The cold March winds whipped around the hem of Elsie's skirt as she climbed down from the carriage at the station, where steam from the train's engine billowed onto the platform. She struggled with her luggage until an older woman and gentleman came to her aid.
'Are you Miss Hughes?' The older woman asked sharply. She was very tall and exceptionally thin, with reddened cheeks and a stern expression.
'I am,' Elsie replied. 'Elsie, Elsie Hughes.' She added as she held out her hand to shake the other woman's.
'I'm Mrs Pembroke, the housekeeper at Downton Abbey.' She replied and then led Elsie out of the station where her luggage had already been loaded into the trap and the same man she had seen earlier was sat waiting for them.
Mrs Pembroke didn't talk to Elsie at all during the journey to the house and Elsie thought she didn't seem like the kind of woman who did small talk and certainly wasn't someone to trifle with. And she was right, Mrs Pembroke ruled the staff of Downton Abbey with an iron rod; she didn't take any nonsense from any of the staff and didn't have much of a sense of humour. But Elsie didn't care; she was there to work and support her mother and sister, not to make friends with the housekeeper.
As the horse and cart turned the corner in the road, Elsie got her first glimpse of Downton Abbey and felt her voice catch in her throat as she let out a silent gasp. The place was stunning, with large grounds and sprawling countryside. It was nothing like the house she had just come from in Scotland.
The trap led them round to the back of the house, which looked less grand than the front, and into the kitchen courtyard. Mrs Pembroke still said nothing to Elsie but ordered Mr Gordon, the cart driver, to bring the large suitcase into the house, whilst she led Elsie into her sitting room.
'Have a seat,' she said sharply as she pointed to a small chair in the corner of the room.
Elsie looked around as she sat and thought the room looked cold and bare, with no pictures on the walls or homely touches. It certainly didn't look like she would have had it if she'd been the housekeeper, but since she wasn't then it made no sense to dwell on it too much.
'You've been given good references I see from Mrs Mackay, she says you're a hard worker and that you were head house maid in your previous house. Aren't a bit old to still be a maid?' She said impertinently, which took Elsie quite by surprise. One trait she disliked most in a person was rudeness and her feisty Scottish blood certainly began to boil with the impertinence of this woman.
'I have just turned thirty-three, if that makes me old then that is your opinion, but I don't see what my age has to do with my ability to do a job. Yes I was the head house maid at Cois na Farraige House, but I was also Lady's Maid to Lady Lyon as it was a smaller house.' Elsie defended as she tried to keep her tone calm, but the flare of her nostrils was an indication that she was not a woman to take things lying down.
'We'll give you a month's trial and no more. Find Matilda in the servants Hall and she'll show you around.' Mrs Pembroke said dismissively and left Elsie to her own devices.
Elsie walked uncertainly back out into the cool corridor and looked around for the servant's hall, but it didn't take her long to realise where it was. She found two housemaids sat at a long table, one sewing the seam on her dress and the other reading a magazine.
'Hello, I'm looking for Matilda.' She greeted.
'I'm Matilda.' The maid who had been reading the magazine replied warmly. 'And who might you be?' She asked politely, a much different reception to the one she had been given by Mrs Pembroke.
'I'm Elsie Hughes, the new Lady's Maid.' She said.
'Well it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Hughes; this is Josephine one of our house maids and if you come with me I will show you around and introduce you to everyone.' Matilda said as she folded her magazine and put it on the sideboard.
She first took Elsie into the kitchen and introduced her to the cook, Mrs Niven, and the kitchen maids and then Matilda headed out of the kitchen. Elsie was just about to follow her, but when she turned round to head out of the door, she came face to face with a very tall, peppered haired man, who almost knocked straight into her.
'Oh I'm ever so sorry, please forgive me.' He said as he held onto Elsie's shoulders to steady her.
'That's quite alright, no harm done; it will take more than that to knock me off my feet.' She replied with a small laugh as she looked up into his hazel coloured eyes.
'I imagine it would.' He replied and felt a little ashamed of himself for being so taken by the young beauty in front of him, but at the sound of her Scottish brogue, he could feel his heart melt.
'Miss Hughes this is Mr Carson our Under Butler, Mr Carson this is Miss Elsie Hughes our new Lady's Maid.' Matilda introduced and watched as the pair shook hands and that had been Elsie's first, but lovely, meeting with Mr Carson.