Whilst Charlie was in the dining room along with Alfred and Jimmy, Elsie did her usual rounds around the house, making sure that all of the day's tasks had been carried out and that nothing else needed to be done. Usually she did this with a fine tooth comb, but tonight, her mind was on so many other, happy, things.

She was thinking about how tonight was the last night she would be doing the rounds as Mrs Hughes and how tomorrow night, she would be Mrs Carson, something that she had dreamed of a long time ago, but had never believed for a second that it would come true. But she could feel her heart skip a beat each time she thought about her wonderful, lovely husband to be. Even walking past Cora and Robert's bedroom, which usually sent a shiver down her spine, couldn't dampen her spirits and as she walked further down the corridor and approached the nursery, she felt her heart skip another beat.

She couldn't help herself; she had to peek inside the room where she had so many bittersweet memories, and as she opened the door and allowed her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, she saw the shadows fall over the old rocking chair in the corner where she had nursed Ella and then she saw the old white and black spotted horse, where Ella and Sybil had played together. There were lots of long forgotten toys in the room, which now lay dormant in anticipation of the next generation of Crawleys.

The thought of her grandchild playing in this room delighted Elsie more than anyone could imagine, because she knew that Ella would always find a way for that child to be part of her mother's life. She still couldn't wait to be a grandmother and she had already decided that she wanted to be called granny.

She allowed her mind to wander to all the wonderful things that she and her husband were going to do with their grandchild and she couldn't wait until they moved into their new cottage together. She already knew that Charlie was planning some lovely things for their garden and she couldn't wait until the summer when they could sit outside together, having tea out on the lawn and watching the day go by.

She was so lost in her imaginings that she quite forgot where she was, until she heard a sound behind her, but was greatful when she realised that it was her daughter.

'Mam is everything alright?' Ella asked with concern.

'Yes, everything is just perfect.' Elsie replied with a delighted, watery smile, which made Ella put her arm around her mother's shoulders and she placed her other hand on Elsie's folded arms. 'I was just thinking about the times we had in this room and about how your wee one is going to be in here soon.'

Ella smiled at her mam's comment and thought back to her early years when Elsie had taken care of her and Sybil. She didn't have a tremendous amount of memories of the days when Elsie had been their nanny and care taker, as a governess had been hired by the time she and Sybil were four and Elsie had been made housekeeper, but the few memories that she did have were very happy ones.

She rested her head against Elsie's as they looked into the room together and imagined Ella's little one inside, playing happily with its cousins and hopefully, one day, its siblings.

'I do love you, you know Mam; I hope you know that and my baby is going to absolutely adore you.' She whispered as she gave her a gentle squeeze and she genuinely meant it and Elsie had no trouble in believing it. But there was just one thing that she couldn't quite get her head around.

'I know you do and I love you, very much Ella, more than you will probably ever know and I will adore your baby too, but have you given much thought to what we will tell him or her about us and about the fact that my relationship with them will have to remain a secret?' She said as she voiced her concern that had troubled her on and off all day.

'Well, no, I hadn't given any thought to that aspect of it; but one thing I do know, is that I will not hide who you are to my baby. I feel so very lucky that you and I have been able to build this wonderful relationship and if I'm perfectly honest, I am sometimes surprised at how naturally everything fell into place between us; I didn't think it would feel so normal when I first found out and I won't lie, I did struggle with some elements of it at first, but now, I can't imagine what my life would be like without you in it as my mother. And I am so very lucky to not only have you, and after tomorrow Mr Carson too, but I am lucky to have Mama and Papa, whom I love just as much and I know they're going to make equally wonderful grandparents. But I don't want to have to put any of us through the lies that we were put through before and I certainly don't want to subject my child, or any future children I may have, through that.' Ella explained with such heartfelt and raw emotion that her words really touched Elsie.

'Thank you for that Ella,' Elsie replied as she gave her daughter's hand a squeeze. 'Now away with you to bed, you look exhausted.' She added.

'And you get off to bed soon as well; it's a big day for you tomorrow and no bride should start her day looking exhausted.' Ella said as she gave her mam a kiss and sauntered off in the direction of her own bedroom.

Elsie shook her head and laughed as she watched her daughter disappear, before happily closing the door to the nursery and walked back towards the servants' door. She contemplated going down to her sitting room and doing some more work, but Ella was right, she didn't want to look tired for her day, but Charlie was still serving the family and probably wouldn't be seen before midnight; but it was unlucky for the groom to see the bride now and she didn't want to start their marriage with bad luck, she thought they'd had enough of that to last a life time. So instead she returned to her bedroom, grabbed a pen and some letter paper and decided to write him a letter.

It had started out just being a note to say goodnight and that she couldn't wait to become Mrs Carson, but her words soon become something more heartfelt as she soon found herself writing some of the things she'd never actually voiced to him.

My dearest Mr Carson; or perhaps I should start getting used to calling you Charlie now.

The next time that we shall see each other will be at the church as we get married, as I won't be coming down to breakfast in the morning. I don't want you to see me before our ceremony, I think we've had enough bad luck to last us an eternity.

I want you to know, that as I sit writing this letter, how very happy you have made me and how delighted I will be, to be able to call myself Mrs Carson at long last; something I have waited ever such a long time to say.

I am not ashamed to say that I have been in love with you for the last twenty five years and that I will continue to love you for twenty five more, but I am ashamed to say that I never once noticed that you loved me as I do you. All those years we have spent together and I never once entertained the idea that you loved me and I am saddened by the thought of how much time we have wasted.

There have been days when I have struggled so much with my past and wondered how on earth I could face the day, but I have always had you at my side and, without you even knowing it, you have been my strength that has carried me on.

So, until we meet tomorrow, go to sleep in the knowledge that I love you today more than I did yesterday and a little less than I will tomorrow, for tomorrow you truly will, make me the happiest woman alive.

With all of my love, always yours

Elsie

She wrote and then put it into an envelope, slipped inside his bedroom and placed it on to his pillow, before quickly slipping back into her own room. As she got back into the sanctuary of her room she breathed a deep, contented sigh and looked around the room that had been her bedroom for the last fifteen years. It had one or two of her belongings dotted around, but for the most part, none of it was truly hers. As she rested her back against the door, she imagined her bedroom in the cottage that awaited her and her husband and how they had worked together to make it theirs.

She thought about what their life would be like in service after their marriage and about what the others would think, but she didn't really care, as the only reason, now, that she was staying at Downton Abbey was so that she could be with her daughter and her future grandchild. She would change her last name, that much was certain, as she wanted to be known as Mrs Carson and she wanted the world to know that she was his and that he was hers, her best friend, her husband and her lover. She was still having doubts about that last aspect of their relationship though and she cursed herself for feeling so inadequate. She feared that, when it came to it, that she might not be able to, that she might be too afraid and too damaged to be able to give herself to him properly.

Of course, she knew that he wasn't marrying her for that and she knew that she could trust him more than she had ever trusted anyone else; but still, she wanted to be a good wife to him and she wanted to make him happy, as he had made her.

As her thoughts whirred around busily in her head, she slipped off her dress, put on her night clothes and climbed into bed. She must have been more tired than she thought, because she soon slipped into sleep, dreaming of what was to come the next day.

Whilst Elsie was hard and fast asleep, and the other staff members had all gone up, Sybil and Ella were still very much awake, waiting for all sounds in the house to cease, as everyone else went to their beds. Once they were certain that they wouldn't be caught out, the crept from their bedrooms and met in the hall on the gallery.

'Right, are you ready?' Sybil asked Ella with the slightest of whispers.

'As ready as I'll ever be.' Ella replied as she matched her sister's tone.

'What exactly are you going to do?'

'I'm going to try to pick the lock on the linen cupboard door.' Ella said as she and Sybil disappeared through the servants' door.

'You don't know how though!' Sybil exclaimed. 'Do you?!' She then added in shocked disbelief.

'Well as long as you promise not to tell anyone, yes I can, as it happens. When the soldiers were convalescing here, one of them showed me how to do it and I've been dying to try it out ever since.' Ella replied with a giggle as they finally reached the cupboard.

Sybil watched as her twin took two bobby pins from her hair and bent them into an easier shape, before inserting them into the lock. She wiggled the pins for almost ten minutes before there was any sound of the lock giving and then the familiar snap and click as it unlocked.

'Oh thank God for that! I wasn't sure that was actually going to work.' Ella said as she breathed a sigh of delight and of relief. If she hadn't been able to pick the lock, she wasn't entirely sure what she would have done as an alternative.

They swung the doors open and looked at the neat rows of clean, freshly pressed linen, pillow cases and sheets, before selecting a set that looked the most luxurious and only came out for very special occasions, which, of course, this was.

'Right, there's no sense in us trying to make the bed up tonight; we'll take this upstairs with us later on, but first, how do you fancy making a cake?' Ella whispered.

'A cake?!' Sybil exclaimed. 'Are you mad Aurie?'

'No I certainly am not mad; I don't want to make them anything grand, just a very simple sponge to celebrate. I have a recipe here and I've seen Mrs Patmore doing it loads of times.' Ella replied as she walked round the kitchen collecting as many of the ingredients as she could find and grabbed some of the utensils as well.

'Why not? It might be fun to make a cake again; I haven't made one since before the war.'

The two girls worked quickly and quietly as they made their sponge cake and they so enjoyed their time together, doing something that they both enjoyed without anyone else prying. The only problem was, they hadn't quite anticipated how long it would take to make the cake and the sun was soon beginning to lighten the sky. As they opened the door to the hot oven to check on their cake, someone walked into the kitchen and had to stifle a cry of surprise.

'Oh Miladies, I wasn't expecting to see anyone down yet.' Daisy said with sleepy astonishment and both Sybil and Ella looked worriedly at each other at having been caught out.

'I'm sorry Daisy, we didn't mean to startle you, we were…well we've been…' Ella stammered, but she didn't exactly know how to explain what she and her sister had been doing all night. 'How long have we got before the other staff come down to breakfast?' She said suddenly.

'They'll be down in about an hour. I came down to light the fire and get ready for breakfast Milady.' Daisy replied before flaring her nostrils slightly. 'Is something burning?' She asked and suddenly both Ella and Sybil snapped back into reality.

'Oh my gosh our cake!' Ella exclaimed as she turned round with the cloth in her hand and pulled the cake out and was very thankful that it was only the top that had caught.

'Great, now we'll have to start again.' Sybil said with exhausted dismay.

'No Milady, it's only the top that's caught, see?' Daisy said as she rushed towards them and pointed at the slight blackening of only part of the top. 'We can cut the top off and put some icing and decorations on it.' She added.

'I think it'll look fabulous. Thank you for your help Daisy.' Ella said with a relieved smile as the young woman gathered some icing sugar and various other decorations for the top.

'I don't mean to be rude Milady, but may I ask why you've made a cake in the middle of the night?' Daisy asked meekly, a little afraid that she was being impertinent but Ella gave her a reassuring smile.

'Well I will tell you the truth, but only if you promise not to tell another living soul.' Ella said and so Daisy was brought in on the glorious secret of Mr Carson's wedding to Mrs Hughes and Daisy was so happy and excited for them that she instantly agreed to help in any way that she could.

'Well there is something you could help us with,' Ella said after they had helped to clean all of the dishes and utensils they had used during the night and she show her the linen they had taken from the cupboard.