Richard Carlisle's thoughts at the conclusion of the Christmas special. A one-shot...for now. Please read and review, but keep in mind that this is my first fanfic. Downton Abbey and all of its characters are property of Julian Fellowes and ITV.
Richard Carlisle was accustomed to being in control, never letting an obstacle get in his way. The newspaper mogul had always managed to defeat or outmaneuver any foe that stood in his way to success. Mary Crawley was a different matter altogether. The eldest daughter of the Earl of Grantham, finding herself in a situation that had the potential to bring down her family, had come to him as a last resort. Carlisle had agreed to use his power to shut down Vera Bates's plan to go public with the scandal. In exchange for keeping the story under wraps, Mary had agreed to take up Carlisle's marriage proposal. For Richard it seemed to be a wise business decision; for Mary, a convenient way to avoid having her past sins exposed to the world.
"I loved you, you know. More than you knew, and much, much more than you loved me." Richard had said those every words to Mary prior to departing Downton Abbey for the final time. It was a rare display of heartfelt emotion from the self-made man. During the couple's engagement, Carlisle had attained a reputation among the staff for petty, jealous behavior. Mary had done her best to endure it, but could not continue to keep up the charade of marrying a man for whom she had little feeling. The cost was far too high. After all that had happened over the course of The Great War, she could no longer deny that there was a spark inside her that still burned for Matthew Crawley. It appeared that the family heir felt the same way about her.
The impressive façade of Downton Abbey shrunk in the distance as Carlisle's chauffeur drove him home to London. Carlisle became lost in thought, recalling the previous evening's confrontation with Mary and Matthew. He remembered how he had exploded in anger when Mary explained that she could not marry him, despite the assistance he had provided in keeping her secret out of the daily papers. His anger had been sincere, if only because of what he perceived to be her nonchalant termination of their agreement. "You don't think it holds now, do you? You don't think I'll save you or him for one more day?" His question was rhetorical in nature. He had already made it clear to Mary that if she crossed him, he could use her sins to destroy her reputation and that of her entire family. Now that he had had a chance to calm his nerves and resign himself to the fact that Mary was no longer his, Richard began to reconsider what he had said to her. Could he remain true to his promise? Could he go through with a plan to bring down Downton Abbey in the eyes of the public? He had been sincere when he told Mary that he loved her. As much as his business sense told him that he could profit from putting her secret in bold print for all the world to see, a small shred of doubt was beginning to creep into his conscience. In light of recent events, it seemed that money was suddenly of little use to Richard Carlisle.