A/N I haven't written any fanfic for two years, but after reading so many great stories and seeing so many fabulous pics and gifs on tumblr, i was inspired to get started again. This is my first story and while it doesn't yet have the flow i want for my stories, i thought it was good enough to put up. Slight AU in places.

If you have the time, please review.

Of course it didn't look very good on her. A housekeeper unable to keep track of her girls was simply not doing a very good job. She felt guilty and ashamed it could have happened. Ethel had not been her favourite by a long shot, but with the war on and so many girls who would before have gone into service now working in ammunition factories and filling in as bus conductorettes, she had had little choice.

Ethel was tactless and crude. She did her chores but not without grumbling or comment and Elsie had often wanted to smack the girl over the head. When Ethel came to her with her trouble it was not her fondness for the girl that made her act.

Keeping it all to herself had been hard. She had never kept much from him. She had been at Downton Abbey for longer than she cared to remember now and she had told Charles Carson all her worries, triumphs and thoughts. Keeping his Christmas present a secret from him was hard enough and Elsie had not only felt guilty for lending a helping hand, but also for not telling about it.

When it all came out, it had weighed heavy on her heart for some time and the loss of this burden had revived her springy step, her sense of control over her staff returned. What had mattered most was that Charles had not looked down on her. He had said few words about the whole ordeal, but his words were usually sparse. What he did say had not been heard by her ears, but with her heart.

Now it was all behind her and because she missed a housemaid, there was much more work for her to see to. She was helping Anna perform the tasks meant for two housemaids. A long time had passed since she had dusted mantlepieces or folded sheets, but it had been her fault that Ethel had to be dismissed, so she was the one who ought to make up for it. She didn't mind, though she didn't see very much of Mr Carson during the day.

At the end of the day she was thankful she had five minutes to herself. She took a deep breath and took her darning from the basket in the corner. Minutes slid away, the thread pulled through the fabric on the rhythm of the song she sang quietly under her breath. When her door opened and closed, she didn't need to look up to see it was him.

"It is getting rather late, Mrs Hughes." he said before he closed the door behind him. He turned and it took him only three steps to reach her.

"And i have missed you today." he kissed her on the top of her head.

"I have been busy. With one housemaid short, a lot of work falls onto Anna and i have been helping her to get things done." she answered, her eyes on her darning.

"A hectic day it has been indeed." He sat down on the chair opposite hers.

"Ethel may have been troublesome to say the least, but she made your work a little easier." He paused. "Is that my sock?" he indicated the black cotton sock she was working on.

"Yes." she smiled at him.

"You take good care of me."

"Someone has to when you don't do it yourself." She cut off a loose thread.

"Of course this is entirely an altruistic endeavor." he stated, his eyes twinkling.

"Of course..." she got half off her seat to put the sock in her sewing basket. "You know what lengths i go to for the honour of Downton: a butler with a hole in his sock just won't do."

He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in his lap where he kissed her soundly.

"Oh no. That would never do."