A.N. Thank you for your reviews, favs and follows. If I've managed to make you smile... mission accomplished!

Chapter 4 – The Best Present

A lone, empty tea cup sat on the long wooden table in the momentarily empty servants' hall, still smoking faintly... The rest of the staff had already gone back to work after Dr Clarkson had left and no kitchen maid had come to clear the table yet.

Thomas Barrow was battling temptation, and fast losing ground.

After all, there was something irresistible to the cigarettes that lay discarded on the floor under the doctor's chair. First, there were a great many of them, which meant that their owner would probably not even notice if one of them went missing, or a few more... Second, they were enclosed in a beautiful case, leather with gilded initials at the front, something which only served to remind Thomas that they were much better quality than his usual fags. And third, they were unidentified. The only way to know just how good they were was to smoke one. And Thomas loved experiments.

He offered one to Miss O'Brien during their smoke break after lunch, telling her to think of it as an early Christmas present. She was vaguely amused by the notion that Thomas had nicked yet something else, this time from Dr Clarkson of all people.

She was taking her first puff and Thomas was about to light one for himself when Bates arrived with a message from Carson that he was to go up immediately to help setting up Downton's obligatory Christmas tree, a monster that was probably twice as big as Thomas's childhood home. He put the fag away in his pocket and followed after Bates, leaving O'Brien sitting alone in the yard... and his pack of cigarettes lying on the table next to her.

"So you're basically telling me that you had her smoke some strange... stuff you stole from Dr Clarkson and now she's out of control?"

"I guess that's what I'm saying," Thomas said, unsure of whether he felt sheepish or simply annoyed at Anna's condescending tone.

They had finally succeeded in getting O'Brien into her room – Daisy had panicked when she had found herself alone and returned the key to the housekeeper right after she had changed, but Anna had reluctantly accepted to go borrow it from Mrs Hughes herself. There was a second key for emergency purposes, Anna had explained, one which hung permanently on a hook next to the connecting door on the women's side. Once the door was opened, the rest had been a child's play. They had locked O'Brien up and given back the key to Mrs Hughes, but not before Thomas had slipped the spare one in his pocket.

Downton's first footman and head housemaid were now standing together in the middle of the servants' staircase, conferring in hushed voices. Thomas had just finished filling Anna in on the details.

"Please don't report me – us. This whole thing doesn't make any sense. I know that what I did was wrong, but it was just two fags... And Miss O'Brien wasn't even there when I took them."

There was no need for Anna to know that he had actually taken four, three of which had been smoked by O'Brien... Anna's eyes narrowed briefly and Thomas could tell that she was seeing right though his fake repentance. It would be no use trying to justify himself to her.

"Alright, I won't say a word," she sighed. "Though I'm not really sure why..."

For the second time that afternoon, Thomas found himself smuggling Daisy out of the kitchen behind Mrs Patmore's back. As Thomas led her down the corridor, she opened her mouth resolutely, but he promptly shushed her before she had any time to protest.

"I'm trying to help," he explained in a low voice. "We're going up. I'll explain it all there."

Thomas prayed that they did not run into Mr Carson or Mrs Hughes on their way to the servants' quarters. The last thing he needed on top of all his troubles was to be suspected of fooling around with kitchen maids.

"I don't want to get into any trouble," the girl whined as they stood on the landing to the attic a few seconds later.

It was something of a miracle that she had agreed to follow him at all. She had almost dropped the giant pot she was holding upon seeing Thomas sneak into the kitchen again, and even now was still looking at him as though he were the devil come to drag her to hell.

"You won't. That is, if you do as I say. Now, listen. The thing is, we can't leave Miss O'Brien alone. Not when she's like this..."

"But-"

"I wanted to lock her up on the women's side and have it done with, but Anna thought it might be risky. And she was right. It took O'Brien all of three minutes to get into her and Gwen's room and make a complete mess of things there. Now, if she goes and does the same to Mrs Hughes's, the two of you are done for."

Daisy stared at him with a mixture of fear and disbelief and he knew it was time to really drive his point home.

"Yes, Daisy, you too. You've been up here earlier, haven't you? You and Anna are the only ones who've asked Hughsie for the key and she won't have forgotten, you can bet on that."

"But what can we do?"

"Anna's with her right now, but she can't stay here any longer. They're bound to notice she's not coming back. There's no way around it, Daisy – you have to watch her."

Daisy shook her head frantically.

"Oh no, I can't. They need me in the kitchen... I can't just go away like that."

"Well, they'll have to manage without you. Just tell them you're feeling really really bad and then you'll be able to go and keep an eye on her."

"Can't you do it?"

"I can't stay in the women's quarters! I'll be dead if they find me here!"

"The thing is... I don't really want to stay alone with her. What if she gets angry and yells at me?"

"Bloody hell, Daisy!" Thomas snapped before getting a hold of himself.

He simply could not afford to lose his temper if he was to avoid scaring her to death, but it was certainly tempting.

"It's not much, really," he coaxed. "Just you stay here for a while and keep her company. She's quite a bit of fun in this state actually. Much friendlier than usual... and chatty. And when this is all over and we're off the hook, I'll take you to dinner on your next day off. What d'you say? You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Asking Daisy on a date was the last ace up his sleeve. If it didn't work, then Thomas didn't know what would. When she finally caved in, he let out an umpteenth sigh of relief.

"Her Ladyship's ringing," Mrs Hughes announced loud and clear, her eagle eyes already scanning her surroundings for any sign of Miss O'Brien. She turned to Anna, who sat at the servants' table, sewing up a button on one of Lady Mary's coats with slightly stiff gestures.

"Where is Miss O'Brien?"

Thomas caught the flash of distress in the maid's eyes as she understood the full implications of the situation. She put her needlework down and looked up at Mrs Hughes. Her mouth opened but no words came out. Through the haze of his own panic, Thomas could practically hear the sound of the wheels turning frantically in her head as she struggled to come up with an appropriate answer.

"I've just run into her upstairs, Mrs Hughes," Thomas piped in without thinking.

He didn't have the slightest idea of what to say next. He just knew that he had to say something, anything. They were walking a tight rope and if they slackened, the housekeeper would sniff out their secret like a police dog. That woman was much too astute for anyone's good.

Mrs Hughes turned to him with a raised eyebrow, but before she had the time to speak, Anna was already making her move.

"That's right. I nearly forgot. Miss O'Brien's already with her Ladyship... She told me at luncheon that her Ladyship wanted to go through her wardrobe before Christmas and she'd probably need my help to carry some of her old things away. That must be it. I'd better go up now."

Thomas caught up with Anna at the top of the stairs.

"What are you going to tell her Ladyship?" he asked.

"Why... that Miss O'Brien isn't well and that she must get some rest." She gave a weary smile. "It's not so far from the truth now, is it?"