A/N: Hello again. I thought I would try something a little different and so I am going to explore a friendship between Elsie and Lord Grantham but this remains essentially a Chelsie story. I will not be sinking the Chelsie/Cobert ships, although they may well go through some troubled waters. It will all come good in the end. I will attempt to update once a day, as I did with my other stories, but this may not always be possible. I hope you enjoy and as always, reviews are much appreciated x

Chapter 1

It had been a hectic morning, with several overnight guests and a grand dinner to prepare for this evening. The footmen and maids, ably led by Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes, had worked exceptionally hard to keep things running smoothly.

"Phew! Is it always this frantic?" Janet asked Mrs Hughes.

"Most of the time but you've done well Janet, it was somewhat of a baptism of fire for your first day," Mrs Hughes smiled. Janet Milton was Miss O'Brien's replacement, the new ladies maid to Lady Grantham.

"You have indeed," agreed Mr Carson. Mrs Hughes turned around, she had not realised that Mr Carson was there.

"Thank you very much Mr Carson, that means a lot to me," Janet said, smiling sweetly at the Butler.

"Right, well no rest for the wicked, let's get upstairs and change those sheets in the guest bedrooms," Mrs Hughes said, signalling to Janet to get moving.

######

"For goodness sake Robert, don't be so pathetic," Cora said to her husband.

"How am I being pathetic?" Robert said exasperated.

"As if I have time to go to the opera … and I can do without you being sulky because I refuse to go with you," Cora said sternly.

"I was not being sulky, I was just disappointed as I thought it would be nice for us to spend an evening together, I have hardly seen you lately," Robert explained.

"Pardon me for spending time with our daughter, our daughter who has recently lost her husband I might add, or do you not care about Mary," Cora continued tersely.

"Cora, I am not for one minute suggesting you shouldn't be spending time with Mary and of course I care for Mary, and Edith, I care for the girls deeply, I just … … forget I mentioned it …" Robert said sadly. He wondered what he had done to upset Cora, she had been so irritable of late, he did not seem to be able to do anything right. She seemed to be shutting him out of her life completely.

"Fine with me," Cora stated, as she walked out of the room.

######

"You did a fine job today, Mrs Hughes, as always. You do so much for this House," Charles complimented her, as they sat in his pantry enjoying a late-evening glass of wine.

"Thank you Mr Carson," Mrs Hughes glowed, happy to be in the company of Charles, to have him to herself at last. It had been such a busy day that they had hardly spoken two words to one another. They had worked together for over 15 years now, and for most of that time Mrs Hughes had been in love with the Butler. Her feelings remained private; she had never disclosed how she felt to anyone, certainly not him. It had not been love at first sight but gradually, over the first year they had worked together, Charles already Butler and Elsie a sprightly Head Housemaid, she had fallen in love with him. However, they had always been simply friends. He had never expressed any romantic interest in her, although to her knowledge in those 15 years, he had never expressed any interest in any other woman either. Yet, she had contented herself with loving him from afar, and she had gained immense pleasure from their friendship.

"Mrs Hughes, I wanted to ask you something, if a person wanted to thank a colleague for their efforts, would it be appropriate to give them a small gift, perhaps some chocolates for example," Charles asked vaguely.

"Yes I am sure that would be appropriate and much appreciated Mr Carson," Elsie answered, trying not to be too hopeful, could he possibly mean a gift for her? He had never bought her a gift.

"Thank you Mrs Hughes, that is most helpful," Mr Carson replied.

Elsie smiled warmly at her secret love. He was a truly wonderful man and she felt honoured to have him in her life. She would do anything for Charles Carson. It would be a dream come true if he ever returned even a hint of her feelings, her devotion to him.

######

Lord Grantham sat in the dining room on his own, eating his lunch. His daughters, as well as Lady Rose and Tom Branson, were staying in London for a few days with his sister, and so it was just him and Lady Grantham at the House. Cora had skipped lunch, preferring instead to stay in her room to have a lie down. Robert, let out a long sigh, he had never felt so lonely. He smiled wryly to himself, to own this incredible, grand house that was full of people and yet he felt completely alone. His daughters had their own lives now, and his wife seemed little interested in spending time with him. In fact, everything he did seemed to irk her.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself, he thought. You love your wife very much. Surely you can find a way to win her over? He decided he would start by going to the garden to collect some flowers for her; she always did love flowers. He chose some beautiful pink roses and headed up to her bedroom to give her this gift. He knocked cautiously on her door,

"Come in!" she shouted.

"Darling, sorry to disturb you … I just wanted to give you these," Robert said, handing her the bunch of roses with a broad smile.

"What are these?" Cora asked.

"Um … I thought they would look lovely in your room, I know how you like flowers and …" Robert began but was interrupted by his wife.

"I don't like pink flowers … they are far too twee," Cora stated. Robert looked at her despondently.

"Cora, what's wrong? Why are you being like this?" Robert asked, genuinely not understanding the harshness that was coming from his wife.

"Nothing is wrong… I simply don't like pink flowers. Sorry if that makes me sound ungrateful but I would have thought you might know my tastes a little better by now," Cora said sharply, and with that she turned over, closed her eyes, and went back to sleep.

######

Elsie walked into the staff dining room. She could see there was some sort of commotion going on, with Daisy, Ivy and some of the maids fussing over something at the far end of the table.

"What's going on here then?" Elsie asked, light-heartedly.

"Oh, nothing Mrs Hughes, we are just fighting over the chocolates! Janet has a whole box and she is kindly sharing them with us … would you like one?" Daisy asked innocently.

Elsie felt a pain in her heart, as she forced a smile towards Daisy.

"No thank you Daisy." Elsie replied as cheerfully as she could muster.

Elsie felt her heart was breaking in two; he had bought chocolates for Janet. She knew they were from Charles, she recalled the way he had looked at the younger Ladies Maid yesterday. It had made her feel anxious but she had pushed those thoughts from her mind. Janet was very pretty. She was very slim, much younger than Elsie and very pretty, Elsie acknowledged. Elsie felt foolish, foolish for thinking Charles might buy her chocolates. Of course he wouldn't do that, he had never done that in all of the years she had known him. Yet, he had known Janet for two days and was already buying her gifts. She was broken from her thoughts by Charles, entering the staff dining room behind her,

"Ah, I see Janet is enjoying her gift," Charles said happily.

"Yes, it seems so," Elsie whispered in return, trying her best to sound upbeat. She forced another smile.

"I thought she deserved a gift. She had a tough first day yesterday and she coped remarkably. I wanted her to feel appreciated. She really is a lovely young lady," Charles beamed.

"Yes, she is … and it is always nice to feel appreciated," Elsie managed in reply, but her smile did not reach her eyes.

"Indeed … right well I'll be off, no time for chit-chat Mrs Hughes!" Charles stated, as he walked back out of the room.

Elsie felt nauseous as she stood in the kitchen, not saying a word. She tried to take some deep breaths as she felt very faint. Get a grip of yourself Elsie, for heaven's sake. She had accepted long ago that Charles did not have any romantic feelings for her, he cared for her as a friend but that was all. She had learned to live with that. However, it was another matter entirely for her to deal with him being attracted to another woman. This was something she had not, until now, had to deal with. Elsie took another huge gulp of air and then she turned, to go outside. Perhaps some fresh air would help, she thought, as she held back her tears.

######

She walked to the seat, under the oak tree and sat down staring into the distance; a million thoughts running through her mind. She had only been there for a minute or two when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned,

"Lord Grantham?" Elsie stated, standing as was protocol.

"Mrs Hughes, please sit down. No need to stand on my account," Robert smiled earnestly.

"Oh no, thank you My Lord. I was just about to head back inside," Elsie said politely, making an excuse to leave.

"Oh, I see. Is everything quite alright Mrs Hughes? You don't seem quite yourself?" Robert asked kindly.

"Yes, yes, quite fine, thank you," she smiled in response, noticing the furrowed brow and tired eyes looking back at her.

"Are you well, Your Lordship? You also seem a little out of sorts?" Elsie added.

Robert looked into the kind eyes of the Housekeeper before him. He could not remember the last time someone asked how he was feeling. He had been about to offer some worn response about feeling fine but he realised he was not fine; he was not fine at all. He looked again at the kind, caring and reassuring face of Mrs Hughes, and without any further thought, he answered honestly,

"I have been better Mrs Hughes, I have been better."

Elsie was astonished to see Lord Grantham's eyes fill with tears, as he swallowed hard to hold them back, embarrassed that he had allowed his emotions to rise to the surface in such a way. He looked down at his feet, feeling very uncomfortable. Elsie was unsure what to do, as she stood in front of her employer. Should she comfort him? No, surely that would be very improper. She was a servant for heaven's sake. Yet, when she looked at the despondent Lord in front of her, he looked like any other man. She had to do something, and so she reached out and took his hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He looked up; his eyes still filled with tears, and gave her the warmest and most poignant smile.