Chapter 26

Charles was at work, as were all of the children, so Elsie had the house to herself when her boss came around – the last person she had thought that she was going to be seeing that day was Cora Crawley, but she was most welcome.

"Elsie it is so good to see you looking so well," said Cora as she came into the living room at the old dowager house.

They had known one another for a long time and while Elsie did not think even now the two of them could rightfully be called friends, they did have a relaxed relationship and they did care about each other.

"I do not know if I look good, but it is nice to see you."

She knew she had looked better she had lost a bit of her hair and she was tired. And….

Anyway.

"How are the girls?"

"Oh, you know the three of them." Cora indulged her curiosity. "Mary to still spending a lot of time with Matthew and I think they are getting closer and closer all of the time," if she was honest she was not so sure if she was happy about it but there was not a whole lot she was going to be able to do about it if Mary had made her mind up. If there was one thing her child was, it was determined.

"Edith is, of course, always at parliament," Cora said breezily. "And then there is Sybil at university who does not seem to be able to go to sleep at night unless she has turned at least one of her father's hair grey during the day."

Elsie could not help but laugh at that. That all sounds about right.

"What of your children…. Including, of course, Bernadette?"

There had been more than a little bit of gossip regarding the beautiful young women who seemed to be going in and out of the Carson's cottage and everyone wanted to know who she was.

And Beryl Patmore knew who she was, John Bates did, Edward Courtney did and she was often seen with Anna.

Word had begun to trickle out about where she had come from, not that Charles and Elsie were trying to keep her as some big secret.

If they had wanted to keep her quiet, it had been for her own sake, so that she was going to be able to get used to the fact she was part of their family now.

But in a village like Downton, gossip was inevitable.

Cora and Elsie had worked together for so long that of course, she wanted to know. And she was not going to lie about her curiosity.

And though Cora knew she had had no way of knowing the truth was, she felt guilty that she had been there while all this was going through all of what she had, and she had not been able to help her.

The two of them had been so young when Cora had first come to England to be the wife of the Earl of Grantham. She and Robert had been trying to figure out who they were a man and wife when Charles and Elsie had been expecting their first baby, so it was no surprise that she had been a little preoccupied, but she could still remember Elsie's first day back at the abbey after she had been away.

At the time Cora had not really taken a lot of notice. She had said welcome back but now she thought about it even looking back over the years she knew the women she worked with had been pale.

But she had been so wrapped up in herself and she had been thinking about starting her own family. In addition, she reminded herself, they had had the sale of the abbey going on and so many things which now paled in comparison.

She wished she had taken a little more time.

"Oh – she is ok," said Elsie as she felt the fresh sensation of someone asking her how her eldest child was. For so long she would have shrugged and said she had no idea but now she was in the blessed position of knowing and it was a completely new feeling. "She is back in London and well. In regular contact."

She could ask no more and that was more than enough.

It was always going to be.

"I am glad she is well – and I am sorry the family weren't there for you when you needed us."

Elsie rankled over that. She had never liked the image of the family being all powerful on high while the silly servant was there just do there bidding but as she looked as Cora she knew she was being quite, quite genuine.

She had always been kind to her and if she said she was sorry she had not been there for her when she needed her that was what she meant.

"It is quite alright – the truth is I didn't want people knowing." And she did not think all of the family were going to think as she did – especially not Lady Violet. She and Charles might have been out of jobs and the times which they were in right then were very different to the ways things had been twenty years ago.

She sighed and went back to the subject they were discussing beforehand, eager to close the book on that conversation.

Thomas seemed better than she had known him for a while. If anything, William seemed to be doing much better than he had done before she had gone into hospital too. She thought about how down in the dumps he had been the night she and Charles had found the lump and knew he had not really been in that state since. Hopefully, his infatuation with Daisy was over and he was going to be able to move on to find a nice lass who deserved him soon, for she knew it was not just her biased mother's opinion that made her believe her son was a catch.

He was a good boy and he was a hard worker and she did not think she knew many people who were as kind or willing to be a friend as William.

He was a sweet lad and he was going to find a girl who could see that.

And she was going to be so happy for him when one did.

Then there was Anna. Well, Anna was Anna. She was working hard, and she was good to her mother and had been such a support and, of course, being steadfast to John who Charles seemed to have accepted somewhat more these days she was glad to say.

Not exactly because he was who she would have chosen for Anna but because he was who Anna had chosen for Anna and they had to accept that.

One thing cancer had done – for all of them – was give them a bit of perspective. To make them see who was there for them and who was not. And what mattered.

"Is there anything which I can do for the party?" asked Cora asked later in the visit as the topic of work arose.

"You are meant to be resting!" Cora reminded herself but Elsie shook her head.

"I have had enough rest of late to last a lifetime. If I rest any more then I think I am going to go asleep and never wake back up."

"Honestly, if I do let you get involved then I think Charles is going to kill me," The American said with a smile.

She had been impressed by the devotion which the stoic Englishman had shown towards his wife but there had never been any doubt about that. Even though the two of them were prone to argue, she had always been able to see how devoted to one another they were and if the truth was known, once or twice that had been a cause of jealousy for the great Lady Grantham. She was never going to have that unbreakable bond with Robert that they two of them had.

Yes, she was fairly sure that he was faithful to her now but their history could not be rewritten though she knew if he could then Robert was going to overwrite so much of it in a heartbeat. The sad thing for the two of them was it could not be.

"You leave that husband of mine to me," said Elsie with the surety of a woman who knew she was more than his equal and had proved it to him several times.

"Very well. I will think about what I can get you to do and get back to you."

Elsie rankled a little under that statement but knew it was the best she was going to get.

She had been unwell and she had a boss who cared enough to acknowledge that. There were plenty of people in the world who were surely envious of that.

"In return is there anything I can do for you?"

Elsie ranked her brains.

She did not like to be cheeky and if Cora had not said those words then she would not have asked.

But she had learnt in life that if she did not ask, then she was not going to get.

"Well since I have had our daughter – Bernadette, not Anna you understand," she said as she tried to get used to her daughter's name now. "Since we have had her back in our lives I want to try and find as many excuses to see her as I can. I know she has forgiven me but I still feel as if I have no right –" Elsie shook her head. She did not need to unload all of this on to her boss. She just needed a yes or a no answer.

"When we have the party, can I ask her and her mother to come up for it."

Since she and Julienne had had the chat in the kitchen she found she had a great deal of esteem and admiration for the women who had brought up her daughter.

There was no other way to put it.

Just like her, she had been a working mother and she had done such a wonderful job. The one thing she did not wish to do and the one thing she knew she was never going to be able to do was come between the two of them. Nor would she wanted too.

They had an unbreakable bond and she respected that. It was not just Bernadette who was family – it was her mother too now.

Cora smiled.

"Well, we are practically inviting the whole village so I think we can have a few people from outside of it too."

This party was about celebrating the love for Robert she had and the love he had for her.

It was not a night to be excluding anyone and a few more people at the Abbey was not going to hurt.

"Of course, the two of them can come – we will be more than happy to have them!"

"Thank you – I fully intend to go and see her as much as I can but I am rather tired at the moment and I don't want her to come up just to look at me while I can't get better."

X x x

"Lord and Lady Grantham of Downton Abbey request the presence of your company and two guests on the occasion of the thirtieth wedding anniversary."

If there was a piece of mail which Julienne did not think was ever going to drop through their letterbox, then this was it she thought to herself.

"What's that?" asked Shelagh as she came down the stairs, her hair tied back for another shift at the hospital as she raced through to the kitchen to put some peanut butter on some toast.

"Lord and Lady Grantham have been married for thirty years and the two of us – and two friends – are on the guest list."

"Oh," Bernadette said with a smile. There was such a time when she did not think she would want to go to such a posh do but she had spent some time with Lady Mary – and while she wasn't sure she was exactly her time of person – she had nothing against her.

Meeting the rest of the family might be fun.

It was quite sweet of them to invite them though she knew the happy couple had not thought of it themselves.

"Charles and Elsie must have swung it for us."

She had heard Anna and Elsie talking about it in recent weeks when she had been up there, and she heard Patrick say something about it too. She would have to ask if he was going.

"You know at first they were going to keep it as a private function but now they are going to do a public thing. Lord Robert surprised Charles with it – they are going to do a fund raiser through the night for breast cancer care."

Maybe it was some sort of reward for her father's long service she thought to herself but she doubted if there was anything that Charles Carson would have preferred than a nod to all his family had been through of late.

"Well if I am not rotas on at work then I am going to go." She said to her mother not that she needed to say it.

"I think I am going to take them up on the invite as well!" she might even ask to swap shifts if needed so she could.

It was not every day that you got to go to the home of a lord and a lady for a big old knees up and she was more than curious to have a lot inside the abbey. She had meant to go when they had been up there before had but she had not had the time.

Then she could forgive herself for that as there had been a lot going on.

"Good!" Bernadette smile. If the two of them could get the night off, then she had a feeling they both deserved a break.

"Do you know who you are going to bring as your guest?"

Julienne smiled. Yes. She knew exactly who she was going to take.

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