Two days after Lily's visit to Mrs Briars Lily was preparing to send her first letter to his Lordship; but first she wanted to make absolutely sure that Mrs Hughes was indeed the maid Mrs Briars had referred to. The opportunity was given to her whilst she was in Lady Aurelia's bedroom cleaning.

Mrs Hughes was doing her usual rounds and entered Aurelia's room to check that Lily was doing as she was supposed to. She was rather impressed to see that she was and there had been no qualms or arguments with her; in fact since her return from her mother's, Lily had been working exceptionally hard.

'Is everything alright Lily?' She asked.

'Yes Mrs Hughes I'm almost finished in here.' Lily replied as she was taking the duster to the chandelier.

'I've been meaning to ask you how your mother is?' Mrs Hughes asked kindly.

For a split second Lily didn't have a clue what Mrs Hughes was talking about, until she remembered her cover story.

'Oh she's doing much better thank you. The doctor said she should be up and about again in a few days.' She lied.

Mrs Hughes smiled at her briefly and turned to walk out of the room when Lily chose her moment.

'Mrs Hughes, can I ask you something?'

'Yes of course.'

'Well I just wondered…do you ever…you know…miss where you're from, you know, home.' She started subtly.

'I used to, when I first moved down here, but not so much these days. Are you feeling homesick?' She asked with a sympathetic tone that Lily was most unused to.

'A little I guess; going home made me realise how much I missed my family, my friends and even the people from my village I guess, but I do like it here. Has anyone else from Scotland ever worked here Mrs Hughes?' There, she'd asked the question she was most anxious to get the answer to, she just hoped that it didn't sound too much out of the blue.

'Well certainly in the twenty years I have been here I've been the only one.' Mrs Hughes replied without the slightest look that she thought the question odd. 'Don't be too hard on yourself when you miss home. It means that you came from a very happy one.'

But the rest of Mrs Hughes' words were lost to Lily. The final piece of the jigsaw was complete. Whilst she didn't know exactly which twin was Mrs Hughes' daughter, she had all the information she needed to finish the letter and send it to his Lordship. Poor Mrs Hughes and the Crawley family had no idea what was about to unfold.

Downstairs in the drawing room Mr Carson had tea laid out for Aurelia, Robert, Cora and Doctor Forbes. Today was the day she was going to introduce the man in her life to her parents and if all went well he was going to ask for their permission to marry her.

Henry had arrived early and was dressed in his finest suit; he'd taken flowers for Cora and for Aurelia which they were both very appreciative of. Robert was impressed by his first impressions of the younger man, but he still hadn't fully come round to the idea of his daughter marrying a doctor and wasn't about to warm to him too easily, much to Cora's annoyance.

'So Doctor Forbes, Ella said that you've been made a permanent physician at the hospital. You must be very pleased.' Cora said as she took a sip from her tea.

The young doctor sat in front of her smiled politely at her.

'Yes that is correct Lady Grantham. I am to assist with his clinic at the hospital and then take on some of his home visits. Whilst the war has been over for many months, there are still some men needing continuous treatment for their injuries, not to mention the mental implications war has had on some of them.' Henry explained.

'Henry was trying to organise an additional type of clinic to help patients with mental health issues Mama.' Aurelia stated proudly, with a little pang that she wasn't more involved herself.

'There are a lot of men who returned home with various disorders because of the sights they had seen during the war, but there are others too, men and women who both need treatment for mental health problems that are going undiagnosed because it is such a taboo subject, even in today's world.' He explained with an almost defensive tone. His compassion for people was exactly what drew Aurelia to him and Cora could see why.

Robert on the other hand wasn't as impressed with the tone in which the conversation had taken; he didn't think such a graphic subject was suitable to be discussed in the presence of ladies.

'Do you ever go hunting Doctor Forbes?' He asked, bringing the conversation back to familiar ground.

'I don't hunt, no Lord Grantham; although I do go fishing occasionally. I sometimes venture into the Lake District and spend a few days fishing there.' Henry explained. 'Do you ever fish yourself Lord Grantham?'

'Not as often as I used to I regret to say. Maybe we could go out together one day.' Robert said and he genuinely meant it. For Aurelia's sake he did want to get to know the young man, but accepting him into the family wasn't going to be as easy.

'Perhaps you could show Henry the grounds Papa.' Aurelia suggested hopefully.

Robert thought about it for a moment and wasn't exactly overjoyed by the suggestion, but he could see the pleading look his daughter was giving him and had to relent.

'Perhaps I should; it seems a nice day out.' He replied.

Aurelia pulled the cord next to the fireplace and waited patiently for Mr Carson to arrive. He was there at the request of Lady Aurelia, but he also had a letter to delivery to his Lordship.

'Yes Milord?' He asked on entering the room.

'Ah Carson; Doctor Forbes and I are going out for a stroll around the grounds. Could you get his coat and hat and ask Bates to get mine.' Robert instructed.

'Certainly Milord. Also this arrived in the afternoon post for you.' Mr Carson replied as he handed the letter to his Lordship and proceeded to carry out Robert's instructions.

Robert put the letter into his coat pocket to be read later. For now he needed to give all of his attentions to this potential son-in-law that his daughter wanted him to get to know; for her sake, he would always do anything.

Once Robert and Henry were out of the house, Aurelia turned to her mother with anxious excitement.

'Well Mama, what do you think of him?'

'He seems lovely my darling. I have no doubts that he will make you very happy and take very good care of you.' Cora said with a broad smile.

'Do you really mean that Mama? I was so worried you wouldn't like him. What do you think Papa makes of him?' Aurelia said quickly, her nerves and her excitement mingling into one long sentence.

'I think he's coming round; he may never be wholly comfortable with him, but I think he can accept him.' Cora replied confidently.

As he had expected, once on his own with the young man, Doctor Forbes began talking to Robert about his wanting to marry Aurelia.

'I do love her Lord Grantham and I do want to make her happy.' Henry said earnestly.

'I am sure you do.' Robert replied.

'I would very much like your permission to marry her.' Henry said as he turned to face Robert, stopping briefly by one of the largest trees on the estate.

Robert thought for a moment; he didn't know how to respond even though he had been expecting it. He did like the young man and he did seem good for Aurelia, but he just wished he could give his daughter a little more than just being the wife of a village doctor. However, if he couldn't fight the inevitable in their marriage, he could at least try to persuade the young man to allow them both to live at Downton Abbey.

'Alright Doctor Forbes, you have my blessing to marry my daughter; but I do have one condition. You must both live here at Downton Abbey.' Robert said.

Henry knew his reasons for wanting Aurelia to stay living at home, but for now he didn't care. He had his Lordships blessings and he couldn't have been happier. He smiled broadly at Robert and shook his hand with delight and genuine warmth fir his future father-in-law, before they began to walk back towards the house.

Once Robert was alone that evening, as soon as the girls had gone up to bed and he was left to drink his whisky in peace, he remembered the letter that had arrived for him earlier that day. He took his letter opener to it and sliced cleanly through the top of the envelope and unfolded the letter inside. He very nearly dropped it on reading its contents. Written on the yellowy paper were eight simple words:

I know your secret; I know your shame

Robert had no idea what the letter was referring to, nor who had written it; but it sent a chill up his spine and he didn't like it. But for now he would keep it hidden from Cora, perhaps nothing further would come of it, although he doubted it. Whoever had written it obviously had a plan, but he would make damn sure that he wouldn't be playing it. He had absolutely nothing to hide or to be ashamed of and he certainly wasn't about to let anyone try to convince him otherwise.

He put the crystal glass down on the side table and stormed off in the direction of his dressing room, his mind now filled with nothing but the words on that letter.