I must admit that I am not entirely sure where this is going. There is a second chapter which I am in the process of rewriting. Thoughts and suggestions welcome :)

Mrs Hughes was quite confounded by the level of giddiness amongst the staff. The day had begun like any other, it was a warm sunny day outside but aside from that there was nothing special about it and yet, the mood of the staff was exceedingly jovial. No, more than jovial, frivolous.

Breakfast in the servants' hall was generally a rushed affair, some people were always a bit sleepy, others a bit irritable (Miss O'Brien!). This morning however it was as though everyone had awoken from sleeping on a cloud the night before. The chatter was loud and jolly. Even Thomas appeared witty and engaging rather than bitter and offensive.

Once breakfast had finished and everyone had departed the servants' hall she caught up with Mr Carson and casually mused at everyone's good humour. Perhaps she had missed something!

"It was unusual, granted, but my suggestion is – don't question it!" Mr Carson said. "Before you know it Thomas and William will be at each other's throats or Miss O'Brien will have said something to upset Gwen or Mrs Patmore or…"he sighed. "Enjoy the peace while it lasts!" he smiled dryly at her.

"You are right Mr Carson, of course. I shouldn't be looking a gift horse in the mouth!" she replied and he gave a short laugh before going about his business.

As the day wore on however the "gift horse" began to look increasingly suspicious. When she came across Thomas and Anna laughing in the corridor outside the kitchen she was certain something was amiss! They had hurried along about their business as soon as they saw her. She went straight to Mr Carson's office where she found him at his desk looking through some ledgers. He glanced up briefly, then paused and raised his head more slowly to take a proper look.

"Mrs Hughes? Is everything alright?" he asked, concern on his face.

"I hope so but I have my suspicions." She said.

Mr Carson raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"They are still at it." She said, as though it were plainly obvious who she meant by "they" and "it".

Mr Carson raised his eyebrows again. "Who? At what?"

She rolled her eyes though she didn't mean to. "The staff. They are still being…" as she tried to think of an accurate description of their behaviour it dawned on her how ridiculous she would sound. The staff were still being nice to each other? Quick, stop the presses! She began to feel foolish and it must have shown in her expression because Mr Carson began to smile.

"Still being cheerful are they? How dare they!" he held back a cheeky grin but the mirth was plainly dancing in his eyes.

Faced with this feeling of foolishness and now Mr Carson's mockery, Mrs Hughes relied on one of her old reliable defences against uncomfortable situations – a look of stern reproach.

Mr Carson bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement of the unspoken rebuke.

"Sorry." He said, his lopsided smile begging forgiveness which she granted with the relaxing of her rigid posture and relenting her stern gaze. "I'm sure it's nothing." He said, then checking his watch. "It's nearly lunchtime, if they get through another meal without us having to referee any disputes, then…" he smiled, "then I might start to worry."

She nodded. "You're right. Again."

"I have been known to be on occasion!" he quipped jokingly.

"Hmm." Was all she said and left him to get back to work.

Lunch in the servant's hall was like a replay of breakfast. Mr Bates was regaling them all with some story about time spent in France. It was exactly the situation in which one would normally have expected Thomas to stick his oar in and upset everyone but instead he seemed genuinely interested in Mr Bates' story and not only listened but asked sensible questions and contributed to a proper discussion. Mrs Hughes looked pointedly at Mr Carson and raised an eyebrow. Mr Carson shrugged slightly in response, though he too was surprised at the civility between Thomas and…well, everyone! He thought he had caught Gwen and Daisy looking sideways at him and Mrs Hughes once or twice but otherwise everyone seemed relaxed and he couldn't pinpoint anything strange about their behaviour. In fact, the only people being strange were probably him and Mrs Hughes he realised. So intent were they to find clues and inconsistencies in everyone else's behaviour they had been noticeably quiet throughout the meal. Which was perhaps why Gwen and Daisy had been looking at them strangely. He felt like laughing, they were being foolish. Everyone was obviously just in a good mood, for whatever reason.

Mrs Hughes however was not so easily convinced and came to him again after lunch.

"Well?" she asked. "You can't tell me that was normal? Something is not right."

"It's unusual yes but…" he began haltingly.

"They are up to something!" she said.

"What could they possibly be up to?" he asked. "What is there to gain from being civil and cheerful?"

"Well…" Mrs Hughes furrowed her brow in thought for a moment but had to admit she couldn't think of any immediate gain. "I don't know. But I know they are up to something!" she still insisted.

"Let's say there was some way in which they could gain from this behaviour. Can you really see Thomas and Miss O'Brien teaming up with the others to achieve a goal? Or vice versa?" Mr Carson asked.

"I can see it happening sooner than I can imagine Thomas just happened to find Mr Bates story fascinating and had nothing disparaging to say about it!" Mrs Hughes countered.

Mr Carson sighed. "I don't know. I guess all we can do is wait for it all to pan out." He said resignedly.

Mrs Hughes did not like the passive "let's see what happens" approach when it came to anything but for once she couldn't think of anything else that could be done.

Mr Carson served His Lordship tea in the library, whilst Lord Grantham paced in front of the fireplace.

"Everything alright M'Lord?" Carson asked with concern. Lord Grantham sighed.

"Yes, well…Sybil seized yet another opportunity to upset the apple cart during lunch. I swear she saves up her most outrageous statements for her grandmother's visits!" Robert rolled his eyes. Frustrating though Sybil was, even he couldn't help but get a kick out of her behaviour sometimes- or more accurately his mother's reactions to it! He smiled to himself.

"Lady Sybil has quite the dynamic personality. I am sure that is something the Dowager Countess can relate to." Carson replied. "Forgive me." He bowed his head, eyes trained on the floor.

Robert laughed. "You are quite right Carson! You are quite right!" he stopped pacing and took a seat. "At least Sybil has always been something of an open book. Alas, the same cannot be said for her sisters. I am quite confounded by their behaviour at the moment."

Carson said nothing but gave His Lordship a questioning look.

"Actually," Robert said with a sudden realisation. "There hasn't been one cross word between any of them for days."

This caught Carson's attention.

"And you've been with us long enough Carson to know what a rare occurrence that is!" Robert said.

"When you say there hasn't been a cross word…?"

"As my dear wife would say, they've been as nice as pie to each other for days. I cannot for the life of me think what they could be up to." Lord Grantham furrowed his brow in thought just as Mrs Hughes had earlier. "Thank yourself lucky you don't have children Carson! You have been spared from such frustrations and mysteries!"

"Indeed M'Lord." Carson said wryly. "Indeed."