A/N: Again: thank you so much for your lovely reviews! Cookies and lemonade for all.

Summary: Something has changed and Elsie and Charles are teetering on the brink of revelation.

His hand trembled when she accidentally brushed it with hers when she picked up her fork during supper. They sat at the end of the table, overseeing the rest of the staff. Mrs Patmore dished out beefstew and while Elsie had worked up quite an appetite cleaning and dusting the morning room, she did not feel a single pang of hunger now. She turned her face to look at him, only to find he was looking at her too.

He was wearing the oddest expression. A mixture of fondness and desire and it finally hit her: she was not alone in her thoughts of him in various states of undress...

She had the upper hand, the staff could not see her face very well when she turned away from them to look at him. She smiled at him, a loving smile in which she tried to put what she could not put into words. She could feel her pulse quickening when the quickest of smiles came as an answer.

"Mr Carson, could you spare me some of your time this evening? I have a troublesome matter at hand and i feel you might be able to help me with it."

Elsie Hughes was nothing if not a quick thinker.

He knocked at the door and waited for her to answer. His heart was beating so hard, he was certain anyone could see it pounding against his ribs. He tried to keep his composure, but it wasn't easy. The door opened and he stepped over the threshold.

Her rooms were not as sparsely decorated as his own. There was a silhouette in a brass frame, a vase of wildflowers on her desk, old embroidery works in various frames, the odd pastel. The desk was not exactly cluttered, but he had a hard time calling it tidy. He followed her to the two seats in the corner and sat down after she did.

He cleared his throat. "What was this matter you wanted me to look into, Mrs Hughes?"

Oh why can't he just say what he feels, what he thinks? Why can't he act on impulse. He is sure she knows how he feels since that afternoon. She can't have missed the effect she has on him and if he is not too much mistaken, she does feel something for him. Of course this could be embarrassment or repulsion, but he tries not to dwell on that.

"Well Mr Carson... Charles..." she starts and tilts her head ever so slightly. The soft light of the oil lamp catches her eyes. She stops, seemingly uncertain how to go on.

How should she proceed? she thinks to herself. With caution, certainly, but what is she to say? She can't very well tell him that in her dreams they have a family that seems to be ever expanding and that in order to expand it they do things she hardly knew were possible... She bites her lip.

"Elsie..."

He reaches out his hand and she grabs it. His touch sends shivers down her spine. They don't touch, except for the incidents that hardly happen, like during supper with the cutlery this evening.

"Yes..."

"You know..."

What does she know? How he makes her knees go weak when he hums to himself when he is decanting the claret?

"What?"

"You know i... i..." now he iss unable to go on.

With an inward chuckle she tells herself it is going to be a very long time before the conversation will come to any kind of conclusion.

He can't bring himself to say it. He has never said it before and he has never heard someone say it to him. Too big a thing to say in a dimly lit room close to the kitchens when she is so far away from him. He wants to say it, but not now, not here, not this way. He imagines a summer day, the garden, her exquisite body pressed against him, the sun shining in her hair. He laughs softly. Turns out he is a romantic old fool.

"Why are you laughing?" she asks him. There is nothing in her voice besides curiosity. A different woman might have been upset.

"I am laughing because i am too old to be afraid to say what i feel. I laugh because i am not only Mr Carson the butler at Downton Abbey, but also Charles Carson, who works with a beautiful housekeeper and his thoughts of her keep him up at night."

Never in his life has he been so forward. He has shocked himself, but she isn't. A smile is curling her lips.

"A little less of the old, please..." she says and gets up from her chair. "Our age difference is not so big that i won't be slightly offended."

Her words are a reproach, her voice and face an invitation. He gets to his feet, takes her hand in his again and pulls her into an embrace.

When he kisses her, he forgets everything around him.

He holds her tightly but she does not feel trapped. His lips are soft and warm, his kisses tantalising and she just forgets everything around her until she hears a knock at her door. They spring apart and she adjusts her clothes. There are creases in her dress, but she hopes nobody sees it in the dim light.

"Yes?" she calls out after she checks with Charles. Charles... not Mr Carson... 'What a difference one kiss makes', she thinks to herself.

A housemaid asks a questions and she answers routinely. The door closes again and while she wants nothing more than to grab him and resume their kissing, she doesn't. He is looking at her with a broad smile.

"You will drive me to distraction." he says.

"Hopefully." she answers.

Silence. She waits with baited breath and there it is: his loud chuckle of relief.

"It will be... different... from a usual courtship." he says.

"I understand." and she does. She doesn't want to lose her place either. She loves it here, she has worked too hard to just give it up. She might have done had she been five years younger, but not now.

"I am sure we can make it work."

"If a butler and housekeeper can't make such a..." she starts, searching for the right word.

"Liaison?" he offers.

"If we can't make a liaison like this work, i would say we were ill-suited for our jobs." she continues.

"Never let it be said you are not good at your job." he frowns.

"Or you." She gives him a cheeky smile and he shakes his head.

"Are you certain you want to do this?" he asks, being ever prudent, ever efficient. Ever himself.

"Oh aye." she says and steps into his arms, kissing him like she has never kissed a man before, without holding back, a kiss that even in her wildest dreams she has never encountered.

A/N: Are you all as happy as i am that everything turned out well? Quite a relief.