My dears,
Here follows the translation of my fanfiction: "Das Rasseln ihrer Schlüssel" from German to English. I hope you like the story!
I would be very happy to receive feedback. It's always a great motivation when you get a few nice words back.
Please forgive me for some translation errors, I would be grateful for any information on this. I care deeply about the story and want it to be flawless. But now enjoy...
The Beginning.
He sat rigidly at the head of the table, held his soup spoon halfway to his mouth; he was too lost in thought to eat. The chair to his right was empty, it had been all day. In vain he kept waiting eagerly for the rattling of the many keys that announced her appearance with the wave of her step. How could he let it get this far? Why hadn't he controlled his anger better? He should have married her today, finally. Today he would have finally married her.
Everyone at the dinner table noticed Mr. Carson's apartness, no one spoke, no one knew what words would have been appropriate to choose. He hasn't been himself all day (how could he?). Everyone heard his outburst last night, and those who didn't hear it themselves were inevitably informed by gossip. Everyone knew what was happening and he was aware of that too. He was torn: desperation, self-anger and even shame raged within him.
Inevitably, in small mental idle moments during the day, the situation from last night came back to his mind. He couldn't help but think of her, his Elsie, cowering in front of him as he yelled at her, upset by her inappropriate behavior.
"If you were one of my boys, I would throw you out immediately! How could you embarrass us like that in front of her ladyship?!"
He saw her still standing in front of him, speechless and shocked, unable to answer, unable to think. Mr. Carson. He still saw tears dripping wordlessly down her cheeks. Mr. Carson. He could still see her slipping past him and escaping through her office door. Mr. Carson? And he could still see Mrs. Pattmore's shocked face, sitting motionless at the little table where Mrs. Hughes was about to eat her soup the night before her wedding.
"MR. CARSON!"
He looked puzzled into Anna's friendly eyes.
"Mr. Carson, your soup. It's getting cold." With a sympathetic grin, Anna tried to bring Mr. Carson out of his thoughts. A barely noticeable nod on her part was intended to underline her encouragement to eat.
All the servants at the table looked silently at Mr. Carson and abruptly started eating again when the butler of Downton Abbey let an indefinable look wander around the table. He didn't need to mention that he was by no means an object to be stared at. Whatever had happened.
Grateful for Anna's reminder, Mr. Carson finally put the spoon in his mouth and ate his soup without appetite.
I really hope that you like the first chapter (I know it's a short one) and that my English is better than the translator of this site.
Always carry a little bit of Chelsie in your heart and take good care of yourself.
See you soon!