Mary dressed with extra care on Friday evening, deciding the right outfit would serve the dual purpose of bolstering her confidence to deal with the whole Miss Smith situation and reminding Tom exactly where his heart truly lay.

'Oh, milady,' Anna breathed, her eyes shining when she finished Mary's hair that evening. 'You look so lovely. Like a fashion model from Lady Edith's magazine.'

'Oh, come, Anna, don't you mean Vogue rather than Edith's rag?' Mary teased, greatly pleased by her maid's reaction.

'I know I shouldn't say this, milady, but you are awful. Poor Lady Edith,' Anna giggled as she stowed her equipment away. Mary beamed at her as she rose to her feet, too delighted with how she looked to take offence.

'Are you ready, darling?' Henry said, coming into the bedroom adjusting his cuffs. He stopped dead and stared at her, his jaw dropping open. 'Good lord. You look…'

'Yes?' Mary asked, striking a pose.

'You look spectacular. Truly, truly beautiful.'

'Thank you. I do try.'

'You do realise this is really only an extended family affair, don't you? You seem to have gone to an awful lot of effort for such a small gathering.'

'I know, but I feel like I haven't dressed up in forever, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to give this dress a run out.'

'Oh, don't get me wrong, I am delighted you have. It's made the long journey home today all the more worthwhile, seeing you like this.'

Mary smiled, tamping down the feeling of guilt that she hadn't gone to all this effort for him. 'Shall we go downstairs then?'

'I suppose we must, although I rather wish it were just the two of us tonight,' Henry said, slinging an arm around her waist and pulling her against him. He palmed her buttock and raised a suggestive eyebrow at her.

'Henry! Behave yourself! Poor Anna won't know where to look. And besides, I don't want you to wrinkle me before everyone else has had the full impact of my new dress,' Mary exclaimed, pushing lightly on his chest, trying to mask how trapped and panicky she suddenly felt. On top of that, she was also excruciatingly aware that as well as thinking she'd dressed up to look good for him, Henry expected to make love to her tonight after a week apart.

Henry released her regretfully, running his hand appreciatively over the curve of her bottom as he looked over at Anna with a smile. 'I'm sure you understand, don't you Anna? You must know how it feels to finally have your husband home after Bates has been away with Lord Grantham.'

'I do, Mr Talbot, yes. But I don't think your homecoming will be quite so joyful anymore if you mess up Lady Mary's beautiful dress before dinner,' Anna offered with a smile.

'You are always a woman of great wisdom, Mrs Bates. I shall heed your counsel before I ruin my chances for later this evening,' Henry said, twinkling at Anna, who was ineffectually trying to smother her amusement. Mary rolled her eyes as he charmed her maid. She had to admit, Henry could turn it on very effectively when he wanted to.

'I'm not sure I need to be all that wise to know that Lady Mary would not appreciate all her efforts going to waste, sir.'

'No, indeed, and on that note, we should probably make our grand entrance before I get any more thoughts about wrinkling you, my love,' Henry said, turning to Mary and offering her his arm with a flourish. 'My only regret is that there will not be enough men there to appreciate how very lucky I am in my choice of wife.'

Mary took his arm, allowing him to sweep her out of the room and down the stairs, trying not to dwell on his last statement.

The looks on the faces of the assembled company in the drawing room as Mary and Henry arrived were gratifying to say the least. Mary sought out Tom amongst the impressed faces, thrilling to the way he stared at her open-mouthed before he recovered himself and schooled his features.

Henry noticed Tom's reaction too, leaving Mary with her mother and Isobel and walking up beside him with a big grin on his face. 'I know, old boy. I am a lucky man. She's breathtaking this evening, isn't she? Can't blame you for noticing. After all, you're a red-blooded man too.'

'I… er, yes, she's… yes, she looks wonderful,' Tom stammered, feeling like a complete heel.

Barrow saved him from any further conversation with Henry on the subject of Mary's current incandescent state of being by stepping into the room and announcing the new arrivals.

'Lady Bagshaw and Miss Lucy Smith.'

'Ah, here we go,' Henry said, nudging Tom with his elbow. 'Your lady has arrived.'

Mary turned to watch as Maud swept into the room, her presence greater than her diminutive stature. Behind her came a tall, willowy woman with dark hair, whose face lit up as soon as she spied Tom.

'Robert, how delightful to see you,' Maud declared, accepting her cousin's kiss on the cheek as her daughter stood behind her. 'May I present my companion, Lucy, to you?

Mary caught herself gawping at the newcomer as her father greeted her gallantly and forced herself to shut her mouth. From the few glimpses she'd had of her, she'd remembered Lucy Smith as dowdy and frumpy, a poor little mouse of a creature she could crush under her heel should she choose to do so.

This woman was neither dowdy nor frumpy. Although her dress was nowhere near as spectacular as Mary's, she was chic and stylish, with the perfect figure to carry off the current fashions. Her bobbed hair was almost as dark as Mary's own and her skin was luminous. In fact, much to her irritation, Mary could see the similarities between the two of them. And as much as she would like to, she could not deny that Miss Smith was attractive. Much more attractive than Mary had bargained for.

She watched as Tom came forward, sourly noting Miss Smith's barely suppressed delight at seeing him in person. He exchanged greetings with Lady Bagshaw, conversing with her for a few minutes before she moved on to greet Dickie, leaving Tom and Lucy alone. Mary felt bile rise in her throat as she saw him quite unnecessarily lift Miss Smith's hand and kiss it and saw her girlish reaction to it. Really, Mary thought, the woman was in her thirties, it was quite inappropriate to behave as if she were a sixteen-year-old virgin. The relief when her mother joined the two of them to welcome Lucy to Downton was palpable.

Henry appeared at her elbow with a drink in his hand and a wide grin on his face. 'Well, Miss Smith certainly scrubs up well. Having prospects definitely agrees with her.'

Mary raised a cool eyebrow at him. 'It seems money can buy taste after all.'

'Ooo, you cat! You'd better retract those claws if you're to stay in Tom's good books. I'd say he's taken Miss Smith firmly under his wing, wouldn't you?' Henry said, sliding an amused glance at his wife. 'I hope you've got past all those suspicions about her using him for his connections. It seems quite apparent to me that she wants him simply because she's mad about him. Did you see the look on her face when she saw him? That girl is quite the smitten kitten.'

Mary's stomach lurched inside her at that statement even though it was nothing she didn't already know. 'I have yet to form an opinion of Miss Smith given that I haven't yet been formally introduced to her,' she said as impassively as possible.

Henry waggled his eyebrows at her. 'Then I think we should remedy that, my darling. That, I suspect, will be the sport for the evening. I'm quite interested to see how you and Miss Smith square up to each other given that you hold the positions of the two most important women in Tom's life.'

'I think you'll find Sybbie is the most important woman in Tom's life,' Mary sniffed, trying to calm the nerves flooding through her at Henry's words.

'No, my love, Sybbie is the most important female in his life, but she is a child, not a woman. This is entirely different. I must admit I'm looking forward to tonight. I don't believe I've ever seen Tom in the role of a Lothario before now. Come on, let's join them.'

Mary ignored the Lothario comment, pasting a smile on her face as Henry put his hand to the small of her back and guided her over to where Tom and Miss Smith were standing.

'Welcome to Downton Abbey, Miss Smith,' Henry said, giving Lucy his most dazzling smile. 'Tom, my good man, are you going to do the honours and introduce us?'

'Certainly. Lucy, this is Henry Talbot, my business partner, and his wife and my sister-in-law, Lady Mary Talbot,' Tom said, gesturing at each of them in turn, careful not to let his eyes linger on Mary. 'Henry, Mary, may I present Miss Lucy Smith.'

'I'm delighted to finally make your acquaintance, both of you,' Miss Smith said, with a bright smile on her face, her eyes shining with genuine pleasure. 'Tom has told me so much about you.'

'Has he really?' Mary said, quirking a surprised eyebrow at Tom. 'I must say, he's very reticent about talking about you, Miss Smith, despite the immense amount of correspondence that shuttles between you.'

'Oh, I daresay there's not very much of interest to say about me, but he's very complimentary about you, and, please, Lady Mary, do call me Lucy. I would very much like it if we could become friends.'

Mary smiled politely at Miss Smith – Lucy – somewhat taken aback by her ebullient declaration that she'd like them to be friends.

'Oh, I'm sure you'll become as thick as thieves in no time if you're now to spend more time in Yorkshire,' Henry said, grinning. 'Isn't that right, Mary?'

'Er, yes, I suppose it is quite possible,' Mary said, feeling backed into a corner.

'We will be coming to Brampton more often, yes,' Miss Smith said, beaming at Mary. 'Mother is quite keen for me to get to know it and Tom has been impressing on me how useful it will be to know and understand the place that will be such a big part of my life. And I would be delighted to have the chance to get to know you better, Lady Mary. And you, Mr Talbot –'

'Oh, do let's dispense with the formalities. I insist you call me Henry and I shall call you Lucy,' Henry interrupted, dimpling at her.

'All right… Henry. From what Tom tells me, you spend quite a lot of time travelling at the moment. Weren't you in America when the King and Queen stayed at Downton Abbey? That must be rather exciting, getting to see the world like that,' Lucy responded, smiling back at him.

Mary met Tom's eyes, feeling like this conversation had completely slipped beyond her control as her husband and Miss Smith chatted amiably about his travels for Talbot & Branson Motors, Lucy's bright smile flashing constantly. Tom looked back at her, his face a pleasantly neutral mask that reminded her suddenly of his days of handing her into the car when he was simply the chauffeur she barely noticed. The memory unsettled her, making her feel even more unanchored.

Barrow rescued her from the awkwardness of the situation by appearing at her side, smooth and professional. 'The Dowager Countess has asked if you will attend her, milady,' he said, inclining his head.

'Thank you, Barrow,' Mary said, twisting around to see her grandmother giving her an expectant look from the other end of the room where she was sitting alone. She turned back to Miss Smith and the two gentlemen. 'If you would excuse me for a moment, it appears I have been summoned.'

'Yes, yes, of course. I hope we will be able to become better acquainted later in the evening,' Lucy said, giving her a warm, hopeful smile. 'I would very much like the opportunity to talk with you, Lady Mary.'

Mary found herself smiling back before making her way over to her grandmother, glad to be away from this unexpected and rather alarming version of Miss Smith. Where she'd anticipated a rather dull moth, she'd instead encountered a vibrant butterfly. It appeared she would have to rethink her opinion of Miss Smith somewhat and that was not a feeling Mary enjoyed. She much preferred it when people were good enough to conform to her opinion of who they were and not prove themselves to be anything more.

But she would put that aside for now and see what her grandmother wanted. She steeled herself for the conversation she imagined was coming, suspecting Tom and Miss Smith would be the main topic under discussion. Not for the first time in recent weeks, Mary found herself wishing her life were much simpler.