And women must weep (Anna & Mrs. Hughes, S2E1 spoliers)

[frakcancer]

Not major spoilers by a long shot, but as this is a "missing scene," it will make more sense if you've seen episode 1 of the new series. Also prompted by something in the E2 promo, which had better have been out of chronological order.

Sort of a sequel to the drabble I wrote for the pre-airing thread on lovebelowstairs. It at least takes place in the context of

Comments

[immer_am_lesen]

Aww, nice. :-)
You get them sounding just right. As I read this, they were playing out the scene in my head.
More please!

[frakcancer]

You get them sounding just right.

That's the best compliment I could get. I found that multiple sins can be forgiven if the characters' voices are right.

[immer_am_lesen]

Hehe. Well, you're welcome. It's nice to read well-written fanfic. :-)
(although if I may quibble, I've been rewatching episode 4 (why don't they have titles? So boring!) and when Mrs. Hughes tells Carson all about Joe and her previous life, it really does seem that he knows very little of her past and her start at Downton, the way she explains all to him...I would have thought if they had been close in the past, he would have known all that. Though we saw how that worked with Mr. Bates.... :-/ But either way, you make it believeable. :-) )
Looking forward to more!

[frakcancer]

Shhh! Or you'll give away one of my plot points. I had noticed that it was only now that she tells Carson where she grew up and how. I can explain away the bit about her coming to Downton as being part of the Joe Burns story she's telling, but the farm girl from Argyle part is significant.

[tekalynn]

This breaks my heart in all the best ways.

[frakcancer]

Thanks!

[lunalove24]

Lovely (in an incredibly sad way, yes, but still) very, very lovely.

[frakcancer]

Sounds like my summary for the episode.

[ellie987]

Angsty and incredibly sad, but beautiful. Once again, you've caught the voices of the characters perfectly and I like the way this might fit into the bigger story from the bits you've posted so far.

Now, considering something like this might have really happened and thinking of next week's promo, I can only hope Elsie will have some support from Anna as well. The thing is she doesn't seem to have friends among the staff except for Charles. Real friends, I mean. They're all either too scared or too detatched because she's the housekeeper. Or maybe she's the one who wants to keep the distance. So maybe. with Anna knowing something, things could be easier. Am I making any sense at all?

[frakcancer]

Oh, what a lovely idea! Putting that in the hopper for after I see E2 (I have meetings on Monday; wonder if I can fanfic during?) You're right, Mrs. Hughes doesn't seem to have any friends (outside of Carson), more so than anyone else in the household but Edith. Even Carson has Lady Mary.

[ellie987]

Yes, exactly. I mean, she seems to have a soft spot for Sybil, but I don't think they could be described as friends. Mrs. Patmore could have been one if they hadn't been constantly fighting for that blasted key (which is quite funny, btw), moreover, I don't think they're compatible with their personalities. Anna, on the other hand, seems closer to her, at least the only one who could understand her among the staff. Glad I'm making sense here. :)

[frakcancer]

That's why I was hoping that maybe the crack!fic friendship of Isobel and Elsie could happen, because no one aside from Carson is on a social level with Mrs. Hughes (though before Patrick's death Isobel wasn't that far off) but from what Phyllis Logan implied in pre-series interviews, that isn't going to happen this year.

[lha]

Beautiful. A lovely insight into the complexity of relationhsips.
Thanks for sharing and I hope you conitue to post,
Linds