that was the initial plan of ours...We were suppose to run a B&B together, but somehow, the idea got lost on the way..."
"It did...Besides Elsie, now I can safely admit, that it was kind of an excuse.."
"An excuse for what Charlie?"
"For having you as my wife...I wanted to share it with you and then gradually ask you to be my wife"
"Aren't you the smart one Mr Carson...So it means, that you never really wanted to run a B&B?"
"I wanted to, but the most important thing was, to have you close forever and that I managed to achieve..."
Elsie stroke his face gently and she gave him a tender kiss on the lips, showing all the deepness of her love...For a moment, they've enjoyed this unique connection of their souls...
"I'm glad that your plan has worked Charlie...You have no idea how much..."-Elsie put her head on his chest and let him rock her gently..."I only wish, that we could help Mrs Patmore somehow..."
"I would want that too Elsie...But what can we do?"
Elsie's mind began to work intensely, as suddenly she thought of a plan, a solution, which would be perfect not just for Mrs Patmore, but for all the three of them, but she didn't want to share it with Charles yet, not until it will be fully developed in her head...She smiled inside, thanking God for giving that her idea...
That's all for first chapter of the story my dear people...I hope that you liked the beginning and that you would like it to be continued...If I ever wanted a Downton spin-off, that would be exactly it...Carson, Elsie and Beryl together...As they are the best ones...I do not want to give too much away, so you have to wait for the next chapter, to find out, what I invented for our beloved, golden trio...Thanks for reading and have a great week!