"Do you want to see what Tommy looked like when he was young?" Judith asked Barbara as they settled in for an afternoon tea of fluffy scones and fresh cream with the most fruity strawberry jam Barbara had ever seen.

The photograph albums fascinated Barbara. Tommy had been a handsome but lanky boy who had an air of certainty and morality yet an underlying vulnerability, a mix that Barbara had seen in him so often over the years. It was this duality that had initially broken down her biases against him on their first case. He had been confident and sure yet prepared to share his doubts and trust her with them in a way no one had ever trusted her before. If she thought about it he did not do that with others and she wondered what he had seen in her resentful and argumentative demeanour that had allowed him to believe in her.

There were lots of photographs of him before he went to Eton. He was playing with his parents and Judith, nursing young Peter, riding horses and sailing. He looked carefree and happy with his characteristic mop of unruly hair falling constantly over his left eye. As he grew up he lost the happy-go-lucky look and seemed more certain, and yet more haunted. The photos were more formal and he no longer touched anyone; even in group shots he was standing slightly off to the side. He looked lonely and burdened by some mysterious force. Some of the photographs of him in his Eton morning suit almost made her weep as she thought back to what he had told her in the chapel. She could see his suffering, almost hidden, behind his eyes.

The photographs stopped suddenly with a troubled seventeen year old boy, trying hard to look like a man, standing next to his frail father who was the shadow of himself from just a year before. It must have been a shock to Tommy to come back from Eton to discover his father so ill, and then to find his mother was having an affair. Barbara understood how devastating it must have been to a principled young Tommy. In his Oxford photographs his features had matured and Barbara thought he was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. He had been undeniably handsome when she met him and he had aged in an endearing way that she thought made him incredibly sexy but as a young man he had been sublime. She knew she was blushing and that Judith and Daze had seen the yearning in her eyes But all she could do was stare at the images.

There were only a few of these photographs, mainly with Judith and a few with Peter and she made a note to ask him if he had more. Only after his relationship with Helen began were there family photos again. She understood but still found it incredibly sad, especially when she could see that same haunted look had returned to his eyes. The last few years had been harder for Tommy than even she had realised because with her he had been lighter and more free. In the last few weeks she had seen only positive things in his eyes and she never wanted to see them clouded again.

The men returned laughing and joking just as she was looking at the last pages of the album. The dogs lolloped into the room and jumped up excitedly at Barbara who patted them happily. "Oh dear," Tommy said laughing, "you know it's serious when they bring out the photo albums."

They made their excuses and went upstairs to change for dinner. Tommy embraced her and started kissing her as soon as he had shut the door. "I missed you so much," he whispered in her ear as he nuzzled her neck, "I hope Mother didn't bore you too much."

"No, she was very sweet. You were a gorgeous young man you know."

"You mean I'm not gorgeous now?" he replied teasingly, "that's not what you said the other night."

Barbara wiggled free and turned to face him and frowned pretending to scrutinise him for flaws. She was really looking at his eyes and was glad that they were indeed the happy, untroubled eyes of his childhood. "Well..."

They laughed and he jokingly tackled her onto the bed and held her tightly in his arms. Suddenly his expression changed and he stopped kissing her. "What did we do to deserve to be this happy?"

"Everyone deserves happiness Tommy, even us."

"When we get back to London will you move in with me? We agreed to get married as soon as we can anyway but I can't imagine a night without you now. I don't want to imagine it." He stroked her face softly waiting for her reply.

She sighed peacefully. "Neither can I. My untidiness might put you off though. I might be better waiting until you can't escape."

Tommy started to tickle her. "I think we can train you and I can compromise...a bit. If all else fails I'll get a maid."

"Don't start that or we will never make it to dinner." Barbara kissed him firmly then jumped up and headed for the shower. The steaming water fell in luxuriously large drops from the overhead shower-head and ran in rivulets over her body. She was lost in thought about how happy she had been this week so she barely noticed Tommy stepping into the shower stall.

"I thought you might like me to wash your back while you decide if you'll move in."

"Of course I'll move in. There was never really a decision to make was there?" she replied as she handed him the soap. The way he rubbed the soap and then his hands over her was not only functional but extremely sensual. "What are you doing?" she asked suspicious of his motives.

"Washing your back," he replied innocently while his roving hands and the way he was kissing her neck and ear told a very different story. She screwed around to face him and with only token resistance gave in to his insistent caresses. She put her hand around his neck and pulled him towards her so she could kiss him. The water tumbled over his head and cascaded down his back dripping onto her with an irregular and erotic rhythm. As he kissed her harder she was pushed back against the large white tiles. Their coldness was a stark contrast to the water and seared against her shoulder blades sending quivers across her skin. She pushed against his chest, her hands clawing for purchase down his back. He trembled and groaned and shuffled forward so that the length of his torso was pressed against hers. Her side bumped painfully against a tap and she yelped. Tommy muttered an apology and swung her around against the side wall. It was clear where this was heading and Barbara shared his urgency. Suddenly Tommy stopped and pulled away. He started to get out of the shower. "Where are you going?" It was a demand not a question.

"I forgot something," he said in a low voice, "I won't be long."

"Don't!" she said dragging on his arm to pull him back, "come back here." The doctors had told her after her shooting that she might have trouble conceiving and she had done a quick mental sum; any risk was small. "I don't want any barriers between us Tommy."

He kissed her hard again but tenderness had replaced his lust and a surge of love pulsed through her. It was not long before Tommy's hands began to minister to her needs and she struggled not to cry out in ecstasy at his touch. Rapturous though the sensations were she needed to feel him as close as humanly possible. She started to guide him to exactly where she wanted him when he paused again. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Oh Tommy stop teasing me please!"

He obliged slowly and they stared at each other in awe. Barbara floated into a new realm of pleasure. She could feel the heat and the texture of his skin as he moved, and knowing it was him, and only him, rubbing so torridly against her drove her to a fast and powerful climax that seemed to start in her toes and fingers before centralising where she and Tommy were fused. She smiled broadly in her afterglow, her face misted by the spray of the shower as she felt Tommy shudder and bury his head in her shoulder to stifle his cries. They held each other close, kissing lovingly and silently savouring their union.

They were brought back to the world abruptly when the water ran cold and they had to hurriedly finish their showers. They laughed and splashed each other in the small space then dressed speedily as they noticed that dinner had started ten minutes before. Tommy looked unperturbed as they strode hand-in-hand into the dining room but Barbara knew her face was flushed, not only with embarrassment. No one said a word about their tardy timekeeping although they had waited politely for them to emerge.

Dinner conversation flowed easily but she nearly choked on her chocolate pudding when Daze informed Tommy that the boiler was not performing with so many guests in the house and that they had run out of hot water during her shower. As cool as ever he had simply commented that as he and Barbara were likely to visit more often now he would arrange to have a much larger one installed in the next week. He squeezed Barbara's knee under the table then ran his fingers lightly but suggestively up her thigh. She tried hard not to react but she noticed Judith smirking. "I should replace the one in London too," Tommy said almost as an afterthought, "Barbara will move in next week and I'd hate for either of us to need cold showers." The innuendo was clear and everyone around the table grinned knowingly. So this is how the aristocracy tell each other that they know their secrets.

Instead of retiring to another room they all stayed chatting around the dining table until Daze decided to call it a night and she and George excused themselves. Matthew and Judith suggested that they go riding the next morning. Tommy looked keen but there was no circumstance under which Barbara was getting on a horse. "I can't ride," she told them bluntly, "but Tommy will happily go with you. I think he misses riding in London."

"I can teach you," he said brightly.

"Not this weekend. I think a sleep in would be good for me and the ride good for you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, just don't fall off and hurt yourself."

The riders agreed a time and Judith and Matthew drifted into one room while Tommy and Barbara went outside for a walk. It was a crisp night but not cold and the stars were shining clearly in a sky swept by light brushstrokes of high cloud. They walked towards the hill behind Howenstowe and sat silently on a rock that Tommy told her was nicknamed The Lookout. He put his arm around her and she snuggled into his shoulder, her arm around his waist, as they watched the sea shimmer in the light of a near full moon. As the clouds wafted by islands of dark mystery appeared in the silvery water creating an ever changing landscape of illusion that captured her imagination. "I had a lovely day thank you. Your family have been great and Howenstowe is much less...frightening."

"I'm glad. I told you there was nothing to worry about. So now that excuse is out of the way we can go back to talking about our wedding. If I could do it tomorrow I would but we do need to plan it. You avoided discussing it in London but now we should discuss our options." It was clear that Tommy did not understand her hesitancy but he was gracious.

Barbara groaned inwardly hoping to avoid discussion tonight as she feared their ideas might be quite different. She had promised herself not to pull away from him but everything had been so perfect she did not want to talk too seriously. "Can't it wait?"

"What the wedding? Don't you want to marry me?" He released his grip slightly and she could tell he was serious.

"Yes! I do, very much but such a lot has happened in a month and my head is still spinning. I would prefer it if we could just fill out a form and it was done." He was watching her closely and seemed puzzled as if he was seeking more explanation. "This...relationship between us, well… it's private for me. I don't need to tell the world I love you, I only need to tell you."

Tommy hugged her closer. "I understand. I don't need a big wedding Barbara. We can go to registry office in London if you prefer, just the two of us. We can even borrow witnesses."

"No Tommy, I don't want to slink off either. I expect your family have expectations as well. I just don't want to make a decision yet, that's all. We will only do it once so we should try to get it right; to find what works for us," she said evenly not wanting to fight with him, especially about this topic.

"Ok let's think about this the same way we would review evidence," Tommy suggested, "big or small?"

"Small, most definitely, but I expect to include your family, and Winston and probably some of your friends, although I haven't even met then yet."

"Agreed. I will think about my friends, most of them are not really close. Location? London? Here? Some exotic hideaway?"

"Here probably. It makes more sense than London."

"Right. Religious or civil?"

"Er, civil probably."

"See we have narrowed it down quite easily. A small civil ceremony here it is then."

"They were my choices what about you?"

"Barbara I'd be happy enough to get married in zebra suits at the zoo if that was what you wanted. It will be perfect. Now we just need to work out the details but I want you to want the wedding too." He surprised her with a kiss that made her forget about the wedding.

"It's late, we should go to bed," she suggested as he started to nuzzle her neck.

"Best idea I've heard for hours," he said as they walked slowly back to the house, "we might have hot water again if you fancy another shower."