New Invention: Sisterly Affection
Author's Notes: SPOILERS. Spoilers EVERYWHERE. This is because Edith and Mary seemed positively chummy during the Christmas Special, and I was wondering how that possibly could have come about.
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A few weeks after Sybil left for Ireland with Downton's chauffer in tow, Mary took Edith by the arm and led her into the yellow drawing room.
"What?" Edith asked impatiently as Mary all but flung her into the room.
"I think you and I need to have a talk." Mary sat down and gestured for her sister to join her on the settee.
"Alright," Edith sat down warily.
"Oh honestly Edith, I'm not going to skin you alive." The eldest Crawley daughter rolled her eyes. "It's just— we're the only two left now, you and I. Sybil can no longer be a buffer of sweetness between us. So we'll have to learn to get along."
"Get along." The red head repeated. The very idea, while not unpleasant, was definitely unheard of—there were very few occasions in her childhood where she wasn't in direct competition with Mary, and that competition had bred animosity.
"Yes. So, I thought I'd start. We could be… proper sisters. It's only right, seeing as there's nothing left to compete over. We don't have any reason to believe we'll inherit Downton. Now that neither of us is going to land Matthew—"
"Oh, I don't know," Edith sighed, relaxing against the settee cushions. "He really did seem fond of you."
"That's all done with now. I'm engaged, and Matthew has unceremoniously called an end to whatever we might have had. So it looks as though I'm going to live out my days as Mrs Richard Carlisle."
"But you'll still be a 'Mrs'." Edith smiled wistfully. "And I'll be maiden Aunt Edith, and teach your half dozen children French and proper cursive."
"While they steal the shillings right out of your pocket, just like their father," Mary added wryly. The two chuckled together for a moment.
"Will you really marry him?"
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Well, you made such a fuss about Cousin Matthew not being 'our kind of people' when he first came, that I never imagined you'd consider the offer of someone who Granny would classify as worse than Matthew." Edith studied her elder sister as her eyes flicked toward the tall windows overlooking the grounds. She looked like she wanted to escape.
"I thought I would be alright at first. He's rich, to be certain, and he didn't seem a bad sort at first. But… he knows about Mr Pamuk."
"How did he find out?" Edith asked.
"I told him. I had to. Otherwise Mr Bates' wife, the odious cow, was going to get him to publish it. With proof. So, I told him the whole story. He bought the tale of Lady Mary's shame and then kept it out of the papers. And he was still willing to marry me after all that, if you can believe it."
"Oh, Mary. I know this is my fault, and I apologise for that. I- I guess I was just upset, and maybe a little jealous."
"Jealous? Of your older sister who ruined herself?" Mary raised a perfect brow.
"Maybe it wasn't worth it in the end, but a handsome foreigner falls madly in love with you after one day and then creeps into your room in the middle of the night? You have to admit, it's the stuff novels are made of."
"Yes, I suppose it is," Mary smiled a little. "But usually in the novels the couple is really in love."
"You didn't love him?"
"No, not the way you should."
"Then…" Edith blushed up to her roots "Why did you let him?"
"I don't know." She sounded thoughtful for a moment. "I didn't want to, at first. But then…I don't know. It was one second that ruined a lifetime." She sighed and laid her hands on her lap. "Now then, what about you?"
"What about me?"
"You said a moment ago that you'd be maiden Aunt Edith. Aside from the fact you've got a disgraced elder sister and a younger one married to a former servant, there's no reason why you shouldn't get married like the rest of us."
"Don't be kind, Mary, it's not like you," she rebuked lightly. "Compared to you and Sybil, I'm the ugly duckling. And as much as it upsets me, I can't do anything about it, can I? And you scared off one of the only offers I'm likely to receive."
"You deserved that." Mary shook her head.
"Perhaps I did. I called you a slut after all." Edith shook her head. "But I really did like the 'old booby'."
"Calling him that was unkind," she admitted. "You liked him? He was so…"
"I know, he seemed dull, but I think he was just lonely. I was lonely too, so it was like finding a kindred spirit. And driving around in his motor was lovely. He was… gentle. And kind."
"Then why don't you go over there and tell him I was joking? Or say I was playing him for a fool. Or that I'm just the cold hearted witch everyone thinks I am. If you like him, then why not?"
Edith raised her eyebrows in triumph. "And if you like Matthew, why not fight for him?"
Mary flashed a sly smile. "I think, Edith, we're going to be in for an interesting winter."