A/N So I like many was inspired by the first episode of the new series so here is the result of my musings.
Elsie's mind was racing after their row. It had been a while since they had engaged in such loud and emotional argument in months. The death of Matthew Crawley had somehow put a dark cloud over the house and Mr. Carson had become more and more subdued as he watched Lady Mary retreat into herself. She had not managed to rile his temper since that day. He did not seem to care about anything except his precious Lady Mary. Elsie would not dare say she was jealous but she had missed sharing the left over sherry or a cup of tea with him at the end of each day.
She could not understand how he would not see her point of view: she had only wanted to help him and see what was upsetting him. It was not like he never stuck his nose in her business when she was not willing to tell him herself, she may not have confronted him directly about it but she was not angry with him. He had the unique skill of being able to raise her temper like no one else. She quietly made her way to her pantry, telling Anna that she would be working in there for the rest of the day in case anyone needed her. There was a time when Elsie found having a row with Mr. Carson exhilarating, it was the one thing she counted on to make her feel young and energetic but those days seem to have slowly disappeared into the shadow that lay over the house. The sadness had eaten away at the youthfulness she had felt reconnected with after her health scare. Mr. Carson had gone from a man who had sang for her good health to a cold and distant colleague who could not see her point of view and who was unwilling to engage with her with any emotion aside from disgust and, even thought she would never admit it out loud to anyone who dared ask, it broke her heart.
She spent her day mending a hole in one of Mr. Carson's dinner jackets, poring over the accounts and examining the menus for the next few weeks. It was tiresome work but did not stretch her mind enough to distract from the guilt that was creeping in. She did not regret her reason for doing what she did but she was starting to feel terrible about how she went about it. He was just so frustrating sometimes. There was no way he would have told her what was wrong otherwise and she couldn't just sit back and watch him being unhappy. He had an awful habit of keeping things to himself and it scared her to think of his health taking another turn for the worst.
A knock at the door broke her reverie.
'Come in'
Anna came in with a dinner tray.
'Mrs. Patmore was not happy that you would be missing dinner so she sent me up with some sustenance'
Elsie managed a small smile.
'Thank you Anna, you can just leave it here on my desk. You better go back and enjoy your dinner. I've still a few more hours of work here.'
'You better make sure and eat it all cause Mr. Carson said to make an extra potato was added cause he knows how much you like them.' She smiled a shy smile and was gone.
What a strange comment.
She ate with a surprising zeal, hadn't realised how hungry she had gotten. She really did enjoy her comfort food. She was able to return to her files with a newfound energy until another knock came to the door.
'Come in'
The interruptions were getting distracting. She looked up to see Mr. Carson standing before her and taking her tray.
'Mr. Carson, that's not your job, you should have sent one of the maids up to get it when they were free, and there is really no need to trouble yourself'.
'Don't you worry yourself Mrs. Hughes; I wanted to check you had eaten your meal and were not working yourself too hard. I hope you will be up to discussing some matters further at the end of the day in my pantry when we've both had some time to think things through.'
And with that he was gone before she had time to even properly answer him. She was left thoroughly confused by the whole thing.
A/N So what do you think? I would love to hear feedback from you and whether or not you think this is worth continuing. Thanks :)