Hi everyone! So this is another sequel in my series, following May I Introduce Lady Aurelia and Secrets and Surprises. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think.

Two days after Mr Carson finally discovered the truth about Mrs Hughes and Lady Aurelia, and the evening before Aurelia's wedding, things between the housekeeper and the butler had not returned to normal, but had changed their relationship so that they were now closer than either could have imagined. He had been so accepting and understanding of their circumstances, but he was eaten by the guilt that he had never noticed what had happened all those years ago; but Mrs Hughes didn't hold him any ill will, but she was exceptionally grateful of the support he now offered her.

The family had finished their dinner and had long since retired to the drawing room. Most of the guests from Lady Mary's wedding had returned home, with only Lady Rosamund and Henry's parents now staying; although the absence of the other guests didn't decrease the workload of the staff.

They were now all sat around the table in the servants' hall eating their dinner and the younger staff were chatting animatedly about the latest movies at the cinema, with the occasional debate as to whether or not the cinema was better than the theatre; but whilst they were sat talking loudly at one end of the hall, Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes were sat in quiet whispers at the other end.

'Will you be going up to spend time with Lady Aurelia tonight?' He asked as he glanced around to make sure no one was listening.

'Perhaps, but I think the three girls were planning to spend some time with her before tomorrow and I still have to go over tomorrow's listings, so I may have to accept that we're not going to get the chance tonight.' She replied with a saddened tone.

'Nonsense, I can do those for you.' He said. 'It's important that you should spend some time with her before tomorrow; she'll be a married woman Mrs Hughes and I'm sure things will be very different.'

Mrs Hughes hadn't thought of that. Of course things were going to be different from now on and perhaps Aurelia would be so distracted with her new life as a wife, and hopefully as a mother in the future, she would soon forget about her mam and the relationship they'd worked hard to build. Mrs Hughes suddenly went very quiet, as she began to feel that she might be losing her daughter again after the months of love and hope she'd had.

'Perhaps I'll go up and see her before bed for a few minutes.' She whispered, but Mr Carson soon detected a change in her mood and prayed it wasn't something he had said.

After their dinner Mrs Hughes retired to her sitting room to get on with some of the final paperwork for the wedding, but her mind kept drifting upstairs to Aurelia and to the fact that, from now on, they weren't going to be able to have their little evening talks and would probably never be able to spend time together like they had been and it hurt Mrs Hughes to think that it had come to an end, after only being together for such a short time.

Mr Carson had sensed that there was something troubling his friend and he hated the idea of her being alone to dwell on it. He made sure that the other staff were busy so that they wouldn't be disturbed, before approaching her sitting room and letting himself in. Sure enough his friend was sat with her pen resting in her hand as she stared into mid-air.

'Is everything alright Mrs Hughes?' He asked softly and she smiled weakly at him, glad of his arrival so that she could confide in him.

'I don't really know Mr Carson; I hadn't thought about what changes tomorrow would bring for Ella and me. I suppose after tomorrow she will be too busy with her new life to worry about spending time with me and I will have to get used to living in the shadows again.' Mrs Hughes said as she became a little teary.

Mr Carson pulled a chair forward to sit next to her and he took a comforting hold of her hand.

'I'm sure that won't be the case Mrs Hughes; Lady Aurelia is a kind, compassionate girl and I've seen the way she is with you. I think she adores you more than you realise and I'm most certain that she won't forget you or pass on the relationship that you've both worked hard to gain.' He said softly and just as he said it there was a light tap on the door and Aurelia walked in; her timing couldn't have been better.

'Mam is everything alright?!' She asked urgently as she entered, witnessing her mam wiping her eyes and being comforted by the butler, and she instantly went to her side.

Worrying about her abandoning you indeed Mrs Hughes; I don't think that's anything you're going to have to worry about, Mr Carson thought.

'Oh there's nothing wrong really; I think you may just need to offer your mother a few words of reassurance.' He said as he stood from his position and allowed Aurelia to take a seat, who looked rather confused at his statement. Not waiting for any further interaction from Mrs Hughes or Aurelia, Mr Carson left and allowed the mother and daughter their time together.

'What's wrong Mam?' Aurelia asked again with a very soft, yet concerned tone as she sat beside her and took a hold of her hand and gave her a comforting squeeze.

'Oh it's nothing, really,' Mrs Hughes said as she wiped away her remaining stray tears.

'Anything that upsets you isn't just nothing to me. You can talk to me you know.'

'Oh God this is embarrassing; I was just thinking about tomorrow and how we probably won't be able to do this anymore once you have a new life and new responsibilities.' Mrs Hughes explained with reddened cheeks.

'Why wouldn't we be able to do this anymore? I will always make time for you and for us; I enjoy this more than anything else in my day, it's my favourite time.' Aurelia replied with a small smile.

'Because I am sure that once you start your new life with Henry your days will be far too full to be worrying about me and quite right too. You will both want to start a family and make memories of your own.'

'Oh Mam, how could you possibly think I wouldn't want you to be a part of my new life. I want you here by my side every step of the way, I want to share every happiness with you, every sadness and everything else in between. You will be grandmother to my children and most importantly, you will go on being my mother. I do very much love you Mam and no matter what ever happens in my life, nothing will ever change that.' Aurelia said and for the first time since finding out that Mrs Hughes was her mother, she acknowledged and said things that she had never voiced before and this left Mrs Hughes more touched than ever.

She was at a complete loss for words; she never thought that Aurelia would have taken to her like this and have been so accepting of her and their circumstances. Aurelia had taken everything in her stride and adapted well to their situation and her little speech confirmed, without any doubt, exactly how she felt about her mam.

'Actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about; it's partly the reason I came down actually.' Aurelia said as she still tightly clasped her mam's hand. 'Henry and I have decided, eventually, what we wanted to do for our honeymoon. Neither of us wanted anything grand or to stray too far from home, so we've decided to go to London. We'll stay in Grantham House for a full month so that we can finally spend some quality time together.' She explained with delight.

'Now, as you know, there's no staff currently at the house, so Henry and I would like to invite you to come with us, and I don't mean in the capacity of our housekeeper either. I've talked it over with Papa and he's more than happy to spare you if you want to join us, he suggested that Anna might like to take over temporarily.' She said and the look of shock mixed with delight was a lovely picture Aurelia would never forget. 'Well?' She prompted.

'You wouldn't want me with you on your honeymoon surly!' She exclaimed as tried to gain her composure. 'I mean, suppose you and Henry want to go off and be alone together, you won't want me hovering over you all the time.'

'Ah well, I thought about that as well; I didn't think you'd like the idea of it just being the three of us or the thought of being left on your own, so Papa has also agreed to let Mr Carson come as well. I haven't asked yet obviously, but I do hope you will both say yes.' Aurelia asked with bated breath.

'And who will be butler?' Mrs Hughes asked.

'Well Mr Molesley of course; he knows how to manage a house and I'm sure he will have absolutely no problems in managing this one for a month. So what do you say?'

'Well, what can I say to such a wonderful offer as that, except for yes!' Mrs Hughes said excitedly and was stunned when the younger woman, her wonderful, kind and thoughtful daughter, knelt down beside her chair and gave her mother the most tender and loving hug.