Later that evening, Mary knocked on the open door of Carson's office, poking her head inside. 'May I come in?'

'Of course, you may, milady. This is a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?'

'I have some news, Carson, and I wanted to tell you myself.'

Carson smiled at her. 'Well, I hope it is good news.'

'I think it is. Mr Branson and I are to be married.'

Carson's eyes widened and his smile slipped. 'I beg your pardon, milady. Did you say you are to marry Mr Branson?'

'Yes, I did.'

'But I thought…' Carson trailed off.

'What did you think?'

Carson hesitated before deciding to speak plainly. 'I rather thought you and Mr Branson had not resumed your previous relationship when he returned to Downton. You have not seemed as happy recently as you were before when you were… well, when… back then.'

'I wasn't. And that was precisely because we hadn't resumed our relationship. But something happened in the past few days that allowed us to realise how foolish we'd been.'

'I see.'

'I know you don't approve of us, Carson, but I love him, and he loves me. Very much. I hope you can find it in your heart to be happy for us.'

'Have you told his lordship and her ladyship?'

Mary nodded. 'This evening.'

'And what did they say?'

'Mama had guessed and was happy for us. Papa was surprised, but he has given us his approval.'

'Then while it is not my place to approve or disapprove, milady, if you have your father's approval, you also have mine.'

Mary smiled at him. 'Thank you, Carson. That means a great deal to me. Now, I shouldn't keep you from finishing your duties for the night. I just wanted to tell you myself before the jungle drums started beating.'

'And I appreciate that greatly. I might also venture to say that Mrs Hughes will be exceedingly pleased. She is very fond of Mr Branson.'

'I'm sure he'll be along tomorrow to tell her himself.'

'Then you must tell him from me that he need no longer fear I will take a poker to him,' Carson said, with a slight smile. 'Not now he is doing the honourable thing by you.'

Mary smiled warmly back at the butler. 'I will tell him, Carson. And now I will bid you goodnight.'

'Goodnight, milady.'

Anna slid the straps of the slip from Mary's shoulders, picking both it and the matching beaded overdress off the floor to drape them over the end of the bed. 'Did you have a good evening, milady?'

'It was eventful.'

'How so?' her maid asked, holding her lady's robe for her to slip into.

Mary turned round to smile broadly at Anna. 'Mr Branson and I told my parents we want to get married.'

Anna stopped dead, her mouth falling open.

'Tom and I are getting married, Anna!'

Anna's face broke into a huge smile and she stepped forward impulsively to hug her mistress. 'Oh, milady, I'm that happy for you!'

'Thank you! You were right to believe he loved me.'

'Didn't I tell you I was right? But when did all this happen? I thought you and he weren't on anymore.'

'We weren't but then we had a big fight and he accidentally let slip why he was being so contrary.'

'And why was that?'

'Because he loved me, but he didn't think I loved him back. The idiot.'

Anna beamed. 'So, I was right about that too. He was protecting his heart.'

'Yes, it seems those romance novels might know a thing or two, after all.'

'Perhaps I should think about writing one myself, milady,' Anna said, with a smile.

'Perhaps you should,' Mary agreed with a giggle.

The bedroom door opened, and Tom slipped in, not noticing Anna was still in the room as he turned to shut the door.

'Well, that went better than expec-,' He broke off as he turned and saw Anna. 'Oh.'

Anna grinned at him. 'Don't worry, Mr Branson. I was never here. I never saw a thing.'

'Anna, I…' Tom trailed off, not knowing what to say.

'Will that be all, milady?' Anna cast a glance at Tom and then gave Mary a knowing look. 'I don't think you'll need my help with any more undressing. I'm sure Mr Branson can manage the rest by himself.'

To the amusement of both Anna and Mary, Tom blushed a fetching shade of red.

'Yes, thank you, Anna. Goodnight,' Mary said, grinning at Tom's discomfort.

Anna picked up Mary's evening clothes and headed for the door. She stopped as she drew level with Tom.

'I was rooting for you from the moment I found out,' she told him, highly amused to see his mouth drop open in surprise. 'I'm glad you both came to your senses before I had to bang your heads together.'

She turned round before opening the door. 'Goodnight, milady, Mr Branson. Have a good evening.'

Tom watched her go, his mouth still hanging open as Mary chuckled.

Mary perched on the footstool opposite the two children ensconced on the sofa, Tom beside her.

'Sybbie, George, we have some news for you.'

Two pairs of solemn blue eyes stared back at her. Mary was embarrassed to admit she almost felt intimidated.

'Tom and I… er, your father and I… that is, Uncle Tom and I… we're… well, we're…'

Tom reached over and took her hand in his then looked directly at the children. 'We're getting married.'

'Married?' said Sybbie, cocking her head to one side, while George sat beside her looking hugely uninterested. 'Like Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes?'

'Yes, love. Do you understand what that means?'

Sybbie screwed up one eye, squinting at her father. 'Does it mean you'll be having a party?'

Tom smiled at her. 'Well, we will be having a party, but it means a bit more than that. It means that Aunt Mary and I will be husband and wife. Like Granny and Donk.'

Sybbie beamed at him, understanding dawning on her. 'Ah, so you mean you'll call each other darling all the time.'

Tom chuckled. 'Yes, maybe. And you might see us kissing each other.'

'Kissing? Yuck,' George put in, a look of disgust on his face. 'Marigold is always trying to kiss me. I don't like it.'

Mary looked at her son in surprise while Tom tried to smother a grin. 'Is she? It just means she's fond of you, George. You must be kind to her.'

'But she's all wet and dribbly, isn't she, Sybbie?' he protested, turning to his cousin for back up, alarmed at the thought of not being allowed to push Marigold and her sloppy kisses away.

Sybbie was busy thinking about something else though. 'Will you be sharing a bedroom like Granny and Donk too?'

Mary and Tom exchanged a look.

'Yes, darling, we will,' said Mary, tentatively.

Sybbie nodded, thinking about that. 'Well, I think you should make Daddy move into your room, Aunt Mary. It's much prettier than his.'

Mary beamed at her niece. 'I think that's very good advice, Sybbie. Don't you, Tom?'

'It's excellent advice,' Tom agreed.

Sybbie smiled at them, pleased to have been able to help, then something else obviously occurred to her as a frown appeared on her face.

'What is it, love?' Tom asked her, gently. 'Do you have another question you'd like to ask?'

'Does this mean you'll be Georgie's daddy too?'

Mary squeezed Tom's hand, not having anticipated this question. Tom shot her a look then returned his attention to his daughter.

'Would you mind if I were?'

Sybbie shook her head. 'No, because that means Aunt Mary will be my mummy as well as Georgie's.'

Mary tightened her grip on Tom's hand, feeling her heart swell and tears prick at the back of her eyes. 'Is that what you would like, darling?'

Sybbie gave this a few seconds thought then nodded her head vigorously. 'Yes.'

Mary pressed her lips together, fighting back uncharacteristic tears. 'Well, then that's settled,' she said, trying not to let her voice shake too much.

Tom beamed at his daughter then leaned over and planted a swift kiss on Mary's lips, prompting a small giggle from Sybbie.

George observed this display of affection and pulled a face. 'Marigold's kisses are much worse than that, Mummy. If I can't push her off me, can I run away from her instead?'

Mary laughed, recovering her composure. 'Yes, darling, but not every time.'