Prompt #11: "Will you tell me how long you have loved him?" "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began."


Elsie is just finishing off the weekly accounts when there is a light tap on her door. Knowing that Mrs. Patmore is in the kitchen and Mr Carson upstairs attending the family, she wonders who might be at her door

"Come in," she calls and startles when the door opens to reveal Lady Mary who, given the time, must have come straight down after the dinner had finished. She rises from her seat immediately. "Milady. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping to speak with you for a few moments, if that's possible?"

"Of course." While she remains standing, she gestures, inviting Lady Mary to sit.

"What I wish to discuss is a personal matter and I would feel more comfortable if you would sit as well."

"Very well milady," she replies, taking the seat opposite.

"I wanted to offer my congratulations on your engagement."

Elsie is taken aback; she and Charles had agreed to keep the change in their relationship to themselves until the New Year. She can't believe he would go behind her back and confide in Lady Mary, despite how close the two of them are. "I…"

Mary senses she's somehow put her foot in it. "I take it Carson hasn't told you about our conversation this afternoon?"

"I've not spoken to him, milady. I had errands to run in the village and when I returned he was already in the dining room."

Lady Mary sees the concern in the eyes of the Housekeeper, the way Mrs Hughes tries but fails to mask the mild agitation the slowly bubbles to the surface. The pull of her jaw, the bite of the lip, the stinging comment that she pushes down. Carson had confided in Lady Mary that he and his intended had not approached her parents nor told anyone else, yet here she is, imposing her congratulations on the Housekeeper, and putting Carson into hot water. Normally no one intimidated Lady Mary, but she respects Mrs. Hughes and feels that she needs to put this faux pas right.

"Mrs Hughes, perhaps I should explain," Lady Mary offers.


Lady Mary was walking through the main hall when she heard singing. She stopped and listened. It was coming from the dining room. As she approached, she realised it was a voice she hadn't heard sing in a long time, since she and her sisters were children.

"Let me call you 'Sweetheart', I'm in love with you. Let me hear you whisper that you love me too." Carson was singing whilst measuring the distances between place settings And he was smiling; no beaming.

Mary couldn't help but smile at the choice of song as she stood quietly in the doorway. She had a fairly good idea who he would be thinking about as he sang, she'd watched his regard for Mrs Hughes deepen over the years, but she was intrigued as to what had caused him to be so lax in his professional persona.

"Keep the love-light glowing in your eyes so true. Let me call you 'Sweetheart', I'm in love with you." Carson finished tunefully.

"Milady!"

"It's alright Carson. I won't give you away. It was rather nice to hear you sing; it took me back to my childhood."

He relaxed a little at Lady Mary's comments, but was still cursing his lack of professionalism. He didn't know what had come over him recently. No, that was a lie. It was all because of Elsie and their understanding. He was happy, happier than he'd been in a long time and it had taken him by surprise how hard that was to supress.

"Carson, who is the sweetheart that has you singing so happily?" Lady Mary asked with a knowing smile.

Charles swallowed nervously, was it really that obvious? "I don't know what you mean milady. I must have heard one of the staff singing it downstairs and it's got stuck in my head."

Mary shook her head and smiled. "You're a hopeless liar Carson. Does Mrs Hughes know how you feel?"

Carson grimaced; he'd been caught out. He hadn't meant to be so cavalier with their secret, with their new understanding and he was sure that Mrs. Hughes would throttle him for letting his guard down before they'd had a chance to tell the family together. "I'm not sure it's appropriate to speak of this milady."

"A wise man once told me that we should tell the ones we love what's in our hearts. If we love them we should let them know and that if we don't, we'll regret it our whole life long."

"You can rest assured that he has taken his own advice milady," he replies honestly.

"I'm glad. So you have an understanding?"

"We do, milady. I have asked for her hand and she has accepted, but I must ask that this remains our secret. It is not our wish to make it public just yet.

"Of course, Carson. You know me. My lips are sealed."


"So you see, Mrs. Hughes, I pressed him for the information," explains Mary. "And to be fair to him, I already had my suspicions."

Elsie blushes; have they really been so obvious? "Milady, I'm not sure Mr Carson would appreciate being the subject of our conversation. You know how much he values his privacy."

"You're right of course, and he said a similar thing during our conversation. May I ask just one thing?" Elsie nods. "You and Carson have worked together for a good number of years now… How long have you loved him?"

The question takes Elsie by surprise. While the question is impertinent, she's not surprised that Lady Mary has asked; she doubts the young woman would be afraid to ask the Duke of Kent about the variety of his dalliances. The thing is that when she thinks about her answer, she can't pinpoint a moment where she fell in love with him. She was in the middle of it before she realised.

Mary takes Elsie's silence as a refusal to answer. "I'm sorry, I've embarrassed you." She stands to leave.

"No, it's not that, milady" Elsie declares and Mary retakes her seat. "It's just that it happened so gradually, the change from colleagues to friends to... I hardly know when it began."

Elsie notices the corners of Lady Mary's lips tug upwards just slightly, the corners of her eyes crinkle as her face melts into the recognition of something that Elsie suspects doesn't have to do with her or Charles. The distant look in the young woman's eyes is fleeting, her porcelain facade reappearing as quickly as it had left, but Elsie knows that she has been privy to something personal, something that only a few have seen. The real Mary; the Mary that Charles sees.

"Well then," continues Mary, "I shall leave you to get on. I really do wish you and Carson much happiness. And, if there's anything I can do to help, please don't hesitate to ask."

Elsie watches Mary leave. She wasn't sure quite what to make of the conversation, but further thought on the matter was put on hold by a loud crash from the kitchen and a string of ranting curses from Mrs Patmore.

Elsie shakes her head and, opening the door, takes a deep breath to steel herself for the battle she's about to walk into.


There's another knock on her sitting room door just before the servants dinner is due to be served. Charles pops his head around the door. "Do you have a moment, Mrs Hughes?" he asks, the picture of professionalism.

"Of course, Mr Carson." He closes the door and she continues. "I wanted a word anyway."

"Oh?" he asks, though her tone tells him this isn't going to be pleasant.

"Yes. You see, I had a visit from Lady Mary earlier this evening," she tells him, keeping her eyes firmly on him.

Charles feels himself wither slightly under her gaze. "Ah. Yes. I did mean to tell you. In fact I came looking for you but you'd gone to the village."

"You told her." Elsie states.

Charles hangs his head, ashamed. "I apologise Elsie. We agreed to keep it to ourselves and I failed to do so. But in my defence, if you'll allow me to present one, she guessed most of it anyway. All I did was confirm it. You know me, Elsie… I'm a terrible liar."

"Yes, you are," she agreed, thinking back to a time in her life she'd rather forget, and his private care and concern for her.

"Would you feel better if you could tell someone? Mrs Patmore perhaps? Or Anna?"

"Mrs Patmore already knows." She mumbles so quietly, Charles wonders if he misheard, but the look in her eyes confirms that he did not.

"So you're annoyed at me for telling, when you've told too?"

"I told Mrs Patmore after I found out you'd told Lady Mary and it was only to distract her so she wouldn't kill poor Gladys." Charles looks at her quizzically. "She dropped a bowl of Hollandaise," explains Elsie.

Charles nods in understanding; he's been on the receiving end of Mrs Patmore's anger more times than he'd have liked. "Perhaps we should consider making an announcement sooner rather than later," he suggests.

"Perhaps," she agrees. "We can discuss it later; we're late for supper. Everyone will be waiting."

He leads her silently through the door, a fleeting touch of his hand against her back. They are halfway to the Servants' Hall when he speaks again. "Oh I almost forgot. Lady Mary has invited Mr Napier to stay next week, so we'll need to make up a room."

Elsie nods and then remembers her conversation with Lady Mary and the look on the young woman's face when she had spoken about the gradual deepening of her feelings for Charles. Perhaps she and Charles won't be the only ones with a happy union to celebrate in the near future.


A/N: You should Google the Duke of Kent - the tales of his dalliances are quite salacious for their time!