Hi, so here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy reading it and please take a couple of seconds after reading to review, even if you only write "I like it." or "I didn't like it." - the reviews keep me going and they make me want to write more and better. Please review if you want a quicker update. Thank you:)

Chapter 6:

One month later.

In the early hours of a friday morning, when the sky was still dark and a gloomy mist hovered over the groud, a tall man walked through the servants courtyard and headed towards the door which was immediatly opened for him by someone who had been waiting.

The tall mysterious man handed the younger man a piece of paper or some sort of message. They didn't talk much, they seemed to know exactly what they were doing. Right after he had given the man the letter, he turned around and headed back out into the fog.

"Oh and Andrew" the mysterious man began as he stopped and turned around "you do know which room it is, don't you?" he asked, staring at the younger man under his brow awaiting an answer.

"Yes Sir." he replied before coughing nervously.

"Good man." he added before walking back through the courtyard and out of sight after which the man at the door, Andrew, didn't waste any time before shutting the door and hurrying quielty back to his room.

As the morning arrived, three cars were being loaded up with bags and suitcases and the maids and servants were all hard at work.

The whole household was getting ready to go to Rosamund's house in London and while they were there, a dinner would be held to celebrate her fiftieth birthday.

"Are you sure he'll be alright by himself?" Mary asked as she handed George over to Matthew.

"Mary I can assure you he'll be quite alright with Nanny Hulmes." Robert repied, staring at his daughter under his brows.

"But what if he gets sick? I hear some of the children in the village have caught the flu..." she said, stroking George's hair. It was the first time she would be without him and she couldn't help but worry.

"I'm sure he'll be just fine, besides we will only be away one night." Matthew answered as he gently rocked his son in his arms.

"Mhm... I suppose you're right." she sighed.

"The cars are ready My Lord." Carson announced as he walked into the drawing room where everyone had been waiting.

"Thank you Carson." Robert replied as he made his way through the room towards the hallway closely followed by the rest of the family.

"Shall I take Master George, ?" the nanny asked as she reached out for the baby.

"Ye-" Matthew began as he handed his son over to the older woman.

"No." Mary said, cutting him off. "That won't be necessary thank you Nanny, we will take him to the nursery." she added as she took George from her.

"Very well Milady." She replied, a warm smile on her face. She admired Lady Mary for spending so much time with her son, she never saw her as the maternal type and thought she would be the one to bring George up.

"Mary dear, do hurry, the train leaves in half an hour and I should hate to be the late." Violet said as her granddaughter walked towards the stairs.

"I'll be right down Granny." Mary replied, taking her time to walk up the stairs. She didn't like the idea of leaving George behind but she knew that taking him with them wouldn't be a good idea either; what was she supposed to do with a one month old child at a cocktail party? She did feel rather guilty though but as Matthew pointed out, it was only for one night.

"I don't think Aunt Rosamund would mind if we were a little late Granny." Sybil pointed out as she walked over to her grandmother.

"Oh no dear, but I would - it's so very middle-class to arrive late at a dinner party." Violet sighed before shaking her head slightly and walking over to a footman to complain about one of her suitcases not being loaded onto the car.

Sybil gave Tom a knowing look and they shared a smile.

"Are you sure it is such a good idea to leave him? What if he catches the flu from the children in the village?" Mary asked Matthew as she laid George down in his crib.

"Darling, he'll be fine and I very much doubt he will catch the flu, he never comes into contact with any other children apart from Lily and she very clearly isn't ill." Matthew replied, trying to reassure her.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I just can't help but worry..." she sighed as she gently strocked George's little hand.

"You don't have to apologize, it's perfectly normal to worry but he'll be fine, I promise." he said before kissing his son's forehead and walking towards the door.
"Goodbye darling, Mama won't be gone long." she whispered before bending over and pressing yet another kiss to his forehead. She looked up at Matthew who smiled at her and then followed him out of the nursery, looking over her shoulder at her son as she left.

"Mary, Matthew, what on earth have you been doing? The poor chauffeur has been sat waiting in the car for twenty minutes." Robert said as he saw his daughter and son-in-law appear at the top of the stairs.

"Sorry Papa, it's my fault I'm afraid." Mary said as she joined her father at the bottom of the stairs.

"Well are you ready now? We had better get going if we aren't to miss the train." he answered.

"We are." she replied before looking over at Matthew and following her father out of the house and into the car.

"I have rather missed London." Mary said as she stepped out of the car and breathed in the city air.

"So have I." Edith added as she walked around the car and onto the pavement by Mary.

"I love the sound of my heels clicking against the pavement, don't you?" she asked her sister as she waited for Matthew to get out of the car.

"Mhm, it's definatly a sound you don't hear often at Downton!" she replied enthusiasticly.

Matthew offered Mary his arm and they walked together up to the house.

"Ah! Here you are!" Rosamund said as she opened the front door and walked down the stairs to greet her family.

"Happy birthday dear." Violet said as she kissed her daughter on the cheek.

"Thank you Mama, shall we head inside?" She suggested before gesturing for everyone to follow her.

"I thought we would be the last here." Mary said after looking round and finding that they were the only people there.

"On the contrary, you are the first to arrive." Rosamund replied with a warm smile on her face.

"We are? Oh goody!" Violet said, sounding delighted.

Rosamund looked at her mother and shook her head in disbelief.

"Anyway, shall we go through?" she asked.

Mary had found dinner rather dull, the only bit of excitement they had had was when Larry Grey spilt his wine all over himself. She hadn't been able to stop herself from laughing, she kept on picturing his face in her head when the wine had stained his dinner shirt and he had jumped up from the table.

After dinner, everyone enjoyed the new cocktails in the drawing room.

"Ah Mary, there you are." Rosamund said as she made her way over to where her eldest niece was standing.

"These cocktails are delicious." Mary said before taking another sip of her drink.

"Yes they are rather, aren't they?" she replied. "There is something I have being wanting to tell you." she said, looking rather serious all of a sudden.

"Oh?" Mary asked sounding intrigued.

"Earlier on, there was a knock at the door and I was rather surprised to see who it was." she began.

"You are getting me quite worried now." she replied.

"Oh no dear, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about but - you see, it was that awful man you used to be engaged to, Sir Richard." she said, staring at Mary for a reaction.

Having heard his name again, Mary nearly dropped her glass.

"What did he want?" she asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"Well he somehow knew that you would be here - in London - and he wanted to see you but I turned him away and told him you were busy." she began. "And then on his way out, he asked if you had brought George with you, which to be perfectly honest I found rather odd..." she said, staring into thin air.

Remembering what Richard had said to her the last time they had met, Mary started to get increasingly worried.

"Well what did you say?" she asked impatiently.

"Well the truth of course, I told him that he was at Downton. Do you have any idea wh-" but before she could finish her sentence, Mary had put down her glass and hurried into the crowd to find Matthew.

What on earth is going on? Rosamund thought to herself.

"Matthew!" Mary shouted as she caught a glimpse of him stood talking to Tom.

"Mary, what is it?" he asked, looking confused. He could tell that something wasn't right.

"We must go back to Downton, now." she told him.

"Why? What's the matter?" he asked.

"It's Richard, I think he is going to do something to George." she replied in a shaky voice.

"What?!" Matthew exclaimed. He put is glass down on the table and looked into his wife's eyes for answers.

"He came here, looking for him. He's going to take him Matthew! We have to leave." she said holding back her tears.

Matthew stood and listened to her in shock and then realising he could lose his son, a bolt of adrenaline ran through him and he grabbed Mary's hand and pushed his way through the crowd of guests. Tom followed them out into the hallway.

"I need a car, do you have a driver waiting?" Matthew asked the butler as they arrived in the hallway.

"Yes Sir." The butler replied, surprised by how anxious Matthew looked. "If you would like to follow me." he said before gesturing towards the door.

"I'm coming too." Tom interrupted. "Lily's with George." he said.

"Oh god, I hadn't thought... We must tell Sybil." Mary replied, taking the time to think.

"I'll go get her." he decided before heading back into the drawing room in search of his wife.

Once they had told Sybil, all four of them had rushed into the car and set off in direction of the station. They hadn't told anyone else where they that they were leaving, Rosamund knew that something wasn't quite right but she hadn't asked any questions.

"Could you drive a little faster please?" Matthew asked the driver as he grew more and more impatient and worried.

"Not much faster, sir." The driver answered before speeding up a little.

Mary sighed and looked at Matthew for comfort.

"I won't let anything happen." he promised her.

Mary closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. Seeing how worried she was, Matthew reached out for her hand and held it tightly in his.

When they finally arrived at the train station, Tom and Matthew rushed to the front desk, hoping they would make the next train.

"The next train should arrive in twenty minutes, there isn't one before that." Tom said as he and Matthew walked back to where Mary and Sybil had been waiting.

"Twenty minutes?!" Sybil asked, shocked.

"We can't wait that long!" Mary exclaimed, her eyes wide open in shock.

"Mary we don't have a choice." Matthew replied, walking up to his wife and pulling her into his arms where he held her close to his chest although doing so in public was quite unproper.

Sybil and Tom sat down side by side on a wooden bench and patiently waited for the train to arrive knowing that that was their only option.

Back at Downton Andrew was feeling rather anxious, the message he had recieved had told him exactly what he had to do but having read it, he wasn't quite sure he would be able to do what it asked but he knew that if he didn't do what was expected of him, he would be in trouble.

He had done some jobs for people before but they had only been little and they certainly hadn't envolved putting anyone's life in danger. He had thought about it all day and had decided to go ahead with it in fear of losing his own life.

There was a fair in the village that evening which meant the footmen and maids that weren't in London would be away for the evening. The only people in the house apart from him were the children and the nanny.

After hesitating, he reached into the kitchen draws and pulled out a box of Mrs. Patmore's matches, put them in his pocket and headed upstairs. When he reached the room he had been told to set alite, he very carefully pushed the door opened and peared into the room. He looked over at the single bed in the corner of the room where the nanny had fallen asleep and then he noticed the children both fast asleep in their own beds. He took a deep breath and closed the door behind him. With shaky hands he carefully placed some cloth and rags up against the door and with one quick hand movement, he lit the match. He watched the flame for a second, took a deep breath and without a second thought he dropped the match onto the rags, stood up and walked away without looking back.

"We will need to find a driver, I hadn't thought about it before but we don't have a car here." Matthew said as he stepped off the train onto the platform.
"Oh gosh I hadn't thought about that..." Sybil said, wondering what they were going to do.

"How could we have not thought of this before?" Mary asked, souding almost defeated. All she wanted was to get to her baby, that was all that mattered to her. She knew she should never have left him, not after what Richard had said. How could she have been so stupid? If anything happened to George she would never forgive herself.

"Don't worry, we'll find a driver." Tom said, sounding a little more optemistic than the rest.

"Tom's right, we will get there." he said reassuringly before patting Tom's shoulder in appreciation.

As time started to pass, Andrew felt more and more nervous. He was beggining to regret what he had done but he knew he couldn't do anything about it.
He had packed his bags and was just about to leave when he realised what he was doing was wrong. He dropped his bag and ran back inside and back up the stairs to the nursery. Thick smoke filled the hallway and caused him to cough. Flames had started to grow and to his horror he noticed that they had already made their way into the nursery.

Aswell as the flames, the children's cries also filled the air. At that point Andrew knew he had to get the children out of the room. He took of his jacket, put it over his head and ran through the smoke looking for another way into the room. Luckily, he found another door leading into the nursery through one of the rooms next to it. He had to kick the door down as it had become jammed. He rushed over to Lily who had gotten out of bed and was stood screaming in a corner of the room. He picked her up and went straight to little George who had turned red because of all the crying he had been doing. He scooped him up in his other arm and covered him with his jacket.

Once he had got the children out of the burning room, he didn't know what to do with them. He thought for a minute and eventually made up his mind and took them to the other side of the house where he thought they would be safe and laid them both down in a bed in what he assumed was a guest room before running back to nursery and throwing a quilt over the growing flames.

He looked at the nanny who was clearly unconcious but fearing for his own safety, he decided he had done enough already and rushed back downstairs to collect his bag and with that he left Downton without even looking back.

As he left, he noticed his ex employer, Sir Richard, standing in the garden with a satisfied grin on his face as he watched the flames blow through one of the hallway windows. Andrew ignored him and without saying a word, carried on walking until he was out of sight.

A couple of minutes later a car drove through the gates at Downton which caused Sir Richard to flee. Although he was a little disappointed the fire hadn't yet had the chance to spread, he was satisfied with Andrew's work and hoped that the fire would cause Mary and Matthew as much pain and sadness as they had caused him.

"There is no sign of Sir Richard's car." Tom pointed out as he peared out of the car window.

"What if he has already taken him?" Mary asked, sounding more worried than before.

Matthew didn't know what to answer, he didn't know what he could say to make it all better, he could only hope his son and niece were safe. Suddenly he started looking around as if he had smelt something... It smelt awfully like... smoke!

"Stop! Stop the car, let us out!" Matthew shouted as he stood up in the car before it had even stopped.

The driver slammed his brakes on which caused the car to skid a little.

"What is it?!" Mary asked, looking wide-eyed at her husband who had just jumped out of the car.

"Fire! Downton's on fire!" he shouted before running up to the main entrance as fast as he could without wasting a second.

"Oh god no!" Mary shouted as she realised that her son must still be inside. She didn't have time to think though, before she could say anything else she found herself running after Matthew towards Downton along side her sister and brother-in-law.

"Mary stay outside, I'll get George." Matthew said as he pushed the door open and walked in.

"No, no. Matthew I am not staying outside whilst my son is inside. I'm coming too." she said stubbornly trying to push past him.

"Mary, my darling please, I can't risk losing you. I will not come back out without George, I promise." he whispered before pressing a warm kiss to her lips and heading upstairs into the smoke, followed closely by Tom.

"I can't just stand here... What if-" Mary began but couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence. She couldn't even begin to imagine what she would do if she lost her son.

"They aren't in here!" Matthew shouted as he walked into the thick smoke and peared into the library.

"Are you sure?" Tom asked as he squinted his eyes and joined Matthew at the door.

"I can't see them." he replied. "The other door." he remembered before feeling his way through the smoke towards the next room in order to get in through the other door.

"Lily! Lily!" Tom called out and over again as he followed Matthew into the next room.

"I can't see a thing!" Matthew shouted as he pushed his way through the door and into the nursery.

"Lily!" Tom shouted again, before taking of his jacket and using it to cover his head.

"Tom, over here!" Matthew shouted as he found the nanny unconscious in her bed.

"Oh god." Tom said as he rushed over to Matthew who was trying to wake the nanny. "Is she...?"

"No, she's just unconscious. We need to get her out of here." Matthew answered, trying to stay calm as he pulled the covers off of the bed and scooped the older woman into his arms.

Tom walked in front of Matthew and cleared the way for him as he carried the nanny out of the nursery and into the thick smoke that filled the hallway.

Matthew walked as fast as he could and took her downstairs where Sybil was anxiously waiting by the telephone.

"Where's Lily? Why haven't you got her?" Sybil asked Tom with a worried look on her face as she saw him rushing down the stairs.

"She wasn't in the nursery." Tom said as he removed his jacket from where he had been holding it in front of his mouth.

Sybil closed her eyes for a second, she didn't know if she was relieved that her daughter wasn't in the fire or worried about her whereabouts; she felt a bit of both really. When she opened her eyes she noticed the nanny in Matthew's arms. "Goodness, is she alright?" she asked in shock as she rushed over to Matthew and Tom.

"She needs air, and an ambulance." Matthew replied without stopping as he carried her outside into the fresh air and layed her down on a bench by the door.
"The telephone wire has been cut, I can't telephone anyone - not even the firemen!" Sybil exclaimed.

"We need to get help." Matthew said. He scratched his brow while he thought. "Sybil, stay with her and Tom, do you know where the sand buckets are kept?" he asked.

Tom thought for a moment before answering. "Yes, yes I do."

"Good, you get them, try to keep the fire down and-" he stopped talking for a second and looked around. "Where's Mary?" he asked Sybil.

"She ran upstairs, just after you. I thought she would be with you." Sybil said innocently as she began to shake with worry.

"She's upstairs?" Matthew asked again, just to make sure.

"Yes, you couldn't just expect us to wait here whilst our children's lives are in danger." she replied as tears appeared in her eyes.

Matthew didn't react to what she was saying, all he could think about was Mary and George.

"Tom, get the sand buckets!" he shouted as he ran back towards the staircase.

He found himself trapped in the thick smoke yet again that was beggining to spread around the corridors.

Mary was starting to panic as she searched the rooms for the children. The air was filling with smoke which caused her to cough. She opened every door she passed but there was no sign of them.

"Lily! Lily darling!" she shouted as she made her way through the smoke.

She had to stop for a second and lean against the wall to take a breath and calm down. She was shaking with worry and her legs were beggining to feel weak. She felt like crying but she wasn't going to give up on her son so she covered her mouth with her hand and carried on looking.

Suddenly she froze. She thought she had heard a noise. She stood as still as she could and listened out for it again.

Just then she heard it again. "Mama? Mama?!" It was Lily, she was sure of it. She began running towards the voice. She could tell Lily was afraid, she could hear it in her shaky little voice.

"Lily?!" she shouted again, hoping that her niece would hear her.

She listened out for an answer but she heared nothing. She decided to carry on walking and checking the rooms because she knew that Lily's voice had come from that direction.

"Lily?" she shouted over and over.

All of a sudden she heard a banging noise coming from one of the rooms near the end of the corridor so she rushed towards it as fast as she could. When she arrived in front of it she could here crying coming from inside the room.

She tried to open the door but it seemed jammed.

"Are you in there Lily?" she asked through the door.

"Aunt Mary?" she heard.

She felt relieved when she finally heard her niece.

"Don't worry darling, I'm coming." she said in a comforting voice as she pushed the door a little harder. The sound of sobbing nearly broke her heart. "Darling, is George alright?" she asked.

"He won't stop crying." Lily replied in a innocent and worried voice.

"Alright, I'm coming, don't worry. " she told her. "Move away from the door, I'm going to push it open." she added.

She gathered all her strength and pushed the door one last time and it flew open. The room was no expection and was also full of smoke.

Mary ran straight over to the bed where George lay, crying his eyes out. She immediatly picked him up and held him close to her chest before picking up a spare sheet and covering him up in it.

Lily ran over to her aunt and grabbed hold of her tightly.

"It's alright darlings, you must be brave for me now, can you do that?" she asked, looking down at Lily who nodded her head.

She took her hand in hers and held it tightly.

"Stay with me." She told her before heading towards the door.

She looked down at George who had calmed down a little, took a deep breath and headed out into the hallway.

She pushed George closer to her chest and hurried down the corridor towards the stairs. She could hardly see for all the smoke and she was afraid but she knew that she had to stay strong for the children.

"I want my mummy." Lily said sweetly as she looked up at Mary with tears in her eyes.

"I know darling, you will see her soon, I promise." she replied, pulling her closer to her side.

Just as Mary was beggining to feel really worried, she heared Matthew's voice.

"Matthew!" she shouted. "I've got the children, I've got them!" she said, walking towards his voice.

"Mary!" he shouted in relief as he saw her appear through the smoke with both children. "How are they?" he asked before quickly kissing Mary's forehead. He was relieved to see her, when Sybil had told him that she had gone upstairs, he had feared the worst.

"I'm not sure, I think they're alright." she replied. "Take Lily, she frightened." she said.

Matthew bent down and scooped Lily into his arms and lead them out of the smoke to the top of the stairs.

Mary kept George as close to her as possible as she rushed down the stairs towards the doors.

"Darling!" Sybil exclaimed when she saw Mary and Matthew appear with her daughter. She ran towards Matthew who passed Lily to her.

"Mama!" Lily cried as she clung on to Sybil.

"Are you alright?" She asked as she quickly examined her daughter.

"I think she's alright." Matthew answered. "How's George?" he asked Mary as he walked over to her and his son.

Mary took the cover off of him and had a good look at him before replying. "He's fine, he's alright." She sighed as she closed her eyes in relief before kissing her son's head.

"Thank god." Matthew replied whilst stroking George's head. He then turned to face Mary and pressed a warm tender kiss to her lips. He couldn't tell her how much she meant to him and how worried he had been, he simply couldn't find the words.

"Thank you." She whispered as he pulled away. She was so very grateful to him and she felt so blessed to have him by her side every step of the way. She knew she could rely on him, trust him. He was her stick.

"I have to help Tom." Matthew said all of a sudden realising that it wasn't over and that Tom was still inside.

"Matthew!" Matthew shouted as she grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him back. "I love you." She whispered before pressing yet another kiss to his lips.

Matthew arrived up stairs and found Tom throwing buckets of sand on what was left of the flames.

"Tom." he said as he rushed over to him, grabbed the bucket from his hand and took over.

Tom looked at him with a grateful expression in his eyes before moving back away from the flames.

After a couple more minutes, the fire eventually died out and both men walked away from it safely, apart from a few superficial burns on their hands.

That's all for this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!
If you have any suggestions or ideas for the next chapter i'm all ears.

Do you want this story to end soon, or should I write more? Please answer me as I'm not sure if I should end it soon.
Please review and tell me what you thought. Thanks again!x