The Groom's Cottage

Chapter 20

EPILOGUE

The door of the cottage flew open with a bang and Charles suddenly found himself standing in the kitchen with two armfuls of Scottish housekeeper. She'd thrown her arms around his neck and was holding on so tightly that he had to lift her up off the floor to keep her from strangling him.

"Elsie, my dear," he said holding her tightly as she cried on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she sobbed in his ear. "It's William…he's alive!"

He set her down on the floor as she loosened her hold on him and lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. "So tell me," he said waiting expectantly.

"The telephone rang in your pantry and when I answered it, it was his Lordship. He said that Matthew Crawley and some of the other soldiers from his regiment had arrived at the hospital in London. He went on to say that one of the young men who had been unconscious since he had been brought in from the battlefield was riding in the same ambulance as Mr. Crawley and when he looked over to see who it was, Matthew recognized that it was William. Charles, he's still unconscious but he's alive and he's in London." Elsie's knees suddenly went weak and he slipped his arms around her waist to steady her. He led her to a chair at the kitchen table and that was when she noticed that he was not alone.

It had been a couple of months since they moved into the old groom's cottage and life had settled into a bit of a routine. They had been able to hire a young new footman named Tobias who was working out quite nicely. Having both Tobias and Anna serving at table had proven to be a boon to Charles in that he was able to stand back and do more of the organizing and supervising rather than having to run up and down the stairs himself…and for this, Elsie was truly grateful.

Having Tobias on staff also allowed for he and Elsie to have full days off together twice each month. These were days that they selfishly hoarded for spending time together at the cottage. They would make the occasional trip to Ripon or walk into the village when they needed something from the shops but otherwise they spent their time together tending to the housekeeping, the flowerboxes or preparing a meal together just like other married couples.

It was their half days off that brought about the most change for them. They rarely ended up with half days off together so these were the afternoons where they indulged their own individual interests and cultivated their own friendships. For Elsie, that meant long visits with Isobel exchanging news about Matthew and working on new curtains and linens for the cottage. They'd even decided that they both deserved new frocks for the upcoming holiday season and had planned a trip to Ripon to shop for fabric.

The changes in Charles were what surprised Elsie. He had taken to inviting Mr. Laughton over for a sandwich and a beer when he had an afternoon off. During the course of conversation he discovered that Mr. Laughton liked to play cribbage so the next time that he and Elsie made a trip to the village, he purchased a cribbage board and a deck of cards. It was on one of these afternoons playing cribbage that Dr. Clarkson dropped by the cottage to see how Elsie was faring and it wasn't long before he was pulled into the game as well. Soon it was "Charles, Joseph and Richard" arguing over points and nibs and who's turn it would be to make the sandwiches the next week.

Elsie and Charles occasionally did end up with the same half days off and at first, he offered to forego his standing cribbage game but she so enjoyed watching him relax with his friends and listening to their banter. Instead, she took to inviting Isobel over so that she would have someone to talk to as well.

After the first two or three times that Isobel dropped by the cottage on the same afternoons that Dr. Clarkson did, he started to call Charles the day before to find out if this would be one of the weeks that Isobel would be coming over as well. Soon he was offering to drive over and pick her up since he was going over to the cottage anyway…of course.

And so it did not come as a surprise to Elsie when she looked across the table to find Richard and Isobel smiling at her. "You knew!" she exclaimed looking up at Charles.

"Only just," he said holding up his hands in surrender hoping his Scottish housekeeper wasn't going to turn into the Scottish dragon.

"The hospital in London called to inform me of the patients who had arrived from the field hospital who were listed for our village," chimed in Richard. "I went to tell Isobel about Matthew and then we drove over here just as fast as we could but it looks like his Lordship was ahead of us."

A fresh wave of tears broke over Elsie and she lay her head down on her arms and sobbed. Making shushing sounds, Charles gathered her up in his arms and slipped onto the chair beneath her so he hold her on his lap and comfort her.

After a few minutes Isobel walked over and placed her hand on Elsie's shoulder. "There are a few things that I need to do at the hospital so that Richard isn't left in the lurch but I'm leaving for London to see Matthew in two days time…would you consider coming with me?"

Elsie looked up and covered her friend's hand with her own. She shook her head saying, "I couldn't, there's so much to do here."

"Now, now, Elsie," Charles interrupted. "I'm sure that we could spare you for a few days. Perhaps you could drive down to London with Isobel and then take the train back." He rubbed her back gently as her sobbing subsided. "You go and see for yourself how your young man is doing and then you can go back down there when he's finally up and around."

"Do you really think I could?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, there are several letters here and a package that I was preparing for the post. You could deliver them to his Lordship while you're down there. Her Ladyship and the girls may even have a few things for you to take down with you," he said reassuringly.

"That's settled then," said Isobel with a firm voice. "Richard and I need to get back to the hospital if I'm going to be ready to leave on schedule."

Richard helped Isobel on with her coat as Charles and Elsie walked them to the door. They exchanged hugs and handshakes and Richard and Isobel started up the walkway towards his motorcar. As they walked, Richard reached over and took Isobel's hand in his and she turned her head to smile up at him.

"I saw that," came Elsie's voice through the silence. Isobel turned to look over her shoulder and saw her best friend standing in the doorway of the cottage. They exchanged grins and Elsie turned to her husband who chose that moment to sweep her off her feet and carry her across the threshold.

A/N: I had forgotten how truly cheesy my writing was! LOL! Thanks to the guest reviewers and to everyone who made it to the end of the story!