Lady Mary was impressed by the housekeeper's ability to seemingly flip a switch and call upon her familiar professional focus. Following Mrs. Hughes' lead, Mary began her update in a calm and pragmatic fashion.
"I have Miss Baxter's reference from London. Unfortunately, she said the woman she worked for is dead and the house has been sold. Perhaps you can use your contacts to dig deeper. Here is the name."
Elsie took the slip of paper from Mary. "'Freja Blomgarten of Belgravia?' I know that name. When I arrived back at Downton, I pulled Mr. Barrow's references from Mr. Carson's employment file. That was the household in which he worked before coming to Downton."
"So it is possible they worked together twelve years ago, but it doesn't explain why Thomas brought her to Downton." Anna pointed out. "It doesn't seem like Thomas to keep in touch with someone for that long only to do them a favor."
"No, it does not." Mary agreed. "I think there is something interesting to be discovered there."
"I shall see what I can uncover." Mrs. Hughes promised.
"There is another matter to discuss. When I spoke to Carson this morning, he was trying to back away from our plan to attack Thomas."
"He mentioned his misgivings in his letter."
"He does not have the stomach for the tactics I suggested. He kept talking about the downstairs as a family and Thomas as a prodigal son."
"Well, I'll not be killing a fatted calf for him, if that's the plan." Mrs. Hughes said with conviction.
"Nor I, but Carson wants to talk to Thomas once more before we launch our assault."
"I should have anticipated this. Mr. Carson was rather hot under the collar when he first talked about burying Thomas, but that was fresh from his confrontation. Mr. Carson is not capable of the sustained anger that is required in this case."
"Then it will fall to us to set the plan and follow through." Mary nodded, including Anna in her gesture.
"It will fall to you and I, My Lady." Mrs. Hughes corrected her. "Anna, you are a strong woman, but you do not have the stomach for this either. You are too kind and too forgiving."
Anna tried to protest, but Mrs. Hughes took her hand and led her to the door of Lady Mary's room. "We would not want you any other way, my dear. Let Lady Mary and I handle this. The less you know, the better."
Nodding with obvious relief, Anna excused herself. "I'll check in with you after tea, My Lady."
"Thank you, Anna." Lady Mary called after her. When the door had closed, she turned to Mrs. Hughes. "What are you thinking, Mrs. Hughes?"
"We must let Mr. Carson speak to Mr. Barrow in an attempt to reconcile."
"There seems little hope of that."
"There is no hope, My Lady, but Mr. Carson's conscious will demand it."
"Then we must have a plan in place to act quickly after Carson tips our hand."
"Yes." Mrs. Hughes agreed. "If I may be blunt, My Lady, this war only needs to be waged in order to protect your family name. Mr. Barrow's threats are empty where Mr. Carson and I are concerned. We shall be married regardless of what Mr. Barrow attempts and we have the means to retire."
"The two of you have discussed this?"
"Yes. And if our walking away would solve this problem, we would have already done so."
"And you have enough money saved up between you?"
"We will be fine. Our lot knows how to save money, My Lady. Your lot knows how to spend it."
Mary smiled sadly at this. She had never understood the full scope of the estate until she'd begun to take a more active role in its stewardship. "It is what is expected of us. Our money must be rolled back into the estate." Mary knew that her two heads of household probably had more cash in the bank than the Crawley family.
"You speak of a war only for the sake of the family name, Mrs. Hughes, but I am afraid the family name and the family credit are one and the same. If Barrow destroys one, he destroys the other. Our only hope of keeping Downton intact is to be ruthless with our ambitious under butler."
"Agreed, but we need to acknowledge exactly what is at stake. It is possible that our solution could make matters worse. If you dismissed Mr. Barrow now, could the family weather the notoriety he might bring upon you?"
"We would have no choice but to weather it, but we would have to scale back our plans for the estate. Likely, our mortgage would be called in and we'd have to sell off a good deal of the best land to cover the cost. Downton Abbey would become a head with no body. The staff would have to be reduced." Mary's shoulders sagged with the burden of being responsible for so many. "I don't see how it could get worse than that."
"Don't you?"
"We may be giving Barrow more ammunition if we fail, but it is worth the risk. I don't want to consider what such notoriety would do to Papa or Grandmama. If we can spare them that, it would be worth it to me." Mary looked at Mrs. Hughes. "I understand if it is not worth it to you and to Mr. Carson."
"I think you know full well that Mr. Carson could never just abandon your family and neither of us could turn our back on the staff. We will do what we can, but my first loyalty is to Mr. Carson."
"I understand. Thank you for your honesty. I have a plan that I think may work, but the morality of it is questionable." Mary said tentatively.
"Which is why we will not be discussing it with Anna or Mr. Carson." Mrs. Hughes reminded Lady Mary.
"And what about your conscious, Mrs. Hughes? Thomas is your prodigal son much as he is Carson's."
"I will not enjoy what we must do, My Lady, but I will not shy away from it. Nor will I pity Thomas when it is done. He has brought this on himself."
"I quite agree. Now, my plan is simple, but I am not entirely sure how to bring it about."
-00-
Mrs. Hughes was surprised to find Anna waiting in her sitting room after leaving Lady Mary.
"May I help you, Anna?"
"I was hoping I might help you." Anna smiled kindly. "I may not have the personality needed to properly punish Thomas, but I think I've proven myself to be very useful in other ways."
"Of course you are, my girl, I didn't mean to imply otherwise. Do you have anything specific in mind?"
"I want to follow up the lead on Miss Baxter. I'll already be in London, so it will be easier for me than for you. I'm supposed to befriend her, maybe I can get some information out of her. I can be very persistent."
"That you can. It's a good idea. I still don't think there can me much to it, but anything we know that Thomas doesn't know we know gives us an advantage." When Anna did not make a move to leave, Elsie asked, "Was there something else?"
"I was just wondering if you are alright?"
"Thank you, I am as well as can be expected." Elsie sat in her chair beside her table, where she would often sit with Charles. Now Anna took his usual spot beside the door. Elsie looked at the young woman with gratitude, deep affection and a new respect. She couldn't understand how Anna had endured two long separations from Mr. Bates. Elsie had only been away from Mr. Carson for two days, she knew they would be together soon and yet she felt like the air at Downton was thicker than usual, her limbs were heavier and the colors of the world are greyer.
Anna knew what Mrs. Hughes was feeling. She knew what it was to have a letter mean the world to you. Mrs. Hughes had helped Anna through the lowest points of her life, during times she could not even turn to John. It was time to repay that friendship.
"It is hard to believe just a week ago, we were all at the beach at Brighton. It's been quite a week." Anna prompted, hoping Mrs. Hughes would feel better if she could talk to someone.
Elsie sniffed significantly at that understatement. "When I was a girl, I was skeptical that God could have created the world in one week. Based on this past week, I have been convinced anything is possible."
"I take it that Mr. Carson writes a very good letter."
"He always has." Elsie sighed fondly. "Our correspondence during the Seasons is how I first became aware of his true, sweet nature. In those early years, he would send me a letter each week, asking after the progress of the annual house cleaning, most especially the silver, but each letter had something personal for me.
"Even when he was writing about a replacement place setting that I should be expecting from London on the next train, he would include some little note about something he thought might interest me. Often, it was something about young Lady Sybil because he knew I was fond of her. Once, he gave me a fashion report on a dog."
"What? I don't even know what that means." Anna asked, astonished.
"One of the Dowager Countess' friends had a toy terrier she would carry with her everywhere. Sometimes, for special occasions, she would dress the dog. He knew how ridiculous I found this. After the friend and her dog had dined at Grantham House, his next letter was written as though it was a society column. It was funny and silly and so unlike the stoic butler that I knew. In his next letter after that, he apologized for being so unprofessional, blaming it on too much left over champagne. I sent back a letter with a mock fashion column about the bells they just bought for the dairy cows. I am afraid after that, the letters from that Season grew very silly indeed. Those letters were the real start of our friendship."
Anna laughed as Elsie's eyes sparkled with loving memories.
"I could tell when he was bored because his letters could get very sentimental and silly."
"And today's letter?"
"He must be bored out of his mind in that place. His thoughts have become rather sentimental."
"So he didn't mention the silver at all?" Anna asked, teasing.
"Not one word about it." Elsie laughed. "I shall have to chastise him for his negligence."
A knock came at the door. "Mrs. Hughes?"
"Yes, Mr. Kent?"
"There is a letter for you."
"Another letter?" Anna raised her eyebrows in astonishment.
Elsie rolled her eyes at Anna and took the letter from James. "Thank you, Mr. Kent. Has Daisy been informed that the Dowager is coming to dine with us tonight?"
"Yes, Mrs. Hughes, I told her and she had a few choice words for me."
"Daisy?" Mrs. Hughes asked, unsure if she had heard correctly.
"Yes, and her response was worthy of Mrs. Patmore."
"Her training has been thorough. The job of cook is half attitude." Mrs. Hughes joked.
"I'd say she's almost ready then." James smiled. "I'll see you at tea, Mrs. Hughes. I have to see to the wine for this evening."
"Thank you, Mr. Kent."
Anna rose from her chair. "I shall leave you with your letter, Mrs. Hughes."
"Thank you, Anna. Thank you for listening."
"Anytime, Mrs. Hughes, it is my pleasure."
After Anna left, Elsie opened her letter eagerly. She knew it would be less personal than the one she had already received today, but it was no less dear.
'Mrs. Hughes, I know you were anxious to know about the clinic, so I wanted to set your mind at ease as soon as possible. I was pleased, upon arrival to discover a very kind note which raised my spirits considerably and made this cold clinic warmer and more bearable.
'I still have several tests to pass before I can convince the doctors here that my heart is sound, but I hope it will not be much longer until they agree to release me. I wish they would contact my doctor at Downton who could give them every assurance that my heart is fit and true.
'I've made one friend here and have the promise of another later today. Mrs. Brooke Macduff, one of the staff here, has taken me under her considerable wing. She has one of the most pleasant brogues I have ever heard. For some reason, I find it comforting. I will be meeting her husband today. If he is as affable as his wife, I shall have two new friends by the end of today.
'But enough about me. My thoughts are only of Downton and of coming home. In the hours of solitude here, I find myself remembering some of my favorite moments in my years at the Abbey. I wonder if you remember your first year. I remember it as though it were yesterday. Your brogue back then was almost as thick as Mrs. Macduff's. It took a great deal of effort for me to understand you, but the effort was well rewarded.
'I have already used half the ink in my pen reservoir. I must close now, or my next letter will be very brief indeed. I will only add that I hope the plans for the garden party are progressing. The anticipation of that event sustains me.
'Until then, with all my faults, I remain your devoted friend, C. Carson'
TBC...
AN/ As always, your comments are most welcome and appreciated. The next update should be soon.
Edited to change the name 'Gretchen Bruesterin' to 'Freja Blomgarten', I accidentally named Phyllis' mother twice.
