First of all: Thank you all for your reassuring words about the proposal. You are truly amazing. Thank you! :)

I was a little stuck after the last chapter. I knew what I wanted to happen, but didn't know how to write it. So please forgive me if I forgot how to English in this one.

Chapter 11

Return to Downton

The first snow started falling when Charles and Elsie were on their way from the village back to the Abbey. They were walking arm in arm in comfortable silence. Each could sense the happiness filling the other. The cold couldn't bother them any less. A few weeks ago Charles would have thought the idea of Elsie being his fiancée absolutely absurd, but now he wouldn't wish things to be different no matter what. For years the existence of a Mrs. Carson by his side had seemed highly unlikely and now the future Mrs. Carson was walking right next to him where she had always been. Only now it was way more official. The broad smile crossing his features replaced everything he would have needed to say to describe how he felt. Words would have failed to describe it properly. He felt young and old, wise and foolish, lighter and happier and prouder than ever. When the Abbey came into view, the old building reminded Charles that they still had to face the family and the staff. There would be no big announcement before the new year had started. Elsie and Charles had agreed on that, but still the thought made him nervous. It was not so much the family's reaction that frightened him than retirement itself. He wasn't entirely sure what he would do with all the freetime, but as if Elsie had heard his thoughts she squeezed his arm reassuringly. He smiled down at her. He should stop worrying. As long as she was there everything was all right.

"I would have never thought when I left a few weeks ago that I would return as your fiancée", she said happily.

"I would have never thought that it was possible to miss someone so much that all doubts about a future together could be blown away", he replied.

She looked up at him. "You have no doubts about it?"

"I always thought that being together with you would mean to leave Downton, but now that things have changed I see that this is not true. We won't work at Downton anymore when we are married, but we will live in a cottage on the estate. We will still be here. And if catastrophe strikes we are still there to help out. You said we can't leave our family. We won't. Not really."

She bit back the tears that threatened to fall. Never would she have expected him to say this. "My, my", she said. "Who would have thought that? You being the one who accepts leaving and me the one thinking that the house would fall to pieces without us."

He laughed. "The house stood safely before we were there. It can manage without us, even if that thought seems strange."

"It will take some getting used to", she admitted. "But the house can manage without us and we can manage without it." They crossed the yard that was already covered with a thin layer of snow. Charles held the backdoor open for her. The warmth inside embraced them welcomingly. It felt a little like the old walls were glad to have their keepers back. The first person who found out about their return was Raff. The young footman was just coming from the kitchen where he had probably had had a chat with Sophie. Relief washed over him when he saw the two heads of staff. "Mrs. Hughes, Mr. Carson, you are back."

"So we are", Charles said.

"How is your sister, Mrs. Hughes?", the lad asked innocently. Charles watched Elsie's reaction carefully. A bit of pain crossed her face, but she was in total control of herself. It seemed like she had expected that something like this could happen.

"She passed away over a week ago."

"Oh", was all Raff responded before the information had reached him. "I thought she would be better since you are back. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"That's all right. You meant well", Elsie stopped him and Charles felt like it was the right moment to step in. "Raff, would you be so kind as to send one of the hallboys to bring our suitcases upstairs?"

"I can do that myself, Mr. Carson. I don't mind", he answered quickly.

"Aren't you needed elsewhere?", Charles asked surprised.

"No, not now." Raff had already taken the luggage from the butler. "I'm glad you are back", he said before he hurried up the stairs.

"Do you think he has been bullied by Thomas?", Elsie asked while Charles helped her out of her coat.

"If so Thomas will have to answer to me." He checked his pocket watch. "I ought to change into livery."

"I'll wait for you in your pantry. I'll see if I can get us a cup of tea", she told him.

"I'll hurry up", he promised and left for the stairs. Elsie sighed and headed to the kitchen. As usual a lot of noise came from there.

"Sophie, have you seen the…?", Beryl just asked when Elsie entered. Sophie had her back to where the housekeeper stood, so she was slightly confused when the cook stopped midsentence. "Have I seen the what? Mrs. Patmore?" The young girl followed Beryl's gaze and was surprised to see Elsie standing in the door way and Daisy stopped fumbling around at the oven. All three were now silently staring at the housekeeper. Elsie's eyebrows shot up questioningly. It was Beryl who found her voice first. "Mr. Carson brought you back then", she said.

"That's why he left after all", Elsie replied. "I hope everything went well in my absence. You didn't win the key to the store cupboard from Anna, did you?"

"No, I was too busy repairing the oven every five minutes."

"Is it broken again?", Elsie asked.

"Afraid so", Beryl replied.

"It's good you are back. Things are not the same when you are gone", Daisy said.

"Yes", Sophie agreed. "It was even worse when Mr. Carson left too."

"Why?", Elsie asked surprised having thought that Anna and Thomas would be good replacements.

"I don't know", Daisy said. "Everything's just so different."

"Get on with you. We still have to make something to eat for upstairs", Beryl said.

"But the oven...", Sophie began.

"There'll be something we can cook without the oven", Beryl assured her and the girls went back to work. While Sophie manoeuvred a huge pot from one end of the kitchen to the other she asked: "Since you're back, does this mean that your sister has recovered?"

A quick pain shot through Elsie's body. She had to accept that the wound was too fresh not too sting anymore. "She passed away."

The pot almost fell to the ground, but Sophie managed to grab it awkwardly with one hand before it hit the floor. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you." Elsie turned back to the cook. "I wondered if Mr. Carson and I might have a cup of tea."

"Of course", Beryl said. "I'll fetch you a tray."

Elsie nodded gratefully. "We'll be in his pantry." She turned on her heels and left. Charles' pantry looked a little dustier than usual, but it could have been a false impression since she hadn't seen the room in a while. She sat down on her usual chair and waited. Beryl was the first to enter, carrying the promised tray. The cook filled three cups and made herself comfortable on a second chair. When she saw the look Elsie gave her she rolled her eyes at the housekeeper. "Did you two really think there was no one who wanted to hear the whole story?"

"No, but I thought you'd have to prepare dinner."

"I left instructions to the girls. They can manage well enough without me for half an hour." She took a sip of tea. "I'm really sorry to her that Ann is gone."

"It took both Gordon and me off guard. We had hoped she would get better eventually." Elsie sipped her tea, keeping an eye on the door. Charles entered minutes later. He closed the door behind him and sat down at his desk facing the two women. "How were things while we were gone?"

"A bit more chaotic than usual, but fine all in all", the cook answered.

"Anything we should know about?", Charles asked.

"Are you alluding to Thomas being a little unkind to Raff, Charles?", Beryl replied. "That was to be expected. Just make sure things get back to normal."

Charles exchanged a look with Elsie. They both knew that things weren't going to get back to normal. Beryl didn't miss this silent conversation taking place between the two and placed her cup triumphantly on Charles' desk. "I knew it!", she exclaimed and caused Elsie to almost let her cup fall. "I can't tell you how long I've waited for this moment."

Charles furrowed his brow. "What moment?"

Beryl gave him a knowing look. "Don't tell me what I think happened didn't happen."

"I still can't follow you, Beryl", Charles admitted. Elsie sighed. "Beryl", she said to get the cook's attention. With a little fumbling she managed to get the silver necklace out to daylight. The engagement ring was hanging on it. To keep it from all eyes she used it as a pendant until it would do no harm to wear it openly. Beryl moved excitedly on her chair like a schoolgirl. "So it's still a secret."

"It won't be for long, but we thought we would give everyone a peaceful Christmas", Elsie explained.

"I won't tell a soul", Beryl promised. "I am so absolutely happy for you both."

"Thank you", Charles said who now finally understood that the cook had known about their engagement from the very same moment he had entered his pantry.

"Now since the purpose of me joining you for tea has been fulfilled, I'll check on the kitchen and leave you to it." She swallowed the last gulp of her tea and was at the door within no time. "If I may say so, it took you two long enough to get there. I already had started to take things into my own hands before you finally made some progress on your own."

Charles and Elsie exchanged a questioning look. "How exactly did you take things into your own hands?", Elsie asked.

"What do you think how you ended up being locked up in the wine cellar?", Beryl pointed out with a cheeky grin and slid out of the room. Elsie turned to Charles who looked both astonished and angry. His jaw had dropped slightly and all in all he was looking rather funny. Elsie couldn't help herself but laugh. She covered her mouth with her hand in an unsuccessful attempt to silence herself. Finally, Charles joined her. His carefree, hearty laugh was a quite new and wonderful sound to her ears and they spent a good few minutes laughing tears at the cook's actions. Charles wiped away a tear when the last giggles faded. It took him a few seconds to put back on a serious face. He got lost in Elsie's deep blue eyes, remembering very well that it had been the wine cellar incident that had made him realise how much he loved this woman.

"Penny for your thoughts", Elsie said smiling warmly at him.

"I just had to think about how I realised that I love you", he answered and when Elsie encouraged him to continue he explained: "The wine cellar incident."

"Really?", Elsie said surprised. "Then we owe quite a lot to Beryl." They had no chance to continue their conversation since the voices of Thomas and Raff filled the hallway and the under butler stormed into the butler's pantry moments later. When he saw the two heads of staff he was rooted to the spot. The footman was standing behind him and looked rather pleased with himself. "See, I told you they were back, Mr. Barrow."

Thomas gave the younger man a threatening look which left Raff unimpressed. He had the butler on his side in this one after all. "Thomas", Charles rumbled. "May I ask what this is about?"

Thomas showed no signs of wanting to answer, so Raff did it for him. "I just informed him that you were back."

"Well, now that you have seen that Mrs. Hughes and I have returned, you may both leave and attend your duties until the upstairs' dinner is served", Charles commanded. Raff immediately obeyed and disappeared in the hall way while Thomas took another moment to show that he wasn't pleased to see the butler. He left leaving the door widely open. Elsie sighed. "I will never understand him. It's not like we have never been on his side."

"He is who he is. All we can do is to deal with him as best as we can", Charles said.

…

"Carson, you are back", Lord Grantham said relieved when the butler appeared to serve dinner.

"Is Mrs. Hughes also back?", Lady Mary asked, forgetting that she wanted to take something from the plate Raff was holding.

"Yes, she is."

"Did you find out why she wasn't answering your letters?", Lady Mary continued.

"I'm afraid it was because her sister had died", Charles answered. Silence fell over the table.

"What awful news", Lady Grantham said. "Please tell her our sincerest condolences, Carson."

"Yes, milady."

"I'm glad that you are both back. Christmas is saved then, I suppose", Lord Grantham said and caught himself some disapproving looks from the rest of the family. That was when Charles knew that getting permission for Gordon to stay would be even easier than he had thought. His lordship was outnumbered when it would come to this.

Around midnight the house was asleep except for Charles and Elsie who tried to avoid separating for the night as long as possible. They were standing right next to the door to the women's quarters, holding each other tightly. It was quite dangerous since they could be seen easily, but they trusted that every single member of staff was fast asleep. "Just two more weeks", Charles said quietly.

"This will be our last Christmas here. I'd say we enjoy it us best as we can", Elsie replied and stepped back to look at him. "We ought to get some sleep."

A disapproving groan escaped his throat and he bent down to kiss her tenderly. "Good night, my love", he whispered against her lips.

"Good night." She slipped through the door and locked it behind her. He waited until he heard her close the door to her room. Then he slowly tiptoed to his own room.

…

Charles was serving breakfast. The whole family had gathered which was quite unusual, but the day before Christmas they didn't seem to mind making exceptions. They were reading letters and the newspaper. The only sounds were the sipping of tea, the clattering of the cutlery and the rustling of paper. They were almost finished when someone knocked on the door. Charles didn't think much about it although it was rather unusual and opened. It was Elsie. There was no time for explanations. She stepped inside and bit everyone a good morning.

"Mrs. Hughes, it is good to have you back", Lady Grantham said. "Have you come because of that business with the Christmas tree?"

"No, milady. That has been solved. The tree just arrived. I have sent two of the maids to the attics to gather the Christmas tree decorations. But I wanted to speak to you about something else."

Now everyone was looking at the housekeeper quite curious as to what she wanted to say. Lady Grantham looked a little uncomfortable. "The last time you said this you left for almost two months", she pointed out, but not in an unfriendly manner.

"It's nothing like that this time", Elsie reassured her.

"Then out with it", Lady Grantham said curiously.

"As Mr. Carson told you my sister passed away leaving my brother-in-law all by himself. They have no children. I wasn't comfortable with letting him alone on Christmas, so I asked if he would like to come here. Of course he could stay at the Grantham Arms, but I was wondering if he might stay in one of the attic rooms." Elsie watched the facial expressions of the family members carefully. While the young ladies seemed rather excited to her about the guest, Lady Grantham stayed calm and nodded understandingly. Tom watched the whole scene with a rather neutral expression and Lord Grantham didn't seem to be pleased.

"Of course he can stay. We have guests so often. Why shouldn't one of them be a guest of a staff member for a change? We would love to meet him, wouldn't we, Robert?" She sounded quite threatening when she addressed her husband who nodded unwillingly. "Why ever not", he sighed. "What was his name again?"

"Gordon Wilson, milord", Elsie answered.

Lord Grantham nodded "I think you better take care of the Christmas tree. It would be a fiasco if it was set on fire by one of the hallboys after its late arrival." He gave Charles a knowing glance before he continued sipping his tea. Charles replied with a short cough. Elsie bit back a smile. It seemed like the hallboys or at least one of them had caused some trouble while she was away. She gave Charles a look that made him aware of the fact that she would ask after the deeper meaning of his lordship's comment. He watched her leaving and turned his attention back to the table when the sound of her keys was gone.

"What exactly is that Gordon Wilson doing?", Lord Grantham asked.

"He owns a shop, milord."

"Does he? I presume you have met him. What is he like?"

"He was in mourning when I met him, but he seemed to be a decent man. I'm sure he won't cause any trouble."

"At least not more than that hallboy", Lord Grantham responded.

Charles almost gave the lord an angry glance, but was able to keep his composure. "Robert, really, stop going on about that poor boy. He learned his lesson", Lady Grantham scolded.

"I shall hope so. I mean…"

"Robert!" And with that silence took over the room again.

Later that day, Charles and Elsie watched over the decorating of the tree. The last time they had to make sure it went smoothly. It was still a strange thought that their last days at Downton were passing by now, but it made them feel proud and fulfilled. They were ready to go.

Before the servant's dinner, Elsie went to the kitchen to talk to Beryl. The cook just had a quiet moment to herself and looked up when the housekeeper entered.

"I need to ask you something", Elsie said and sat down next to Beryl. "Why is his lordship teasing Charles about a hallboy setting something on fire?"

Beryl immediately bursted into laughter and had to regain control before she answered. "All right, I don't know how exactly this happened, but apparently that hallboy Jack set Isis on fire. Charles managed to save the dog from further damage by taking off his jacket and throwing himself on the poor animal. He had a bit of a lumbago afterwards. I tell you, I have never seen him so angry and embarrassed at the same time. It was marvellous." The two women now laughed together.

"What is this about?", Charles asked who had just entered. When the two saw him they stopped laughing for a moment, before the fit of laughter took total control and Elsie almost fell from the chair. Charles didn't even need to ask why they were so amused. He raised his hands in defeat, let out an exasperated sigh and retreated to the servant's hall.

…

The staff members were slowly arriving in the servant's hall for breakfast. They had all checked their socks first and carried the few presents with them. Charles and Elsie were both sitting silently on their usual seats and watched the good mood before them. Every year it was an enjoyable sight. Their Christmas breakfast was interrupted by a knock. It was Gordon. He was carrying a suitcase and had turned up the collar of his coat.

"Gordon!", Elsie said happily. "You should have said that you were coming with the first train. We would have sent someone to meet you at the station."

"Oh, no, that's all right. I enjoyed the walk. Wasn't really difficult to find this place."

"Have you already had breakfast?", Elsie asked and got up to greet him properly.

"Yes, thank you", he answered and returned the short hug. Elsie turned around and let her eyes wander over the curious faces of the staff. "This is Mr. Wilson, my brother-in-law. He'll join us for the festivities."

And with that the excitement about the stranger being hugged by the housekeeper vanished. "Raff, would you show Mr. Wilson his room?"

"Yes, Mrs. Hughes." The footman quickly stood up and led Gordon to the stairs.

"Why is he here?", Thomas asked.

"That's none of your business", Charles replied.

Thomas took another few moments to think about it. "He was wearing a black armband", he murmured. "Did your sister die?"

Elsie stopped behind Charles chair. She had been on her way back to her seat. She didn't look at Thomas when she replied a simple: "Yes." To her and everyone else's surprise Thomas seemed to feel sorry for the housekeeper and he even said so before leaving.

"Some people are always able to surprise us", Elsie murmured in Charles' direction who agreed with a nod. And their last Christmas as heads of the staff took its course.

Please leave a review if you can spare a moment. To know what you think is really important to me. :) Next: The servant's ball...