November 1913

As sleep eluded her yet again, Mary lay in bed turning the problem over in her head. It was such a troublesome annoyance. She wanted Tom to make love to her, but he wouldn't without a method to hand to prevent her from conceiving a baby.

She was all on board with that part. She remembered all too well the horrible feeling of wondering if she was with child after Pamuk had attacked her. Admittedly, it perhaps might not feel quite the same if the child was Tom's but the fact remained that she was still unmarried and she was not naïve enough to believe that society would be any kinder to her if it became known she was expecting a baby by one of her family's servants. No, Tom's instincts were to be applauded. That was not where she took issue with his plans for them.

The crux of the problem was the buying of the shields. She had the money for the contraceptives while he didn't, but instead of taking the sensible path and letting her give him the money, he was insisting on saving up for them himself for reasons she could only assume had something to do with his male pride. She had no idea how much Tom earned, but she couldn't imagine it was a huge amount. It certainly wouldn't be anywhere near a gentleman's income and definitely not as much as she had at her disposal.

She sighed, wondering if there was some way she could get him to take the money. She didn't hold out much hope, though. He was stubborn, her Tom, and she simply couldn't see that he would give way on this issue. Given that he hadn't accepted a paltry shilling for milk early in their relationship, she very much doubted he would change his mind in this instance. What she saw as their joint problem, he obviously saw very much as his sole responsibility.

It was frustrating. In more ways than one. But there must be a way. There was always a way. Obviously, it wasn't as simple as being able to go and buy these things herself, but there must be a way.

She turned over, reshaping her pillow under her head, dwelling on the problem until the kernel of an idea came to her.


'You want me to what?' Anna said faintly, shocked to the core by what Lady Mary had just asked of her.

'I want you to investigate whether there's a way for you to buy contraceptives. The kind men wear on their… their thing,' Mary repeated, her cheeks heating with the awkwardness of having this conversation, but she was determined to press on.

Anna shook her head firmly, absolutely resolute in her refusal. 'No. I'm sorry, milady, but no.'

'Why not? Is it because you disapprove?' Mary questioned, determined to talk her maid around.

'Well, I don't approve of it, no, however, if you want to… er, if you want to do such things, that is your business and your choice, but that's not why I'm saying no to your request,' Anna replied, still flabbergasted that her mistress should ask such a thing of her without so much as batting an eyelid.

'Then why?' Mary pressed.

'Because, believe it or not, I have a reputation to uphold too,' Anna said, trying hard to keep a lid on her indignation that Lady Mary apparently hadn't even considered that. 'I don't want people thinking I'm the kind of person who does… that without being married.'

'Oh. Oh, right,' Mary said, suddenly ashamed that it hadn't even occurred to her that as a young unmarried woman, Anna wasn't in any better position than she herself was to seek out and buy methods of birth control. 'I'm sorry, Anna, I never thought.'

'No, you didn't,' Anna said, tightly.

'I'm sorry. I realise now that I shouldn't have asked if of you,' Mary said earnestly, understanding too late that she had offended her maid, someone she valued highly. 'Please forgive me.'

Anna gave a slight nod, knowing that, in the long run, it would do no good to hold Lady Mary's self-centred outlook against her.

Satisfied that Anna had forgiven her, Mary cast around wildly for another solution to her problem now that the one she'd conceived in the wee small hours was in tatters. 'What about someone else? Could you ask someone else to buy them?'

'And have them think they were for me? No, I couldn't,' Anna replied stiffly, wondering how Lady Mary couldn't see that that was almost the same as asking her to buy them herself.

Mary sighed and slumped down onto the edge of her bed. 'Well, it's back to the drawing board, I suppose,' she said, despondently.

Anna looked at her, her lips pursed, her mind whirring. 'I'm assuming that you want to use these… things with Mr Branson.'

'Yes,' Mary nodded. 'Of course. Who else would I want to use them with?'

'Well, why can't he buy them?' Anna asked, perplexed as to why Mary would ask her instead of getting her lover to buy such intimate items.

'He won't take the money for them from me,' Mary explained, downhearted that her plan had come to nothing. 'I've offered, but he says he will only buy them when he's got enough money of his own to do so.'

Anna nodded, understanding the situation better now. 'Ah, right, I see. Well, I suppose that's quite… gentlemanly of him,' she said, placatingly.

Mary cast her a look that quite plainly said she did not find it as gentlemanly as Anna did. 'It's foolish is what it is. I have the money to afford them, but he won't take it because of some ridiculous pride thing.'

'It's clearly not ridiculous to him, milady,' Anna pointed out, mildly. 'If it wasn't important to him, he would just have taken the money.'

'I know,' Mary sighed, flopping back onto her bed and staring up at the ceiling. 'It's some notion of chivalry, I know, and I do love that he is so honourable and chivalrous, but it also means I have to wait to… well, you know. And I don't want to wait.'

Cautiously, Anna approached the bed and stood next to her mistress, an idea occurring to her. 'What if…'

Mary rolled her head to look at her maid. 'What?'

'What if I asked him to buy them? Mr Branson. What if I said I had a friend who wanted some but couldn't buy them themselves and asked him to help? He could buy them and give them to me and then I'd give them to you,' Anna said, outlining the basics of the plan.

Mary sat up eyeing Anna with interest, turning that idea over in her mind. 'I thought you said you didn't want people thinking they were for you.'

'I don't, but it would be different with Mr Branson. Eventually, he would know the truth, wouldn't he? He'd know they weren't for me.'

'Yes! Yes, he would. I could tell him once we'd got the things. I'd have to, wouldn't I, if we're to use them,' Mary replied, her face lighting up. 'And you'd be willing to ask him?'

Anna gave a small shrug. 'I suppose so if you're so set on it and he'd eventually know they weren't for me.'

'Oh, thank you, Anna! I think you've hit on the perfect solution! And, yes, I am set on it. I love him and I… I want to be intimate with him. I want him to take away the memory of what Pamuk did to me,' Mary said, eager to explain to her maid why it was important to her to make love with Tom.

'And you think that, um, doing it with Mr Branson will do that?' Anna asked, her face pinking up at the unaccustomed and rather risqué topic of conversation.

'Yes, I think so,' Mary nodded. 'At least, I hope it will.'

'All right then. I'll ask him,' Anna said, deciding to help her mistress, however awkward the whole situation made her feel. She felt compelled to add a warning, though. 'But if he says no, that will be an end to it, milady. You'll just have to wait because I won't ask anyone else.'

'I understand, Anna, I understand,' Mary said, reaching out to squeeze Anna's hand in gratitude. 'I will give you the money before you leave.'

'How much are they?' Anna asked, curiously.

'Er, I don't exactly know. I just know that they are expensive. I'll give you a guinea,' Mary said, getting up to walk over to her dressing table.

'A guinea?' Anna squawked, shocked at the enormous sum.

'Do you think that won't be enough?' Mary asked, turning to look at Anna anxiously.

'Oh, I should think it will be more than enough. At least, I hope it would. No wonder Mr Branson has got to save up,' Anna replied, feeling somewhat faint that Lady Mary was prepared to give her a whole guinea – over half a month's wages for her – to buy contraceptives.

'And you'll ask him today?' Mary pressed, ferreting around in her dressing table for her money purse.

'Um, yes, I'll try,' Anna confirmed, her eyes wide as Lady Mary turned around with the guinea in her hand. She took the guinea and stashed it carefully in her apron pocket, trying not to think what she could do with a sum of money like that. She certainly wouldn't be throwing it away on birth control like Lady Mary.


'Mr Branson!' Anna called, hurrying after Tom as he left the big house once elevenses was finished. 'Might I have a word, please?'

Tom stopped walking and turned, waiting for her in the yard with a smile on his face. 'Anna. What can I do for you?'

She cast a look over at Thomas and Miss O'Brien smoking over on the side of the yard, both of them watching her and Tom without even bothering to hide their blatant interest.

'Over here,' she said, tugging him to the other side of the yard as far away from the gruesome twosome as possible. 'I need your help, Tom.'

'Is everything all right?' he asked, feeling concerned for her.

'Yes, yes, everything's fine. I just… well, it's for a friend really. A favour for a friend, but I couldn't think of anyone else to ask.'

'Oh, all right. Well, ask away. If I can help, I will,' he said, intrigued.

'Um, well, um… my, er, my friend, she has a young man,' Anna started, her heart beginning to beat uncomfortably fast as she realised quite how awkward and difficult this conversation was going to be. 'And, er, well, they… they…'

Tom waited, watching curiously as Anna's face grew redder as she stuttered through whatever it was she was trying to say and then her words petered out completely.

She blew out a sigh, looking up at him apologetically. 'I'm sorry. This is something of an awkward conversation for me to be having with you, but I told my friend I'd try.'

'All right. Well, um, take your time,' Tom said, wondering what on earth Anna was trying to talk to him about.

She took a deep breath, composing herself. 'Let me start again. I have a friend, a good friend, and she wants to be, um… intimate with her young man,' she said, forcing herself to look Tom in the face.

'Oh, er, right,' Tom said awkwardly, puzzled as to why Anna was telling him this.

'Exactly, but she, er, she doesn't want to risk having a… a baby,' Anna continued, feeling her cheeks heating even more. 'So, she asked me if I could help her procure some…some contraceptives. Some, er, male shields. If that's possible.'

Anna's voice dropped so low and quiet on the last few sentences that Tom wouldn't have been sure he'd heard her right if it wasn't for the hugely embarrassed look on her now scarlet face. He glanced over at Thomas and Miss O'Brien, seeing them watching curiously, and was glad that Anna had her back to them. The colour of her face would have been an instant giveaway that they were not talking about anything as innocuous as the weather.

'Why are you telling me this, Anna?' he asked, his voice almost as quiet as hers had been.

'Oh, yes, sorry, I realise this must seem very odd. But, well, I didn't know how to help her – to tell the truth, it all took me somewhat by surprise as you might imagine – but anyway, then I thought that maybe you would be able to buy them for her,' Anna said quickly, almost tripping over her words.

'Me?' Tom said, his eyes widening.

'Yes.'

Tom looked at Anna, perplexed as to why she would think to come to him for help with carrying out her mysterious friend's request. 'Why can't her young man buy them?' he asked, entirely reasonably.

Anna stared at him, her eyes wide at this unexpected question, scrabbling for a plausible explanation as she realised that perhaps she and Lady Mary had not thought this plan through as well as they should have.

'Er, well, he's a farm labourer, you see, and he can't get away to buy them, not during the day,' she gabbled, improvising quickly. 'And, of course, there's the fact that he doesn't want to be seen buying anything like that locally in case it ruins her reputation because people around here would know that they are walking out together, you see. So, I thought maybe you could get them when you take his lordship to York or Ripon or Thirsk or somewhere. Somewhere where nobody knows you or where you're from. That was what I was thinking anyway.'

Tom continued to stare at her, a suspicion forming in his mind as he listened to her rambling reason for asking him this rather peculiar favour.

'I wouldn't expect you to buy them out of your own money if that's what you're thinking. She's given me the money for them,' Anna said, thrusting her hand into her apron pocket and bringing out the guinea Mary had given her. Glancing around to make sure no-one was about, she opened her hand and showed Tom the coin.

He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the coin, his suspicion coagulating into a certainty. He raised his head, pinning Anna with a look. 'Anna, tell me the truth. This friend of yours, it's not Lady Mary, is it?' he asked in a low voice.

Anna gazed up at him, looking as guilty as sin. 'No. No, er, no, of course, it isn't,' she bluffed, her heart sinking as she realised he'd rumbled their ruse.

Tom cocked a disbelieving eyebrow. 'Right. So, you have a working-class friend with a farm labourer beau who just so happens to have a guinea to spare to buy contraceptives, do you?'

Anna bit her lip and then caved, knowing it was pointless to carry on with the charade.

'Oh, all right, no, I don't. You're right; Lady Mary asked me if there was some way I could help her buy these, er, these things,' Anna confessed, her blush deepening as she discussed the matter with the very man Lady Mary intended to use these infernal things with. 'I refused to buy them myself. I can't do that. The best I could come up with was for me to ask you to buy them and pretend they were for someone else. I'm sorry I lied to you.'

Tom sighed, feeling sorry for the maid and a little cross with Mary for putting her up to it. 'No, I'm sorry, Anna. It was wrong of Mary to put you in that position. She shouldn't have done that. You have a reputation to uphold as much as she does.'

'Hmm, I'm not sure she understands that,' Anna replied, feeling disloyal to be slighting Lady Mary like that, but relieved that Tom understood how difficult it had been for her. 'Will you take the guinea and buy them?'

'No, I won't,' he said, shaking his head. 'I told her I wouldn't take her money and I won't. Give it back to her.'

'She won't be happy about it,' Anna warned him.

'No, but that's my problem, not yours. I'll deal with that. And I'll make sure she doesn't put you in such an awkward position again, I promise.' Tom said, resolving to speak to Mary once more about the matter. 'Can you ask her to come to the cottage this afternoon?'

Anna nodded and put the wretched coin back into her pocket, relieved that her involvement in this particular enterprise was over. 'Any particular time?'

Tom mentally scanned his appointment book for that afternoon. 'I can be there about three o'clock.'

'All right, I'll tell her.'

'Thank you. And, again, I'm sorry, Anna, that you've found yourself in the middle of all this,' Tom said, giving her a small smile.

'That's all right. They just don't think like us, do they?' Anna replied, returning his smile. 'Life usually happens exactly how they want it to, doesn't it?'

Tom huffed out a little laugh. 'Yes. Although I'm not sure she would agree with you these last few months.'

'Maybe not,' Anna said, exchanging a knowing look with him. 'I'll pass your message along.'

Tom nodded his thanks and took his leave, heading to the garage to continue the morning's work.


'What do you reckon that was all about?' Thomas asked his smoking companion as they watched Tom and Anna end their conversation and part company.

Miss O'Brien shrugged. 'Looked like she were showing him something.'

'What though?'

'I don't know, do I? I haven't got the eyes of a bleeding hawk, have I? Maybe there's something brewing between them. I've seen them having cosy chats out here before,' she said, puffing out a stream of smoke.

Thomas twisted his mouth, glancing down at her. 'That wouldn't be good for us. If he's having it away with Anna, he's hardly likely to be having it away with Lady Mary too, is he?'

She shrugged again. 'Maybe he is. Maybe one woman isn't enough for the likes of him.'

Thomas wrinkled his nose in distaste. 'No, I don't think so. He's the type that would think it's ungentlemanly to have two women on the go at once, I'd lay money on that. And if he is at it with Lady Mary, I don't think he'd be daft enough to be giving it to her maid too.'

'If you say so.'

'Anyway, I had the impression that she's sweet on Mr Bates,' Thomas said thoughtfully as he watched Anna disappear back inside the house.

'Well, if I had to pick between that curmudgeonly, old cripple and the smart alec chauffeur, I know which one I'd go for. At least Branson is young enough to give a decent show of it in the sack. Not like Bates with his middle-aged gut and his gammy leg,' Miss O'Brien observed with a grimace.

Thomas curled his lip, not caring to think about either of those men in the throes of passion. 'Well, let's hope she isn't having a leg over with the chauffeur. That would scupper our plans to sell a juicy story about Lady Mary slumming it with him.'

'Got to find evidence of Lady Fancypants' shame first, though, haven't we? We can't just go to the papers with tittle-tattle. We'll get nowt for that, not one brass bean.'

'Maybe she was passing a message to him from Lady Mary,' Thomas said, brightening up as that thought struck him.

'Maybe. The point is we don't know what they were talking about, do we?'

'No,' Thomas agreed, his shoulders slumping again. 'We need someone to find out for us. It's not like either of them are going to tell either of us anything, is it?'

'Maybe you should start using those baby blues of yours on Daisy again,' Miss O'Brien said, looking up at Thomas, her eyebrow cocked. 'She'd do owt for you if she thinks it'd get her in your good graces.'

Thomas pulled a face. 'Do I have to?'

'Well, no, you don't, not if you don't want to. But beggars can't be choosers, can they, Thomas?' she said, dropping her fag end on the flagstones and grinding her heel on it. 'So, it's up to you. Do you want information or not?'


Edith peeked over the top of her book at her mother, who was sitting on the sofa with her embroidery hoop, quietly and contentedly pulling silk yarn through the fabric. Would now be a good time, she wondered, to ask her the question that had been preying on her mind since her conversation with Mary at dinner the other day?

She opened her mouth and then hesitated, closing it again and looking back down at her book.

Cora gave a small sigh. 'Edith, dear, if there's something you wish to say to me, please just say it.'

Edith looked up in surprise. 'Mama?'

'You have peered at me and almost started to say something at least three times since you entered this room. I hope I am not the kind of mother whose daughters are too intimidated to speak to her. I do not wish to be seen as some kind of a formidable dragon. I am not your grandmother,' Cora said, patiently. 'Now, what is it you wish to say to me?'

Edith lowered her book, chewing on her lip. 'I was talking to Mary before dinner on the day you returned.'

'Yes?' Cora waited, her heart sinking as Edith still dithered. 'Oh, don't tell me you and she have fallen out again? We've barely been home for two minutes.'

'She said something that has been preying on my mind,' Edith admitted, deciding to go for broke and simply ask her mother the truth of the matter.

Cora narrowed her eyes, wondering what Mary could have said to preoccupy Edith so much. 'What did she say?'

'Well, I understand from various acquaintances that there are rumours circulating in London about Mary,' Edith said delicately, pretending she was not intimately acquainted with the nature of the gossip about her sister.

Pursing her lips, Cora studied her middle daughter, wondering how much she knew about the rumours. 'I'm afraid that is true,' she admitted.

'Mary said… she said that if she is disgraced, it will affect my chances of making an advantageous marriage. And Sybil's. Is that… is that true?' Edith asked, voicing the thing that was bothering her.

Cora sighed. She could lie to Edith or she could tell her the truth. Perhaps it was kinder to tell her the truth rather than let her get her hopes up that she could set her sights on a superior match.

'Yes, much to my disappointment, that's true. If people choose to believe the unsavoury rumours about Mary, it will reflect badly on the entire family, which in turn will affect the offers we could hope to receive for your hand and Sybil's in marriage,' Cora confirmed, keeping her tone as gentle as possible.

Horrified, Edith stared at her mother with wide eyes. 'But… but that's not fair. Sybil and I haven't done anything wrong.'

'No, darling, I know. But neither has Mary,' Cora replied, setting her hoop aside to give Edith her full attention.

'Hasn't she? Are you sure about that, Mama? She must have, otherwise there wouldn't be rumours about her!' Edith countered.

'The rumours aren't true. We don't know where they came from, but they are not true,' Cora said, firmly. 'But the trouble is a young lady's reputation is a precious and delicate thing. It is too easy for those with a grudge to tarnish it without any proof of their accusations. And when they hide behind the smokescreen of rumours, it is even harder to rebut them.'

Edith flinched, a tiny kernel of guilt burrowing into her. 'How do you know they are not true?'

'Because I have spoken to Mary at length about the matter, and I know they are not true.'

'She might be lying. Are you sure she would tell you the truth if something scandalous had happened?' Edith insisted, thinking back to Daisy telling her the tale of what she'd seen on the night Mr Pamuk died.

'She is not lying, Edith. I have some personal knowledge of the incident in question, and I know the truth of the matter. Mary is innocent of these foul accusations. Someone, some spineless, vengeful creature has seen an opportunity to launch a vicious attack on her reputation and they have done it in a cowardly way that gives her little right to reply,' Cora said, laying out the situation for Edith.

Stung, Edith stared at her mother, her heart hammering in her chest. She ignored the hurtful description of the originator of the rumours and focused instead on the effect this affair may have on her own prospects. 'But why does it mean Sybil and I are affected?'

'Because if people assume the worst of one member of a family that ripples out to taint the rest of the family members. I'm sure you've seen it happen before in your circle of friends. If Mary is disgraced, the better families will not be eager to link their reputations to ours for fear of taint by association,' Cora explained, gently. 'That means the young men who may have been potential suitors for you and Sybil will be urged to disregard you and look elsewhere.'

Edith shook her head, the bitter acid of shock eating into her. This was not supposed to be happening. Her intention had been to damage Mary's reputation and knock her down a peg or two. She had never intended to harm her own reputation or chances of making a fine marriage, nor Sybil's. How could it have come to this?

'So… so what do we do?' she asked, her voice shaky. 'How do we fix this?'

'All we can do is hope that someone else does something considered more scandalous and interesting and that Mary's rumoured misdemeanour is forgotten about,' Cora said, heavily. 'Your aunt and I have done our best to divert attention and make it be known that the rumours are not true, but, quite honestly, it is now in the lap of the Gods.'

'But… but… it's not fair, Mama,' Edith said, feeling sick. How could her plan have backfired so completely?

'No, my darling, it's not fair. It's not fair to any of you, but it is what it is. I think it may be wise for you to think about adjusting your expectations about how grand a marriage you may be able to make,' Cora advised, sympathetically.

Edith dropped her eyes to her lap, twisting her hands together. She wasn't sure how much further she could drop her expectations. She had never expected to marry a duke or a marquess or anyone more high-ranking than a baronet, really. But now it seemed marriage to any kind of a gentleman may be out of her reach. She caught her breath, holding back a sob. Why was life so unfair?


When Tom arrived at his cottage just after three o'clock that afternoon, Mary was already there. Her coat hung on the peg by the front door and she was sitting at his kitchen table, her hat beside her, a pot of tea in front of her.

She looked up as Tom came into the kitchen, setting his cap on the dresser.

'I suppose you're going to scold me, are you?' she said, a little petulantly.

He smiled at her, bending to bring his face close to hers. 'I am, but first, I am going to kiss you,' he said, brushing his lips against hers, once and then once more, not satisfied with just one kiss.

Mary grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back towards her to kiss him again, harder and deeper, her desire for him stronger than her annoyance that he was going to tell her off for her behaviour.

'Are you very cross with me?' she asked when they broke apart.

Tom sighed and sat down on the chair next to hers, taking hold of her hand. 'You know you put Anna in an unfair position, don't you? Just because she doesn't move in the same circles as you doesn't mean her reputation isn't just as important to her as yours is to you.'

Mary pressed her lips together, dropping her eyes to watch his thumb rubbing gently over the skin at the base of her thumb. 'I know. I should have thought more before I asked her. How did you guess her mysterious friend was me, anyway?'

Tom smiled. 'Well, in the first instance, Anna has never discussed anything even remotely related to sexual matters with me before, so that was a bit of an alarm bell. But the biggest giveaway was the fact that she pulled a guinea out of her pocket. No servant I know has a guinea lying around - I only ever see people of your class wafting them around. And it would be a rare servant who would spend a guinea on contraceptives,' he said, raising a hand to cup her cheek.

Mary pressed her face to his hand, nuzzling against it like a cat, and gave a soft laugh. 'So, what you're saying is if I'd been sensible and given Anna a jumble of sixpences and shillings, you might not have rumbled us?'

'Well, I probably still would have been suspicious, but not as much,' he replied, his thumb now rubbing over her cheekbone.

'What would have made you suspicious?'

'The timing if nothing else. A few days after I refuse to take money from you for contraceptives, your maid comes to me asking me to buy exactly that for a hitherto unmentioned friend with a farm labourer lover?' Tom grinned at her, raising his eyebrows. 'No, I can't think what might be suspicious about that.'

Mary had the good grace to smile, realising her plan had been full of holes from the start. 'So, I can't persuade you to take the guinea, then? I've brought it with me just in case.'

He shook his head. 'No, I won't take it. I told you; this is my responsibility.'

'But surely, it's mine too? I want to make love with you; you're not pushing me into it. Don't you think I have equal responsibility for it?' Mary argued, not yet willing to give up.

'No, I don't. It's my seed that's the danger, and I want to take care of you. Please let me do this, Mary; it's important to me,' he said, pleading with her to understand.

Mary gazed at him, seeing the truth of it written on his face. Reluctantly, she nodded. 'All right.'

'Thank you,' he said, relieved to have got through to her. He leaned forward and kissed her.

'I'm just impatient,' she whispered against his lips. 'I've never been very good at waiting for things, especially things I really want. And I really want you.'

Tom smiled, kissing her again. 'Well, I've been thinking about that.'

'Have you?'

'Yes. I was thinking that there are things we could do that would give us both pleasure without needing a shield,' he said, feathering kisses across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

Mary pulled slightly back from him, looking at him with wide eyes. 'Like what?'

'Well, I could touch your skin,' he said, running his fingers lightly over the hollow at the base of her throat. He dragged them lower, following the neckline of her dress. 'Maybe even your breasts if you wanted me to.'

Mary felt her pulse hitch, her breath quicken, at the tantalising feel of his fingers sliding over her skin, leaving a delicious shiver in their wake.

'My bare skin?'

'Yes.'

'Would my breasts be bare too?' she asked, a slight tremble in her voice.

'If that's what you want,' Tom said, raising his eyes to meet hers, giving her a heated look. 'But if you're not ready for that, I could touch them through your clothes. That can still feel good.'

'Oh, heavens. Go on. Tell me more. What else could we do?' she whispered, her heart racing, enthralled by what he was saying.

'You could touch my skin; take my shirt off and kiss my chest again. If you want to, of course,' he murmured.

Mary swallowed, her mind filling with an image of her pulling his tie off and unbuttoning his shirt, slipping it off and pushing him onto the bed upstairs. And then she would crawl on top of him and kiss and touch his body to her heart's content. The thought was intoxicating. And then another thought, an even more exciting one, struck her.

'Would you…' she began, hesitantly.

'Would I what?' he asked, his fingertips on the move once more, distracting her.

'Well, you said I could kiss your chest if I wanted to. I was just wondering…' she petered out again as the thought took root in her mind, the naughtiness of it enhanced by the feel of his fingertips stroking over the skin just above the neckline of her dress.

'What were you wondering?' Tom prompted, leaning forward to press another gentle kiss to her lips. 'Tell me.'

'Would you kiss my chest too? My... my breasts. I mean if you'd like to, if you'd want to,' she blurted out, her heart tripping faster as she voiced the thought that was burning through her brain.

The smile that spread over Tom's face was slow and sexy, and the look in his eyes heated Mary's blood, flooding her with a strong feeling of desire.

'Oh, yes,' he said, his voice husky and low. 'I would very much like to do that.'

'Oh, God,' Mary whimpered, almost undone by simply talking about what they could do to each other. She gripped Tom's jacket and pulled him towards her, her lips attacking his. To her delight, he kissed her back just as fervently, his tongue sliding against hers, exciting her even more.

When they broke apart, they were both panting, the passion between them a tangible thing.

'When can we do all of this? Can we do it now?' Mary ask, longing to go upstairs with him and start doing all the delightful things they'd just talked about.

Tom gave a small groan, shaking his head. 'I wish we could, love, but I have to get back. I have jobs to do this afternoon.'

Mary huffed out a disappointed sigh. 'When then?'

'I want to do this properly. If we're going start to explore each other's bodies, I want us to feel relaxed and not in a rush,' he said, his eyes on hers.

She fixed him with a look. 'Don't you dare say I have to wait weeks for this too. I won't be held responsible for my actions if you do.'

He chuckled, snatching a quick, fond kiss. 'No, sweetheart, I won't. I'm just as eager as you to take this step. Look, it's my half-day off on Tuesday afternoon. Could you come here then?'

Mary nodded, her eyes shining. 'Yes, I can.'

'Perfect. Then we're agreed. Tuesday afternoon,' he said softly, a smile on his face.

Mary smiled back at him, delicious anticipation thrumming through her veins.

'Tuesday. I can wait until then,' she said as he swirled his fingers over the skin above the neckline of her dress again. She caught his face in her hands, making him look up at her. 'Will you really kiss my naked breasts?'

'Yes, I will,' he said, his hand slipping boldly lower to cup one breast through the soft corset she was wearing. 'And when your nipples stiffen with excitement, I will take them between my lips and suckle them until you are writhing with pleasure beneath me.'

Mary gazed at him, mesmerised by the picture he was painting, feeling her body react at that moment as arousal flooded through her. 'Oh, good Lord.'

Tom felt her nipple harden under his palm as he gently massaged her breast. He rubbed his thumb over it, smiling as she let out a small moan, her eyes rolling skywards.

'Yes, darlin', when they are stiff like this, your gorgeous, little peaks, I will worship them with my mouth,' he promised, heat flaring in his voice, on his face.

'Oh, dear Lord, I can't wait for Tuesday,' Mary breathed, excitement rolling through her as she pulled him close for a kiss filled with passion, still thrilling to the feel of his hand on her breast. 'It can't come quick enough.'

Tom smiled as he kissed her, quite agreeing with her. Roll on Tuesday.