Note: This is for my friend chaila. We've been talking about this story forever and she provided some great characterization help throughout the process. All anachronisms, misunderstandings of British class structure, Americanisms and American spelling are my fault, though.
i. Past
"Mrs. Hughes, you're late," Mr. Carson rumbled at her.
She sighed and rolled her eyes as she quickly sat down at the table and started to eat. It was so blasted hot outside and the heat from the kitchen and her own heavy dress was not helping matters.
"It is not every day that we at Downton entertain someone of this stature," Mr. Carson continued on. "It's hard enough to get the maids and footmen to act appropriately. I did not think I would have to remind you of the importance of this event."
"No, Mr. Carson, you do not."
"Then why -"
She set her spoon down with a thud. "Lady Mary - " she began, hating the way her anger stretched the syllables out. "And Lady Edith have been fighting all week and today Lady Mary upturned an ink well across Lady Edith's room."
"That's not your duty. You should have made one of the maids clean the room."
"Beth is ill and Jane went home to attend her father's funeral. All the other maids needed to prepare for our visitor, so it fell to me. You may want to remind Lady Mary to not interrupt my schedule the next time we have important guests."
She knew he would not let that stand. "She's just a young girl, Mrs. Hughes."
She sniffed. "She the same age I was when I went into service."
He ignored her and checked his watch. "It's time." He stood.
She ate one more mouthful before rising. It was going to be a long evening.
ii. Present
Anna finished dressing Lady Mary as Mrs. Hughes walked into her room. "You wanted to see me, m'lady?"
"Ah, yes, Mrs. Hughes, I was wondering if you would have time after luncheon to plan the wedding. With both Mama and Granny making calls, we could do some planning in peace."
Mrs. Hughes smiled in relief. She had been dreading the inevitable fights between the Countess and the Dowager over the eldest's wedding. It would simplify the process if she and Lady Mary could lay the groundwork first. "Of course, m'lady."
She and Anna turned to leave. "Oh, and Mrs. Hughes - "
She turned. "Yes, m'lady?"
Mary nodded at Anna, who left. "Anna tells me that you've been most helpful with her need to visit Bates. I wanted to thank you for helping her."
Mrs. Hughes tried to hide her shock. Lady Mary thanking her? "There's no need, m'lady."
"Even so -" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "After luncheon, then?"
She nodded and left.
iii. Past
Mrs. Hughes rushed through the hall with her arms full of linens when Lady Grantham called her into the sitting room. "Dear Mrs. Hughes, it seems that Lady Mary has driven away another lady's maid." She sighed. "I never thought how hard it was going to be to find a maid that would please all three of my daughters."
Years of service had trained her to hide her frustration and anger. This was the fifth maid in as many months. "Shall we put out another advertisement?"
"I suppose we should, although I don't know if we'll ever be able to find someone suitable."
"Don't worry, m'lady, we'll find someone." She felt like she was lying.
Cora sighed again. "I hate to add to your burden, Mrs. Hughes, but I was wondering if you could help the girls dress this evening? Normally, I'd have O'Brien do it, but I'm trying a new style of dress and it will take quite a bit longer."
She forced herself to smile. "Of course, m'lady."
Only when she was in the safety of the servants' staircase did she allow herself to roll her eyes and grimace.
She had dressed Lady Edith and Lady Sybil with little incident. Lady Mary, on the other hand, was another story.
"Too loose."
She sniffed and tightened the corset.
"Too tight."
She sniffed again and loosened it slightly.
"There. Finally. It's a good thing you're a much better housekeeper than you are a lady's maid, Mrs. Hughes."
She brought the dress and started to help Lady Mary into it. The nerve of this girl! "I didn't train to be a lady's maid, m'lady."
Dressed, Mary sat. Mrs. Hughes brought her shoes to her and started to put them on. "I do hope Mama finds a suitable maid soon. These last ones have been just dreadful."
"I hope so too, m'lady."
iv. Present
Lady Mary stared at the catalogue of flowers for ten minutes now but Mrs. Hughes could tell she wasn't really seeing it. "Are you feeling well, m'lady?"
She could see Lady Mary pull herself away from her internal debate. "Yes, of course." She paused. "When you dismissed that maid - Ethel - "
Mrs. Hughes raised her eyebrows. She couldn't contain her shock this time. She thought that Lady Mary had just seen Ethel as one more unpleasant event at a very unpleasant meal. "Yes?"
"Is that standard practice?"
"When I find a maid behaving in an inappropriate manner, then yes, I must dismiss her. I can't have maids that violate the rules of this house. Ethel knew this and still acted inappropriately."
"Yet you fed her."
She sighed. "The wee babe didn't deserve to starve because of his mother's mistake. And in a way, m'lady, I felt responsible."
Mary lifted an eyebrow. "Have you had to fired maids often for this reason?"
"No. I've been very lucky. Or my maids have been smarter than to use the servants' quarters for their liaisons." She doesn't say how thankful she was when Lady Grantham hired her that she only had daughters. No need for her to worry about sons seducing the maids.
v. Past
With Lord and Lady Grantham attending a dinner party, she had an early night. She was glad to sit down with a book and cup of tea. Her peace was disturbed by a muffled thump on the stairs. She rounded the doorway of her office, prepared to scold a maid for lax behavior and was startled to find Lady Mary sitting on the steps, her head resting against the wall, eyes closed. She rushed towards the girl, "M'lady, are you all right?"
Mary opened her eyes, which were feverish. "Carson?" she asked.
Mrs. Hughes felt the girl's forehead. "You're burning up."
Mary leaned into her cool touch. "Feel poorly," she muttered.
Mrs. Hughes rushed to Mr. Carson's office. "Come, help me get Lady Mary to her room. She's ill."
Carson jumped up, nearly ran to the girl and swept her up in his arms. As he carried to her to her room, Mrs. Hughes followed quickly behind him. As much as his favoritism towards the eldest Crawley girl grated on her, she was grateful for his swift help. He settled Mary back into her bed; she filled a basin with water and grabbed a cloth.
She began to dab the girl's forehead with the cool cloth and noticed Mr. Carson was still in the room. She fixed a stern glare at him. "Go get the doctor, Mr. Carson! I'll stay with her."
"Shouldn't Anna - "
"Anna is just getting over this illness. I want her to rest." She shooed him with her hands. "Go get the doctor!"
He left with one last worried look. Mary let out a moan. "Mrs. Hughes?"
Mrs. Hughes continued to apply the cool cloth to the girl's forehead. "Yes, m'lady?"
Mary reached out and grasped Mrs. Hughes' free hand. "Glad."
"Shhh, m'lady. Sleep."
She held on to the girl's hand until the doctor arrived.
vi. Present
An awkward silence fell between the two women. Mrs. Hughes was about to return to the wedding planning when Mary asked, "Why do you think Ethel and the others do it?"
Her brow furrowed as she wondered why she was stuck in this awful conversation in the first place. "Because they don't think. They think they're special or that the man isn't lying to them. They - "
"So they should live with the consequences of their choices. Just like I must." Mary looked directly at Mrs. Hughes, her face cold and calm.
"M'lady - "
"But it is the same. I took a lover." Lady Mary stood up and walked to the window, her back towards the housekeeper. "I could have ended up like Ethel - cast away."
She scoffed. "I rather doubt that, m'lady."
"Oh?" Mary turned towards the other woman.
"I beg your pardon, m'lady. It's not for me to say."
Lady Mary rolled her eyes. "Don't hide behind formality now, Mrs. Hughes. We've been quite honest with each other today."
Mrs. Hughes eyes flashed. "It's different for people like you. For the maids under my care, it means a rushed wedding or a life in the workhouse or worse. Their children go hungry." She paused and bit her lip. "You have a grandmother in America and a suitable story could explain your condition while you visited. There might be whispers of scandal but throwing you out would have caused a bigger one. You'd marry quickly, yes, but you'd still have a house and food." She turned her head away, the anger - not at the girl, but at the condition of the world - that filled her ebbing away.
"Is that fair?"
Mrs. Hughes sighed wearily. "You should know as well as I do, m'lady, that life is not fair."
"So we must live with the consequences." Mary sat closed her eyes. "It's hard to think when he appears in your room unexpectedly."
Mrs. Hughes raised her eyebrows. Not even Mr. Carson who liked to portray Lady Mary in best way possible had told her this. "What?"
Mary opened her eyes. Even after all her frank talk of facing the consequences, Mrs. Hughes could detect traces of shame and fear. Lady Mary hid it well but she had spent decades working with and counseling women her age. "He was suddenly in my room and he wouldn't leave. He was so insistent - "
"It doesn't sound like you had time to think, m'lady. I don't think it was your mistake that night." She shook her head. "I am sorry for that, m'lady."
"When Sybil was small, Edith told her a dreadful ghost story. She ran to my room and insisted that she sleep with me. She did so night after night and I grew sick of it. I asked Carson what I should do. He told me, 'Tell her that Mrs. Hughes' keys can lock the ghosts out.' I told him that was a silly story. But Sybil believed it and I did too, in a strange way." She smiled wryly. "After that night, I sometimes wish that there was a locked door between my room and the bachelor's quarters that only you possessed its key - like in the servants' quarters."
Mrs. Hughes smiled sadly. "Even that's not foolproof."