Thomas, the under butler, was walking along the banister overlooking the grand staircase. He nodded politely at the many members of the nobility walking by. It would be quite the party. Apparently Lady Edith had to have a visit from Dr. Clarkson to address her nerves.

He started to head to the servant's staircase before noticing a darker skinned young man. The man was admiring a particular painting of a Crawley ancestor. Thomas was practically shocked.

The man glanced over at Thomas and beckoned him over. "Who is this a painting of?"

"This is the second Earl of Grantham sir," said Thomas.

"I'm not a sir," said the man, laughing. "Just Fred."

"You are a guest of this house and I will address you with respect," said Thomas stiffly. "Will there be anything else sir?"

Fred looked disappointed and said, "No that'll be all. Thank you…?"

"Thomas, sir. The under butler," answered Thomas.

"Thank you, Thomas," said Fred, then turning around and walking over to the room he would be sharing with another member of his group.

Thomas watched as Fred closed the door behind him. He shook his head and made his way down the servant's staircase. When he reached the servant's dining hall, he was surprised to see another member of Fred's group talking to the servants quite candidly. He noticed Jimmy sitting a little way down from the conversationalists and walked over. "What's he doing down here?"

"I don't know," answered Jimmy. "He came down and said he was exploring. Then he started telling all kinds of stories."

"Like what?" asked Thomas.

"There was one about Shakespeare and witches who were actually from another world," said Jimmy. "Quite mad really."

"I can't wait to see Carson's face when he sees him down here," muttered Thomas.

At that moment, Mr. Carson did in fact walk in. He immediately looked disgruntled at seeing staff doing nothing, but his face lit up, as much as his face could, when he saw Doctor Smith. He strode forward to greet him. "Ah, Doctor it's good to see you again."

"It is indeed, Mr. Carson," said Doctor Smith. "How long has it been?"

"Probably about a year, I'd say," said Mr. Carson. "It was right around when Lady Mary left on her tour of the continent."

Doctor Smith smiled fondly. "I'd forgotten she'd taken a sabbatical. I take it she's back now though?"

Thomas narrowed his eyes. He had seen Doctor Smith and his friends talking to Lady Mary right before they arrived. Why was he pretending he hadn't seen Lady Mary in a year?

He zoned out of the conversation, still pondering the mystery. It certainly was a strange circumstance. He started paying attention again as the Doctor made his farewells.

"Is that the time?" yelped the Doctor, looking down at his wrist where there was no watch. "I've got to run!"

He lept up and dashed out of the dining hall, presumably up to his room to change for dinner. Thomas shook his head at Jimmy. "How did that man get an invite?"

Mr. Carson overheard and tutted. "He's a friend of the family. He helped Lord Grantham with a situation a couple of years ago. Something about some tenants who went missing. Doctor Smith has connections with the royal family and he was able to arrange for some members of Scotland Yard to come help."

"That's all very impressive," said Thomas. "But why was he down here?"

"He's an eccentric man," said Mr. Carson. "I find it's best to indulge him. I dread to see him angry. He looks docile, but there's a fighting man under there."

Thomas nodded. He was satisfied with that answer. It still didn't explain why he had lied about Lady Mary though. The game was afoot.

Charlie and Rose were examining themselves in the full length mirror. Rose sighed heavily. "Why do I have to pretend to be engaged to Scorpius? It's so awkward…"

Charlie smirked. "Is it though? We're in seventh year… Weren't you planning on moving in together after we graduated?"

"Moving in together is one thing," said Rose. "Getting engaged is so… grown up and mature."

"Scorpius mature?" said Charlie, with an eyebrow raised. "Have you met him?"

"Several times," responded Rose dryly. "But enough about mine and Scorpius's tale of star crossed lovers. You and Al are engaged?"

Laughing, Charlie shook her head. "Maybe this'll give your dear cousin a hint."

"I doubt it. Men are so… so…"

"Thick headed and ignorant?" said a voice from behind them.

Both girls turned around quickly to see Lady Mary standing behind them. She raised one hand. "My apologies. I didn't mean to startle you."

"No worries," said Charlie with a smile.

"So where's the Doctor taking you next?" asked Lady Mary, sitting down on a bed primly.

The two girls looked at each other mystified. "We haven't even thought about it."

"Just be careful," warned Lady Mary, looking at both of them in turn. "I know how brilliant traveling with the Doctor can be. But remember, you're just one of many friends that he's had. Many forget that and get hurt. He's a wonderful man but he's older than old and from another world. He will never reciprocate any feelings."

Charlie started laughing loudly. Rose looked concernedly at her and Lady Mary sat patiently with her hands in her lap. When he laughing had subsided to a mere giggle, Lady Mary looked at her. 'Did I say something amusing?"

"Feelings for the Doctor?" snorted Charlie. "With that bowtie and ridiculous flop of hair?"

Rose began to laugh as well. "Never!"

Lady Mary laughed for the first time. "When you put it like that, I can't help but agree. Though some people do like his fashion sense…"

When the three stopped laughing, Rose turned to Lady Mary. "Did you ever…"

She trailed off, but Lady Mary knew where she was heading. "Did I ever have feelings for the Doctor?"

Her smile faded and she stared thoughtfully into the distance. "I don't know… Maybe… I met him at such a low point in my life. It was my anniversary of my wedding to my late husband. We were having a small family get together and the Doctor was there, a guest of papa's. He was so blissfully unaware of the depression I was in and he made me laugh. He let me forget."

Rose and Charlie smiled sadly at Lady Mary. They hadn't realized that she was a widow who had lost her husband. Charlie spoke up, "And then he took you with him."

"He took me on an adventure that night," said Mary, a far away look in her eyes. "He took me to see the Abbey, a thousand years in the future. It brought me so much hope for my son and my family. We would live on. I even got to meet descendents of mine."

She paused, taking a breath. "And then he took me home and the world came crashing down again. I couldn't deal with life at Downton after seeing what was out there. The Doctor could see how upset I was, so he told me to make arrangements for me to go on a trip to the continent. I kissed my son goodbye and took a boat to France and he was there waiting for me."

"How long did you two travel together for?" asked Rose.

"It's so hard to tell," murmured Lady Mary. "I was only gone from Downton for a month or so, but I'd say I was with him for more than a year of actual time."

She glanced at a clock in the corner on the room. "Goodness, is that the time? It's nearly time to go mingle."

She made no movement to get up, clearly preferring this conversation to the meaningless mingling she would have to do instead. She turned to them. "So, to get back to my original point, though I doubt you'll need it, be careful around the Doctor."

Charlie gave a very unladylike snort. "I'd be more concerned about Fred than us."

Rose gave her a scandalized look and elbowed her in the side. She gave her a look as if to say, "Hey we're not in the 21st Century anymore!"

Lady Mary merely smiled. "You'll be surprised that we here at Downton are much more open minded that you'd expect."

There was a knock at the door which made all three of them jump. Lady Mary stood up and called, "Come in!"

A nanny came in, holding a small boy. "I thought you might've wanted to see young master George before dinner, Lady Mary."

"Thank you nanny," said Lady Mary. "I'll ring for you when I'm ready to go down."

The nanny handed George to Lady Mary and left. Lady Mary held her son close to her, before turning to to the girls. "This is George Crawley, heir presumptive to Lord Grantham and future owner of this estate."

Scorpius, Albus, and Fred made their way down the grand staircase to where the guests of Lord and Lady Grantham were mingling with each other and making small talk. Waiters were walking around with trays of finger food and Thomas the under butler was standing behind a table with various wines and spirits.

"Where's the Doctor?" asked Albus of Scorpius, who was sharing a room with him.

"Beats me. He disappeared a while ago," said Scorpius. "Said something about exploring the catacombs or some nonsense."

When they reached the bottom, they made a beeline for the table of wine. Fred smiled at Thomas as he surveyed the available drinks. "I'll take a glass of that red wine there."

"Yes sir," said Thomas, his eyes were unreadable.

"You keep an eye out for me, Thomas. Make sure I don't drink too much," said Fred.

Thomas looked at him coldly. "Certainly."

Scorpius and Albus pulled Fred away from the under butler, who was staring after them. When they reached a safe distance, Albus turned to Fred and hissed, "What are you doing?"

"Having some fun," said Fred, before downing his entire glass of wine.

"It's the 1920s," said Albus. "You have to be more careful here."

Fred shook his head. "No. I can see it in his eyes. The pain there. The fear of being accepted. He's like me."

Scorpius looked doubtful. "Fred…"

"Oh, bugger off," muttered Fred, before stalking away towards Rose who he had just spotted.