a/n I was just rewatching this and couldn't stop staring at Mrs Hughes and her magnificently sassy ways in this scene. This could turn into a series of drabbles.

"I wonder why Lady Rose was down here."

Mr Carson was sitting at his desk and as much as he usually tried to ignore Thomas's voice, he raised his head at this, drawing his brows together. Lady Rose was downstairs? That's odd.

"And I'm afraid you will continue to wonder."

Mr Carson suppressed a snort of laughter. She'd always been a bit of a nippy sweetie. That's her word, he thought. He had been baffled the first time he heard it; she had been describing her sister and admitted to having the same traits. He'd come to understand the term and he thought it entirely fitting. He had always been impressed by her ability to handle Thomas - Mr Barrow, he thought with a roll of the eyes.

"That's very mysterious, Mrs Hughes." That smarmy little bastard.

"You know me, Mr Barrow. A woman of mystery if ever there was one."

He'd always enjoyed overhearing her in the hallways, and just now it was especially delicious to hear her warding off Mr Barrow's questions. The way her tongue caressed her r's caused a stirring in his … ahem. He mentally cleared his throat and realized how ridiculous it was to do such a thing. He tried to concentrate on whatever blasted ledger he was working on, tried to ignore the conversation that was by turns enticing and supremely off-putting.

"But her secret won't affect us."

He rolled his eyes at the boy's pathetic attempt to extract a secret from the housekeeper. He doesn't stand a chance.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Now you have got me worried."

"I am sorry to hear that, Mr Barrow," she said airily. "But now you must let me get on."

Mr Carson chose that moment to step outside his pantry, intercepting Mrs Hughes. He raised his eyebrows helplessly, his mouth dropping open slightly at the sway of her hips, and her small triumphant smile. She looked up at him and stopped short, her smile giving way to a look of shock, confusion.

He'd never looked at her like that before.