Chapter 1

Downton Abbey - 1901

Elsie Hughes was doing her early morning rounds of the guest rooms. She supervised the maids who were getting them ready. A very large house party had just concluded. Some of the guests left late at night but most of them left in the morning, either to catch their respective trains or speeding up in their cars to attend to their important matters, leaving the guest bedrooms under the command of the formidable Housekeeper who delayed not a moment in re-arranging the rooms back to their initial impeccable standards. It was quite early in the morning and many maids were not very happy about having to do such hard work early in the morning but they knew the "Scottish Dragon" would get at them if they slacked and hardly dared to complain. But not everyone.

"I daresay she thinks us slave!" Jane, a rather new housemaid began protesting.

"That's rather harsh Jane," Anna replied softly.

"No it is not! To think of us being dragged out in here, this early in the morning, to arrange guest bedrooms that could wait at least till midday. That is harsh," Jane retorted.

"She is just doing her job Jane. She is not a bad person. She's actually very kind if you get to know her," Anna felt like defending the frightening yet kind Housekeeper, "She lets us go to fairs and all when Mr Carson would keep the footmen in to polish the silver."

"Going to a fair is our right! Who is she to deprive us of that? If she did she'll get a nice earful from me till she's shaken to her roots!" Jane retorted giving a pillow a very harsh puff.

Unknown to them Mrs Hughes was listening to the entire conversation from behind the closed door and was fuming as the young housemaid's airs increased and with the last comment she blew up. Opening the door in front of her in one swift movement, she stepped into the room. Her chatelaine swaying very fast and giving the keys attached to it a violent jangle. An equally frightening expression on her face.

"This not going to be good," Anna thought as she clutched the bed spread not able to think what to do as Jane stood dumbfounded with the pillow clasped to her chest, her mouth slightly open in surprise.

"M..Mrs H…H...Hughes," Jane stammered not quite able to think what she should say and feverishly wondering up to what extent the Housekeeper had heard their conversation.

"I am waiting for that earful of yours!" Mrs Hughes stormed as she watched tears gather in the corners of the housemaid's eyes. Anna watched on feeling like an intruding spectator.

"Since you currently are not in the state of replying at all. Let me remind you something. There are certain ways this house is run. And those ways are to ensure nothing but perfection. Let me remind that it is you job to do what you are told. And this type of conversation is very unseemly for a member of staff of this household. And if by any chance you are thinking of moving higher up in life, this approach, I assure you, will never get there. And implied from your tone is that this type of life is not for you. If you wish to work under this roof for sometime longer, I suggest you prepare yourself to meet the effort that these standards demand," Mrs Hughes finished in a very loud voice that the housemaid was now completely in tears. Mrs Hughes finished with the famous "Hughes glare" and walked out of the room as swiftly as she entered, her chatelaine giving a final violent jangle.

Anna let go of the bed spread and walked to Jane who was crying by this point and put her arms around her and rubbed her back in small equal strokes.

"Well Jane, you kind of asked for it really," she whispered softly.

X x x x

Mrs Hughes was in the linen cupboard absolutely furious. How dare that insolent girl make such remarks and even go to the extent of questioning her authority! She retreated to the linen cupboard because she feared that when in her temper she might lash out those who didn't deserve it, quite unfairly. She let the crisp white and sweet smell of the linen cupboard soothe her while she worked on the rotas and arranged it meticulously. Feeling that her temper was slightly cooling, she proceeded downstairs hoping to get some peace and quiet. She was not entirely cooled down as yet and she hope that a nice cup of tea would do the trick. She just hoped that Mrs Patmore wouldn't come barging in with one of her complaints, particularly the one about the store cupboard key. An exploding battle with a certain persistent, red-faced Cook was the last thing that Mrs Hughes wanted that morning.

Unknown to her several hours of the morning had passed by during her session at the linen cupboard and by the time she reached downstairs the sun was bursting with light outside. Wearily she walked down the corridor to her little sitting room. When she approached it, she found the door closed and a sobbing sound coming from within. She expected another of her maids to be crouched in the corner, completely overtaken by homesickness. Or maybe Jane, finally repenting.

But when she opened the door slowly so as not to startle anyone inside, she saw the form of a little girl crouched in the corner, her head buried in her hands and long dark locks falling down her shoulders.

"Lady Sybil?" the Housekeeper asked in her kindest voice, quite worried as to what the young girl was doing downstairs all by her own.

"Mrs Hughes?" the tear stained face of the seven year old looked up from where it was nestled on her knees, covered by her hands.

"Oh milady what are you doing here?" she asked as she rushed to where the little girl was seated on the floor. With some difficulty she went on her knees to get in level with the girl, realising that her vantage point would not do.

"I wanted to get away from Edith and Mary," little Lady Sybil replied with a sob and started crying softly again.

Watching the poor girl so sad broke Elsie Hughes' heart and she threw propriety and decorum to the wind as she decided to console her.

"Come here lassie," she said as she stretched out her arms to the young girl.

Little lady Sybil scuttled forward into the Housekeeper's arms and curled up as Mrs Hughes wrapped her arms around the little girl. Sybil cried very loudly into the Housekeeper's chest as she stroked the girl's back in gentle and even strokes.

"There, there lassie. It's alright. Everything is alright," she whispered into Sybil's ear as the little girl cried away.