A NIGHT TO REMEMBER-2
Hello everyone. So good to be with you again. It's weekend, so it's update time. In the last chapter, Elsie received a sad news and now she will explain everything to Charles, which will lead to unexpected decision from him. Hope you will like it.
Half an hour has passed a long time ago, it was the usual time, which they were spending on their afternoon tea, but neither of them cared about it. Elsie was too depressed with the news that she just received and Charles was too focused on consoling her and listening to her story.
"So your sister was suffering from this condition ever since she was born?"
"Yes, soon after she was born, my mother noticed, that she wasn't reacting normally. Later on it was only worse...The doctors told us, that she will always have a mind of a little girl"
"It must have been a heavy burden for your parents..."
"It was...Becky was born long time after me. I was already ten when she was born. The doctors told my parents that the possible cause of her state was their late age, so they decided to not have any more children, even though my father really wanted to have a son..."
"How you were coping with it?"
"I do not want to brag or anything, but I believe, that I was the one who took this situation very naturally. My parents were devastated, they were blaming each other. My father was often angry at my mother. My mother was crying late at night, when she thought that nobody could hear her and I was just watching all this, not understanding much, but being sure of one thing- that I love my little sister very much and I have to protect her at any cost..."
Charles looked at Elsie with admiration, she was a true miracle in his book, but with what she just said, made her even more wonderful in his eyes...Especially that...Suddenly his own sad memories came back to him with double force...
"I understand it very well Mrs Hughes. I've never told you this before, but I had a little sister called Anne. She was the sweetest child ever and my favorite sibling and she died when she was five."
"Oh no...Mr Carson...I had no idea...How did this happen?"
"She had a very difficult case of flu. From the beginning, the doctors didn't give us much hope, but I was hoping that, there will be miracle, a Christmas miracle...It happened one day after Christmas. Unfortunately, there wasn't any miracle..."
"But you still remember about her till this day?"
"Yes, I do...Every year at Christmas time, I'm thinking about my little sister..."
"So do I...All the time...When we were little, I was always with her. I was protecting her from vicious people. From their nasty comments. You can't even know, how may times I've beaten other kids who were laughing at her..."
Charles couldn't help, but chuckle...
"I believe that I would like to see that..."
"Well Mr Carson, I'm a Scottish woman and we tend to be very fiery..."
"That is true. Was she going to school?"
"No...The doctors told us, that it wouldn't make sense, because she wouldn't be able to keep up with the rest of the class..She just stayed home with mom, waiting till I get back...We loved to play together... She was never aggressive or dangerous...Just a sweet, little girl, living in her own world..."
"You must have been like a whole world to her..?"
"I was...But then I left for service, when dad died. I had to send money to mom and Becky, they could only rely on my support...My mom made me promise, that I will never leave Becky alone when she will die and I kept that promise, although not literally..."
"You have been the best sister for her, I'm sure..."
"Was I really Mr Carson? Working here, I didn't even have time to visit her...I haven't seen her in like a year...She was comfortable in the home where I put her, she had friends and toys there...Nothing was lacking, but I will never forgive myself, for not seeing her more..."
"Mrs Hughes, you have done so much...Believe me, not everyone would do what you did for your sister...A lot of people would just give up and forget about having a mentally challenged sibling..."
"I could never do that...It meant that I don't have any money, as all my savings went to pay for her care, but I couldn't do it any other way...My sweet Becky...The last living member of my family...
Elsie bent her head down, to hide the fact that she was crying, but Charles knew exactly what was going on in her head...He swiftly handed her a handkerchief and he let himself do a gesture, that would normally be considered as inappropriate. He put his hand on hers, stroking her so gently, that it caused a shiver in her spine...
Even though Elsie was mourning her sister deeply, she felt, that she never wanted this moment to end... If only he could not let go her hand, as she felt stronger, having this small physical contact with him... It was lovely to have him so close and to feel his delicate touch...
She couldn't dare to look at him, as she didn't want to break this moment, but she knew, that it was inevitable...
"Mrs Hughes...What about the funeral? Do you have any news about that?"
He let go her hand and she immediately missed the warmth and secure feeling of his hand...She sighed deeply...
"Yes...They told me, that it will be in three days, in Lythams St. Anne. ...There will be a small ceremony in the church and she will be buried in the graveyard, near the care house, where she was staying...I need to...I think that I ought to talk to His Lordship...It will take one day, I will manage to go in the early train and come back in the late evening...I just don't have strength to deal with this right now.."
"Let me do something for you then..."
"What do you want to do Mr Carson?"
"I will speak with His Lordship in your behalf and present the situation..."
"I'm not sure if it's appropriate...After all it was my sister..."
"Please, let me...I want to help you..."
"All right then...Oh, there is work to do and I can't concentrate..."
"Don't you worry about that too...I think that you should go and lie down now...I will handle everything..."
Elsie looked at him with gratefulness in her eyes...
"Thank you Mr Carson...You are a kind man..."
A little while later...
"Her sister Carson? I wasn't even aware, that she had a sister...But then again Mrs Hughes is very secretive. What a sad news and sad story..."
"So, will it be all right for Mrs Hughes to go to the funeral My Lord?"
"Of course Carson...She should say goodbye to her sister...When will it be?"
"In three days...Mrs Hughes thinks, that she will be able to go and come back in the same day..."
"No objections from me...Please tell her, how sorry we are for her loss..."
"Thank you My Lord..."
Charles turned around, wanting to go back downstairs, when a sudden thought has entered his head... It was crazy, it was not like him at all, it was something, that could expose Downton Abbey for a huge inconvenience, as it was almost unthinkable, for the two heads of staff to be absent at the same time, but he felt, that he simply had to do it...He couldn't let the woman he loved go through this on her own... He had to be with her...
A little shy and embarrassed, he turned around once more, to give his request to Robert...Even though he was aware, that His Lordship was very understanding, he felt uncertain about his answer. Luckily for him, the answer was yes...
A little while later...
Elsie came down for dinner, but she wasn't eating much...She just sat there, not being involved in any of the conversations...Charles was observing her discreetly the whole time, being impatient, about the end of the dinner, as he wanted to give her one good news today.
When she went to her sitting room, after dinner, he hurried after her...
"Mrs Hughes, may I come in?"
"Of course Mr Carson...Did you speak to His Lordship?"
"Yes, I did...He agreed..."
"I cannot thank you enough..."
"Anything for you, but there is more..."
"More?"
"Yes, you see...I know that it may seem weird to you, but I thought, that it wouldn't be good, if you had to go through it on your own..."
"Oh?"
"So I asked His Lordship, if he wouldn't mind me taking this trip with you and he agreed to that..."
"Mr Carson...I don't know what to say...I'm astound...You haven't even met my sister...I would never think, that you would want..."
"I would...Very much...I didn't know your sister, but I wouldn't want you to go through this alone..."
"Thank you...That means a lot to me...To this time, I always had to go through all the difficult things in my life on my own, so it will be a nice change..."
"In that case we will go together..."
"It looks like we will"
That's it for this chapter my dear people...Yup, it's been decided...Charles will go with Elsie...Isn't he a sweetheart when he wants to be? It's a shame, that he rarely wants to be ;-) Those two chapters were just an introduction, the real action will begin in the next one ;-) Yes, I'm already encouraging you to continue reading. Have a very nice weekend!