If a oneshot is allowed to have an epilogue, then here is that epilogue.

"Come on, Anna, hurry up!"

Gracious, Anna thought irritably to herself, Mrs Hughes was certainly in a bad mood today. She put on her coat- it being quite a chilly day for May- and hurried down the corridor from the coat pegs to where the housekeeper waited for her on the back step. Mrs Hughes, despite the low temperature, was not wearing a coat, though she folded her arms across her chest as if cold. Seeing that Anna was there, she began leading the way from the house and through the grounds.

"Mrs Hughes, where are we going?" Anna asked, as it occurred to her that she did not know herself.

She had only been told that her Ladyship had charged Mrs Hughes with some task or other relating to the garden party- as most tasks were at this time of year- and that she, Anna, was to put on her coat and come and help her.

"To the orchard," Mrs Hughes' tone, Anna thought, seemed to be very short. She turned to look at the housekeeper who was striding determinedly on, her face set in half a frown. She seemed almost too business-like, even for Mrs Hughes. Anna wondered if the strain of having to organise the garden party wasn't telling on her; though she had never known it to before.

"Her Ladyship was wondering if it mightn't be pleasant to set up some tables for the guests there," Mrs Hughes continued, "And she wondered if you and I would assess the situation."

It did not appear to Anna as if Mrs Hughes was in the mood to answer any further questions, so she followed on quietly, having to make an effort to keep up with Mrs Hughes' energetic pace. Thus, at this speed, they arrived at the orchard quite quickly although it was at the far edge of the estate. So far, in fact, that Anna didn't think she'd ever set foot in there before today.

It had been neglected to say the least; obviously everyone else was mostly unaware of its existence too. Not that there were many weeds, a few here and there, but the most obvious sign of having been left for years was the way the branches of fruit trees had grown unrestrained into a kind of ceiling. The grass was long and interspersed with random flowers growing here and there. It was very beautiful in a disorganised kind of a way; Anna thought she liked it a great deal better than some other areas of the estate, but it was unlikely that either Mrs Hughes or her Ladyship would deem it a suitable place for their guests to sit. She wandered about a little, quite happy to explore it.

"It'll need a lot of work," she remarked to Mrs Hughes, still casting her eyes around the orchard.

There was no reply. Usually Mrs Hughes was very punctual in offering her opinion on any subject. Anna turned around, looking for the housekeeper, a little concerned by this silence but nowhere near expecting the sight that met her when she saw her. Mrs Hughes was standing quite still, only a little way into the orchard. Crying. Not making a big deal of it, just standing in an orchard crying. Anna hadn't known that the word was in Mrs Hughes' vocabulary and felt a little guilty for having been irritated with her before. Judging by the ill disguised anguished expression, her short manner beforehand could easily be pardoned. It also occurred to her that she probably wasn't doing a great deal to comfort her.

"Mrs Hughes?" she asked hesitantly, the thought that she might just be seeing things surfacing briefly, "Mrs Hughes, are you alright?"

That theory was pushed aside when the housekeeper gave a hearty sniff. Anna must be hearing things as well, that or Mrs Hughes really was crying.

"Yes," she answered, her face somewhat belying her, "Yes, thank you, Anna. Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't do this in front of you. I'm just being silly."

It looked substantially more than being silly to Anna, the housekeeper's shoulders were visibly shaking and Anna wondered again that she hadn't wanted to put on her coat.

"It's just this place," Mrs Hughes continued, "It's years since I've been here. I-... memories," she finished rather hopelessly, "Memories."

As she wiped her eyes furiously on her handkerchief, Anna wondered if there was perhaps something that Mrs Hughes had momentarily considered telling her but had stopped herself.

"Would you like to go back?" she asked, thinking that if it was in fact the place they were in that had upset her it would be best to leave.

Mrs Hughes nodded wearily.

"Yes, thank you, Anna. I think that would be best."

The housekeeper turned rather unsteadily to go- that was what finally made Anna decide. Normally she would not have dared to be so presumptuous as to try and hug the housekeeper even to comfort her, but in her moment of unsteadiness she reached out and wrapped an arm around the older woman's waist. Although at first she fully expected to be reprimanded, Mrs Hughes said nothing, in fact Anna felt her relax a little against her. Encouraged, Anna guided her steadily back towards the house, wondering at how surreal this situation was. If Gwen had reported this to her, she would have had difficulty believing it.

Once they reached the house, Anna resolved to remove her arm when they'd crossed the back step; she knew Mrs Hughes wouldn't want the whole house knowing about what had happened. However, they were spotted before she could do so. Mr Carson had been going into his pantry when the odd sight of the housekeeper having to be supported as she walked met his eyes.

Anna could not quite account for what happened next. Mrs Hughes, having recovered herself quite substantially on the walk back across the grounds simply saw the butler and burst into fresh tears- not like before- strong unrestrained sobs. Anna was quite prepared to make some, probably ridiculous, excuse to Mr Carson but was then equally stunned by what he did. Apparently having taken one look at Mrs Hughes' face, he strode forward and took her into his arms. He kissed her hair. Half-shocked, half-touched by the sight before her, Anna began to feel embarrassed by intruding on such an intimate situation. She was very relieved when Mr Carson guided the housekeeper into his pantry.

"What happened, Anna?" he asked in a hushed voice at the door.

"I don't know," she confessed, "She just-... We were at the orchard and she just-..."

"The orchard?"

Anna nodded. There was a look of what she could only call comprehension on the butler's face.

"Thank you, Anna. Leave it to me."

And with that the door was shut.

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