Mrs. Hughes slammed her sitting room door and cursed every deity she could think of - foriegn and domestic - for giving her Mrs. Patmore as a cook. She could kill the woman! With Mr. Carson gone, they were the two most senior members of staff. Surely, they could work together for the good of the House. But no, Mrs. Patmore had only taken the opportunity to try to connive her way into custody of the storeroom key. Well, it wasn't going to happen on Mrs. Hughes's watch. She'd die before she ever let that happen!
With a growl she stormed over to her desk and tossed down the pile of letters she had been carrying before she had been accosted by the cook. She threw herself into her chair and closed her eyes. It had been almost two weeks since Mr. Carson had left suddenly and things were beginning to fall apart. She had run the House without him before but usually if Mr. Carson wasn't in residence then neither were the family. As it was now, she was doing everything she could just to keep the House from falling down around their ears!
No one had heard a word from the butler since he had left. Mrs. Hughes still wasn't sure what had happened that night that had sent Mr. Carson away. Lady Grantham had only told her of some vague emergency that had required the butler's presence elsewhere, but Lord Grantham's stony silence had spoken of a different story. His scowl had grown deeper with every mention of the butler's name. It was surprising coming from the man who had always had such a close working relationship with his butler. Mrs. Hughes couldn't help but think that there'd been a falling out between the Earl and his butler. By that afternoon though, Lord Grantham seemed to have forgotten his anger. He'd even gone so far as to instruct Mrs. Hughes that he was to be told as soon as there was any word from Mr. Carson.
Mrs. Hughes rubbed her hand over her eyes and turned to the letters on her desk. She glanced at her clock. With any luck she could get through the bulk of the correspondence before she was needed upstairs for luncheon. She began sorting them in order of importance when she came across one whose handwriting she would recognize anywhere. Not bothering with a letter opener, she broke the seal of the envelope and withdrew the letter. She read it through twice quickly and then leaned back bewildered into her chair.
Mr. Carson had written to her from London. For a moment, she wondered why he would be there when she couldn't recall him ever mentioning any family in London before. This only served to confirm her theory that Lady Grantham's explanation had not been entirely truthful. Most of Mr. Carson's letter was filled with niceties and inquiries after the family. Only in the last few lines did he give any hint at what he was doing in London. Mr. Carson had found a job at a hotel there. Why would he need a job when he was still the butler at Downton Abbey? Nothing Mrs. Hughes had been told was adding up. He had left for a family emergency, but he had gone to London where he had no family. And his letter mentioned no such reason for his having left. She read his letter again. His questions about the house and family seemed almost desperate. He wrote as if he had no intention of coming back to Downton. The letter read like a man coming to terms with banishment from his home. Mrs. Hughes gasped. Had Mr. Carson been sacked?
"What is it, Robert?" Cora asked looking exasperatedly across the room. She had been working on her needle point while Robert read his papers in companionable silence until Robert's sighs had become unbearable. Cora looked over at her husband sternly hoping he would confide in her, but he only sighed once again.
"It's nothing."
Robert turned his attention back to his papers and Cora let him. He would tell her what was on his mind soon enough. Besides this was the first quiet moment they had spent together since Carson had been sent away and she was enjoying it.
After their afternoon walk on the first day of Carson's absence, Robert and Mary had each gone off to sulk on their own. They had both stayed away from the rest of the family preferring to spend hours alone. If Cora hadn't known any better she could easily believe that the two of them were actually father and daughter.
With Robert and Mary each lost in their own heads, it had fallen to Cora to excuse their odd behavior to Edith and Sybil without telling them the reason why. Sybil, of course, had only wanted to help her father and sister and had taken it upon herself to try to cheer them up whenever she could. Edith, on the other hand, was only looking for ammunition to use against Mary. Not for the first time, Cora wished she had less belligerent daughters. The past few weeks had seen her break up more than a few fights between her two eldest children.
Another long sigh from Robert and Cora moved across the room to her husband's armchair. She pulled his papers from his hands and set them aside to look down at him shrewdly. "Tell me what bothering you, darling."
"Oh my dear," he said pulling her down to sit in his lap. He wrapped his arms tightly around her as she drew his head to rest against her breast. Cora carded her fingers through the hair on his temple, letting him collect himself. They sat entangled together until Robert began to speak. "I don't know what to do, Cora. I don't know what to do about Carson."
Cora hummed in sympathy. She had wondered when they would finally talk about the butler. Robert had been decidedly mum with her on the subject of Carson since he'd sacked him in the middle of the night. Cora had learned snippets of his and Mary's conversation from Mary, but she wasn't privy to it all. Mary had told her that Robert had agreed to bring Carson back for Mary's sake. Cora had been shocked that Robert had agreed so readily remembering his anger from that night. Robert had said very little about this decision except to inform the staff that he was to be told of any news of Carson. She placed a kiss to his head. "You promised Mary you would bring him back. Did you not mean it?"
"Of course, I meant it!" he snapped. Cora recoiled from him and he looked up apologetically. "I'm sorry. I do mean to bring Carson back to Downton. I just think it would be unwise to have him work at the Abbey again."
Cora was confused. "What do you mean?"
Robert sighed once again. "Now that Mary knows Carson is her father, having him live and work here is a recipe for disaster. You know she will want to spend more time with him now, and I don't resent that, truly, but someone will be bound to find out. If that happens, Mary will be ruined. You would be a laughing stock. I couldn't bear for that to happen to either of you."
Cora felt tears form in her eyes as she looked at Robert's worried face. He was such a good man. Even in his hurt he cared for Mary as his own. Cora thanked God every day that Robert had forgiven her indiscretion and accepted Mary. "What would you do with him if he's not to be butler here anymore?
"That's just it," Robert said hugging her tightly to him once more. "I had thought perhaps retirement. He could come back and live on the estate, but he's not yet sixty. I'm afraid that will raise too many awkward questions, but I can think of no other alternative. There isn't even a place for him in the village."
"Or is there?" Cora said sitting up suddenly. She had just had the most bizarre idea, but it might be the answer to their problem. She would have to be careful how she put it to Robert. "Isn't Bruce leaving the Dower House?" *
"Bruce?" Robert asked not following. "Mama's butler?"
"Yes," she said simply. "Mama said Bruce is going to leave soon."
Robert's face turned to stone as he realized what she was saying. He pushed Cora from his lap and walked agitatedly across the room. He turned back to growl warningly, "Cora."
She cut him off. "Hear me out, Robert. Making Carson the butler of the Dower House is the best option we have if he isn't to work here. He'll be close to Downton but not close enough to be a threat."
"Not a threat? Are you mad?" Robert hissed. "What will we tell Mama? She won't believe any story we might tell her. She'll be bound to find out the truth!"
"I'm not sure that it will matter if she does," Cora reasoned stepping closer to her husband. "Mama loves Mary and she's always been fond of Carson."
Robert snorted in disbelief. "Yes, but will she still feel that way when she learns that Carson is Mary's father?"
A small cough drew their attention to the open door in which stood Mrs. Hughes. She looked uncertainly between the Lord and Lady before she stepped into the room closing the door behind her.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Your Lordship, Your Ladyship."
Cora was the first to recover and tried to smile warmly at the housekeeper. "That's quite all right, Mrs. Hughes. Was there something you needed?"
Mrs. Hughes glanced quickly at Robert before focusing on Cora. "I've had a letter from Mr. Carson, my Lady. His Lordship had asked to be informed as soon as anyone had heard from him."
Robert cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Indeed. What did Carson have to say for himself?"
"He's in London, my Lord," Mrs. Hughes said holding out a letter for Robert, "working in an hotel."
"The Waldorf!** " Robert exclaimed, quickly skimming the letter. He folded it and gave it back to Mrs. Hughes glancing worriedly at his wife. "Thank you, Mrs. Hughes. That will be all."
Dismissed, the housekeeper hurriedly left the room leaving Robert and Cora in an awkward silence.
"Do you suppose there's any chance she didn't hear anything?" Robert asked.
"How could she have not?"
A/N Thanks to Edward Carson for helping me get this chapter finished and readable.
I know this update was a long time coming. I'm not going to abandon this fanfic. It's just going to take me a bit longer to write. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story so far. I really appreciate all of the reviews.
* Alastair Bruce played Violet's unnamed butler in the first season, so I borrowed his name.
** Even in exile Carson's going to go for the best. He's not gonna work in some second rate establishment and even without a reference I think he could pull off getting a job there.