Glancing left and right to check the coast was clear, Tom pulled open the door to the linen cupboard and backed swiftly into it, easing the door shut behind him as quietly as he could.

'Great minds think alike,' a voice said softly from the murky depths of the cupboard.

'Jesus, Mary and Joseph!' he yelped, almost jumping out of his skin.

'No, just Mary. I really don't think we could fit Jesus and Joseph in here too,' his sister-in-law's disembodied and highly amused voice replied. 'And keep it down or they'll rumble us.'

'Oh, dear God, you scared the bejesus out of me!' Tom whispered, turning around in the dark cupboard, his heart still racing. 'I didn't expect anyone to be in here.'

'Then you should have checked your hiding place before you committed to it, shouldn't you? Did Sybbie not tell you I was already hiding?'

'She did. She wanted me to help them look for you, but George wanted me to hide, so she grudgingly gave me to a count of 100 to find somewhere.'

'And yet still you didn't check if the cupboard was empty.'

'It never occurred to me you might be in here!'

'Oh, I often hide in here. It's quiet, it's warm and there's a chair, so it's comfortable,' Mary said, contentedly. 'It's far better than scrunching up behind some dusty, old trunk somewhere.'

'Do you want me to go and find somewhere else?' Tom asked, racking his brains to think of another hiding place close by.

'That depends,' Mary said, giving it some quick consideration. 'How far into her count was Sybbie when you came in here?'

'The last time I heard her, she was at about 35, but you know she's not very good yet with numbers past 50, so she could be on anything by now.'

'Then I think you should probably stay. If you sneak out now, the odds are you'll walk straight into them and they'll catch us both,' Mary said, her voice coming at him out of the dark.

'Where exactly are you? I can't see a single thing in here,' Tom said, squinting uselessly into the blackness of the cupboard.

Mary reached out a hand, finding the edge of his jacket and tugging on it. 'Here. You might get some small amount of night vision coming in after a while. I did anyway until you ruined it by opening the door.'

'Sorry.'

'Oh, no harm done, Tom. It's not like I had the night vision of an owl or anything. It was more just dim shapes.'

'How long do you think it will be until they find us?' he mused.

Mary shrugged, forgetting he couldn't see her. 'Well, they've stampeded up and down this corridor at least five times since I've been in here and never once thought to open the door, so we could be in here for a while.'

'Right. And I suppose we shouldn't talk much otherwise they'll hear us.'

'I think we'll be all right if we whisper,' Mary said, unconcerned by that. 'The pair of them are like baby elephants running all over the place. They haven't learned the hunter's skill of listening for their prey yet.'

'And so speaks the consummate huntress,' Tom said with a small chuckle, shifting his position slightly. 'Ow!'

'What have you done? Are you all right?' Mary asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

'Banged my head on one of the shelves,' he said, a touch embarrassed.

'There's not much room in here, Tom. You need to be careful if you try to move.'

'Now you tell me,' he said, rubbing the back of his head.

'Are you all right?'

'Yes, I'll live.'

'Good. I'd hate to lose you in a tragic hide-and-seek incident,' Mary said, from about the level of his waist, amusement in her voice.

'I'm glad to hear it,' Tom said, looking down at where he imagined she was. 'Why is there a chair in here? It seems a strange thing to have in such a small closet.'

'The shelves go quite high up, so the maids stand on the chair to reach the top ones,' Mary said as if that should have been perfectly obvious. 'But that's what makes it such a civilised hiding place.'

'I'll have to remember that. I haven't hidden in here before. I'll make sure I check first, though, that it's not occupied next time.'

'I don't mind sharing, Tom,' Mary said, crossing her legs and accidentally kicking him in the shin.

'Ouch.'

'Oh, Lord! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!' Mary apologised, mortified that she might have hurt him. 'Are you all right?'

'Don't worry. I've got another leg,' Tom assured her, bending down to rub his shin and cracking foreheads with Mary. 'Ow!'

'Ow!' she echoed, putting her hand to her forehead and rubbing it.

'Sorry!' he managed, straightening up carefully and wondering if he was actually seeing stars. 'Are you all right?'

'Well, you rattled my brain a bit, but I'm all right. Look, this isn't working. That's three injuries for you and one for me in the space of about a minute. Why don't you sit on the chair instead?' Mary suggested.

'But then you're the one in danger of banging your head,' Tom pointed out.

'Not if I sit on your lap.'

'Oh, right,' he said in surprise. 'Well, I suppose so.'

'Unless you'd rather I didn't,' Mary said, a little awkwardly. 'I did rather presumptuously assume you'd be all right with that.'

'No, it's fine. Just, well, how are we going to do this? Swap places, given that we can't see a thing.'

'Right, let's do this logically. You stand still, and I'll stand up, then we can shuffle around until you're in front of the chair,' Mary said, carefully uncrossing her legs, trying not to kick him again. 'I'm going to stand up now.'

She rose to her feet, somewhat startled to discover quite how close she was to her brother-in-law when she was fully upright, her front brushing against his chest. She rocked back slightly, taken aback by his proximity.

'Mary?' Tom asked as the seconds stretched with her remaining silent and unmoving.

'Yes?'

'Are you all right?' he asked, cautiously.

'Yes,' she said, pulling herself together. 'Let's start shuffling around.'

'Which way?'

'Er, anti-clockwise, I think,' Mary said.

Slowly, they began to move, awkwardly bumping into each other. Mary inhaled as Tom's hands came up to land on her waist.

'What?' he said, stilling. 'Are you all right? Have you bashed into something?'

'No, no, I just thought I'd caught something behind me, but it's fine,' Mary lied quickly, trying to ignore how much his touch had flustered her. 'Keep shuffling round and tell me when you can feel the chair behind you.'

Tom started shuffling again, his hands still on her waist. Mary followed his lead, putting her hands on his upper arms, feeling a bit like they were dancing as they swayed around in a tight circle.

'I think I can feel it,' Tom said, taking one hand from her waist and twisting slightly to wave it around behind him. His other arm circled her waist, holding her still against him in a half-embrace. His hand brushed the back of the chair. 'Yes, got it.'

'Do you want to try and sit?' Mary said, trying to ignore the way her heart was suddenly beating that bit faster. She felt Tom turn back to face her.

'Yes. I'll try now,' he said, suddenly so close to her she could feel his breath on her face, and then she felt the absence of him in the space in front of her as he sank carefully down onto the chair.

'Are you sitting down now?' she asked into the darkness.

'Yes, I'm safely on the chair, so you can sit down too now.'

Mary carefully reached out a hand, feeling for Tom's shoulder to help guide her. He caught her hand when it brushed against him, holding it against his chest.

'I've got you. Turn sideways and try sitting down.'

She turned to face the door, banging into his knees and his free hand shot out, landing on her thigh, sending a frisson running through her. She steadied herself, edging round carefully until she felt the length of his thigh at the back of her legs, then sat down gingerly, half-expecting to end up on the floor. Instead, she found herself sitting quite comfortably on Tom's lap.

'There. We did it! That was probably the hardest thing we'll have to do today,' Tom said, sounding amused. 'Navigating a small space in the pitch black like that.'

'I'm not too heavy, am I?' Mary asked self-consciously, shifting about on his lap.

'Oh, yes, you weigh an absolute ton. It must be all that toast and the boiled egg you had at breakfast,' he replied, the grin on his face audible in his voice. 'Too heavy, my eye. You barely weigh more than Sybbie. Are you comfortable?'

'I am, actually,' Mary confessed. 'Are you?'

'I feel like I'm about to drop you.'

'Don't be silly. Of course, you won't drop me. Here, put your arm around my waist,' Mary said, feeling an unexpected flutter in her tummy as he did what she suggested, his fingers curling around her hip. Tentatively, she looped her arm around his neck, resting her hand on his shoulder. 'Is that all right?'

'That's much better. You feel more secure now,' he said, draping his other arm across her lap, his hand resting on the outside curve of her thigh.

'Good. Now, what shall we talk about?' Mary asked, trying to distract herself from thinking about quite how close she and Tom were sitting. Closer than they ever had before in all the years they'd known each other.

'What do you want to talk about?'

'I could tell you the latest about the pigs.'

'You've already told me all I ever need to know about the pigs.'

'Are you sure? Mr Drewe and I have big plans for them.'

'Yes, I'm very sure. I know more about pigs than I ever expected or wanted to know about them in my entire life,' Tom said firmly. 'So, unless you want me to retaliate by telling you in intimate detail about the inner workings of a car engine, let's leave the pigs as a topic of conversation, shall we?'

Mary shuddered at the thought of a barrage of mechanical chat. 'All right, that's a deal. In that case, what about Marigold?'

'What about Marigold?' Tom asked cautiously, wondering if he should have stayed on the pigs.

'Are you going to tell me what you know about Marigold and why Edith is so attached to her?'

'I don't know anything more about Marigold than you do,' Tom said, surreptitiously crossing his fingers against the lie. Although he couldn't see her, he was absolutely certain Mary was narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him.

'Why do I not entirely believe you when you say that?' she said, confirming what he was imagining.

'I don't know, Mary,' Tom said, very glad that she couldn't see his face. 'There's nothing I can tell you about Marigold.'

'Hmmm.'

'Is it me or is it getting awfully hot in here?' Tom asked, blowing out a breath and hooking a finger into his collar to pull it away from his neck for a few seconds.

'It's because there's two of us scrunched up together in this small space. And I see what you did there, Tom, changing the subject. Don't think that I didn't. Take off your jacket if you're too hot.'

'I think that might be easier said than done, Mary,' Tom said uncertainly, thinking how little room he had to manoeuvre.

'I'll help you then. I don't want you pegging out on me because you got overheated in tweed,' she said, pulling her arm from around his shoulders and sliding her hands under his lapels. 'Here, I'll push it off you, you wriggle out of it.'

Between them, they managed to shuffle his jacket off his shoulders and down his arms. Tom began pulling his arms out of the sleeves, and accidentally almost dislodged Mary from his lap. She gave a muffled shriek, grabbing onto his shoulders as he shook off the jacket and grabbed at her before she fell backwards.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. 'It's all right! I've got you.'

'Yes, I rather think you have,' she said to the top of his head, clasping him to her chest, her arms tight around his neck, laughter bubbling up out of her. 'But that was close. It's a good job we've both got good reflexes otherwise I'd have been in a heap on the floor.'

Tom laughed softly. 'At least it wouldn't have taken me long to find you again.'

'No, not much room to lose me in here. Are you feeling a bit cooler now?' Mary asked, slackening her hold on him a little.

'A bit. Still a bit warm, though,' he said, feeling the heat trapped between them. 'Aren't you?'

'I am a bit. I'll take my cardigan off, I think,' Mary said, letting go of him completely and shrugging out of her cardigan, letting it fall to the floor. 'There, that was much easier than getting your jacket off. Maybe I should loosen your tie for you too if you're too hot.'

Tom huffed out a small laugh.

'What? Do you not want me to?' Mary asked.

'No, it's fine, you sort out my tie and I'll hold you steady while you do it,' Tom replied, amusement in his voice.

Mary set to, pulling the knot of his tie away from his throat, loosening it to give him a bit more space and air around his neck. Rather daringly, she reached for his shirt collar, her fingers brushing his skin as she undid the top button and pulled it away from his neck.

'What made you laugh just then?' she asked, feeling him shiver slightly underneath her.

'Oh, it's nothing.'

'Well, it was something,' she insisted, still faffing with his tie and collar. 'Tell me.'

'The thought just crossed my mind that by the time we get out of here, we'll both be half-dressed at this rate and if anyone other than Sybbie or George finds us, they'll be wondering what on earth we've been up to in the linen closet together,' Tom said, feeling slightly bashful all of a sudden.

Mary's fingers stilled and her pulse raced as it occurred to her that he was right, and they were in what everyone from her grandmother to Carson to the kitchen maid would most definitely deem a compromising position.

'Sorry, have I made things awkward?' Tom said, sounding contrite.

'No, don't be silly. I was just thinking how right you are. I mean I'm practically undressing you here,' Mary said, wondering at how that thought was making her stomach flip.

'Well, I wouldn't go quite that far, but this is definitely an unusual turn of events,' Tom replied, his voice a little huskier than usual.

Mary swallowed at the sound of it, licking her lips. 'It's certainly a first for us, I agree. We'd better hope that George and Sybbie find us before a maid needs linen.'

'So, what else do you want to talk about? Preferably something that's not related to pigs, cars or Marigold,' Tom asked, trying to move the conversation on from mentions of Mary undressing him in a closet.

'Hmm, have you bought my Christmas present yet?'

Tom chuckled and Mary felt the vibrations through his chest. 'Maybe. But I won't give you any clues as to what it may be if that's what you're angling for.'

'Oh, come on, Tom. You know I don't like surprises.'

'Christmas presents are supposed to be a surprise. You're not supposed to know what you're getting beforehand.'

'That's such a ridiculous rule,' Mary said in such a way that Tom could imagine the pout on her lips.

'That's the whole point of wrapping paper, Mary, to keep the secret of what's in the parcel. What would be the point in wrapping up a known quantity? It always surprises me that you don't get excited about gifts. Why do you always try so hard to discover what you've got for Christmas before you open your gifts?'

'I grew up with Edith and her hideous gifts, that's why,' Mary said with feeling. 'I used to think she simply didn't have any taste, but now I suspect she goes out of her way to give me the most revolting item she can find.'

'Edith always gives me nice gifts,' Tom said, defending his sister-in-law.

'Exactly. Everyone else gets something at least halfway decent. I get the dross she picks up from God knows where. I honestly don't know where she finds shops that sell such grotesque items. They can't possibly stay in business year after year selling such things. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if people pay her to take the things off their hands.'

Tom laughed softly again, gently jostling Mary on his lap. 'Surely her gifts are not that bad.'

'Oh, they are, Tom. Last year she gave me a statue of what looked like a deformed woodland nymph-type creature that she tried to claim was Wedgwood. As if Wedgwood would produce anything that repugnant.'

'I remember that. It was rather ugly, I agree. What did you do with it?'

'I put it on the windowsill in my room and it met an unfortunate end when it accidentally fell out of the window onto the gravel below,' Mary said, innocently.

Tom laughed again and Mary decided she quite liked the feeling of that rumbling through him and hence through her while she was sitting on his knee, leaning against his chest.

'You, Mary Crawley, are awful.'

'Oh, you have to give me some credit, Tom. At least I didn't smash it to smithereens right in front of her,' she said, completely unrepentant.

'I'm beginning to wonder what you do with my gifts now. Are they all piled in a sad, broken, rejected heap somewhere too?'

Mary shook her head. 'You're quite thoughtful with your gifts. I don't believe any of them so far have met with a bad end.'

'Well, that's good to know. Hopefully, this year will be the same.'

Mary hesitated before deciding now was as good a time as any to say what she really wanted to about a topic that had been weighing on her mind. 'There is one gift you could give me this year, something I really want.'

'Oh, yes? What's that then?'

'You could stay at Downton,' Mary said, her heart in her mouth. 'You could not go to Boston.'

She felt him still beneath her, then a soft sigh escaped him. 'Mary, I-'

'Let's check down here, Georgie,' Sybbie's voice filtered into their small, dark cupboard.

Mary put her finger over Tom's lips, shushing him, holding her breath, willing the children to thunder past as they had before. Out in the corridor, she could hear Sybbie and George wandering around.

'MUMMY! UNCLE TOM!' George yelled at the top of his voice. 'WHERE ARE YOU?'

Sybbie answered him, exasperation evident in her voice. 'Well, they're not going to tell you, are they, George? Otherwise the game would be called hide and tell.'

'But we've looked everywhere,' George grumbled, 'and I'm tired of this stupid game now.'

'We haven't looked everywhere, otherwise we would have found them, wouldn't we?' Sybbie pointed out, patiently. 'They must have both found somewhere really good to hide. Come on, we can't let them win.'

'Should we give ourselves up? Put them out of their misery?' Tom whispered under Mary's silencing finger as George grumbled some more and someone bumped against the door of their cupboard.

Mary clamped her hand over his mouth and bent her head to whisper in his ear. 'No. George has to learn not to give up when things get a bit difficult.'

She kept her hand over his mouth but lightened the pressure a bit as he sat quietly and they listened to the children banging about, getting further away from them. Eventually, Mary pulled her hand away from Tom's face.

'They've gone,' she said, unnecessarily.

'We could be in here for hours at this rate,' Tom said, only half joking. 'I hadn't realised quite how rubbish our children are at this game. They were right by the door!'

'I told you, didn't I? I'm not sure they even see the door, the way it blends in with the wall as it does. Even with the handle sticking out, they keep walking right past it.'

'Then we're definitely going to be in here for hours,' Tom said, with a small laugh.

'I'm all right with that,' Mary said, the darkness making her feel bolder than she might ordinarily have been.

'What? Sitting here on my lap in the dark?'

'Yes. I'm perfectly comfortable,' Mary said, looping her arm back around his neck. Tom's hand tightened on her hip. 'Aren't you?'

'I am,' he said after a slight hesitation. 'Surprisingly so.'

'Then we are set for a long wait if necessary,' Mary said, settling herself better on his lap. 'Now, I believe we were talking about you not going to Boston.'

Tom sighed. 'Mary, you know that's all arranged.'

'Then unarrange it,' she said simply.

'I can't.'

'You can.'

'We've talked about this before. I distinctly remember saying to you that if you love me, you'll support me. And you said you would. Don't you remember that?'

'I do, but that was a long time ago.'

'But nothing's changed since then.'

'It has. It's more real now. And I didn't think you'd actually go ahead with it then,' Mary confessed.

'Well, I am, so I'll say again, if you love me, you'll support me.'

Mary was quiet for a minute, considering his plea. She found his hand in the dark and laced her fingers with his, feeling his surprise at her actions.

'I can't. I do love you, you know I do, but that's exactly why I can't support you in this,' she said, eventually. 'Maybe I'm being selfish, but I don't want you to go. I want you to stay right here.'

Tom sighed again, and she felt his hair brush against her cheek as he moved slightly beneath her. 'Mary, please. Don't make this harder than it already is.'

'But that just proves my point,' she argued, seizing on what he'd just said. 'If you're finding it hard to contemplate leaving, then don't. Don't leave. Stay.'

He shifted underneath her again, his fingers flexing on her hip. 'I ca-'

'Stay, Tom,' Mary whispered, interrupting him. She took courage from the darkness, trailing the hand on his shoulder across to stroke down the side of his neck. She both felt and heard his intake of breath.

'Stay,' she breathed, boldly caressing his neck once more.

'Mary,' he said, his voice barely breaking the warm, dark air between them.

'Stay. Please,' she breathed again, dipping her head to kiss his cheek.

'Mary,' he murmured again, twisting his head slightly towards her, so her lips landed on the corner of his mouth. Neither of them moved, both frozen in place by that minutest of contact until Mary spoke again.

'Stay,' she whispered against his lips. 'Please stay.'

Tom gave a slight moan then turned his head further, tentatively kissing her, a soft, gentle brush of his lips on hers.

Mary kissed him back, delicious tendrils of excitement uncurling in her stomach and licking through her. At first, the kiss stayed soft and gentle, a hesitant exploration on both sides, until Tom parted his lips and ran his tongue along her lower lip, gently testing the waters.

Mary didn't hesitate, opening up to him and kissing him back, bringing her hand up to cup his jaw, her stomach swooping delightfully. Tom tightened his arm around her, sliding his other hand up her arm and over her shoulder to the back of her neck. Mary moaned at the feel of his fingertips in her hair and kissed him harder.

When they pulled apart to breathe, Tom rested his forehead against her cheek. 'What are we doing, Mary?' he murmured.

'I think maybe we're exploring a reason for you to stay,' she said softly, longing to kiss him again.

'Are we? But things aren't like that between us,' he replied, something indefinable in his voice.

'They haven't been,' she agreed, stroking his neck again, making him shiver. 'But perhaps they could be. Perhaps they should be.'

'Do you really think that?' he whispered, with what Mary thought was a hopeful edge to his voice.

She cupped his face and tilted it up towards her, wishing she could see his expression. 'I do,' she said and kissed him again, her lips gentle against his, tempting him to open up for her once more.

'Are you sure?' he asked when they came up for air, still uncertain. 'You're not just teasing me?'

'No, I'm not. I wouldn't do that. Not to you. You're too important to me,' Mary said, realising as she said it just how true that was. 'I don't want you to go, Tom. The thought of it keeps me awake at night. It breaks my heart to think I might not see you for months, maybe even years.'

'Does it?'

'Yes, and I think maybe this could be why,' she murmured, bending her head to kiss him again, threading her fingers through his hair.

Tom responded, kissing her harder, tightening his hold on her. Mary moaned, clinging on to him, thrilling to the small groan he gave as she shifted slightly on his lap.

They broke apart guiltily as the door of the cupboard suddenly opened, leaving both of them squinting in the bright light washing in from the corridor.

'Oh, my goodness!' Anna exclaimed, her hand flying to her chest in surprise. 'Milady! And… Mr Branson. Oh, you gave me quite a start.'

Mary blinked up at her maid as she looked at them curiously. Anna's eyes flicked between them, taking in the sight of Lady Mary perched on Tom Branson's lap, both of them in a rather dishevelled state, his arms wrapped around her, hers looped around his neck.

'Whatever are you doing in the linen cupboard?' Anna asked, then immediately blushed as if she'd suddenly realised quite what they had been doing in the linen cupboard.

Mary glanced at Tom, taking in quite how debauched he looked, his jacket off, his shirt and tie pulled loose around his neck, his hair in disarray from her fingers raking through it, and the tell-tale, kiss-wet, lipstick-stained lips he was currently chewing on while looking as guilty as sin. The sight set off a storm of butterflies in her stomach, but she dragged her attention from him and back to Anna to deal with the situation at hand.

'We're playing hide and seek with the children,' Mary said calmly to her maid as if that fact should be blindingly obvious. 'Did you need something?'

'Er, fresh linen for your bed?' Anna said, her words coming out as a query as if it were her purpose in coming to the linen cupboard that was the questionable one.

'Right, well, perhaps you could do that later when the game is over and they've found us. I wouldn't want to ruin their fun,' Mary replied, sounding completely unflappable and in control, every inch the daughter of an earl.

'Certainly, milady, if that's what you'd prefer,' Anna said, standing there awkwardly in the corridor, unsure of quite what to do next.

'Excellent. Thank you. Now, if you could just close the door again, that would be most helpful,' Mary said, smiling sweetly at her maid.

'Oh, er, yes, of course,' Anna said, reaching for the handle, feeling a little flustered.

'And, Anna, please don't give us away,' Mary said, arching an eyebrow at her maid. 'We wouldn't want to spoil anything, would we?'

'No, milady, of course not. I won't say a word,' Anna said quickly before shutting the door and plunging Tom and Mary back into darkness.

Tom leaned forward, resting his forehead on her shoulder, laughing softly as they heard Anna walk away. 'Oh, my goodness, Mary, how you kept a straight face then, I will never know.'

'Granny always taught me to front it out when you get caught doing something. Never apologise, never explain, that's her motto,' Mary said, stroking her hand down the back of his neck, pulling a shiver from him.

'Well, I feel like a schoolboy caught in the shrubbery with a girl,' Tom said, wryly, sitting back on the chair again.

'You didn't look like a schoolboy. You looked like a rather rumpled and, may I say, hellishly sexy man when Anna opened the door,' Mary said, lust swirling through her as she recalled the image in her mind.

Tom let out a startled laugh. 'Did I really? Well, you looked rather sexy yourself, all flushed and mussed up. And the way you handled that with Anna, it was… well, it was very alluring.'

Mary grinned, delighted that he was obviously on the same page as her. 'Alluring, eh? I rather like that description.'

'You're always alluring,' Tom said, his voice dipping lower, tapping into something deep inside Mary. 'You are to me anyway.'

'I believe I was in the middle of persuading you to stay at Downton before we were interrupted,' she murmured, stroking his face and tucking his last statement away to consider at greater length later.

'You were,' Tom answered, sliding his hands around her waist again and pulling her closer to his chest. 'Do feel free to continue trying to persuade me.'

'I will warn you, Tom, that Granny also taught me to use every weapon at my disposal when waging a campaign. And I have quite an arsenal I could bring to bear on this situation,' Mary said, punctuating her words with feather-like kisses on his lips and his face in the dark.

'I think I might rather enjoy discovering what they are,' Tom murmured, unwilling to divulge yet that he may have already changed his mind about going to Boston in case it made her stop what she was doing.

'Oh, I know you will,' Mary whispered seductively, abandoning the series of light kisses in favour of surrendering herself to the best kiss they'd shared so far.

As the kiss deepened and Tom's hands trailed up her back, Mary found herself fervently hoping George and Sybbie were currently searching for them at the far end of the house and wouldn't be along to find them any time soon.