Thanks a lot for all your lovely reviews! I appreciate your encouragement and support. :-)

This chapter is from Mrs. P´s point of view and gave me some problems writing it. Please let me know if you liked it. Next one will be from
Carson/Hughes pov again. I hope to update soon, but school is keeping me busy.

Chapter 4

What to do

Mrs. Patmore had always thought that Carson and Mrs. Hughes would make a lovely couple. First it had only been the impression they made when they were standing next to each other. It looked right. Then it had been the way they argued. It sounded right. And much later, after having spent huge parts of their lifes together, it was how much they knew about the other. They knew about the others habits. How he liked his tea. How she liked her toast. They knew what the other disliked. That she didn't like atmospheres and he didn't approve change of all form. And no matter how different they were, there were these little things they had in common: Their parental feelings for the youngsters of down- and even upstairs, the little evening chats, their almost daily disagreements they fought like an old couple for they knew exactly what the other one was thinking.

Mrs. Patmore had watched these two for years and for her it wasn't difficult to tell that there was something there. She found out first about Mrs. Hughes feelings. There were loving glances at the dinner table, teasing whenever she had the chance and all the sharp words that fell never were too sharp. She kept an eye on how much he worked. She cared for him when he was ill. It was rather obvious if one just dared to look at it properly.

It had been a lot more difficult to figure out what Carson felt. How he felt about standards, property, traditions and the Crawleys (especially Lady Mary) he would throw in people's face almost every day, but his more intimate feelings were well hidden behind a wall he had built for decades. If it came to that he could stand next to a statue and you wouldn't see the difference.

It took a while until the cook witnessed how his façade cracked. When Mrs. Hughes had had her health scare, Mrs. Patmore didn't miss the wave of emotions that rolled over Carson's face a few times. For the shortest of moments the wall disappeared and Mrs. Patmore knew then that he loved Mrs. Hughes. He loved her and it seemed that he either didn't know or didn't understand that. So the chance of them ending up together completely depended on Carson opening up. Mrs. Patmore knew that Mrs. Hughes would need some help to make that happen. The months before the London season seemed to be the most successful ones in cracking Carson's wall open. Mrs. Hughes even managed to make him hold her hand at the beach. Mrs. Patmore got the message the housekeeper tried to tell him when doing this. But of course he didn't quite get it. And that was the main reason why Mrs. Patmore locked the two in the wine cellar when she had the opportunity. One night to spend together all alone would give them plenty of time to talk. And who knew? Maybe it was easier for Mrs. Hughes to make a tired and freezing Carson understand what she had meant on the beach.

Mrs. Patmore came to free them the next morning. She wasn't as foolish as to think that they were now all of a sudden holding each other, but she took knowledge of the blanket they had obviously shared and of Mrs. Hughes wearing his jacket. Something must have happened that night. Something that might get them together.

What happened the week afterwards was interesting to watch. Mrs. Hughes didn't change in anyway, but Carson did. It all started with pensive glances in her direction which turned into a mixture of confused and sad ones and then finally it were loving glances, sometimes with a bit of happiness or sadness in them. The butler had somehow managed to become aware of his feelings and to understand them which surprised Mrs. Patmore a bit since that man didn't make any sense occasionally.

But just when Carson had made his step, Mrs. Hughes turned into some kind of ghost. The fire left her eyes; there was no more teasing and mothering. No comfort for the maids. No evening chats with either the butler or the cook. It had all gone. That was confusing and alarming to watch. The cook needed a few days to get to the bottom of it. While she saw all these glances clearly, Mrs. Hughes – the one person downstairs who usually never missed a thing – had failed to see them. She had failed to see what she had hoped to happen for so long and now it was there she had stopped hoping and suffered more than before. These two silly people, was all Mrs. Patmore thought.

Once, while the staff was having dinner, Mrs. Patmore observed the two from a dark spot in the hallway, seeing everything they did. Mrs. Hughes was focussing on her plate and Carson gave her concerned glances, the love for her written in them. Mrs. Patmore had to fight the urge to shout: "Look at him. It is all there. All you have hoped for. It is right there in front of you." She didn't dare to do that, but very nearly banged her head against the wall. Frustration had taken a tight grip on her. Getting these two together had developed into her second job and she hated failing at one of her jobs.

A day or two later she was in the kitchen preparing the upstairs luncheon. She had suggested talking to them, but she knew they wouldn't listen or worse: She would embarrass Carson. And what would happen then Mrs. Patmore couldn't know. She thought about locking them up somewhere again. She didn't know else what to do. They needed a miracle. And just then something unexpected, but highly welcomed happened.

Mrs. Hughes was leaving her sitting room right when Carson stormed down the hall probably in search for one of the hallboys to give him the lecture of his life. He bumped into Mrs. Hughes, almost throwing her to the floor. She let out a shocked gasp. He grabbed her arm to steady her. All anger had vanished from his face. The hallboy was forgotten. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Hughes. Are you alright?" He looked her straight in the eyes and there it was: His true emotions written all over his face. Mrs. Patmore could have started dancing where she stood. Mrs. Hughes' facial expression told her that she had seen what the cook had for weeks.

"I'm fine, no need to worry, Mr. Carson" she said. He nodded, his façade reappearing, made his excuses and went back to what he wanted to do before he almost knocked the housekeeper over. Mrs. Hughes watched him disappear down the corridor, smiling a little to herself. When she left, heading the opposite direction Carson had picked, she wasn't that pale anymore and the fire was burning again in her eyes. Mrs. Patmore would have done almost everything to find out what Mrs. Hughes had thought exactly or what she planned to do next. The cook had to accept that she wouldn't find out until a few days had passed, but she already went through several possible scenarios. She had known these two for so long and now victory seemed to be close at last.