B&B OF LOVE AND FUN-5
Hello dear people. Thank you very much for all your reviews. It's always a pleasure to read it. Last chapter was full of love and fun, but this one will be a little more difficult, because they have to announce their decision to Robert. Anyhow, I hope that you will like it.
"Am I hearing it right? All three of you want to leave the Abbey? Or is this some kind of misunderstanding?"-Robert was so flabbergasted, as if he would heard that the world is ending...
Elsie, Charles and Beryl were standing in a row, in front of him, feeling a little shy and embarrassed, after announcing the decision of their departure. Elsie and Beryl knew, that it was a necessary step to move on with their plans, but Charles felt, like he personally betrayed His Lordship, even though in the current situation, his departure was most obvious and already talked about before...
"I'm afraid so My Lord... I have mentioned before, that I need to leave service, because my health condition doesn't allow me to be the butler anymore and run this house on the level that you were used to, through all the years of our cooperation..."
"I know Carson, I understand and support your decision, although I still think, that it will be extremely difficult to manage without you, but Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore? Why do you want to leave too? All three of you, in the same time? I don't understand?"
"My Lord, let me be the one to explain..."-Elsie decided to speak for all three of them..."You already know the reasons behind my husband's decision, but what you are not aware of, is that in recent time, me, my husband and Mrs Patmore, have been discussing about a possibility of running a B&B together and after considering all the aspects, we decided to try it..."
"But Mrs Patmore is already running a B&B of her own?"
"Not anymore My Lord...I had to close my business and sold the house, as this newspaper scandal simply could not have been silenced..."
"But what about the tea that we had in your place? Didn't it help?"
"I'm afraid not...I'm still very grateful for this nice gesture, but in the long run it didn't help and my B&B practically stopped existing..One more moment and I would end in debts, so I decided to close it and Mr and Mrs Carson, as nice as they are, offered me their help, so I wouldn't have to face the possibility of being a pauper, during my retirement years..."
"I see...It definitely seems like a great opportunity for you Mrs Patmore, but I'm not sure, how can we manage without you here? We know that Thomas will replace Carson, but finding a new cook, will not be an easy job..."
"If I may suggest something My Lord, I believe that Daisy would be the best for the job. After all, I trained her all those years and her cooking style is exactly like mine, so would you consider hiring her in my place?"
"Well, if you think that she can handle such reponsibility..."
"I'm sure she can...I will make sure she can..."
"It's kind of a relief for me to know, that we will not have to hire someone new, that we don't know... I prefer people who are already in Downton...Will you stay long enough to prepare Daisy for the job?"
"Yes My Lord...It will take some time, before we can find a proper place to buy for the B&B, so I was hoping, that till then, I can stay in Downton and prepare Daisy for her new duties.."
"Of course you can Mrs Patmore...Nobody will force you to move out from here...We are very grateful for your service"
"Thank you My Lord..."
"As for you Mrs Hughes, the very thought of your leaving, makes me want to panic...Surely this house will collapse without you..."
"It's nice to hear that My Lord...But hopefully, we can find a solution of some kind.."
"Maybe and maybe not...Wouldn't you want to reconsider your decision? I'm sure that Carson and Mrs Patmore will be just fine, running B&B on their own..."
Elsie smiled a bit hearing that...It was not her style to contradict to Lord of Grantham, but his comment showed, how little he knew his servants, even after all those years..
"My Lord, although I do not doubt that Mr Carson and Mrs Patmore are capable of managing B&B on their own, otherwise I wouldn't want to start business with them, I much more prefer to do it with them..I wouldn't feel good, being separated from my husband..."-Elsie and Charles exchanged warm glances, full of love, which didn't come unnoticed by Robert...
"Of course Mrs Hughes...I understand your position...I wouldn't want to be away from Cora myself... Well then, I guess there is nothing more to say, but to give you my blessing..."
"Thank you My Lord...We are very grateful that you are so understanding..."-Charles was relieved by what he heard...
"Oh, of course you and Mrs Hughes can stay as long as you like in the house that you are now living at..As I understand, you intend to live in your B&B later?"
"Yes, that is the plan, that is if we will find a place which will be able to accommodate all three of us, or should I say all four of us.."-Elsie explained.
"Four?! Are you taking anyone else from the staff with you?!"-Robert was again in panic...
"No My Lord, but Mrs Patmore's niece Katie will live with us, she already helped in her B&B and we figured, that a younger person might be necessary..."
"What a relief...I was beginning to think, that soon I will remain completely without staff... I wish you all good luck and you can stay as long as you like in the house. Carson, Mrs Hughes, I will leave your house uninhabited, the one in which you are living now, in case if anything was wrong, you can always come back to live there...Other than that, I wish you good luck!"
"Thank you very much my Lord..."
Later, Carson's cottage...
"Relax Charlie...Come on, have a drink...The hard part is over..."
Elsie poured Charles his favorite Margaux, whilst he nestled into her, seeking for her warmth...This today's conversation, has taken a toll on him...In the end, everything went well and Lord Grantham accepted their decision, but Charles still felt like a traitor...
"Oh Elsie...I wish it wouldn't have to be that hard...Leaving the Abbey after so many years...It's not easy.."
"Life is almost never easy Charlie...It's full of difficult situations and challenges, that we have to face all the time...But the important thing is, that we will face it together, so I say, that there is no reason to worry..."-Elsie kissed Charles's hair, coddling him with her love, as she already knew, what he needed the most now...
"You are so wise Elsie...You always were...I'm so calm about this, only because I know, that you will always find a solution, even in the most difficult situation...It will be great to do it with you..."
"I wouldn't exactly say that you are calm about it Charlie, but let's just assume, that you are handling it better than I thought you would..."
"Elsie...Do you think that our cooperation with Mrs Patmore will be a good one?"
"Of course...We have been cooperating for many years and there never seemed to be any major problems, so why it would be different now?"
"Because now, we will be on different terms...We will be equals...Until now I was the boss and now.."
"And now you won't be the boss and that's scares you? Oh Charlie, my sweet, dear man..."-Elsie kissed his lips lovingly..."You are always my boss, although I'm not letting you be bossy and together, we will handle Mrs Patmore...I'm sure of it..."
"When you talk like that Elsie, I believe that we would be able to conquer the whole world together..."
"And we would be Charlie...If we met earlier, when we were younger, we could do anything we want, there wouldn't be any barriers for us...But even now, we can do anything we like..."
"One thing is certain..."
"What is that Charlie?"
"With all the changes that are ahead of us, buying a new place, starting a new business, moving into a new house, we need to find a place to live, which will give us a little bit of privacy, when we can hide away from Mrs Patmore's nosiness, all the B&B problems and the whole world.."
"Oh, you mean our secret, unknown to anyone else love nest, like the one we have now?"
"Yes Elsie, that is precisely what I mean..."
"We will try to do that sweetie, but in case we couldn't, you heard His Lordship...We can always come back here, to the cottage, that we live in now and have some quiet, private time..."
"Oh yes...This is essential to have such place...Otherwise I'm not going anywhere...I need to have a place, in which my wife is just for me...All for me..."
Elsie looked at adoration in Charles's eyes and she thanked God for that man, who made her life so wonderful, that each day was like a new adventure, full of various possibilities and each night was an alluring perspective, promising experiences that were private, just for the two of them, but to which it was worth to live for...
Without any further hesitation, she closed her husband's mouth with a kiss, hoping to have another one of those fruitful nights...
That would be all for chapter five...So, the next step is done...Lord Grantham knows and he approves. Now our lovely trio can search for a house, to make their dream come true...I think that all of them have some doubts, but together they will be able to fight all the obstacles and greet the new adventure. Hope you had fun reading the chapter, have a great week!