B&B OF LOVE AND FUN-28
Hello dear people. Thanks for all the reviews after yesterday's chapter. You all agreed, that Charles had it coming. He can be sweet, but also very pain in the neck like...Now he has to amend his mistake, but with Elsie's good will of course, plus Elsie will find a way of getting back to him, by accident...
One word of explanation to all my readers- I know that this is a story about Charles, Elsie and Beryl, but if you don't mind, I do not intend to write about Beryl and Mr Mason in intimate situations, nothing more besides some funny hints between her and Elsie. As much as I love Mrs Patmore, I'm not able to write her in those kind of situations. I hope that you understand.
Charles was really panicked, after Elsie's outrage and he needed a moment to calm down and clear his head. The dinner was still going on and he had to serve a dessert, not to mention to apologize to Elsie, for his awful behavior.
He was scolding himself quietly. How could he be so insensitive about her cooking? He loved Elsie more than his life, but unfortunately, there were still moments, when he has changed into this judgmental butler.
He checked the fridge and to his relief, he noticed a large piece of apple pie from the wedding, which he didn't manage to eat. He heated two pieces for his guests and served it to them.
Luckily for him, the rest of the dinner went pretty well and after it was finished, he could concentrate on waiting till Elsie will return.
But it was late night and she still wasn't home. He started to be really worried and then a sudden thought has occurred to this head, that Elsie probably went to the farm, to visit Andy and Daisy. He decided to telephone there and Daisy answered and told him, that indeed Elsie was there. But that was the only good part of the news. The bad part was, that she didn't want to talk to him and she asked Daisy to give him the message, that she will spend the night there.
Charles hunged up the phone feeling awful...He did it again. He hurt the woman that he loved, to the point, when she didn't want to be under the same roof with him. He went to bed feeling lousy, promising himself, that first thing in the morning, he will go there and apologize. He felt very tired, but his tormented mind gave him an awful idea, that if Elsie will not agree to go back, he will have to deal with the breakfast, all by himself. Katie was still very ill and there was no way, that she will be able to help him.
He slept nervously and when he woke up, he decided to drink a cup of coffee, before going to the farm. He wanted to be on time, before the breakfast for the guests...He was just finishing his cup, when he heard the noise of a front gate and to his relief, he saw, that Elsie was coming back to the house...
"Elsie you came back..."-Charles stepped in her direction, with a soppy smile on his face...
"I have and that is only because it didn't feel right to leave you all alone with the brekafast for our guests. After all, this is my B&B too. But that doesn't mean that I have forgiven you for what you did.."
"Elsie, I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry for all this...I don't know what's gotten into me last night...I guess I was frightened with this situation and terrified, with our guests feelings about the quality of our kitchen..."
"Yes and apparently our guests feelings meant more to you than my feelings Charlie...Which is not right..."
"Of course it's not...I'm sorry Els...You are the best wife in the world...I love you madly and yet sometimes, that old, grumpy butler reappears.."
"I have an idea Charles...Why don't we kick him out of here, next time he will come back?"
"I'm all for that...Does this mean that you will forgive me?"
"I think that I already have...No matter how awfully you behave, somehow I can't stay mad at you for too long..."
"Must be my irresistible charm..."
"Don't push your luck Mr Carson..."
"I'm so glad that you are here...I missed you so much Elsie...I'm not able to sleep, without you by my side..."
"To tell you the truth Charlie, I feel the same way..."
Charles took Elsie in his arms and kissed her tenderly...All the bad emotions were gone instantly...
"All right my dear husband..No more of that...We have a breakfast to serve...How is Katie feeling?"
"She was sleeping for many hours and today she looked very pale, when I took her a morning tea..."
"I will check on her later and give her something to eat...She needs to eat, to get well..."
"I agree..So what are we going to do about breakfast Elsie?"
"You leave that to me my love...You know that breakfast is my speciality...But please, not a word more..."
"Yes My Lady..."
Elsie instantly got to work and very soon, their guests could enjoy a very delicious breakfast. This time, Charles was wise enough, to stay quiet and everything went rather well...
Elsie was happy about the guests- Mr Dickens and Mr Sullivan were a very nice people and not too demanding. They were spending most of the day outside the B&B, looking for properties. In the afternoon, when Elsie was in the garden and she was picking flowers for the dining room, she suddenly noticed them, coming back from the village...
She was hidden behind a tree, so they couldn't see her, but she stopped, when she noticed how their conversation was interrupted, by a very loving gesture, that Mr Dickens did towards Mr Sullivan. Elsie was amazed, seeing the tender hand touch and a smiles, that clearly indicated, that they were more than just friends...
Mr Dickens whispered something to Mr Sullivan and he came back towards the village, whilst Mr Dickens decided to go back to the B&B.
Elsie was still under impression of the scene that she saw and she decided to stay hidden, just not to embarrass them, but to her unluck, she dropped the basket with flowers, which rolled on the ground and revealed her presence...
"Mrs Carson?"
"Yes Mr Dickens, that's me...I'm just picking flowers for the dining room..."
Elsie saw the embarrassment on Mr Dicken's face..He knew, that she saw and even though, he could just pretend, that it didn't happen, he decided to talk to her...
"Mrs Carson, I assume, that you saw me and Mr Sullivan?"
"I did, but it's none of my business, so I will ask no questions..."
"I appreciate it...I knew that you have class, ever since I saw you first...But I would like to explain either way...Can we sit down for a moment?"
"Of course we can..."
"You see Mrs Carson...We told you, that we are business partners, looking for an investment property.. Which is not true. We are partners, but life partners and we decided to live together, away from big city and your village seems to be ideal..."
"Mr Dickens, I really appreciate your honesty...I know that it must make you very uncomfortable, to talk to me about it..."
"Maybe not uncomfortable, more like scared...As you know, we are making a criminal offense with our lifestyle and I know, that it's shocking for most people...I'm assuming, that you have never knew any person of that kind in your life..."
"Then you assume wrong Mr Dickens..My husband and I were working in the Abbey for many years and one of our footmen was also a man "of that kind". We all knew about it..."
"You are an amazing woman Mrs Carson...I said it to Richard, on the day of our arrival..."
"Thank you very much Mr Dickens...I really appreciate your comment...I just have one, small favor to you..."
"Anything you need Mrs Carson..."
"Please, try not to mention anything to my husband...He is not...Well, not as tolerant as I am, so for him, it would be a much bigger shock, to find out, that you are life partners..."
"I understand and of course I will follow your advice and I'm sure, that I can do something in return Mrs Carson"
"Oh? What's that?"
"I'm sorry to admit that, but during our first dinner here, we heard your fight, coming from the kitchen.."
"I'm really sorry...You were not suppose to hear that..."
"That's all right...Since you are a kind and tolerant person, during today's dinner, I will make sure, that your husband will appreciate your cooking..."
"You just made my day Mr Dickens...I was afraid, that you really didn't like the food, since you've returned plates, with a lot of food on it..."
"No Mrs Carson, that was not the question of food..You see, on our way here, we made a stop at the pub and had very late and very big lunch, so we were not really hungry at dinner time..."
"What a relief...In that case, you will not be lying praising my cooking skills?"
"Not at all Mrs Carson and we will do it with pleasure..."
Later, dinner time...
Charles just entered the kitchen, with empty dishes and a wide grin on his face, which Elsie immediately noticed...
"What's so amusing my love?"
"Elsie, those gentelmen just said, that they don't remember eating such delicious dinner in their life... They will recommend our B&B to their friends in London...Can you believe that?"
"I can, but as I recall, you were the one who had difficulties with believing my cooking skills?"
"I will have no more of those Elsie...You are fully capable of replacing Beryl, during her absence..."
"I guess I have to write it down and remember this day..."
"And I have to accept the fact, that I married an ideal woman...In every sense of that word...Beautiful, intelligent, kind, with great cooking skills..."
"And don't you ever forget it Charles Carson!"
"How could I forget that I have a real treasure here?"-Charles showered Elsie with kisses...
On this night, in the small village of Downton, there were two very happy people...
That's all for today my lovelies...Ouch...Charles got what he deserved...Now he has to accept the fact, that Elsie is really a great cook...He just couldn't admit it before...I figured, that a little bit of interaction with B&B guests would be fun for this story, especially that both sides benefited at that. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful week!