Cooking Lessons
Mrs. Hughes heard the children's voices outside of her sitting room where she sat with her ledgers and, much to her chagrin, not much motivation. They were chattering away, one's voice over the other, until Mrs. Patmore finally said, "Alright, my lovelies, now they need to bake for a bit. Nanny will be down in a few moments and take you back upstairs. When they've baked and cooled, she'll bring you back down for a special treat. Sound good to you?"
Sybbie, Marigold and George all gave their approval, excited to have spent another Tuesday morning with the cook down in the Abbey's kitchen.
Lady Grantham, remembering the time Sybil had baked a cake for her birthday, had made arrangements just last month for the children to visit the kitchen once a week, in the morning, to have a baking time with Mrs. Patmore.
As it turned out, Lady Grantham's birthday had recently been celebrated upstairs and, while she outwardly laughed and smiled as she blew out the candles, inwardly she was struggling mightily to fight back the tears.
All that she could see, in her mind's eye, was the memory of Lady Sybil putting the finishing touches on her mother's birthday cake. 'It was to be a surprise', Lady Sybil had said to Mrs. Patmore, when she asked for help from her and Daisy. 'I'm not comfortable with this at all, Milady', had said Mr. Carson, when he felt if necessary to inform Lady Grantham of her daughter's plans. And yet she remembered that, all the while Carson was voicing his disapproval, her heart was melting as she discreetly watched her daughter proudly put the finishing touches on a birthday cake for her mother, the first cake, and most likely the first anything, she had ever made.
Lady Grantham had seen how very proud Lady Sybil was of her accomplishment and it cemented her desire that these young children - the children of her children - her grandchildren, would know, at a much earlier age, their way about a kitchen. At the very least, the exposure to the idea of how food actually came to be served to them up in the nursery would be a good thing.
It was those memories which came flooding back the night of her last birthday that had prompted her to task Mrs. Patmore with a regular cooking and baking time with her three grandchildren.
Listening in on the children's excitement and Mrs. Patmore's pronouncement that it was time to head back upstairs brought Mrs. Hughes to close her ledger and venture out into the kitchen.
"My, my…it does smell wonderful out here!", she exclaimed. "What have you got cooking for us now, Mrs. Patmore?"
"No, no, Mrs. Hughes!", squealed Miss Marigold. "Mrs. Patmore is not cooking anything. WE are!"
"What? What's this? Mrs. Patmore's not cooking? Well, just who is it that is responsible for this delicious aroma that I can smell all the way into my sitting room?", asked Mrs. Hughes.
Mrs. Patmore grinned over the heads of her three charges as they all chimed in at once, telling the housekeeper that the delicious smell was not the work of the cook, but of themselves.
"We're becoming such wonderful and expert cooks!", said George. "Mrs. Patmore says that when we grow up, we will know how to bake such amazing things…even beautiful birthday cakes!"
"Ohhhh…Mrs. Hughes, doesn't it smell just so very delicious here in the kitchen?" squealed Sybbie. "I can hardly wait for Nanny to bring us back down so we can taste our pie. WHY do things take so long to cook?"
"Well, my dears," responded Mrs. Hughes, "the very best of things often take a long time before they are ready. What do you say to coming back upstairs with me? I've got a chore to do that will take me right back by the nursery. You can tell Nanny all about this week's cooking adventure and, if I get my work done, I just might be able to meet you back down in the kitchen in a wee bit – that is, if you would be willing to let me taste a bit of what you've made this morning."
"Yes, yes, Mrs. Hughes!" "Of course, Mrs. Hughes!" "Oh, you will LOVE the taste of it, Mrs. Hughes. I know it!" The children were all so very excited and proud of their latest cooking adventure with Mrs. Patmore.
Unbeknownst to the kitchen crew, Lady Grantham was watching and listening, once again, through the window, her heart just about bursting with love. And Mr. Carson stood alongside her, trying to keep the tears at bay.
Times change. People change. Opinions change. But love prevails.