Mr and Mrs Knight walked back to River Cottage slowly. Sarah held Johns arm almost hesitantly. Both were very aware of how much of themselves they might have given away to the rest of the Downton inhabitants during the ceremony.

Their kiss had been only a soft peck on the lips, in fact they hadn't even touched. It was like they were breaking some unspoken code by letting other people see them together. They hadn't really acknowledged their love for each other yet. It was physical, rather than spoken. They had always seemed to find it difficult to communicate their feeling to others but here it worked. Sitting in each others company was enough.

The wedding didn't seem to be the important thing.

That night did.

Lady Grantham had given Sarah or "Mrs Knight' as she now called her with too much enthusiasm, the rest of the day off and as John no longer worked at Downton they both had time to share with each other.

Only once they were back at the cottage they became unexpectedly shy with each other.

"Would yer like a cup of tea?"

Sarah nodded and sat down clumsily at the table. She watched him boil the water over the stove in his soldier's uniform.

"Give me yer jacket and I'll mend it" Mrs Hughes was probably having a fit looking at Johns scruffiness during the wedding.

John turned and shrugged the jacket off and handed it to her over the table.

Their hands brushed. Making tea seemed so incredibly mundane compared to the lightening that had just shot through Johns arm but he waited. He was not about to mess this up.

Sarah took incredible care in sewing up the torn sleeve, making her stitches neat and small. John placed a mug of tea in front of her and walked round the table to stand behind her, staring out of the window.

They both were silent.

The afternoon sun streamed through the window but John walked abruptly into the bedroom and shut the door behind him. Sarah raised her eyebrows and made to follow him but he called out to her through the door

"Hang on a mo, I'm just gettin' changed"

It briefly flickered through Sarah's mind that it would be very fun to help him get changed but she continued to sew and, after a moment, heard the bedroom door swing open behind her.

"Comin'?" John's voice sounded torn between a command and amusement.

Sarah didn't turn. Simply placed the green jacket on the table and then felt his lovely large hands on her shoulders. She leaned back into him and felt him stroke her hair, freeing it from its twists and coils.

"Come on, I've got somethin' ter show yer..."

He took her hand and led her into the bedroom. She gasped. The room was dark as the curtains had been drawn but there was a warm glow cast around the room by hundreds of little candles, flickering as if anticipation.

"It's just...it's so beautiful!...How did yer ever..."

John placed his arms gently around her waist and she fell silent. He pulled her into him yet still standing behind her. He kissed her neck and felt her nuzzle into his lips. Slowly, almost teasingly he ran his hand slightly down her sides, starting at her shoulders all the way down to the top of her legs. Her dress was bulky and he could feel the petticoats beneath her skirts. She smelt lovely.

Sarah felt as if she were finally having that mental breakdown that had been following her around ever since he had first kissed her that day she had sat next to a log pile in a threadbare nightshirt. His rough fingers brushed teasingly against her waist and she ached to free herself of the abundance of material that was Lady Grantham's least liked clothes.

She turned around and found his lips on hers; pressing herself against him she returned the enthusiasm with which he was kissing her. Softly he raised his hands to unbutton her shirt and they broke apart for a moment, their eyes meeting, sparkling full of lust and excitement. His hands did not tremble as he slowly unbuttoned her, he was strong and in command of his desire.

He removed the shirt and placed it lightly over the back of the chair. Sarah let her skirts fall to the floor around her and stepped out of them, unbuttoning John's shirt with the quick skill of a ladies maid. At least all those years of service had finally come in useful! It was about bloody time, was Sarah's last logical thought before John, quite literally, swept her off her feet and took her to bed.

He kicked the door closed behind them.

If Sarah could have had one wish, one prayer in her life time she was now torn. Before it had always been to go back to that fateful day and to undo the terrible wrong she had done to her ladyship but now…now all she wanted was to relive that night over and over and over again. His rough hands on her bare skin, the adoring kisses he littered across her neck and the wonderful warmth of finally falling asleep in his arms. By that time the sky had been dark and the stars shone above them. John had pulled the curtains back so they could watch them; they lay in bed, tangled up in the sheets watching the world sleep. And it was so beautiful.

One by one the candles guttered out.

The sun stretched its sleepy head and the grounds around Downton Abbey burned gold.

Sarah stirred.

The clock on the wall next to her read 4:00 in the morning.

She was alone.

The bed was empty.

John stood in the doorway, fully dressed, lightly tracing the place where she had sew up the tear on his sleeve.

Sarah gathered up the sheets around her and felt like crying, she had known he would have to go this morning, why did it feel like such a betrayal?

"I'm not sure I can saw goodbye…" John's voice was tense. He looked away from her, into the kitchen.

"I'll get dressed, take yer to the station"

"No Sarah"

Half way out of bed Sarah stopped at the harshness in his voice. The sheets were curled up uselessly around her and her hair tickled her back annoyingly. It made her so angry that he had to go…it was not him she was angry with but she could help the tone of her voice.

"And why not? Ashamed of me now or summat?"

"Oh…"

John flung himself to face her and all but fell into her arms. He clutched at her, not with control as he had done last night but with fear. They stood in each others arms for a long time, or so it seemed. John kissed her forehead and Sarah caught his face in her hands, holding up the sheet awkwardly. His eyes were damp and red lined. He was obviously terrified; she would have to be brave for them both. Her Knight in shining armour. Crying didn't make her disgusted at him as he had thought. Instead she pulled him closer, snuggled into her chest, told him how very brave he was and rocked him soothingly.

"Yer'll see me again…shhh…I'll keep yer safe"

"…Yer breaking me heart Sarah" John finally spoke. It tore at her very core. He had to go, there was no stopping the ever rushing, man eating monster that was this war. But it would end. Some day. And until that day she would never stop believing in him.

"I'm goin' ter be late fer me train." John wiped his eyes on the back of his sleeve.

One last kiss.

And then he was gone to war.

Just like that.

Sarah cried herself back to sleep.