Downton Abbey has been unalterably changed first by the loss of Lady Sybil and now the loss of Matthew Crawley. Mrs Hughes was much more upset when Lady Sybil died whereas Mr. Carson has certainly not been coping with Matthew Crawley's death well. Mrs Hughes is concerned about him. He's not sleeping well and Mrs Hughes can see it on his face which is not usual. She knows she's hovering over him more right now, but she also know he won't look after himself so she feels as if she has to. She's been watching him very carefully." Are you all right, Mr. Carson?" Mrs Hughes asks as she sets a cup of tea down on his desk.
"Just tired, Mrs Hughes, which is not surprising under the current circumstance." Mr. Carson sighs heavily.
Mrs Hughes gently puts her hand on Mr. Carson's shoulder. "Don't work too hard Mr. Carson. We don't need you get sick on top of everything else. Drink your tea and I'll be right back with tea for me and some biscuits for both of us. Then you can vent about anything you need to talk about." Mrs Hughes says sweetly. She goes back to her sitting room and collects her teacup and the tin of chocolate chip shortbread her cousin sent her. "Here we are. My cousin sent the biscuits so I hope you like them. She sent me her chocolate chip shortbread."
"Well, that speaks to my sweet tooth. I'm sure your cousin makes excellent biscuits." Mr. Carson smiles at Mrs Hughes. He picks up a biscuit and dips it into his tea to soften it.
"Don't leave that in there too long. They melt quite quickly." Mrs Hughes teases Mr. Carson.
"Thank you for that pearl of wisdom, Mrs Hughes. I never would have guessed." Mr. Carson teases Mrs Hughes back.
"You're being very cheeky today, Mr. Carson. Are you that tired that you're letting your propriety slip?" Mrs Hughes asks gently.
"No I just though we all needed a little levity in our lives. The last few weeks have been difficult for all of us." Mr. Carson says honestly.
"Well, any moment of lightness in all this dark is appreciated. It's been a long time since it's felt appropriate to smile around here." Mrs Hughes admits to Mr. Carson. She watches him have his first bite of his biscuit. "What do you think?"
"I think your cousin is an excellent baker. They're very good. They're not overly sweet, but I would like the recipe for here for Christmas. The family would like them." Mr. Carson says happily.
"You mean Lady Mary will like it. Lady Edith doesn't like things this sweet and Her Ladyship doesn't like things this rich because she's watching her figure. His Lordship will like them though." Mrs Hughes teases Mr. Carson about his affection for Lady Mary.
"That may very well be true, but the recipe would be good to have for company." Mr. Carson says quietly having been caught out by Mrs Hughes.
"You just want the recipe to be able to have more biscuits around here." Mrs Hughes teases Mr. Carson. He has quite the sweet tooth.
"That's probably much closer to the truth. I can't get enough sweets usually, but you already knew that." Mr. Carson says gently.
Mrs Hughes chuckles and sips her tea. She's the most comfortable during the day when she's with Mr. Carson. She watches him slowly sip his tea and sigh heavily. It's clear that he's quite tired and she's worried that he's overworking again. She doesn't want him to have another anxiety attack and be under the weather. She always keeps an eye on him because she knows his tendency is to overwork as is hers. She slowly eats a biscuit and watches Mr. Carson. He's leaned his head against the back of his chair. Mrs Hughes can almost imagine that this is how he looks when he's asleep. She's glad that he's so comfortable with her that he would behave this way.