"Mrs. Hughes?"
The housekeeper turned around from her ledger to find Lady Mary standing in the doorway with a newspaper in her hand. She rose to her feet and crossed to the middle of the pantry. "Good evening, milady. I'm sorry. Did someone not answer a bell?"
Lady Mary cheerfully shook her head, "Oh, no. No, Mrs. Hughes."
"I'm sorry, milady, please come in."
Lady Mary stepped into the parlor and continued to smile brightly.
Mrs. Hughes gave her a pleasant smile back and offered Lady Mary a seat.
"Thank you, Mrs. Hughes, but that isn't necessary. I only wanted to show you something I saw in yesterday's paper. I immediately thought of you, well you and Mr. Carson, when I saw it."
Mrs. Hughes mind spun quickly wondering if it was an advertisement for some new modern convenience for the house, but was surprised as Lady Mary pointed for out the announcement for a poetry reading in Ripon to be held the following Tuesday evening.
"You thought of me, milady? And Mr. Carson?" Mrs. Hughes gave her a kind, but puzzled look.
"A young Scotsman named Alastair Sim is reading the poetry of Robert Burns- the Scottish poet."
"Oh, yes, Milady. I know Robert Burns well. "My love is like a red, red rose" and "Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon, How can ye bloom sae fair!" I wouldn't be much of a Scot if I didn't know Robert Burns."
"Ah. Very good, Mrs. Hughes. It so happens that Tom is going into Ripon that day…," She continued speaking but made a mental note to inform Tom of his impending trip to Ripon. "… and said he would be happy to take you and Carson to the reading." Mary quickly added, "He won't be able to attend the reading himself, he has obligations already, I am afraid, but the timing should work out that you and Mr. Carson could ride over and back with him."
"I am not quite sure Mr. Carson would think it acceptable for both of us to take our half days on Tuesday, milady. He feels one of us should be here at all times."
"Oh, no," Lady Mary was quick to say. "The rest of us will be having dinner with Granny." She made another mental note to visit her grandmother that afternoon to arrange the dinner. "There is no reason that either you or Carson need be here if we will all be out of the house for most of the evening."
Mrs. Hughes eyed her suspiciously. "I am not even sure Mr. Carson would want to attend, milady."
"But you would, would you not, Mrs. Hughes? They say the reader is quite something to see."
"They do, do they?" Mrs. Hughes wondered who this "they" might be.
"Well, yes, milady. I suppose it would be nice to hear some of Mr. Burns poetry read…"
"Wonderful. I am quite sure Mr. Carson will be excited to join you. He does enjoy poetry so. ("Stop talking, Mary," she mentally chided herself) I am sure it will work out quite well... the trip…to Ripon." Mary bit her lip to stop herself from rambling further.
Mrs. Hughes look of suspicion had not waivered during this exchange, but she managed to force a smile, "Thank you very much, milady. You are very kind to think of me…and Mr. Carson."
"I hope you enjoy it, Mrs. Hughes. Well, I am off to find Mr. Carson." She bumped into a chair as she backed out of the room.
Mrs. Hughes watched the young woman move out of the room at a hitherto seen pace. "What are you up to?" she asked once Lady Mary was out of earshot.
Lady Mary found Carson in a rather unexpected position in the dining room. "Carson, are you all right?"
Mr. Carson pulled himself from his horizontal situation on the floor and was standing upright in an impressive amount of time for a man his age. "Milady, I am terribly sorry. A button…" He began to point to where he had lost the aforementioned button from his coat, but caught himself before he got any further into what he considered was an far too casual conversation. "…"I'm sorry, milady. How may I be of service?"
"I am sorry about your button, Carson."
"Thank you, milady, but it is of no consequence. How may I help?"
Lady Mary moved closer to him, pulling out the newspaper. "Actually, I just wanted to show you something I saw in yesterday's paper. I immediately thought of you, well, you and Mrs. Hughes when I saw it."
Mr. Carson had a very similar thought to Mrs. Hughes regarding the advertisement and asked with more than a little contempt in his voice, "Is it some sort of modern contraption, milady?"
Lady Mary smiled and assured him, "Oh no, Mr. Carson. I know better than to bother you with anything of that sort. No. It is this." she pointed, "A reading."
"The Poetry of Robert Burns read by his countryman Alastair Sim." Mr. Carson read. "You thought of me, milady?"
"Yes. You and Mrs. Hughes, as I said. I thought it was something you both might be interested in attending."
Mr. Carson continued to look at the announcement as if he had missed something. "Both of us?"
Lady Mary pulled the paper away from his view. "Yes. I know you enjoy poetry, Mr. Carson, you can't deny it. I have seen many a poetry volume on the library ledger checked out under the name 'C. Carson.'"
Mr. Carson frowned slightly. "Yes, milady, I suppose I have checked out the odd collection of Milton or Donne."
"And with Mrs. Hughes being from Scotland, when I mentioned it to her, she immediately began reciting some of Mr. Burns poetry."
Mr. Carson smiled. "I see."
Lady Mary took his smile as a good sign and launched into a rapid discourse, "And I know you are going to say that the two of you couldn't possibly take your half day at the same time, but we are dining at Granny's that night, so there is no need for either of you be in the house during the evening and you won't even have to take the bus into Ripon because Tom is going anyway and agreed to drive you there and back."
Mr. Carson was slightly taken aback by her little speech. She was certainly adamant that he and Mrs. Hughes attend this reading. "Well, milady…"
Lady Mary didn't let him get out another word but affected her sweetest smile, "I really think you would enjoy it, Carson. And I can't imagine Mrs. Hughes has all that many opportunities to hear the real language of her home…" She stopped herself from saying anything more and held her breath, waiting to see if her strategy would pay off.
Mr. Carson sighed and smiled, "You are very kind to think of me…and Mrs. Hughes, milady. If Mrs. Hughes would like to attend, I would be happy to accompany her."
Lady Mary used every scrap of reserve in her body not to cheer in triumph. "I am very happy to hear it, Mr. Carson. I will let Tom know he will have company on his trip."
Carson and Lady Mary gave each other a warm smile and a nod before Lady Mary made her leave of the dining room. Carson had lowered himself to his knees when he straightened his back, looking at where she had just exited, "What are you up to?"
Anna was just coming around the corner from Lady Mary's room when the she managed to jump back into a doorway in order not to be plowed down by her mistress who was traveling at a high rate of speed. "Anna! Come quick!"
Anna practically had to run to keep up with her. Once they had safely made it into the room and Anna had shut the door, Lady Mary grabbed her by both hands and crowed, "They both agreed! They are going to Ripon!"
Anna broke into a wide smile. "However did you talk Mr. Carson into it, milady?"
"I knew I had to ask Mrs. Hughes first." Lady Mary hadn't quite caught her breath from her hasty trip from the dining room to her bedroom. "I am afraid she was suspicious and probably still is, but all that matters is that she agreed to go."
"And Mr. Carson?"
" I found him on the floor in the dining room..."
"On the floor?" Anna's eyes were wide.
"He'd lost a button, "Lady Mary added, but shook her head in dismissal of the fact, "…anyway, he was a little resistant at first but then I mentioned that Mrs. Hughes had quoted Robert Burns poetry to me when I had shown her the newspaper, that made him smile."
Anna was surprised, "She did?"
"Well, perhaps not as dramatically as I put it to Carson, but she did mention a couple of his poems."
Anna grinned and thought Lady Mary could have had a career on the stage given the day's exploits.
Lady Mary leaned towards Anna, "I told him that she deserved to hear 'the real language of her home.'"
"Ooh…that was good." Anna nodded in appreciation.
"Yes, that, and then I used my Carson smile."
Anna grinned, intrigued, "Your Carson smile?"
Lady Mary smiled guiltily, "By the time I was six, I knew that if I smiled a certain way, I could get Carson to do most anything I wanted. Well, as long as it didn't cause me injury or set the house on fire." She and Anna laughed. "When I was eight, that smile convinced him to bring me three pieces of Mrs. Patmore's chocolate pie when I had the German measles."
"That must be some smile, milady. I have never known Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes to take their half day together."
"I told him that we were dining with Granny that night."
"That worked out well."
"Yes. Now I just have to tell Granny."
