A/N: I am so sorry, again, for the late update. Basically I've got January exams and loads of assignments so I'm very stressed and busy at the moment, but after Tuesday things will be considerably quieter so I will definitely have the next (and probably final) chapter up by next weekend :) thank you for your patience and your reviews, please do keep sending them! There is nothing I love more than logging on to my email to see a review alert!

When she entered the kitchen the next morning, Mrs Hughes was immediately struck by the feeling that something was missing. She paused for a moment to work out what it was, before realising that Mrs Patmore wasn't shouting at anybody – because Daisy wasn't there.

"Mrs Patmore?" she said, approaching her cautiously, "where's Daisy?"

"I've given her the day off. She's gone to William's father's farm."

"Really?"

"That's what I said."

"I was under the impression she wasn't keen…"

"Well, she changed her mind. Now, if you don't mind, I need to get on with this breakfast."

Feeling slightly bewildered, Mrs Hughes turned and headed for the stairs. She needed to do her rounds and she was worried about the fires – she wasn't sure Mrs Patmore would have thought to find someone to light them in Daisy's stead.

When she entered the library it was to find Anna plumping up cushions on her own, but, fortunately, with a fire in the grate.

"Anna? Why are you on your own?"

"I sent Lily to go and do the fires after we realised they weren't lit."

"Oh," said Mrs Hughes, feeling relieved, "thank you. I'll help you in here."

Moving forwards, she picked up another cushion. They worked in silence, finishing the sofas and dusting. As they worked, Mrs Hughes glanced at Anna repeatedly, trying to work out if she was coping. She certainly looked very tired, and Mrs Hughes wondered with a stab of concern when she'd last slept. As they approached the door to move on to the dining room, she reached out and touched Anna's arm.

"How are you bearing up?" she asked gently.

Anna met her gaze. "I miss him every second. And I can't bear the thought of what might happen. But I'm not going to give up until we've heard…"

Mrs Hughes nodded. "I'm sure it won't be long now. We're all behind you, Anna."

"I know. Thank you, Mrs Hughes," she replied, and there was gratitude mingling with the sadness in her eyes.

Wordlessly, Mrs Hughes patted her on the shoulder and gestured for her to leave the room first. She followed, glancing around the library briefly as she left. She was a bit behind schedule, but fortunately at that point a rather breathless Lily turned up to relieve her, having lit all the fires.

After that, the rest of her rounds went quickly, and she soon found herself back in the kitchen. No sooner had she sat down, however, than Mr Carson turned up.

"Morning Mrs Hughes… Could I have a word?" He looked rather harassed so she didn't ask why, but stood up again and followed him to his pantry. She felt slightly tense – did this mean he'd heard news of Mr Bates?

As soon as they'd gone into his pantry, she closed the door and turned to him.

"Have you heard any news?"

He looked at her apologetically. "No, I'm sorry."

"What is it that you need to talk about then?" she asked, her pulse returning to its normal rate after the few moments of nerves.

"Well firstly, I thought I'd let you know that Isis has just been brought back by some children from the village."

Mrs Hughes smiled. "I am glad. We needed some good news."

"We did," he replied, inclining his head, "However, because we have had no news of Mr Bates, I'm not sure it's quite appropriate for the Servants' Ball to go ahead…"

"I completely agree," she answered. If she was honest with herself, she'd barely thought about the ball with everything else that had been happening, but she wasn't going to admit that slight organisational lapse to Mr Carson.

He was looking relieved. "I hoped you'd say that. No doubt they'll be disappointed…"

"I'm sure they will be, but they understand that it's inappropriate and I think many of them will be on our side," Mrs Hughes said firmly. "We can hold it when everything's -"she stopped, having been about to say "died down", but unable to bring herself to mention death.

He seemed to understand though. "Yes," he agreed, and there was a gentle finality to his tone. She shot him a grateful smile, and turned to leave.

"Mrs Hughes, one more thing?"

She turned back round. Mr Carson was looking shrewdly at her.

"Have you seen Thomas this morning? He's gone missing again."

She frowned. This was getting far too suspicious for her liking.

"No, but I'll keep an eye out and let you know if he turns up."

"Thank you," he nodded, and followed her out of the room and back to the table for breakfast.

Two hours later found a rather hassled Mrs Hughes leaving her sitting room for the bachelor's corridor to make sure a room was made up for Lord Hepworth, who was due to arrive later that afternoon. There were too many guests in the house for both her and Mr Carson's stress levels, although she knew that if it were quiet she'd be bored. Before she could go very far, however, she was almost bowled over by Thomas rushing past her towards the stairs leading up to the menservants' quarters. She glanced at him, and then did a double take – he was in, there was no other way to describe it, a right state.

"Thomas!" she exclaimed. He stopped and turned round, his face impassive.

"Where on earth have you been?" she admonished, taking in his flushed cheeks, messy hair and the mud on his ripped clothes. "Go and clean yourself up immediately! I hope nobody's seen you?"

"Well, Mrs Hughes, that's actually where I was going, believe it or not," he replied rudely.

"There's no need for that cheek," she said, sending a formidable glare in his direction. He turned and stomped upstairs, and Mrs Hughes resumed her mission to ensure all the guests had rooms, shaking her head and making a mental note to tell Mr Carson about her encounter.

She didn't have to wait long. As she headed back downstairs, having ensured everything was ship shape in Lord Hepworth's room, she bumped into Mr Carson, who was on his way to the dining room.

"Oh, Mr Carson," she said, "Thomas is back."

"Is he now? And what was his excuse?"

"He didn't give one," she admitted, "and I forgot to press him for one after seeing the state he was in. I've never seen anything like it; he was covered in mud and twigs."

She suppressed a smile at the sight of his eyes widening in horror at the thought of one of his footmen looking such a disgrace.

"Well I hope he's tidying himself up!" Mr Carson said, looking mortified.

"He said he would, although not without a quick dose of his usual cheek."

Mr Carson sniffed disapprovingly. "We need to do something about him. I'll mention it to His Lordship later."

"Good," she replied, "let me know how it goes."

"Of course," he nodded to her and continued on his way. She, meanwhile, headed back down to the kitchens to see how Mrs Patmore was getting on. It was good of her, Mrs Hughes mused, to give Daisy a day off on a day when there were multiple guests for dinner. She had to confess to herself, she had been worried that Mrs Patmore made Daisy's life hell for a while, but Mrs Hughes could tell that deep down the formidable cook was very fond of the girl. Still, it wouldn't hurt for Daisy to be given a bit more credit for her work; Mrs Hughes resolved to keep an eye on her self-confidence.

The afternoon passed in a haze of store cupboard hell, excessive rounds due to the presence of guests and making up for being short-staffed by helping the maids. As Anna and O'Brien rushed off at the sound of the dressing gong, Mrs Hughes dragged herself into her sitting room and sank gratefully into her chair, closing her eyes and wondering for what felt like the twentieth time that day if she was getting too old for this.

She stayed there for a good few minutes, gathering her thoughts and summoning her energy for the evening. When she left her sitting room, she made a cup of tea and watched Mrs Patmore and Daisy preparing dinner as she drank it. Having satisfied herself that everything was going to plan in the kitchen, she headed upstairs to give the dining room the once over before they went in.

Mrs Hughes was not in the least surprised, nor was she displeased, to find that she was not the only one doing this. Mr Carson and his ruler were already hard at work when she arrived, so she busied herself with the silver. When everything was perfect, she and Mr Carson headed down to the kitchens together. He glanced around, and, having ascertained that nobody was listening, muttered to her, "I've spoken to His Lordship about Thomas. Come to my pantry."

She merely nodded; she could tell from his tone that he hadn't got the result they were both hoping for. Sure enough, when they entered his pantry, he was looking grim.

"He wouldn't let you fire him then?" She enquired, not failing to notice how disgruntled Mr Carson looked.

"Worse," he replied, sighing, "he wants to give him a trial as valet."

Mrs Hughes was taken aback.

"What? But I thought he didn't trust him?"

Mr Carson looked as confused as she felt. "That's what he said last time we spoke about it. But something's happened to change his mind… He said there was more true goodness in Thomas than he'd realised, or something along those lines."

Mrs Hughes restrained herself from snorting with great difficulty. Mr Carson seemed to read her mind.

"I know," he said, looking slightly amused at her expression. "But there's nothing we can do for the moment. We need to at least wait for this Bates business to be resolved."

Ignoring the sinking feeling in her gut at the mention of Mr Bates, she offered a word of agreement before excusing herself to go and help with dinner. As she watched Mr Carson head back upstairs to serve, she repressed a sigh. She felt a bit guilty for pining over her unrequited love when Mr Bates was facing execution, but at the same time it just reminded her that life was too short. She'd have to tell him, one day, she decided. Then she smiled bitterly to herself, because if she'd had sixpence for every time she'd resolved to do so over the years, she certainly wouldn't have needed her housekeeper's wages.

Once Mrs Hughes was sure that dinner was under control, she headed back to her sitting room. The reminder of Mr Bates followed by her musings about Mr Carson had left her feeling somewhat down, and so, with a few minutes of escaping the world in mind, she settled herself at her desk with her book, moving a few papers around to make it seem as if she were working. She had barely opened it, however, when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," she called, hastily turning to the pile of paperwork and pushing her book to the back of her desk. She turned around as she heard the door close, and felt a slight pull at her heartstrings as she saw Anna standing there, looking utterly dejected.

She forced a smile as she stood up and crossed the room, saying, "What can I do for you, Anna?"

"I've just spoken to Lady Mary," Anna said, chin in the air but voice wavering slightly, "she says she's going to America for a while and she's agreed to take me with her. I've always wanted to see America, so at least I've got a plan."

Mrs Hughes regarded her sympathetically, trying not to let any other emotions come across in her expression. "I suppose so. I still can't be glad you'll be leaving here... But it's good news that you won't be casting off entirely." She added, trying to put a hint of optimism in her voice and not doing very well.

Anna's bottom lip was quivering now the way it always did when she was upset. Mrs Hughes felt a huge pang of sadness and fondness for her as Anna stuttered, "It's only… a…"

Deciding to put her out of her misery, Mrs Hughes murmured, "I know." Stepping towards her, she tried to console her. "Just so's you know, you're highly valued by all of us." She put a hand on her arm and tried to make eye contact with her as Anna nodded, clearly trying and failing miserably to calm herself down. Mrs Hughes lowered her voice to a whisper, now having to make a valiant attempt not to cry herself. "Both of you. Very highly valued."

As she watched Anna stand crying in the middle of her sitting room, she decided it was time to drop all hint of professionalism. Screwing up her face slightly to keep her own emotions in check, because she needed to be strong for Anna, she stepped forward, pulling her into a hug. They stood there for a few minutes, Anna crying desperately into Mrs Hughes' shoulder as the housekeeper patted her on the back, a tear trickling down her own cheek.

Finally, when Anna's sobs had subsided somewhat, Mrs Hughes let go of her and leaned back as if to examine her. She looked absolutely exhausted.

"You need to go to bed, my girl."

Anna looked up and opened her mouth as if to protest.

"No buts," Mrs Hughes interrupted firmly, determined that she rest. "You're no use to man or beast if you collapse from exhaustion."

Anna nodded resignedly and turned to leave. As she reached the door, she paused and turned around. Mrs Hughes looked at her questioningly.

"Mrs Hughes… Thank you. For everything." She said, looking slightly guilty.

"There's no need," Mrs Hughes replied softly. She cared very much about her staff and Anna had been one of her favourites; she didn't mind showing it. Goodness knows, she thought, it was necessary – she'd rarely seen anyone who needed a bit of support more than Mr and Mrs Bates. She didn't need to say all of this, though; she could tell that Anna knew, from the faint smile that she gave her as she left. Sighing, she gave up on any thought of some time to herself and headed back to the kitchen to help carry the food upstairs for dinner.

Later on that night, after most of the servants had gone to bed, Mrs Hughes found herself walking to Mr Carson's pantry. At the servants' dinner, there had been gossip about Lady Mary breaking off her engagement, and rumours flying about Mr Crawley's involvement. Mr Carson had put a stop to the conversation the moment he walked in, but Mrs Hughes knew he would be able to give her an accurate account of the events and, of course, it was a chance to spend time with him.

She knocked and entered, smiling at the fact that he'd already got a bottle of wine and two glasses out. He smiled too.

"I thought you'd turn up wanting to know the news."

"How well you know me, Mr Carson," she replied, accepting a glass and sitting on the chair opposite his. They sat in silence for a moment, sipping their wine.

"So?" she asked, "what happened?"

"Well, Lady Mary told Sir Richard she couldn't marry him and he shouted a bit. Mr Crawley heard him; he went dashing past me into the library."

"And you didn't try to stop him?" Mrs Hughes asked, smirking.

Mr Carson raised his eyebrows enigmatically. They both knew that in his fondness for Lady Mary he'd wanted nothing better than Matthew to give Sir Richard a piece of his mind.

"Well, I heard Sir Richard taunting Mr Crawley, and then Mr Crawley called him a bastard and punched him."

Mrs Hughes let out a noise that was somewhere between a gasp and a laugh.

"And how did he react to that?"

"I could hear them fighting, so I went to get His Lordship; he was just coming downstairs and he went in and stopped it. Then the Dowager Countess arrived and went hurrying in… Coming out with her usual remarks, you know the type."

"I do," Mrs Hughes smiled. "Will she marry Mr Crawley now, then?"

"As far as I'm aware he hasn't asked her, but I do hope so…"

"You wouldn't part with her to a less worthy candidate," Mrs Hughes said shrewdly, unable to prevent her expression from showing her lack of understanding at exactly why he was so protective of Lady Mary.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, Mrs Hughes; we will never see eye to eye on this."

"How right you are," she replied, taking another sip of wine and ignoring the little voice at the back of her mind that was saying you're just jealous.

"Oh, I meant to ask you," Mr Carson was saying, "Where's Anna been all evening?"

"I sent her to bed," Mrs Hughes answered, her face falling. "She came to see me earlier to tell me that she's going to America with Lady Mary. She was very upset and she looked like death warmed up. I checked on her about half an hour ago; she was asleep, thank the Lord. I don't think it's something she does very often these days."

Mr Carson was watching her with an odd expression on his face.

"What?" she asked, feeling a bit confused.

"They're very lucky to have you." He said simply.

"What do you mean?"

"You're like a second mother to them. I care about them, of course, but they'd never come to me the way they do to you."

Mrs Hughes was slightly taken aback.

"You flatter me, Mr Carson."

He didn't reply, merely raising his eyebrows in a way that said he was just telling the truth. Her cheeks felt rather warm. She finished her wine and stood up.

"Well, I think I'd better get to bed. Thank you for the wine."

He stood up as well. "Goodnight, Mrs Hughes."

She could feel his eyes on her as she left the room but she didn't look back. She didn't know how to feel; she didn't want to read too much into his compliments and she was still too distressed by the lack of news about Mr Bates to feel happy. Only time will tell, she thought to herself, only time will tell.