Trigger warning for Mary and Henry discussing what happened in the last chapter. It occurs after the final page break when Mary is in the nursery and Henry asks her if she's coming back to their bed that night.

Mary rose and breakfasted early before anyone else in the family came down. Indeed, it was so early, she caught the servants on the hop, a flustered Andy abandoning laying the table to rush to the kitchen to request a boiled egg and toast from Mrs Patmore.

Barrow hastened into the breakfast room as she sat in her riding habit waiting for her food.

'I do apologise, milady. I hadn't realised you would be requiring breakfast so early today.'

'That's quite all right, Barrow. I didn't know myself, so I had no chance to warn you. Perhaps you could be so good as to tell Anna she won't need to attend me this morning,' Mary said, giving the butler a small apologetic smile.

'I will.'

'There's one other thing. I slept in Lady Edith's old room last night and intend to do so again tonight. Would you ask one of the maids to make the bed, please?'

Barrow's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but otherwise he kept the servant's blank on his face. 'Of course, milady.'

'And could you impress on her the need for discretion? I do not wish anyone in the family to be aware of my current sleeping arrangements. And that includes Mr Talbot,' Mary added, hardly able to meet Barrow's eyes.

'Certainly,' Barrow said, his mask slipping slightly, as concern flitted across his face. His eyes fell to the bruise on her neck, just visible over the collar of her riding jacket. He hesitated before speaking again. 'Milady, I hope you don't think I'm speaking out of turn, but please know, if you need any assistance with anything – anything at all – you should not hesitate to call on me.'

Mary felt a lump form in her throat and tears prick the back of her eyes at his offer of help. She took a few seconds to compose herself. 'Thank you, Barrow. I appreciate that.'

He held her gaze, pressing home his offer. 'Anything, milady. I have quite the talent for taking care of problems in ways that may not be open to you.'

Mary looked at him carefully and nodded. Barrow nodded back, apparently satisfied that she understood he was offering her any kind of help she may require.

'I will be going riding after breakfast. Could you send word to the stables for them to prepare my horse, please? I will probably not be back until luncheon.'

'I will, milady,' the butler said as Andy came through the door with Mary's breakfast on a tray.

As Mary rode up to the house several hours later, she saw Andy handing her grandmother into a car. She pulled up, dismounting and leading the horse over to the motor vehicle. She opened the rear door to gaze wordlessly at the Dowager.

'Your mama and papa have the full picture now,' Granny said delicately, mindful of the chauffeur in the front of the car. 'Tom is with them, but I think they would be grateful for your presence.'

Mary nodded, the tears that seemed to be so uncharacteristically an emotion away at the moment threatening once again.

The Dowager's eyes landed on Mary's bruise. She moved her gaze up to meet her granddaughter's eyes, but Mary said nothing.

'I will bid you a good day, my dear. Stark, if you would be so good as to return me to the Dower House.'

'Goodbye, Granny,' Mary said, softly, closing the door. She stepped back, pulling her horse away from the noise of the car as Stark drove away. 'Andy, could you take Blaze back to the stables, please?'

'Certainly, milady,' the footman said, coming forward to take the reins. 'Come on, boy, let's get you back.'

Mary looked at the open front door of Downton Abbey and squared her shoulders, readying herself to go and comfort her papa.

Mary found her mama and papa in the library, her red-eyed mother sitting on a sofa next to Tom, his hand clasped tightly in hers, while they watched her father pace the floor.

'Perhaps we could find her another doctor. A specialist of some kind,' Robert was saying.

'She's already seen the best there is,' Mary said from the doorway, pulling off her gloves.

Robert stopped pacing and stared at her. 'Mary,' he said, his voice catching. 'Mary.'

Mary crossed the floor and walked into her father's arms. 'Oh, Papa, I'm so sorry.'

'I can't quite believe it,' he muttered over her shoulder as he held her. 'I think part of me believed she might actually live forever. I was convinced neither the angels nor the demons would dare have the nerve to come and take her.'

Mary pulled back, giving him a weak smile. 'Don't worry, Papa, she won't make it easy for whichever side gets the job.'

'Thank you. Thank you for being such a support to her,' he said sincerely, before looking over at Tom. 'And you too, Tom. I am grateful to you both.'

'I'm sorry we didn't tell you,' Mary said, feeling a little like she'd betrayed her father. 'Granny swore me to silence and then I swore Tom to silence.'

'Don't worry, my darling. I have been subject to enough of your grandmother's decrees to know you do not break them without fear of retribution.'

'Is there anything we should be doing?' Cora asked, glancing between Mary and Tom. 'Anything we should be preparing or be aware of?'

'She has everything in hand,' Tom said. 'She's even planned out her funeral in the minutest detail. She's given me a copy of the document outlining the details for safekeeping.'

'That sounds like Mama,' Robert said, unsurprised by that. 'Even if she can't outwit her final foe, she will make sure she gets her own way in stage managing her exit.'

'Does Aunt Rosamund know?' Mary asked.

'Mama has asked me to telephone her,' Robert said, bleakly.

'Do you want me to tell her instead?' Mary offered, her heart going out to her father.

He shook his head. 'No, you have carried enough of this burden already. This duty falls on me. I should be the one to tell my sister.'

'Goodness, you all look gloomy,' Henry said, striding into the room. 'Has somebody died?'

Robert stiffened at his son-in-law's crassness. 'Mama has just informed us that she is terminally ill, Henry.'

'Oh, I'm terribly sorry to hear that, Robert,' Henry said contritely, coming to stand beside Mary. He slipped his arm around her waist leaning in to kiss her cheek. Mary gritted her teeth, holding herself stiffly in his embrace. She saw Tom's eyes narrow as he watched them and tried to force herself to relax.

'It was quite a shock, I can tell you,' Robert continued. 'Poor Mary and Tom have known for a while and have been quite a support to her.'

'Have they now?' Henry said, his eyes narrowing and his fingers digging into Mary's hip at that revelation. He looked back and forth between his wife and Tom. 'What, both of you? That's quite a secret to keep.'

'Well, you know Granny,' Mary said, tightly. 'When she tells you to keep something to yourself, she expects nothing less than discretion of the highest order.'

'You don't mess with the Dowager when she gives you instructions, Henry. You know that as well as the rest of us. She will always get her own way,' Tom added, watching the interplay between Mary and Henry carefully.

'It just seems strange that she chose the two of you instead of going to Robert for aid,' Henry said, tilting his head to look contemplatively at Mary.

'Oh, it's not so surprising,' Robert replied. 'Mary has long been her grandmother's confidante. And Mama has trusted Tom over me to handle her private affairs for some years now. I believe she considers him more reliable in a crisis than I am, so when he found out she was ill and offered to help sort out her affairs, I suspect she snapped his hand off. Isn't that right, Tom?'

'Well, I'm not sure I'd characterise it quite like that but, yes, in essence, that is true,' Tom said, slightly taken aback by Robert's assessment of why the Dowager trusted him as she did.

'And how did you find out, Tom? Because it sounds like the Dowager didn't actually confide in you herself,' Henry said, shrewdly.

Tom hesitated, his eyes lingering on Mary as he saw her jaw tighten at Henry's question. 'No, she didn't. Mary told me.'

'Did she?' Henry said, tightly. 'But I thought that information was embargoed.'

'She didn't really have much choice. I found her in the office in a distraught state after a visit to the Dowager. I badgered her into telling me what was wrong.'

'Well, I'm eternally grateful you did,' Cora said, stepping in to smooth things over as she noted the displeased look on Henry's face. 'I can't bear to think of you carrying such a dreadful secret alone, Mary.'

Mary was saved from commenting on that by Barrow arriving to announce luncheon would be served shortly.

'I'd better go and change,' she said, stepping out of Henry's hold and walking towards the door.

'I'll come up with you,' Henry said, taking a step after her.

Mary froze, meeting Barrow's gaze as he stood by the door. Before she could think what she was doing, she mouthed 'Help' at him. He nodded imperceptibly at her.

'Anna is waiting for you upstairs, milady. She went up when Andy brought your horse round to the stable,' he said, smoothly.

'Thank you, Barrow. That was very efficient of her. She must be wondering where I am,' she said, flashing a grateful look at the butler. 'You stay here, Henry. I will have to be quick if I'm to freshen up and be back downstairs for luncheon. I can't afford any distractions or Mrs Patmore's best efforts will be going cold.'

'Very well,' her husband said, reluctantly.

Mary breathed a discreet sigh of relief and left the room, Barrow following after her.

'Thank you,' she said to him once they were away from the library.

'Anna really is waiting for you, but I thought it might put him off if he knew she was there,' the butler said, quietly. 'Milady, if he's hurting you –'

Mary shook her head, cutting him off. 'He's angry with me, and I can't face a row. He's going to Birmingham for the week tomorrow, so I just need to avoid him until them.'

Barrow looked at her, his eyes dropping to her bruised neck again. 'Do you want me to incapacitate him until then?'

Mary stared at him, her mouth dropping open. 'Incapacitate him? Whatever does that mean?'

Barrow grinned, looked positively diabolical. 'Oh, don't worry, milady, I don't mean break his legs or anything. I may have a few powders that could bring on an upset tummy for a while though.'

Despite herself, Mary found her lips quirking into a smile. 'Do you really? Well, as tempting as that thought is, I don't want to risk him deciding he's too ill to go to Birmingham.'

'In that case, I shall take it upon myself to hover in your vicinity for the rest of the day. And where that is not possible, Andy will be there. And might I suggest you bring Anna into your confidence if you haven't already. I'm quite sure she would be happy to fabricate a dress fitting or some such occasion should it be necessary.'

Mary smiled. 'Why, Barrow, I am quite beginning to see why Master George adores you as he does.'

To her surprise, the butler blushed. 'You'd better go and change, milady. I'll be ringing the gong for luncheon shortly.'

'Thank you,' Mary said, pressing her hand gratefully to his arm. 'I will not forget this.'

Barrow nodded then stood guard at the bottom of the stairs as she went up to her bedroom.

Henry cornered Mary in the nursery the one time Barrow wasn't around because George had persuaded him to play a brief game of hide and seek.

She was sitting in the chair with Caroline on her lap, the child slumbering gently, when her husband appeared at the door, leaning against the doorjamb. Mary tightened her grip on her daughter, feeling slightly reassured by the fact that she knew Henry would never do anything to hurt their child.

'That was all very cosy,' he said, tightly.

'What was?' she said with a sigh.

'You and Tom having your great secret together.'

She felt anger spike inside her. 'Cosy? My grandmother is dying, Henry. I don't call that a cosy secret.'

'Maybe not, but once again you made the choice to share your secret with your sainted brother-in-law but keep it from your husband. Did it not occur to you that it should be the other way around?' he said, anger darkening his features.

'I didn't choose to tell him. He found me in the office crying my eyes out. That's why I told him. I was upset,' Mary said calmly, refusing to rise to his bait.

'You seem to be upset rather a lot lately.'

'That might be because upsetting things are happening rather a lot lately.'

'I'd have thought you might want to tell your husband when you're upset and also tell him why you're upset.'

'Not when I've promised I won't share a secret.'

'And yet you shared it with him.'

'And I've told you why that happened. If it's any consolation, I didn't tell my father either or my mother.'

Henry ignored that. 'And it appears he's the favoured grandson-in-law too.'

'You'd have to ask Granny if that's true. I couldn't comment on her feelings about either of you,' Mary said, trying to keep calm so as not to disturb Caroline.

'Oh, I think it's quite obvious who the Dowager trusts in this family.'

'Tom has long enjoyed her trust. That dates back to before you and I were married. He had to work hard to earn it, but now she trusts him over all of the rest of us put together.'

'Except you.'

'I'm not sure that's true. She's certainly made him privy to information she has not shared with me before now.' Mary eyed her husband carefully. 'Where is this sudden jealousy of Tom coming from, Henry? I thought you and he were friends and partners.'

'I just think you and Tom are becoming unacceptably close for a married woman and a man who is not her husband. You have too many secrets you share.'

'Oh, please. He is part of this family. Are you really that upset that Tom knew Granny is dying before you did?'

'That's not the point.'

'Then enlighten me! What is the point?'

'You two! It's like you're in a club that I'm excluded from and I don't like it.'

Mary rolled her eyes. 'A club. I've heard it all now.'

'Where did you sleep last night?' he asked, changing tack.

'Why do you want to know?' she challenged, reluctant to let him know when she had already decided she'd be sleeping there again tonight.

'Did you go to him? Did you go to Tom?'

Mary stared at him, shocked and uneasy that he would ask her that. 'No, of course, I didn't.'

'Will you be coming back to our bed tonight?'

'No.'

'Why not?'

'Because I haven't forgiven you for last night.'

'I'm not aware I did anything last night that requires forgiveness.'

Mary gawped at him. 'You can't be serious?'

'I'm deadly serious. What is it you think I should seek forgiveness for?'

Mary glanced down at their daughter, checking she was still asleep before answering him in a low voice. 'You tried to force yourself on me.'

Henry rolled his eyes. 'Oh, don't be overdramatic, Mary. You're my wife. It's legally impossible for me to force myself on you. I was simply exercising my marital rights.'

Mary glared at him, clenching her jaw with anger. 'You tried to push yourself inside me after I told you to stop. I don't care what the law calls it, I call that rape.'

Henry reddened, his mouth twisting into an ugly line. 'Be very careful throwing words like that around. It was no such thing. So, I got a little overexcited. You should take it as a compliment that I wanted you so much.'

'Well, I don't take it as a compliment. And it wasn't about you wanting me,' Mary said, very clearly. 'It was about you trying to assert your ownership of me. But you can take it from me, Henry, married or not, you do not own me, and you never will.'

Henry glared at her. He opened his mouth to retort only to be stopped by the sound of footsteps clattering down the hall. Thirty seconds later, Barrow appeared at the door with George hanging off his back. The butler set the boy on his feet then stood to his full height, a useful inch taller than Henry. He pulled his livery into place and looked Henry straight in the eye.

'Mr Talbot, can I help you with something, sir?' he asked as George scampered over to his mother, regaling her with tales of his game with Barrow.

'Yes, you can,' Henry said, pushing himself off the doorjamb. 'You can send a maid up to my room to pack a valise for me. I'll be going to Birmingham tomorrow.'

'Very good, sir. And how long will you be gone for?'

'I'll be back on Friday.'

'I will ask Mrs Hughes to send a maid up as soon as possible.'

'See that you do,' Henry said, throwing Mary a loaded look.

'Mummy, can Barrow play conkers with me before he has to go back to work?' George asked, tugging on Mary's sleeve.

'I don't see why not,' she said, nodding at the butler, who smiled and bustled past Henry into the nursery.

'Come on then, Master George. But I'll have you know that I was conker champion in our street every year from 1897 to 1903, so you'd better be on your game.'

Henry watched Barrow settle in the nursery then narrowed his eyes at Mary. 'I will expect you to change your mind about tonight.'

'Then you will be waiting in vain,' she said, firmly.

Henry gave her one final glare. 'Do not forget to send up the maid, Barrow.'

'No, sir, I won't. I will arrange it with Mrs Hughes within the hour. Perhaps you would be good enough to leave out a list of the items you require,' the butler replied, not moving an inch from his perch on the edge of George's bed next to Mary's chair.

Henry eyed the scene again then left, his bad mood trailing behind him. Mary exchanged a grateful look with Barrow then settled in to hold her daughter and watch her son play conkers with his unlikely best friend and her self-appointed guardian.