Mrs. Hughes followed after him, into his pantry. His face red and his brow beading with sweat. "What are you afraid of Mr. Carson?" Her face was kind, her tone soft.

He looked about him, clenching his jaws together so that the muscles in his cheek jumped with tension. "I feel a shaking of the ground I stand on..."

She came around the desk. He needed her. She could feel it. He was going to break. He needed her to steady him. She was standing at him now, reaching down to take his shaking hands in hers. "It's alright..." she whispered, making him look at her with her demanding and loving stare. "It's alright..." she repeats.

Mr. Carson takes in a breath of the air around him, her air. His nostrils fill with her essence and he closes his eyes. He was dizzy. Was it his blood pressure or was it her perfume? He couldn't say. "Mrs. Hughes, don't you worry about the future? Don't you worry what is to become of people like us?"

Elsie giggled and encouraged him to sit in his desk chair. "Sit down before you hurt yourself." He huffed but obeyed...for her. She got between his chair and the desk and leaned against the edge, facing him. "Mr. Carson, I do think about the future and I try to not let the changes that are coming upset me. The world is changing, it always has and it always will. There is little you or I can do to stop it. So why fight it?"

"But that's just it. We can make a difference! If we are silent, we have no way of standing up for what we believe is right. We risk losing everything we have." He was almost shouting.

Elsie stares at him, studies the fret lines in his forehead. She thought of how she loves him so and wants to tell him.

Charles bows his head and looks at his hands. "I don't want to be at odds with you..." his deep rich voice rumbles slowly, thoughtfully.

"You aren't at odds with me. You and I are friends, Mr. Carson. We can disagree on things and remain civil, can't we?" She smiled so sweetly at him that his heart skipped a beat. She watched him carefully, moved by his emotion.

"I have nothing but this Mrs. Hughes. I have no family outside of this house." He had raised his head and spoke softly, his voice laced with thick emotion. "When I'm too old to make it up those stairs, when my mind can no longer decide what wine to serve with what entree, I have nothing."

Elsie swallows the sudden lump of emotion and walks to the other side of the desk. Charles hopes he hasn't hurt her with his words. He often did, he knew that and chastised himself each time. He wanted so badly to go to her, take her hand, feel steady. He always felt steady when she was near him. "Mrs. Hughes?"

Elsie turned to him with a smile, her face clear of emotion. "You are more than the Butler of Downton Abbey, Mr. Carson. She walked toward him as he was coming around the desk. "You are...an intelligent, wise and funny man..."

He raised his bushy eyebrows. "I doubt anybody would agree on that one.."

She chuckled. "You make me laugh..." she said with a coy expression. "You...are a loyal friend and confidant."

He smiled for the first time in awhile. It made him warm inside to hear her praise him. She always lifted him.

"Mr. Carson...you are not alone you know." Elsie's heart started to beat a little faster, her face blushed. She didn't know why she was all of sudden nervous. Nothing about their relationship made her nervous, mad as hell sometimes but never nervous. He turned his head slightly down and leaned back against his desk. "You don't have to feel alone..." her voice was low and almost seductive to him, he didn't dare speak for fear he would interrupt this moment. His hands were clammy, his heart rate doubled.

Elsie knew this man, knew his ways, his heart. She loved him. She was sure of that. She wasn't sure where he was. He certainly considered her his friend and showed much care for her over the years. She liked to think there had been a shift in their relationship since their paddle in the sea last summer and at times, she felt like he had changed toward her but she just wasn't sure enough...at least she hadn't been. But now, as her heart thumped out a rhythm that was pushing her toward a confidence she had not had with him, she didn't know if she could stop herself.

"You have me," she dared as she stepped closer to him.

His eyes searched hers, they were close enough that he could see the emotion building in her eyes. His chest rose and fell more prominently and his mouth was suddenly dry. Everything in him wanted to touch her, hold her. Long moments passed and they only stared at one another. She seemed so vulnerable and needy at the moment. He couldn't remember being this close to her, her face. He stood straight, towered over her small frame and she moved into his chest then. Charles' eyes widened in surprise but he brought his arms around her tiny waist and pulled her into him. Elsie's reached around him, her palms flat on the back of his jacket. He longed, suddenly, to be closer, to feel more of her. He closed his eyes against her hair, breathed in her essence and relaxed his body into hers. She moaned just a little at his touch...finally...his touch, was overwhelming. She didn't want to ruin this moment so she stifled the tears threatening to spill over their boundaries and let her body relax into his. They stood this way for a long while. It was she who pulled away, she wanted to see his face.

"That was nice." She stated quietly with a sweet smile.

Charles looked at her, his brow worried. "It...was..." He looked at his feet.

"Well you've a funny way of showing it." She teased, their arms still around each other.

He looked as though he might launch a panic attack. "I...I'm sorry...I didn't..." He let his arms drop from around her waist. Elsie took his hands in hers. "Calm down. It was just a hug."

Charles let out an exhaustive sigh. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Hughes. It was very nice...indeed." He tried to smile and reassure her of what was truly in his heart. He was letting his emotions get the better of him and over thinking things at the moment.

"It was meant to give you a little peace...calm. I think I failed." She smoothed her thumb over the back of his hand and searched his eyes.

Without warning and quite suddenly, his lips were on hers, tenderly and almost clumsily. nipping at her bottom lip, breath heavy and grasping for her hips when she started to totter on her feet.

"OH!" Elsie let out a little cry of surprise before accepting his advances by stepping up on the tips of her toes and wrapping her hands around his neck.

They kissed for just a bit, both breathless and a little scattered when they parted. A loose tendril of her hair came loose and she tucked it behind her ear, licking her lips. 'Oh his lips...' she thought to herself and the tingle in her belly became more prominent.

"Mrs. Hughes...oh God...I'm so sorry. I'm completely out of line and you have every right to..."

"Stop right there!" She put her hand up and gave him that fiery look that stopped him on a dime. "You have nothing to apologize for nor do you need to explain yourself." He looked like he might throw up.

"Do I frighten you that much? Does the thought of "us" sharing a moment of...intimacy...frighten you, Mr. Carson?" Elsie asked quietly.

Charles shot her a look. He felt like he was getting this all wrong. He was stamping out something he had always dreamed of happening. "Not in the least...erm...that is...no...of course not." He straightened his waist coat and cleared his throat.

Somewhat frustrated by his despondent reaction, Elsie decided to put him out of his misery. "I have a lot to do and I know you do too." She walked to the door and paused, her back to him, before walking out.

Charles closed his eyes. "Damn you fool!" he said out loud.

tbc...