'I found him,' Tom announced, arriving in Mary's room with Barrow hot on his heels.

'I'm afraid I don't have long, milady. I'm to announce dinner in ten minutes,' Barrow said, apologetically.

'Yes, I understand, but I need your help, Barrow, if you're still willing to give it when I tell you what I'd like you to do,' Mary said, hoping the butler would still be amenable.

'Goodness. What is it you're going to ask of me?' Barrow replied, quirking an eyebrow, a small smile tugging at his lips.

'I would like to take you up on your previous offer to incapacitate Mr Talbot,' she replied, firmly.

Anna gasped, twisting her head to look at her mistress in shock. 'Incapacitate him? You surely don't mean to injure him, milady?'

'No, nothing like that. Barrow knows what I mean, don't you, Barrow?' Mary said, looking meaningfully at the butler.

Barrow gave her a wide grin. 'I do. And I would be more than happy to do that for you. When would you require me to do so?'

'Well, first, has Mr Talbot requested a tray for dinner tonight?'

'No, milady.'

'Damn the man!' Mary cursed, frustrated. 'He's going to front it out at dinner then.'

'We'll handle it, Mary,' Tom said, trying to calm her.

'Do we have a soup course tonight?' Mary asked Barrow.

'We do, but it will be in a tureen, so I can't do it tonight without it affecting the whole family.'

Mary hesitated, glancing at Tom.

'No,' he said, firmly. 'You and I would know to avoid the soup, but Robert and Cora won't. You're not making them ill to get to Henry. And if we warn them, Henry will smell a rat and won't eat it either.'

'Ah, you're going to give him a powder,' Anna said, the relief palpable. 'One to give him an upset tummy?'

'I want his bowels to explode,' Mary said, viciously.

Barrow laughed. 'Right you are, milady. I can arrange that. May I suggest breakfast time? Mr Talbot generally has porridge and he drenches it with honey, so that will mask any bitterness from the powder.'

'Can we wait that long?' Mary asked Tom.

'I think so. The danger point is tonight and how he acts at dinner with your parents. If we can get through that, what is he going to do overnight? Nothing.'

'He might try and force his way into my bedroom given what he said earlier,' Mary said, shuddering at the thought.

'Over my dead body,' Tom said, fiercely. 'I won't let him anywhere near you.'

'You can lock the door, milady. Or we could move you to another room, somewhere he won't suspect,' Anna said, thinking quickly. 'Can I ask a question?'

'Go ahead, Anna.'

'Why do you need to incapacitate him? It's not to stop him getting to you tonight if you can wait until tomorrow.'

Mary exchanged a look with Tom. 'He has something of mine that I need to retrieve. A letter. A personal letter.'

'Right. And does he have this letter on him?'

'He did when we were in the library with him earlier,' Mary said, wishing she'd had a chance to grab the letter from Henry's fingers.

'Then the chances are he still has it on him,' Anna said, thoughtfully. 'Mr Barrow, how was Mr Talbot when you last saw him?'

'Angry,' Barrow said, promptly.

'Was he drinking?'

'Oh, yes, he's very partial to his lordship's finest Scotch whisky tonight. He's quite three sheets to the wind already. If he doesn't slow down, he'll be landing face-first into the soup.'

'Then maybe we won't need to incapacitate him. Maybe he'll do it for us himself.'

Mary tipped her head, looking at Anna consideringly. 'You might be right there, Anna. Henry is a sloppy drunk.'

'Where was he keeping the letter when you last saw it?'

'The inside pocket of his jacket,' Tom said.

'Then perhaps if you can keep topping him up, Mr Barrow, he'll be drunk enough by the end of the evening for one of us to simply take the letter from him without him knowing we've done it,' Anna suggested, looking around the circle of faces.

'That's a good idea, Anna,' Tom said, nodding in approval at the maid. 'And it's easier than trying to give him a powder. Mr Barrow, it would have to be you who took the letter from him. It can't be me. He's likely to swing for me if I go near him. I won't be able to get close enough without knocking him out.'

Anna and Barrow exchanged a quick look at that.

'It's probably better if we can get this letter back without him realising it's gone for a while too,' Anna said, thoughtfully. 'Be a bit subtle and sneaky about it.'

'Right, well, I'll see what I can do. I've experience of being sneaky,' the butler said, a slight smile on his face.

'You might be too busy, depending on how quickly he gets that drunk,' Anna said, thinking of all the duties Barrow would have that evening. 'I'll line up Mr Bates to help if needs be. He could say his lordship sent him to help Mr Talbot undress for bed.'

'Thank you, Anna. That would be helpful. I could maybe suggest that to Papa,' Mary said, nodding.

'I'm sorry, milady,' Barrow said, checking his watch, 'but I have to go otherwise dinner will be late.'

'Yes, of course. Go, go. And thank you, both of you,' Mary said gratefully to the two servants. 'I won't forget this.'

'Ah, there you are,' Robert said irritably as Mary came into the drawing room, Tom following behind her. 'We were beginning to think we would be eating alone, weren't we, Cora?'

'I'm sorry, Papa, we got caught up in something and didn't realise how late it was until Barrow rang the gong,' Mary said, giving her father an apologetic smile.

'Where's Henry? Is he not with you? I thought he was back from Birmingham.'

'He is. The last time I saw him, he was in the library.'

Barrow entered the room, standing to attention by the door. 'Dinner is served.'

'Oh, for heaven's sake. Barrow, can you round up Mr Talbot, please? Apparently, he's in the library,' Robert said, his irritation levels rising. 'Now, come on, let's go into the dining room. I, for one, am famished and I'm not about to let Mrs Patmore's excellent food go cold.'

Five minutes later, Henry rolled into the dining room and slithered into his chair, his whisky glass still in his hand.

'You're late,' his father-in-law admonished him then did a double-take at the sight of his busted lip. 'What on earth happened to your face?'

'My face? Oh, you mean this?' Henry said, thrusting a finger at his lip then flinching as he accidentally poked himself right where Tom had split his lip. 'I got punched.'

Robert's eyebrows rose. 'Punched? By whom?'

Henry swivelled his head around towards Tom and Mary. 'It was in Birmingham, isn't that right, Mary?'

'That's what you told me, yes,' Mary said, keeping her voice level despite her rising anger.

'That's right. What else did I tell you? I forget,' Henry said, picking up his glass and taking another slurp of Scotland's finest malt whisky.

'I think you said you were trying to prevent a mugging,' Mary improvised, pushing down her temper.

'Ah, yes, that was it, I attempted to prevent a lady from being roughly manhandled by a ruffian, a man quite below her in status. I was quite the hero, stepping in to save her,' Henry nodded, turning his head to grin at Robert. 'Quite the hero.'

'Golly, I expect you were. She must have been very grateful,' Robert said, frowning at the amount of whisky Henry was tucking away.

'Well, you'd think she'd be grateful, wouldn't you? But I'm finding more and more these days that women aren't grateful. So often, they throw things back in your face, don't you think, Robert?'

'I… well, no, that is not my experience at all. I find when you do something kind for someone, they are usually quite grateful. Was that not the case this time then?'

'No, not in the sligh – hic – slightest. In fact, it turned out she was quite enjoying the attentions of the ruffian,' Henry said, glaring up the table at his wife and his business partner sitting side by side.

'Really? How very peculiar,' Robert said, in surprise. 'Surely that can't be true. What lady would enjoy being manhandled in the street by a ruffian? No decent one, that's for sure.'

'Exactly my thoughts, Robert. We conc… concur on that, most definitely do we agree. No decent lady at all,' Henry nodded, shooting a spiteful glance at Mary.

'Are you feeling quite all right, Henry?' Cora asked in concern.

Henry beamed at her, leaning on the table and tilting his head towards her. 'How kind of you to ask, Cora. I do feel a little unappreciated after all my efforts.'

'Then that is a shame, but I actually meant are you feeling all right physically? Perhaps you need to lie down for a while,' Cora said, regarding her son-in-law with some worry.

'Perhaps Mary could take me to bed,' Henry said, with a crafty look at his wife. 'She does so enjoy that.'

Robert pursed his lips, displeased with Henry's behaviour and lewd inference. 'I don't think that's necessary, Henry. And I would prefer it if you don't speak like that at the dining table.'

'Like what?' Henry challenged, slumping back in his seat. 'Oh, I'm sorry, did you think I was referring to marital activities? Oh, no, Robert, don't worry about that. Mary has been quite clear that she has not been enjoying that side of our marriage for some months now.'

Mary flushed, tightening her grip on her cutlery. 'Do stop talking, Henry. No-one is interested in what you have to say.'

Henry hauled himself upright in his chair and leaned forward, his elbows on the table. He grinned down the table at Mary, still clutching his glass. 'Ah, but I think they might be, darling. If they knew what I could tell them. I think they would be very interested. Most interested indeed.'

'That is enough, Henry!' Robert barked, clanging his knife and fork down onto his plate. 'You are drunk, and it is making you quite ill-mannered. I think you should remove yourself and sleep it off.'

'Mary, my love, are you going to help me remove myself? Are you going to help me up to our room?' Henry called down the table, waggling his eyebrows suggestively at Mary. 'We could make sport of it.'

'Right, that's it,' Robert snapped, his patience gone. 'Barrow, could you and Andrew escort Mr Talbot to his room, please? And ask Mrs Hughes to make up another room for Lady Mary for tonight, please? She will not be sharing a room with her husband tonight, not while he is in this mood and this state.'

'Certainly, my lord,' Barrow said, 'although, with your permission, I will leave Andrew to serve the dinner and ask for assistance from Mr Bates instead.'

'Capital idea, Barrow. Yes, Bates is just the man to help. Ask him to put Mr Talbot to bed, will you?'

'I'm not a child!' Henry roared, pushing Barrow away as the butler tried to help him from his chair.

'No, you are not,' his father-in-law snapped back at him. 'You are a grown man, who is behaving abominably and in front of ladies too. It will not do. I will not have it.'

'Ladies,' Henry scoffed, glaring at Mary. 'I'm not so sure about that.'

Robert pushed to his feet, his face red with anger. He pointed at the door. 'Get him out of here, Barrow, before I too forget there are ladies present.'

'Yes, my lord,' Barrow said, hauling Henry to his feet none too gently. 'This way, Mr Talbot. There's a nice soft bed upstairs with your name on it.'

'My name! There's nothing in this house with my name on it, nothing,' Henry groused, falling into Barrow as he dragged him from the table. 'It's all bloody Crawley in this godforsaken house. And Branson. Bloody, sodding Branson.'

Robert glared at him. 'Out. Now. I will expect an apology from you in the morning.'

Henry lurched around, almost pulling out of Barrow's grip as they reached the door. 'Mary! It's not too late!' he shouted. 'You can still change your mind! I will forgive you!'

Mary remained in her seat, feeling a flush rising up from her chest as her parents gave her curious glances. 'Go to bed, Henry. You're making a spectacle of yourself.'

Barrow grabbed hold of Henry and forcibly yanked him out of the door, leaving the small group around the table to listen to him mumbling incoherently as the butler dragged him to the stairs.

'Andrew, if you would be so good as to inform Bates that Barrow has need of him in Lady Mary's room, I'm sure we can suffer a small delay to the next course,' Lord Grantham said, retaking his seat and settling his napkin on his lap once more.

'Are you all right, Mary?' Cora asked, looking down the table in concern as the footman left.

'Quite all right, Mama, thank you. I'm sorry you had to see that.'

'What did he mean, Mary? He'll forgive you?' Robert said, looking curiously at his daughter.

Mary glanced down, giving herself time to compose herself before she answered. 'Well, I wasn't going to tell you quite yet, but after Henry's little performance tonight, you might as well know. I asked him for a divorce this afternoon.'

Robert blanched. 'A divorce? But why?'

Mary looked at her father in disbelief. 'Why? You saw how he behaved this evening, Papa! His behaviour has been getting steadily worse recently and I will no longer put up with it.'

'But a divorce, Mary. Don't you think that's rather drastic?'

'There is another reason, but I do not wish to go into it.'

Robert paused, exchanging a worried look with his wife. 'He's not… he hasn't been violent towards you, has he?'

'No, not as such.'

'Not as such? If you are protecting him, Mary, I would rather you didn't. Both your mother and I noted the bruise on your neck last weekend.'

Mary looked her father in the eye. 'I am not protecting him, Papa. He did bruise me, but it was not as you think. My other reason for divorcing him is a more delicate one. Suffice it to say, I have not been the only woman in his life for some time now.'

'Oh, Mary,' her mother whispered.

'Why, that absolute… absolute cad!' her father blustered. 'I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I am in him.'

'I'd rather you didn't reveal to him that you know anything other than I intend to divorce him, Mama, Papa. Please. Let me do this my way,' Mary said earnestly, anxious to prevent her parents becoming enmeshed in this whole drama.

'I will not run the risk of him becoming aggressive towards you, Mary. I simply won't,' Robert said, determined not to let Henry harm his daughter.

'Don't worry, Robert, I won't let him anywhere near her,' Tom said firmly, locking eyes with his father-in-law. 'You have my word on that.'

'I appreciate that, Tom, I do, but you can't be by Mary's side every hour of the day. Henry will have to leave Downton. There are no two ways about it.'

Mary exchanged a glance with Tom, seeing their window to retrieve the incriminating letter closing prematurely if Barrow or Bates didn't get hold of it tonight.

'I need to speak to him, Papa. Tomorrow when he's sobered up.'

'Very well, but you will not be alone with him if he shows any kind of poor behaviour,' her father said, his tone brooking no argument. 'We'll get Murray involved. He'll know about the legal side of things.'

'Thank you, Papa,' Mary said, breathing a bit easier.

Her father narrowed his eyes at her. 'You're sure about this? About divorcing him? It's a big decision.'

'Totally sure,' Mary said, looking him in the eye.

'Right, then we will look into it. One thing is for sure, I will not tolerate behaviour like that from him again.'

Mary glanced at Tom again then bent her head to finish her food before Andrew returned to clear the plates. She hoped and prayed that one of her secret army had found Tom's letter and they would no longer be at Henry's mercy.