Mandy sat at her little desk in her room as she and Anna got ready for bed the following night, her fire-orange hair curling down to her elbows. She studied the hair pin that Anna gave her her first day.

"Something wrong?" Anna asked behind her.

"No, but... look at the pin you gave me when I first came here."

Anna stood behind her to her and examined the pin. "It's a little bent."

"Yeah... because of what happened with Mr. Northerland. When he slammed me into the cabinet's, I felt the pin dig into my scalp. It probably bent in the process." She dropped it on the top of the desk like it was a diseased rat. "I honestly don't want to even look at it because it reminds me of what happened that night. Are there any other pins in the livery?"

Anna put her hands on the back of the wooden chair Mandy sat in. "Well, you could look tomorrow and see, but I think that was the last one. Mrs. Hughes always means to get more, but it never happens because other things are on her mind."

Mandy sighed in frustration and shoved the little metal trinket off her desk and it landed somewhere on the wooden floor with a clank. "Maybe I'll just wear my hair down and get scolded by Mr. Carson. If I continue to have that thing in my hair, it will constantly remind me of what happened with that troll of a man."

"Wear your hair down and get the attention from all the hall boys?" Anna asked slyly. "Is that what you really want? That hair of yours is quite the spectacle."

"I have to do something."

Anna tapped her fingers against the wood of the chair, thinking. "Maybe on your time off tomorrow, we can make a trip into the village and we can pick you up a new one, as well as a few for the storage."

Mandy smiled at the thought of going back into that cute village again. "I would like that. And we can have lunch there, too, at the pub."

"Maybe you could ask Thomas to come along?" she asked with a glint in her eye.

"I could. It would be nice to go on an outing with him. I love being around him now. He's more charming and funny than people let on."

"I think the same way now that he has found something that makes him happy." She left Mandy's chair. "Well, we best be getting to bed."

"Alright." She stood up and eyed the pin on the floor near the door. She couldn't wait to get a new hair pin. She would have to throw the other one out.

The two women went to bed, and the next morning, Mandy walked into the servant's hall and her gaze immediately landed on Thomas as it usually did. She wanted to sit directly across from him, but Mrs. O'Brien prevented her from doing so. She sat down near the end with the other maids. Her body tingled with excitement at possibly going into town again. She eyed Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes at the head of the table. She would follow Mr. Carson to his office after breakfast and ask.

The oatmeal seemed rather bland, but only because Mandy was used to putting cinnamon and sugar in it. She missed the little luxuries of home, not including her phone that she desperately wanted to use to take pictures and document everything that she went through. If only. The journal could document things, but she doubted she would be able to take it home with her.

The first bell rang, and everyone stood up. Mandy was one of the first, aside from Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes, and headed out the door with a couple of the hall boys. She stood in front of Mr. Carson's door right after he shut it. She heard him and Mrs. Hughes converse in there.

"Hey, what are you doin'?"

She turned and found Thomas standing there. "Oh, Thomas. I just wanted to ask Mr. Carson if I could go into town for a short time today. I want to get some new hairpins for the livery."

"Maybe I can go with you."

"I want you to. I'll ask. Just a minute."

She turned and knocked on the door and Mr. Carson said to come in. When she went into the small office, she saw Mrs. Hughes standing next to the desk. Mr. Carson sat in the chair behind it.

"What is it, Mandy?" Mrs. Hughes asked.

"Well, I was just wondering if I and a few of the other servants and I could go into the village today. I need to get a couple of things, and Anna and Thomas want to go, too, so..."

"I'm afraid Anna is going to be very busy today, as will Thomas, William, Daisy..." Mrs. Hughes said. Mandy looked at Mr. Carson.

"I'm afraid today isn't a good day to go into the village," he said. "If it was just you, I wouldn't mind it."

Mandy thought a moment. She really wanted to get rid of this bent pin in her hair that poked into her head, giving her memories of that horrible experience. "Um... then I'll just go, and I can pick up some more hair pins, Mrs. Hughes."

"Oh, that would be lovely," she said. "I always mean to get more. Here." She reached over to a small table and took a few coins out of tin box and gave them to her. "Use these and just hand me the change when you get back."

She took the coins. "I'll do that. When will it be okay for me to leave?"

"Ten o'clock would be fine," Mr. Carson said. "Make sure to be back by noon when lunch starts."

"Okay. Thank you."

Mandy left the two, and came out the door and faced both Thomas and Anna. "I'm sorry," Anna said sadly. "I wish I could go with you."

"Looks like Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes favors you, Mandy," Thomas said, then muttered, "They're not the only ones."

Both Anna and Mandy laughed at that. Anna was the only one of the staff who knew of her and Thomas's relationship, and Thomas was alright with her knowing since they had a decent relationship, and didn't have to worry about her judging and blabbing to everyone since Downton was a place of gossip.

"Well, I like walks alone to the village, so I'll be fine," Mandy said.

"Enjoy yourself then," Anna said. "How long will you be gone?"

"Only two hours. At least, that's how long Mr. Carson gave me."

"Golly, that was generous of him."

"A little too generous," Thomas commented. "I told you that they favor you more than anyone else."

"Well, being favored has its perks. So, a little before ten, I'm going to go change, then leave."

She left the both of them, and once ten o'clock came around, she walked out into the sunny spring day, and down the country lane to the village. Once she reached the main village square, she looked around at the shops. She realized that she didn't ask which shop to get the pins in. She looked around at the shops around the square, but only found pubs, markets and residences. No jewelry shop. Where would it be?

"Dang it," she muttered. "I'll have to ask around."

She asked a middle-aged lady, but she wasn't sure. She walked around a bit more through the streets as a warm wind blew. This reminded her of the older part of her own hometown, Carlsbad. It was build in the late 1800s, and parts of the town were built with English architecture. Her chest tightened, missing her family. She wondered what they were up to. She wanted to see them, yet she wanted to stay in the Downton world. How much time had passed at home since she arrived? She hadn't thought about the passage of time until now. She could've been gone a minute or even a year for all she knew.

"How much longer am I going to be here?" she asked herself as she passed a tall tree on the side of the road. She reached the square again and stopped a blonde young man who looked a little older than herself, and who was relatively handsome with brown eyes.

"Excuse me," she said, "where is the nearest jewelry shop?"

The young man's eyebrow rose in a suggestively manner. "Well, I am not sure, miss. Maybe I'll tell ya if it's not a weddin' ring you're lookin' for." He winked at her.

"Well, no, but um... thank you, anyway."

She walked away from the man. She thought gruffly, No more asking men for directions anywhere.

Finding a bench in the grass near a tree, and facing the side of some shop or business, she sat down and sighed. "I suppose I'll just go back empty-handed. I'm running out of time."

She sat there for a few minutes, enjoying the warm sunlight. She didn't have her hat on again, just her lavender blouse, and her floor-length blue skirt. She noticed movement in the corner of her eye, but she didn't think a thing of it, thinking it was a random person walking by. The person got closer, and she looked up. Her heart jumped and she let out a gasp when she saw Matthew Crawley walking up to her, wearing a tan suit this time. He heart immediately started pounding.

"Miss DeMont," he said, and she stood up, smiling at him.

"Mr. Crawley. It's nice to see you again."

"And the same to you. Do you have business in town?"

"I just came to run a little errand for Mrs. Hughes."

"I see. No boxes of ingredients, I hope."

She chuckled, absentmindedly putting loose strands of hair behind her ear. "No, no. I just need to find a place that sells hairpins. I forgot to ask the name, and the villagers were really no help, so..."

"Oh. Well, I know a place. Right next door to my place of work, actually."

"Really? Where do you work?"

He pointed to the building they were closest to. "This one right here."

Mandy racked her brain, and realized that this building was familiar from the show. How could she have missed that, too? "Oh, okay. Would you mind showing me to the jewelry shop?"

"I'd be delighted to."

They walked on and she noticed Matthew glance at her a couple of times. He said, "I find it rather funny that we seem to meet outside of Downton and not on the inside of it."

She nodded, agreeing. "Yeah, I thought the same thing. I thought meeting you on a country road was really funny. Of all places, right?"

"Right."

"I just don't get upstairs that often as a maid. I'm mainly up there in the mornings and after meals, when everyone is in the other room. I rarely get to see the family."

"I see. Well, I hope in future, you will be working upstairs more often."

Surprised, she looked at him. Was that a... pick-up line? No, no way. He was just being his charming self.

"Here it is," he said, and she snapped out of it and looked at a shop with necklaces, rings, and hair pieces displayed in the window. They didn't look new, but were still nice.

"Wow, they're so pretty," Mandy gushed, looking at everything in the window.

"They are," he agreed. "It's a second-hand store. I figured since you have a low budget, you would want to check a place like this."

She gave him a gracious smile. "Thank you, Mr. Crawley. I don't know how I missed this place while walking around."

He nodded his head and smiled in return. "You're indeed welcome." He went and held the door open. "After you."

She walked up to the door and met his eyes before she went in. Be still my heart—those eyes look so incredibly blue in the sunlight! She blinked that thought away and looked away and went into the little store. The owner greeted them. Matthew told them what they were looking for, and the older man pointed them to an area that stocked nothing but hair pieces.

"The hairpins you are looking for are right there," he said, pointing. "Help yourself."

Mandy eyed all the hairpins, noticing that a lot of them had flowers and stars on the end, and were bronze-colored. A poke from the one she had in her hair reminded her that she needed one for herself. Matthew noticed her wince.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

"Yes, it's just the hairpin I have in my hair right now is bent and poking into my head. I need to get a new one, along with a few for Mrs. Hughes."

"I see."

He stood next to her and looked at the assortment on the counter. She ever-noticed his presence—his sweet cologne and body heat wreaked havoc with her insides. It shouldn't be since she had a boyfriend, but the female in her couldn't help it. Matthew picked up a pin with a pearl on the end of it, with silver and green diamond embellishment that looked like a flower around the pearl.

"How about this one?" he asked, and extended it to her.

Mandy looked at it and smiled. "That's beautiful. I love the pearl on it."

He handed it to her and she admired the gold color and the embellishment on the end. If she actually lived during this time, she would definitely own a lot of pins that looked like the one she gazed adoringly at. When she went home—whenever that was—she would order some hairpins online. She examined the pin a little more. She saw the price on a little tag hanging from it by string and made a face.

"What is it?" Matthew asked.

"The price. It's above my limit."

"I see." She handed it him and he stared at Mandy for a few moments as she browsed the other hairpins on the counter in holders. "Then let me buy it for you."

Her heart jumped at that proposition. "Buy it for me? Oh, no, that's okay. There are other ones here."

She looked at the other pins, her heart racing. Matthew Crawley wanted to buy her a piece of jewelry! Her! A house maid in the house of his future fiancé! That had bad written all over it.

"I insist," he said. "Think of it as a gift of a new friendship."

She stared at him, wondering how she would respond. She put her hand on her bun and felt the pin as it again jabbed her scalp. "Um, okay. Thank you, Mr. Crawley."

He went and bought it as she looked at a little container of plain bronze pins that had small flowers on the end, much like the one that was in her hair. She looked at the price on a tag connected to the little box. She could get five of them with the money she had. Perfect! She took five of them and turned to find Matthew looking at her smirking, and holding up the pin. She looked at it for a moment, wondering if she should really take, then met his gaze again. Her will was not strong enough. She took it.

"Thank you, again."

"My pleasure."

She turned and found a mirror on the wall. She pulled her own pin out and her long orange curls fell down her back. She pulled her hair back, twisted it into a bun, and slid the new pin in. She touched up the hairdo a bit and turned a little to face Matthew. He stood there gazing at her, his mouth tilted into a cute smirk. The look in his blue eyes made her heart pound hard and she felt heat travel from her neck to her temple. No man hads ever looked at her in that kind of way before. Not even Thomas, or other guys she dated before.

"Like it?" he asked.

"I do. Thank you." She looked at a clock on the wall. "Oh, gosh, I have to get back to Downton. I have 'til noon to get back."

"Let me take you."

She was about to say it was okay, but she only had fifteen minutes, and the walk back took half-an-hour. If she took a car, she would get there in ten minutes. She didn't have a choice. "That would be great, thank you."

They exited the shop, and as they did so, Mandy happened to hear the owner mutter that she and "the handsome young man" made a lovely couple. She willed her cheeks not to heat up again. On the road, Mandy looked out the window of the car at the green scenery going by, as well as a few houses and cattle. She tried not to look at Matthew. She knew that every time she did, her female emotions would get the better of her, and she would fall for him hard and fast. It happened with Thomas after he kissed her. She thought about when she was done putting her hair up just a few minutes before in the shop. Matthew checked her out. Right?

Psht. Of course he did. Men here love red-heads.

"Beautiful area, isn't it?" he asked, and she continued gazing out the window.

"It is. It reminds me of home."

"Tell me about your home."

She smiled, thoughts of her hometown coming to her, as well as the surrounding hills and mountains. "Well... it's very green. We have mountains everywhere, and all of them are absolutely covered with evergreen trees. Washington is called the Evergreen State for that reason. We also have wide rivers running through those mountains."

"It sounds enchanting."

She made the mistake of looking at him. His blue eyes were enchanting! "Yes... and there are a few volcanoes."

He shifted in his seat a little, his brows raised. "Volcanoes?"

"Yes, but they're extinct."

"That's a relief, then." He paused for a moment, then asked, "How about your family? I'll bet they miss you like mad."

She missed them like mad. She didn't know if they knew she was gone. What lie could she tell him? "Yes, they wrote me last week. My parents and two older brothers wish I was there."

"You're the youngest, then?"

"Yes, but I look up to my older brothers Henry and James."

"Makes me wish I had siblings."

Oh, yeah. He doesn't, does he? "They're not all that they're cracked out to be. Sometimes I want to hug them, and sometimes I want to murder them."

He laughed. "Sounds like fun to me. So, you came to England just for work?"

"Yes. My mom thought it would be good for me to do some traveling. A lot of traveling."

He laughed again. "Yes, that was quite the arduous journey, wasn't it?"

She felt her heart sink to her stomach. She hated lying to him, and to everyone. "Yes, it was."

"Did you expect to work at Downton?"

"No, not at all. I just... I heard word in the village that there was a post open."

He nodded as they neared the Downton gates. "Did you leave a lad back home?"

Her cheeks heated and she fiddled with her little blue handbag. She knew what he meant, and she sure couldn't say anything about Thomas. "No, I didn't."

A smile crossed his lips, and Mandy refused to guess what it meant. She looked ahead and noticed them enter the Downton property. "Um, could you let me out here? I don't want to cause a scene like the last time."

"Alright, good idea."

The car stopped and Mandy slide out onto the pathway leading to the house. "Thank you again for the ride, and for the pin."

"You're indeed welcome. Good day."

"Yes, have a good day."

The car sped off and Mandy watched after it. She felt the pin in her hair with her fingers. Was Matthew Crawley... interested in her? She shook her head. No. Definitely not. He was almost engaged to Mary. But men don't just buy hair pins—pretty ones like the one in her hair—for just any girl. She Mandy sighed. "Don't think too much about it."

She walked on back and made it back a little after noon. Good thing Mr. Carson was busy with other things to notice. Someone else did, though. Thomas saw her in the hallway from the stairs and came up to her. "You're finally back," he said. "You're late."

"I know. What Mr. Carson doesn't know won't hurt him."

Mrs. Hughes saw Mandy and told her to quickly get changed because there were things to do. Her stomach growled. She never had lunch.

"Well, I'll see you around," Mandy said, giving Thomas a smile, which he returned. When she walked passed him, he suddenly caught hold of her arm.

"Hang on," he said, and kept her turned around so he could examine the back of her head. "That's a new pin in your hair."

He noticed the pin in her hair! She didn't think he would notice. She imagined Mr. Crawley hand it to her. "Um... yeah, I went to the village to buy more pins, didn't I? I bought this with my own money at this cute little shop in the village. The same with these other pins I have to put away for Mrs. Hughes."

"I see."