A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed the first part, you're all so excited about our little Christmas trek and I love that. I said in the first chapter, that some of these Christmases would be set before their equivalent parts in Five Names, and this is one such Christmas. This is set a few years before Five Names, and hopefully shows the start of Lady Elizabeth's fascination with Mr Carson, and how the book exchange began.

Two: Lady Elizabeth

The lights of the ballroom sparkle around her as she spins, catch her eye in bright lines of colour.

She adores Christmases spent at Downton. Loves the pageantry, the splendour. The festive spirit that seems almost to infuse the entire Abbey, from the youngest Hallboy to even Violet - who she has seen smile no less than four times since the music began playing.

But it is this, the annual Servants' ball a few weeks after Christmas, that she enjoys the most; secretly and never spoken aloud.

{And it isn't restricted solely to Downton; she rather prefers her own Servants' Christmas celebration over the lavish parties and five course dinners she is invited to this time of year.}

The smiles are wider, the laughter more genuine. There is as great a blurring between the lines that separate them all as it's possible to have and somehow, she finds the dancing to be even more exciting than anywhere else.

"Had you any plans for Christmas, Mr Carson?" She asks as they spin, his hand is carefully placed at her waist, the other holds tight to her own. He is a wonderful dancer, makes her seem as graceful as she used to feel in her youth.

"I was here, milady. Mrs White and Mr Barrow were away for the day."

"And you were left to pick up the slack?" He raises an eyebrow, and she can hear the 'you've been in America too long, milady' that he doesn't say. {She is finding that time spent with the Butler has her imagining all manner of his secret thoughts, she has not yet allowed herself to consider any meaning behind that.} "That hardly seems fair to you."

He smiles, tilts his head. He will not argue with her, but too, he cannot say a word that might be heard as a complaint. He is always the Butler, she knows; he might, just yesterday, have brought that second cup out, quite surprising her after his firm insistence at her last visit that he could not and would never take tea with her.

Perhaps her words to him then, when he had enquired as to her why she continued to ask for his company, had had some affect on him after all.

She hopes he does not pity her; but then how could he, when he sees everything around her that she does have, in abundance? Perhaps the gesture was one of kindness, or as she fears is truly the case, he was simply doing his duty, making her time at the Abbey more comfortable.

{After all, he might have brought the cup, might have watched as she filled it with tea, but he did not drink it.}

"You worked last Christmas, I remember." She says because she does remember, having spent the entire season in Downton with Violet, but more, she does not want to fall back into silence with him. Dancing as they are is likely to be the last opportunity she'll have this visit to talk to him alone. In truth, she wants to ask him what he thinks of the stories she has seen in the papers recently; if this 'Titanic' could possibly be as unsinkable as they say it will be, if he is concerned by the rumblings from the continent, unrest among the people and governments.

She wants to talk to him of the shows she saw just a month ago in New York, of the orchestra tickets she has for a concert in Paris next May.

She has tried to talk to Violet, to Cora. To Robert even, and has been dismissed as over thinking things. {Violet went so far as to claim that her loneliness was making her bold and un-womanly; had used Martha Levinson as an insult against her.}

These are the things she spoke to George about, God rest him. {Theirs may not have been a great love affair, but he had spoken to her, they had discussions, he had been interested in her thoughts.}. She misses that now, now that she finds again how little the world truly values her voice and opinions. She suspects, however, that Mr Carson would not feel that way. There is something, perhaps in the respect he has for Violet, his obvious care for Mary, even the deference he pays to Mrs White when the Housekeeper has something to say, that makes her think a discussion with him would truly be that. That he would not simply smile, nod and agree with her, before turning away.

"I did, milady and the year before." She had not visited then, had been with Lord Hawthorn in London, sitting by his bedside at the hospital.

She isn't sure now, what to say. She does not actually know Mr Carson; she is a regular guest at the house, more so this past year, but she spends her time, rightly, walking the grounds with Cora, taking tea and listening to Violet gossip at the Dower House, talking with the girls when they have a moment to spare her {they are growing so fast, Sybil ready to be presented now, the last of them grown up and out in their part of the world}.

She has spent very little time in Mr Carson's company, but the little she has she treasures. His quiet presence brings a calm to her life that she did not realise she required. She knows that he is well-read, from things both Violet and Mary have said if him, and she sees the way his expressions change during conversations; he has opinions on everything, but he knows his place well enough not to voice them, not even, she suspects, if he is asked; not if they go against his employers. She imagines they might have quite entertaining discussions, if they could.

Why can they not? They are both people after all, and he does not work for her. The song is winding down, she will have no other chance and if he thinks her bold, improper, well she will not see him again for some time. {She cannot say that his opinion will not matter to her, after all, that is what she wants from him. A true opinion on something.}

"Have you ever read Shelley's first novel, Mr Carson?"

"I assume you do not mean the poet, Shelley, milady." In another life she might have rolled her eyes at his tone; she can tell already how he feels about the book, about her tastes too, no doubt. "I can't say that I've read the Modern Prometheus, no."

"You might like it." She quips, fighting a smile. He won't, she is sure of that now.

"I think not, milady." He says as the band finishes, the last chime of a triangle ending the song. His tone is bland, empty, telling her far more than she believes he would wish.

He releases her, steps back and bows. She curtsey's a little, ignoring Violet's scowl from across the room.

She meets his eye, no less fascinated by him than she was before. She wants to know more - has he read other, similar works? Is that why he so dislikes the idea of Shelley's Frankenstein? Or is it something more, a childhood memory of ghost stories that has put him off the idea? What was his childhood like, why did he choose to go into service, where did he work before Downton? - but is aware that she likely never will, not much more at least.

"Perhaps next time I'm here, you can tell me what literature is more to your tastes, Mr Carson?" She should step away, the next song will start soon and she cannot be seen as showing too much interest, academic though it may be.

She has turned, begun to make her way to Rosamund who looks rather bored sitting beside Lord Murray, when she catches his voice as he too turns away.

"Nothing quite so gothic, milady, I'm sure you wouldn't like it at all."

She does not look back, but she allows the smile to settle on her lips.

"Ah, Elizabeth, I was just telling young Rosamund here about my dear old Farely. You remember him, don't you? Such a strong specimen and faster than ten mares at pulling a carriage."

"Yes, Uncle Murray. He had a great temperament too."

Her thoughts stray as Murray continues, to the novels she has read most recently. She wonders how Mr Carson might react to those? She smiles again. She'll be back this way in June, she'll be sure to arrive early, bring a book to fill the time.

I know from Five Names that a lot of you would have liked to see how their relationship developes in the future but...I just couldn't get Mr Carson to jump across that class line, so rather than depress us all by having them struggle and not get anywhere, I thought looking to the past would be a little more fun. Please let me know what you think, if you've a moment to spare. Beth is up next.