Author's Note:Considering the success of another story I've written based off another TV series (Charmed), I'll split up the chapters according to an episode. The main characters for this story are Mary Crawley and Kemal Pamuk (yes, there will be a lot of romance between them); Anna Smith and John Bates; Daisy and William; and Sybil and Tom (there will also be an OC male who takes interest in Sybil later in the story).

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Episode 1.03 A Night to Remember

March 1913

"I'm very attracted to the Turkish culture," Thomas murmured.

As he fastidiously examined his reflection in the mirror, Kemal Pamuk ignored the voice of the footman assigned to serve him. The half-Turkish, half-Greek emissary cared very little for the thoughts of a servant, let alone a servant who was not his. His lemon yellow tie would not fasten under the ministrations of even Kemal's nimble fingers. If he were less than dashing, then what hope would he have to enchant the Lady Mary?

"Tie this for me." Kemal turned to face the footman, whose name he hadn't bothered to remember.

"I would certainly like to visit Turkey someday," the footman continued.

'On what salary? Surely the passage across the sea would cost you whatever meager savings you might hope to have,' Kemal thought derisively. He stared into the space over the top of the servant's head; Kemal was at least four inches taller than the footman.

"Yes, the country is quite beautiful. You should go someday if you have the chance."

"I would love to see such an exotic land—and its people in all their glory."

Kemal should have seen it coming: the caress of the English footman's fingers on his cheek. The Turkish emissary reacted to the footman's touch like a searing hot iron. The footman backed away, hurt and fear wedded in his eyes.

"Have you forgotten yourself? That will teach you to believe what the English say about foreigners."

"I'm-I'm-I'm sorry, it wasn't…."

"Do not lie to me." Kemal could have fastened his fingers around the footman's throat and slain him there, and none would have been the wiser. He had visited enough English homes since he embarked to discuss the independence of Albania to grasp the treatment of their servants. "You presumed the exotic foreigner would have such tastes as run rampant here."

"Please…"

"I could report you for such behavior," Kemal turned and aggressively began to fasten his own tie, using the mirror as a guide. "If you attempted such a thing in Turkey, the Sultan would have you executed. But I will make you a deal."

Thomas' eyes brightened at the notion. "What sort of deal?"

"I require your assistance with…the geography of the house. There is someone I may wish to visit later tonight." Kemal's rage had subsided only with the thought of the expedition he would soon undertake. "If all goes well, your behavior will go unreported."

The tedium of the dinner was followed by the nightfall. Although Kemal was not the only suitor trying to converse with Lady Mary, the others failed to retain her interest. He could see it in her lovely dark eyes when he summoned her to the adjacent drawing room after dinner.

When he beckoned to her, she came to him.

In the drawing room, she breathlessly engaged him in an insipid conversation about a meaningless portrait.

When he placed his lips on hers, Mary yielded fervently to him.

As instructed, Thomas came to Kemal's quarters once slumber had come to visit the rest of the manor. The Turkish emissary pretended to be asleep, but he watched Thomas carefully when the footman entered his room. Through half-closed lids, Kemal studied the footman's approach. When he reached the bed with the alacrity and stealth of an assassin, Thomas hovered over his bed. Kemal felt his dark eyes rake his motionless form before he reached for and stirred Kemal's slim hip bone.

Kemal pretended to wake only at that moment. "Is it time?"

Thomas merely motioned for the young emissary to follow him. Gathering his red silk night robe from the coat tree beside his bed, Kemal wrapped it around his lean frame and followed the footman down the long, drafty corridor from the bachelor's quarters. They past the rich mahogany doors marking the chambers of Lord and Lady Grantham with increased caution, and Kemal noted a drastic difference in the wallpaper decorating the walls. In the bachelors' quarters, the walls were steely gray, but in the other end of the hal, their walls were decorated graciously with pirouetting ballerinas.

Thomas pointed Kemal to the first door on his left, which the young emissary found unlocked. He opened the door and swept into the room.

Lady Mary leaped from her bed, tossing aside her book, and gaped at Kemal in alarm. It could not have been a more enchanting moment if Kemal had planned it. The fire crackling in Lady Mary's fireplace waltzed warmly across the exposed plain of his lean chest and illuminated the gold embroidery of his robe. Kemal had brushed his wavy hair before retiring to bed, and they added to his handsomeness.

Mary's snow white complexion was invigorated by the heat of the room so that the faintest blush dusted her cheeks. Her hair, loosened from its dinner arrangement, tumbled freely about her slim shoulders to the décolletage of her nightgown. Kemal had known buxom women and humbled-chested women. Mary's humble bosom complimented her body, made athletic by obvious riding experience.

"What are you doing here?" Mary demanded indignantly. She picked up the ivory cover of her bed and clutched it to her chest.

Kemal smiled inwardly. Brazen as Mary portrayed herself, she was quite chaste. His impulsive kiss in the drawing room had confirmed that. He could tell she admired his confident, roguish ways and his physical beauty, but was reluctant to surrender her chastity that alone. So his tactic for charming her had to be different from his tactic for seducing every other woman he had met.

"That kiss was not all I hoped to share with you tonight."

"What more could you hope to share in my room than we could share in public?"

"Forgive me for my improper courtship, but…."

"You should get out. Get out, or I'll…"

"Scream?" Kemal finished with a half-smirk. "And let them find a man in your bedroom? Think of how that would look."

"I do not mean to give myself to you. So leave, please."

"Do you then deny that you looked upon me today with desire? Or that you yielded to my affections earlier?"

Kemal took two steps closer to Mary. Her seductive brown eyes spoke of the skittishness common to her kind (genus: female, species: virgo), and she clung to the cover as a brick wall to safeguard her virtue.

"You must be mad?"

"I am. I am in the grip of madness."

Despite the security of her blanket, Mary stepped closer to Kemal. So close, he could inhale her fragrance and the heady aroma of something more powerful and alluring. Her scent reminded Kemal of the belly-dancing woman who had been his first conquest. Yet, she remained at arm's length.

"Do you have any idea what you're asking? I'd be ruined if my parents—or anyone—ever knew we had this conversation, let alone…"

"You would still be a virgin for your husband."

Kemal took two steps closer to Mary. Although she did not realize it, Mary was now trapped between the bed and his body. She lowered the cover only slightly. "Heavens, is this a proposal?'

He scoffed at the idea. 'The British Empire is not yet equipped for a marriage between a swarthy Turk and an English maiden. But you are not ready to accept that, are you, Lady Mary?' "I don't think our union would please your family."

"I'm afraid not."

"Nor would mine be pleased." Kemal smirked inwardly at his swift thinking. "But…a little imagination….You wouldn't be the first."

Kemal closed the distance between them and stroke Mary's loose luxuriant brown curls. "You and my parents have something in common. You believe I'm much more a rebel than I am." He kissed her neck at the pulse point. Mary's heart throbbed all the more rapidly at his touch. She yielded and fell backward onto the bed.

"If I've led you on, then it's my mistake," she gasped, while Kemal rained kisses on her neck and bared shoulders. "I'm not what you think I am."

Kemal paused and gazed into Mary's eyes. Her body arced against his, and Kemal felt her supple, erect breasts pressed against him. 'Surely she feels my manhood pressed against him. Mary's body wants me. Now I need to persuade her lips to betray her as well.'

"You are exactly who I think you are."

"I've never done anything with a man," she gasped.

Kemal concentrated his eyes on hers. "One look at you could tell me that." He pressed his lips to hers. Only the smallest amount of resistance was there any longer. 'Mary's lips taste of vanilla and cinnamon, a taste of life at home.' "Oh my darling, let us at least have tonight."

He showered Mary's lips and neck with kisses while shrugging off his night robe. "Is it safe?"

"Trust me." Kemal pressed his lips—and his hips—to meet Mary's and met no resistance at all. As his kisses grew more passionate, Mary slipped off the straps and sleeves of her nightgown.

In the wee hours of the morning, Kemal slipped from Lady Mary's chamber. The soft carpet beneath his feet absorbed his footsteps. Fortunately, the satiated heiress whispered directions to return to his chamber before she shut her door. Kemal unlocked the door to the maidens' wing and crept down the corridor to the bachelors' quarters. He was accustomed to the awkward silence of the deflowered woman after a night of passionate lovemaking, but Kemal was respectfully unwilling to alert the house. After all, there was no need to shame the woman after he had taken her maidenhood.

As Kemal strode down the hallway to his bedchamber, he didn't turn back and look for even one second. If he had, Kemal would have seen the timid housemaid, Daisy, leaning out of Lady Sibyl's bedroom to observe the source of the footsteps in the hall at such an early hour.