B&B OF LOVE AND FUN-3
Hello all. Thank you for all your reviews after yesterday's chapter. I'm not sure, if I have mentioned this before, but I'm planning this story to be a slow burner, which means, that we will go ahead, but very slowly, without any haste. I hope that you don't mind. In the last chapter, Elsie gave Charles the idea, now the ball is at his court and he has to decide what to do next.
After the idea that Elsie gave him, Charles's mind was working constantly. He was trying to figure out, whether it will be a good idea or not. He didn't want to admit it to Elsie, but the fact was, that he felt really tired with the reponsability of managing Downton.
Earlier it has never caused him any problems to fulfill his duties, but now, when palsy was getting to him, he knew, that he was not doing so well, as he was before. Charles never liked people, who didn't engage themselves totally in their job and everyone who knew him and worked with him, were very well aware of that. For him the comittment to a job, was like a saint thing, that could not have been discussed in any way.
The managing of the Abbey was his life work and he thought with nostalgia, about his early years, when he was a young man and he was so vital and full of strenght, that working for many hours a day, was not a problem for him.
Now it was all different and what was even worse, he was aware, that many people are starting to see clearly, that he is no longer up to the job. He suspected that quitting from his job, was only a matter of time.
In the light of all this, he devoted many thoughts to Elsie's proposition. Whenever he had some free time at the Abbey, or even in the evenings, in their cottage, when they were just enjoying their evening silence, sitting together on the sofa, his mind was drifting off to this new project.
Elsie noticed, that even though he was physically with her, his mind was far, far away and she let him have his thoughts, not trying to occupy him with some insignificant conversation.
She wasn't sure, what kind of decision he will make, although she knew, that his current health condition, will not give him much choice. Regardless of the new, possible project, he had to quit from being a butler soon and Elsie knew what it meant for him, better than anyone else.
That was the crucial difference between them. For Elsie, the Abbey was just her job and nothing else. Of course she respected her employers, she liked the people that she was working with, she was used to live under the roof of the Abbey for many years, but it was still just a job, a temporary thing, that she knew will end one day.
It was totally different with Charles. He arrived to the Abbey as a very young man, he spend most part of his life here, he considered this house his own house, he thought of the Crawleys as his family. If it wasn't for their marriage, Elsie suspected, that he thought that he will die at the Abbey and his ghost will haunt those walls forever. He did mention that once, many years ago, when he was considering moving to Haxby.
She fully understood, what it meant for him to live there, to work there and to be forced to give up all this so suddenly. If it wasn't for his sudden condition, he would have never gave up that job on his own.
So she gave him space and let him find the best, possible solution, for himself and for them.
They didn't talk about it very much, it was only once, that Elsie mentioned to him, that she will accept every decision that he will make. She knew, that it wasn't easy for him. It was not only the question of leaving the Abbey, it was also a question of pretty serious change in their life.
In their age, it wasn't easy to start everything from scratch, to take responsibility for their own business. Charles understood all this and he wanted to be sure, if the decision which he will make will be the correct one.
After few weeks, one night, he decided to talk about it with Elsie.
"Elsie, I really appreciate that you gave me time to think about all this and you didn't pressure me in any way."
"I promised that Charlie, I told you, that it has to be your decision. I didn't want you to feel pressured in any way."
"And you did an excellent job. Thank you for that."
"So do you have any ideas what to do next?"
"I think that you are right Elsie. I need to quit being a butler, I'm not a suitable person to do this job anymore. So I intend to to speak with Lord Grantham about it soon. But I think, that we should talk to Mrs Patmore and give her your plan and asks how she sees it.."
"I didn't want to hurry you, but you are right. She is already looking for a person to buy her B&B and she is crying to me every second day, that her life work will go to waste. But are you sure, that you want to do this Charlie? You know that she can be very enthusiastic about it and after that, there will be no force that can stop her..."
"I realize that and that's why we will tell her, that so far it's just an idea, so she wouldn't get her hopes up...What do you think?"
"I'm all for that Charlie. Maybe we can invite her to dinner in our cottage on Saturday, the family will be away, we can eat in the cottage and have a chance for a quiet, interruptions free conversation."
"I think that it's marvellous idea Elsie, but on one condition."
"What's that Charlie?"
"That we will eat Mrs Patmore's dishes, not yours, otherwise we may not have a chance for a quiet conversation, because we will have to go to the bathroom very often..."
Elsie looked at her husband with astonishment, she was already used to his constant nagging about her cooking, but he was never joking about the bad quality of her cooking, it was the first time. When she saw his amused face and playful sparkles in his eyes...
"Charles Carson! How dare you! You get back here right now!"
Charles was running towards the stairs and Elsie hit him with the coushin from the sofa...
Few days later, Saturday...
Just as they established, the invited Mrs Patmore to dinner few days later. According to Charles's wish, she prepared a few course dinner for all of them and they took it in the baskets, to the Carson's cottage. Mrs Patmore was surprised with the invitation, it wasn't often, that they met with each other outside the Abbey. She was even more surprised, when she heard what the Carsons had to say to her...
"Do I understand it correctly? You want to run a B&B together with me?"
"Yes Mrs Patmore, this is our idea, in fact it was Elsie's idea, if I am to be fair. But I would like to point out, that so far it's just an idea. No decisions have been made yet. We just wanted to know, if you would be interested..."
"Of course I would be! This is like an answer to my prayers! You know my situation Mr Carson. You know that after what happened, my B&B is ruined and I have nothing else to do, than to sell it, but I have no money for byuing another one."
"We are so sorry about it Mrs Patmore. We were giving a lot of thought to that-both of us. It's easier for me, because I was always planning my future outside the Abbey, but for Mr Carson it's so much more difficult and complicated..."
"Yes, Elsie is right...However my health is giving me pretty serious signals recently and I came to the point, where I'm thinking about quitting the Abbey..."
"Bloody Mary! I never thought that I would live to see that!"
"However as we said, no decisions have been made...There is still a lot to be done...If we decide to start the project, it would require a full involvement of all of us. Are you ready for such major change Mrs Patmore?-Elsie asked her friend...
"More than ready...I saw my future with running a B&B and I started to think, that it will never happen, but you have given me hope..."
"I'm just worrying about Lord Grantham-how will he handle losing of three key people in the house?"
"Don't you worry about that Mr Carson. We have new generation, fully prepared to work- Mr Barrow, Daisy and Mrs Baxter, they will manage without us, even if it seems unbelievable. And please don't worry about your possible problems with health, me and Mrs Hughes can do most of the work, you can manage, as you are used to and be as involved as you like..."
"That's exactly what I keep telling to him all the time..."-Elsie smiled to her husband and her friend..
"Well then, I propose a toast for our possible, future cooperation! For Carson and Patmore company!" Mrs Patmore was all excited and she raised her glass high...
"For Carson, Hughes and Patmore company"-Elsie corrected her friend, causing looks of astonishment on her companion's faces...
"To the future!"-added Charles, raising the glass...
There was fear, excitement, uncertainty, but also a great deal of joy and anticipation in the hearts of all three of them...
That's all for today's chapter...Things start to be more real, as Charles is beginning to think seriously about the idea of B&B...There is still a long way ahead, but I think that from now on, things will move in the right direction...I hope you liked this full of dialogue chapter...Thanks for reading and have a great week!