This was so excellent! I really enjoyed this. I also thought it was a little jarring that Mrs Hughes only mentioned her sister the once and never again, so I'm really glad to see something about it.

This is just a fabulous little story.

Beautiful

Very well written and beautiful. Thank you for sharing!

This story is so heartwarming as well as bringing social injustices to light without being preachy. Very well done. I like the reference to Charles and Robert's Monday walks. You've brought out such a good relationship there and now one for Cora and Elsie. Please continue this and let us see how Charles and Becky get along.

This is absolutely what I would have expected had DA taken us to Scotland to visit Mrs. Hughes' sister. Very clever plot... the nuns running the institution.. the differences in the religions of the characters... the inspiring confidence of the American...Mrs. H's reticence..how the two interact.
Yes, I am there.

giggity, oh how lovely. this ending was perfecttttttt.

- i love the way you write their dialogue. how they express how much they missed sleeping next to the other without making them say it directly. "... i hope i never have to again." "that makes two of us". so right, and even sexier than "i missed pressing my body against yours at night." well, maybe not... but it's indirect and the real message is under the words they use and that is just so lovely.
- the meeting with Cora, again, loved loved loved how you wrote her ladyship. and that they stayed in their roles but there is clearly something different between them. Cora was in charge of the convo, though, but did everything to assure... but the best thing she did, she had no clue she was doing... she jostled Elsie's conscience about those in the know and the support they offer. she made elsie admit that carson is supportive, and that she hasn't exactly made that as easy as she could have.
- if Elsie can trust Cora to be respectful about her privacy and to be kind and open to someone like Becky, why can't she trust Carson, the man who loves her more than anyone else has ever loved her? The million dollar question. And Elsie gives serious contemplation... and reaches a choice. It was a nice epiphany, not a bolt of light from the sky, but gentle. And she didn't race excitedly to share with her husband and yet, was very ready to share.
- kicking Carson... oh that was fun. was it a test? perhaps, but perhaps not. it was a memory, it was about becky. it was a start.

this was a great ending. it begs for more (they usually do, your stories) but it also lets us drift away thinking about this new level of intimacy and trust between them. so good. thank you.

There's a bit of a role reversal here. Elsie Hughes/ Carson is usually the one offering support, comfort and love to some unhappy and/or unfortunate soul at Downton Abbey. But here, others offer her support and acceptance of her deepest secret, one very close to her heart, her responsibility for her sister, Becky.
The first , is her employer, Lady Grantham. That Lady affirms Elsie's role with total lack of judgment or condescension , even enjoyment. Indeed, she offers Elsie material assistance if ever she needs it in some possible crisis, and pledges her influence and contacts will ensure optimum care from St. John's Home.
Elsie decides the risk she took in opening up about her sister to Lady Grantham was worth it, the outcomes were good. So she decides to take the risk again and reveal her memories, thoughts and feelings about Becky to her husband.
Charles has also been supportive of Elsie's dealings with her sister. He now shares the cost of her care. He has let Elsie know he's interested in learning more about her, even though Elsie's been very reluctant to say anything. On this trip with Lady Grantham, he's been very agreeable, but patient and not pushing Elsie to say more about it than she wants to. He envelops her in love.
Then, after Elsie recounts an appropriate bedtime anecdote about her and Becky, and he asks,"Why are you telling me this now?", she replies, "It's time". It is so simple, so all encompassing, so economical, so heart-clenching, so masterful, so perfect, so beautiful. It is Elsie who can reveal her vulnerabilities in safety, love and acceptance from her beloved Charlie. She has chosen to do just that.
You have shown us all this so movingly. It is wonderful writing. Bravo!

This was a lovely story, I enjoyed it greatly..

Loved this! :)

This made me smile like an idiot. Haha
I like Cora's declaration that she will help Elsie and her sister is ever they need it. And Elsie's reluctant acceptance of that. I understand her wanting to keep her sister a secret.
But what I really love about this chapter is Charlie and Elsie. You may hate me for saying this, but they really are utterly adorable here. I love that when they were talking about sleeping apart that Charlie said "I never want to do it again." The last section where Elsie decides to tell Charlie about Becky is wonderful. I laughed at her showing him what Becky used to do by trying to push him out of the bed. This is just a really great ending for this story. It's sooo good. :)

This is really good! I'm glad Elsie got her visit with her sister. I like how you've written them. I like how Cora interacted with Elsie and Becky. I really like this chapter.

That was so nice of Cora! And I can totally see her being like this with Elsie and Becky.

Oh, this is just wonderful! As always your characterizations are spot on; I can always hear and see the actors when I read your stories. I love how enthusiastic Cora is about helping Elsie, using her position while disparaging the system that makes it possible and necessary, somewhat like she did getting Bates an Anna a table at the restaurant. Your Becky is spot-on: capricious, enthusiastic and contrary. It's amusing to see Elsie being the one worried about propriety. I can only imagine what Charles would say!

I can't even... this is just... I LOVE IT SO MUCH! for so many reasons...

ok. one main reason. Cora.

i love the irreverent way she talks about the dowager duchess, about her class, the British society and ways of doing things... ugh, beautiful. i love that you gave us the elsie/becky reunion through Cora's eyes, descriptively and meaningfully. i love that it fascinates her, partly because she doesn't get to see elsie like this, um, ever. but also because i think Cora is sincerely interested in what's real and what's beautiful and good. Cora is sentimental. In a good way.

re: 'sisters'... this made me think about my dad's two sisters; the eldest never married and the youngest suffered brain damage at birth and lived in a place like becky (well, not like becky, no nuns but you know what i mean). i would go with my aunt to visit the other and you nailed the dynamic. the success (if you can call it that) was completely dependent on the mood of the younger aunt. and my older aunt was never put off or put out... unfazed as you put it. she didn't brush her sister's hair, but she often painted her nails. it was their thing. this was just... so them! news and change was something that had to be broached carefully. elsie faced it with premeditated care, using photographs because becky likes them. sharing details about charles that would probably mortify him if he knew because becky would be amused and more likely to accept it. you have such a great insight to human behavior, things like this show that to me.

back to Cora: when you have someone close to you who is different for whatever reason, and someone comes along and treats them with dignity but naturally, not in a condescending way... you are just so thankful and it endears that person to you. Cora did this by talking to becky directly, looking her in the face... elsie just doesn't know what to make of this. the beach time was so un-Cora but very Cora at the same time. I can hear her voice, still proper and yet unproper because she is having fun (but not "great fun" because that is something very different in Cora-ese lol).

Mostly, this is totally legit. I love the episode when the Bates' go out to dinner and the maitre d' snubs them until Cora intervenes... and while it was humiliating for the Bateses, Cora was annoyed for them and then seemed to be having fun putting the man in his place. THEN she offered them a ride home. Horrifying to them, but oh well... she's American.

i know this is about elsie and becky. but Cora had my full attention. you know i'm a banna shipper in my heart. but perhaps you don't know that i'm a closet cobert shipper, too. i read cobert fics like my children's lives depend on it because i just adore their back story. this chapter totally would rate high in my favorite writings about Cora.

Mad kudos to you, i loved this.