A/N Thank you again for all the wonderful reviews! Your support makes this process far more enjoyable for me. Please keep providing feedback.

Also, I realize I'm time jumping and leaving out some minor details, but you can easily enough fill in the gaps with your imaginations.

Chapter 7

"Well, Mrs. Hughes, I suppose this is it, then," said Mr. Carson on the evening before their departure. He stood at the small table in Mrs. Hughes's sitting room, pouring the wine. "The last time we'll sit together here in your sitting room or in my pantry, talking over a glass of wine or a cup of tea. I shall miss this terribly. More than anything else, I think."

"So shall I, Mr. Carson. Very much," Mrs. Hughes agreed. "We've seen some times here, haven't we? We've seen joy and heartache … good fortune and bad … harmony, disagreement, and compromise. But no matter what else was happening around us, we could always come together in the middle of the afternoon, or at the end of the day, and have a nice chat over a wee nip of something. That tradition helped me endure the worst times and made the best times better."

As he moved to sit, he handed her a glass and raised his own in a toast. "To sharing good times and bad," he offered.

"And to better times yet to come," she added, raising hers.

They nodded in unison. Mrs. Hughes took a hearty swig, but Mr. Carson swallowed only a hasty sip before announcing, "That reminds me, Mrs. Hughes. On the subject of 'better times yet to come,' I've got something for you."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Excuse me, please, while I go and get it. I won't be a moment." He dashed off but returned quickly, holding a neatly wrapped box.

"What's this?" Mrs. Hughes asked curiously as he handed it to her.

"Just a little something I'd like for you to have. Think of it as a retirement memento. And a housewarming gift. And a wedding present, too. All of those together, really."

"A wedding present? Mr. Carson, my retirement and my new cottage are certainties, but my marrying is hardly a foregone conclusion. I've not spoken even one word to my friend on the subject. What makes you so sure he'll ask me to marry him?"

"Ask me again tomorrow." He looked at her knowingly. "For now, just open it, please."

Mrs. Hughes set the box on her lap, carefully unwrapped and opened it, dug through some interior wrappings, and pulled out the pieces of a beautiful china tea set. The teapot, creamer, sugar bowl, cups, and saucers featured a delicate blue pattern with gold trim around the rims.

"Mr. Carson!" she cried. "I don't know what to say. It's lovely!"

"I hope you like it," he said, smiling bashfully.

"I do! Very much," she assured him.

"I hope that you and your husband will enjoy as many cups of tea and as much meaningful conversation in your new home as you and I have done here at Downton."

"I'm sure we shall, Mr. Carson. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you. It's a very thoughtful gift." Mrs. Hughes carefully replaced the pieces and set the box on the table. "It just so happens I've got something for you, too."

"Do you?" Mr. Carson questioned as she went to retrieve another wrapped box from her desk.

"I suppose you might say this is also a retirement, new home, and wedding gift," she informed him while giving him the box.

"It seems we've been thinking along the same lines, then."

"Haven't we always?"

"But a wedding gift? You know I've not even told my friend of my feelings. How do you know she'll accept my proposal?"

"Ask me again tomorrow." Mrs. Hughes smirked at him, cheekily throwing his words back at him.

Mr. Carson opened his gift and found that it was an elegant set of sherry glasses with a matching decanter.

"Why, it's exquisite!" he declared. "I'm at a loss for words, Mrs. Hughes."

"I'm glad you like it."

"Of course I do!"

"I hope that you and Mrs. Carson will spend many evenings sipping sherry, speaking of both serious concerns and trivial matters, just as you and I have done so often over the years."

"We shall, I'm certain. This is very kind of you. Thank you, Mrs. Hughes." He gingerly returned all the items to their box.

For the rest of the evening, Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson devoted equal time to reminiscing and to speculating on the future. When the wine was gone and the hour grew late, Mr. Carson rose and collected the empty decanter and glasses.

"It's getting late. Why don't you go on up?" he suggested. "I'll finish up here."

"Would you like some help?" offered Mrs. Hughes.

"No, thank you. I'll just take care of these, and then I'll be heading up myself."

"All right, then. Thank you for one last lovely evening, Mr. Carson."

"Thank you, Mrs. Hughes. The pleasure was all mine."

He watched as Mrs. Hughes stood and looked around one last time at her now barren sitting room. The walls were empty, the tables and shelves bare. All her belongings had been packed up and moved to her cottage. Tears pooled at the corner of one eye, but when she turned her gaze on Mr. Carson, her wistful look was replaced by hopeful one. Her bottom lip stopped quivering and joined her top lip in a sweet smile. He set down the glasses and decanter. Moving closer to her, he reached out a hand to her face. With the back of his forefinger and his knuckle, he caressed her cheek and brushed away her tears before they fell. Then he slowly withdrew his hand and let it drop to his side.

"Good night," she rasped, the words sticking in her throat.

"Until tomorrow … " he replied quietly.

As she turned to leave, he touched his still wet knuckle to his mouth. He'd expected her tears to taste salty, and they did, ever so slightly; but two other flavors were more prominent. One was vaguely bitter, but the other, the most potent of the three, was the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted. In her tears, the bitterness of a leaving behind a cherished home and precious friends was overpowered by the sweetness of hope and the promise of starting a new home with her most beloved friend.

A/N Special thanks to evitamockingbird for her help with this chapter. I borrowed the tea set idea from her epic Don't Tell Me You'll Miss Me (read it if you haven't already; you'll thank me – and her!), and she suggested the sherry glasses and decanter.