One shot, though knowing me I'll probably write more of it, incapable of keeping these ideas to a minimum. This is a kind of a silly one really the phrase just came into mind and I decided to base a story on it.
I'm not sure if I had a specific time for this, it's sometime in 1920 or any time after the CS really :) Btw Bates is free, because I like my stories to be exactly what I'd like to see in Downton (hence why they're all Chelsie based :D)
Enjoy

It was a hectic day; he couldn't see why it should be any different to normal but for some reason it was. Everybody appeared to have something on their mind that was preoccupying their thoughts, they would snap at anyone who tried to distract them. Surely everyone should be celebrating he thought; Mr Bates had been released from prison and was once again back home and working alongside his wife and family. There had been an anonymous tip off and it had been discovered that Bates had never gone to London to see his wife but in fact gone and stayed with a friend in Manchester, he'd got the scratch from the cat owned by this friend. He couldn't face his wife, but upon his return to Downton he found his friend had gone missing – he had no excuse so had to say he'd been to London, he hated to lie but it would be too complicated to explain.
He was broken from his reminiscence by Daisy rushing past him to the sound of Mrs Patmore's booming voice. He made a mental note to avoid her, and O'Brien, ever since her argument with Thomas that morning, they were both going around looking daggers and anyone that they passed, oddly enough it had been O'Brien in a good mood and Thomas snapped at her, no one was used to this sudden turn of events. But now everyone seemed a little irritated. He walked into the servant's hall just in time to see Anna leaving in a huff,

"I'm fine, just leave it!"

He stood still and looked to see an innocent and confused Mr Bates standing in the doorway; they exchanged a knowing look and smirked at each other before shrugging and getting on with their work, so he should avoid Anna too. He heard the jangling of keys behind him, normally he would be thrilled at the sound and turn round with a smile, but if even Anna was in a bad mood today, he could only imagine the mood the Housekeeper would be in.

"No Emily, I haven't got the time to discuss it with you, I said no and that is final!" she gave the housemaid a formidable look that clearly put the fear of God into her, she ran off up the stairs.
Charles took a step back but felt the wall behind him, he was trapped if she came near him.

"Are you alright Mr Carson?" she looked with an amused expression, finding it funny that he should press himself against the wall. He was taken aback by this sudden change of mood.

"Perfectly Mrs Hughes" he stood up straight and pulled the bottom of his jacket to straighten it out, "the question is, are you?"

"Oh must you inquire into my personal business, I'm not your wife!" With that she stomped back to her sitting room and slammed the door – even she didn't know why she'd chosen those particular words.

He stood in shock, what was wrong with everyone today. He was saved by the bell however as he saw the library bell ring and he hurried upstairs before anyone else snapped at him.
He found his Lordship in the library wearing an expression he recognised - the same scared one he'd been wearing all day.

"Carson just wanted to make you aware I'm back from Ripon but I'll be in here till dinner, only tell the ladies if they ask. I won't ask you to go and face them"

"Is there something wrong m'lord?"

"I have no idea, Cora's been short with me all day. Mary and Edith have been at each other's throats, it's these moments I'm glad Lady Sybil lives in Ireland. I'm dreading dinner"

"Because the Dowager Countess is coming?"

Roberts face drained of colour, "Oh God yes, so are Isobel and Matthew, well, you'll be there as a witness if anything happens, hopefully Mary will calm down with him there" they smiled at each other

"Well, it's no different downstairs m'lord" and with that he left.

He stopped halfway down the stairs to check he wouldn't be cornered by any of the angry women. Hearing nothing besides Mrs Patmore shouting at Daisy, he retreated to the servant's hall but found he was faced with O'Brien who was sat their sewing. She looked at him and was about to stand up but he put up his hand, just in case she attacked him for some unknown reason. His eyes wandered to see a red shawl draped over a chair.

"Is that yours Miss O'Brien?"

"No!" she snapped without even looking up,

"Would you kindly like to tell me whose it is and why it is in the servant's hall?"

"It's Mrs Hughes's she had it in her hand then left it there, I wouldn't go near her though she's in such a foul mood she locked herself in her sitting room" she got up and walked upstairs.

Mr Carson looked at the shawl and at his watch, 5 minutes till he needed to ring the dressing gong, he picked up the shawl and made his way up the stairs. The womens corridor was the exact same layout as the mens but he noticed their rooms were not in the same place, whereas his was the first door on the left, hers was right next to the door that separated the two corridors, 'typical' he thought, she guarded that door like Cerberus to make sure the maids weren't sneaking to the other side at night, ever since Ethel, she was even more cautious of it. He opened the door and entered the room. Again, it was the same in layout but he couldn't help thinking that hers was slightly bigger.

She had an armchair, chest of drawers, bed and a wardrobe like him but she also had a small vanity. He'd never seen it before but he'd heard the story;

When Cora had become pregnant, she promoted Mrs Hughes to housekeeper. Cora gave her the vanity from the room that was to become the nursery; the two women had always had a close relationship like Carson and Robert. Mrs Hughes had been supportive through all three pregnancies and always helped with the young ladies.

He went over to the armchair and laid the shawl over the back of it, he couldn't help but stroke the fabric as he did, it was so soft, he held it to his face to breath in the lavender scent that he always associated with her. The sound of a door shutting brought him back to Earth and he whipped around, luckily it was someone else in the corridor, he breathed a sigh of relief. He checked his watch seeing that he'd been up there longer than he'd intended, he made his way towards the door but as he lifted his hand to open the door, his elbow knocked over some bottles on the chest of drawers, hurriedly he picked them up and off the floor before hurrying out of the room.

That evening he was sitting in his pantry, a glass of wine in one hand as he went over some accounts. He sighed and leant back in his chair, he felt tired, the day had been long, everyone calmed down a bit in the evening but they were still very short with each other. He'd got out another glass just in case he received a visit from Mrs Hughes, he would normally enjoy her company but tonight he wasn't sure if he would. As he thought this he heard a knock at the door and Mrs Hughes came in with a puzzled look on her face.

"Oh Mr Carson, I was going to say goodnight" she noticed the second wine glass, "it's been a long day" she rubbed her eyes with her hand, he could tell that sleep would probably be good for her.

"That's perfectly alright Mrs Hughes, I only got one out in case you wanted a chat I might go up soon myself"

She smiled but looked away; she looked as if she was trying to remember something.

"Mrs Hughes? Are you alright?"

"Perfectly Mr Carson, It's just, I've just managed to misplace a bottle of perfume and I can't for the life of me think where it could have gone"

"Isn't it in your room?" He was confused as to why it would be anywhere else.

"I was up there earlier today and I noticed it wasn't there. I'm going to check my sitting room before I go up. Goodnight Mr Carson."

"Goodnight Mrs Hughes"

He finished his wine and stood up, placing the book back on the shelf. He walked over to turn off the lights but heard a clinking in his pocket as he walked, his heart dropped and realisation dawned on him – 'why would she take it out of her room?' He pulled the purple bottle out of his pocket and stared at it. How on earth was he going to explain this, he couldn't explain that everyone was in a bad mood so he hadn't wanted to ask any of the maids to put the shawl back. He now saw just how inappropriate it was for him to even be in the women's corridor let alone in her room.
He exited his pantry and stood in the corridor, he could hear Mrs Hughes rattling around in her sitting room so he took his opportunity, he ran up the stairs and up to the women's corridor, running to her room.

He briskly walked to her chest of drawers placed the bottle on top. He saw that most of the drawers were slightly open, she'd obviously been searching everywhere for it. Outside he heard voices and ran to hide beside the wardrobe to hide behind it but it was only Mrs Patmore bidding goodnight to Miss O'Brien, he was about to leave when he heard Miss O'Brien saying goodnight to someone and when he heard who it was terror kicked in, he didn't know what to do so for some reason he could not decide on, he jumped into the wardrobe and pulled the door to, just as a grumbling Mrs Hughes came in and shut the door.

Heehee, me and my devilish mind. It's a one-shot but I wanted to split it in two to make it more interesting ;) Please please review