Tom was dreading the house party organised to begin later that day. He was accepted by the Crawleys, loved even. However the same could not be said for the rest of their set. Unable to sit still, he paced back and forth in the library and jumped when Mary entered the room.

"Hello," she smiled, making her way over to the couch by the fire. Noting his discomfort, she asked, "Are you dreading this as much as I am?"

Laughing and sitting across from her, Tom ran his hands through his hair. He only did that when he was nervous, Mary knew that.

Straightening her lilac skirt, she looked at him from under her lashes.

"Thank you, Tom. I haven't had a chance to say so, but I am so grateful for you pulling me out of the mist."

"I was returning the favour. You saved me after Sybil died."

He furrowed his brow as her face contorted, the ghostlike Mary had returned momentarily. Quietly, speaking in a whisper, she said, "I owed it to her."

"What do you mean?" Tom asked, confused.

But before an explanation could be given, Cora burst into the room, announcing in a flustered voice that the guests would be arriving any minute.

▫️

Lord Gillingham was amongst the guests invited by her mother. They had been friendly as children, or at least their parents had.

Mary had been sequestered with him in a corner for the past half hour after dinner, and he had been flirting shamelessly.

"Who's the handsome pirate?" Robert asked his wife as he stood with both her an Tom.

"Don't you recognise Anthony Foyle?"

"Ah yes, I'd forgotten that his father had died. Mary seems quite taken with him."

Hearing that, Tom studied the pair, his stomach knotting with the familiar pangs of jealousy. When Mary placed her hand on Anthony's forearm, as she had with him all those years ago, he retreated to the library, and to the decanter of brandy.

▫️

Mary saw no escape from the dull Lord Gillingham and so laughed politely at his jokes for the evening. She had not noticed when Tom disappeared. It had only been eight months since Matthew's death and her parents were already lining up suitors. While Matthew had understood that her heart belonged to another, she did not believe that any other man would be so forgiving.

While the party gathered in the Great Hall to listen to Dame Nelly Melba, she noticed that Tom sat slouched in his seat. Sitting beside him, she tapped his hand quickly to rouse him.

"Not again." He moaned, sitting up slowly and with difficulty.

"What do you mean again?" Mary asked in a hushed whisper.

"N-nothing. You don't have to sit with me. I'm sure you rather sit with someone else."

"Nonsense. There's no one I'd rather spend an evening with."

In his inebriated state, Tom let his words flow freely.

"Not even the handsome pirate?"

As the famed singer appeared an applause erupted throughout the room, with Mary joining in.

"You've been reading too many stories to Sybbie, darling."

Tom looked at her out of the corner of his eye, grinned slightly and began to clap too.

▫️

"Apparently Edith wants driving lessons now." Mary announced, hugging Tom's bare torso under the light sheet.

"Really, why?" Tom asked, he had never understood why the sisters were always in competition.

"Papa told her it would be a good idea since I'm always in such a good mood after mine."

Laughing heartily, he sat up in the bed and looked at the woman before him. Her beauty was breathtaking, yet her wit and her sharp mind entranced him just as much. The past month had been the most exciting of his life. The same could be said for Mary. There was something about a secret that made one terribly giddy.

"I wish Sybil didn't have to do the season." Mary stood from the bed and began to dress, finding her various garments strewn throughout the room.

"Do you really have to go?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"I'm afraid so. But I can tell you, my fifth season unmarried will not be much fun." Mary walked over to the bed and motioning for him to do up the buttons on the back of her dress. He planted a kiss on her neck as he tied the last fastener.

"Are they still pushing you towards Mr Crawley?"

"Yes." Mary sighed, collecting her shoes, and sitting on the bed to place them on her dainty feet. "I just don't know what to do. He's terribly boring."

Moving towards her, Tom wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her slowly, pushing her back onto the mattress.

"One can never be boring, isn't that right m'lady?"

"It is indeed, Branson." She whispered in a breathy voice.

▫️

The family filed into the waiting cars, with Cora and Robert taking the newer one at the head of the caravan. Mary was last to enter the higher car, and required Branson's assistance. She placed her hand in his and deposited a note, giving him a meaningful look as she did so.

After the train had departed and following his return to the Abbey, Tom found a spare moment in which to read what Mary had written him.

"Dearest T,

It is with a heavy heart that I leave today, knowing that I will not see you for weeks. How I wish we could continue our lessons in London. They would certainly provide my days with meaning, besides the ever important procession of balls and teas, soirees and luncheons that are obviously so very important. I do hope you can detect my sarcasm, or else you would think me very feeble minded.

Matthew Crawley is due in London in a weeks time. I had resolved to set him up with Edith. They are perfectly suited and can bore one another for decades once they are married. But then I changed my mind, the man may be dull, but he doesn't deserve such a punishment as a life chained to my sister. Perhaps Sybil. I could cede my crown to Sybil easily, but never to Edith.

Please write to me, don't worry about anyone checking the letters. I have Carson wrapped around my little finger.

Missing you already,

M.

P.S. I realise that this letter seems ridiculous, but it was written at dawn. Forgive me for its peculiarities."

He laughed and shook his head. What would he do without her?