Ok, this is my first kind of 'weird' story. I know Carson has been there longer than Mrs Hughes (and she started as Head Housemaid) but I wanted to explore how she'd be if she'd been there for 40 years, dealing with 4 different butlers. I kinda got the idea from the Divorced, beheaded died etc of Henry VIII.
Yes the idea's crazy and quite off character but bare with me.

I'd love to know what you think and don't worry I'll be back to writing more Chelsie stories soon :)

Prologue

She stood, facing the house, bag in one hand and handbag hanging off the other elbow. She was not overwhelmed by the grandeur of it as she thought she would, she simply stared up and smiled - she was home. She couldnt help but feel pride in herself, a mere 16 year old girl and she was about to become a housemaid at Downton Abbey. She knew they'd accepted her mainly because they'd suddenly become short of staff (2 couples having left to marry), she knew though that she had shown enough skill to allow her to attain such a high position at such a young age. She'd learnt everythign she needed to from her mother, who in her life had gone from housemaid to housekeeper before leaving to marry the butler, she too had started at 15 so Elsie wondered if she'd have any luck with the Butler too. She giggled to herself as she made her way towards the backdoor about to start a brand new chapter in her life.

August 1881

Elsie Hughes opened her eyes, it was nearly a year since her first day at Downton. She'd arrived as a housemaid and she was now already head housemaid, it wasnt usual, her being so young, but the head housemaid had left through unknown circumstances so she'd been promoted. She was younger than all the staff bar a few kitchen maids, but she'd proved herself to be capable of performing a huge amount of work under a lot of pressure, the staff were in awe of her ability and she still went to bed with a twinkle in her eye without a hit of tiredness.
She had no idea how they thought about her but she knew she must be doing something good fro them to choose her as head housemaid, especially as the other housemaids didnt seem to mind and most of them had been there for years and were over 10 years older than her. She'd even heard hints that the housekeeper was to leave soon, the woman was perfectly capable and a credit to the staff and family however nearing 64 she decided she would soon have to leave, a month till she'd be 17, Elsie had heard it hinted that she might earn her second promotion in a year She certainly was very lucky indeed.

I know - you really wouldnt become housekeeper aged 17 but for the purpose of this story, if you're as incredible as Elsie Hughes you can ;D