Edith noted with interest that Mary seemed to be acting rather cold and distant with her supposed fiancee Sir Richard Carlise. She knew that it wasn't a love match, of course. The theory that she was only marrying him for his money was widely accepted. Besides how could it be a love match when Mary was still clearly devoted to Matthew? Anyone could see the despairing love in her eyes when she looked at him. Except for Matthew, naturally. Though the two of them seem to have become quite close again since Mary had nursed him when he returned from France with his spine damaged, leaving him unable to walk. Certainly there was often an air of awkwardness between them, but they still spent most of their time together.
Edith wondered if their rekindled friendship was the reason why Mary suddenly seemed so hesitant with Sir Richard. Sir Richard, in turn, seemed to have no idea why Mary was practically avoiding him. Edith and Mary had hardly become bosom-buddies, but since the war started they had both put their differences aside and grown temperately fond of each other. So it worried Edith to see that as the night went on his agitation was becoming more apparent and more severe to those who observed closely enough.
After their father's attention had been turned away Sir Richard subtly hissed something in Mary s ear and she blanched, quickly following him out of the room. Partially out of concern and also out of curiosity (the war hadn t changed everything) Edith followed, pausing at the threshold of the room Sir Richard and Mary had gone into.
"What the bloody hell is going on here Mary? This is the first time I ve seen you since we announced our engagement, which was months ago, and you've barely spoken twenty words to me this evening. Most of which were half-heartedly mumbled about the weather!"
"WE did not announce our engagement. YOU announced it and I read about it in the morning papers," she replied with typical Mary indignation.
"If that is why you have been cold with me you are more of a ridiculous woman than I thought. You agreed to marry me. I do not need to ask your permission before announcing it. I do not need to ask your permission or inform you about anything!"
"I just wish I'd had some time..."
"Some time for what?" he interrupted, raising his voice.
"Time to deal with doubts!"
"Doubts?" he snickered, "Oh Mary, quite contrary, you sold your right to doubts when you came begging me for help in silencing that Bates woman."
"And so you own me? Am I to be your slave, trading in one blackmailer for another?" she asked trying to sound haughty and in control, but with the fear clearly seeping into her voice.
He pushed her brusquely against the wall forcing Mary to release a small yelp in pain and shock. "Yes, I own you. You have given me the power to destroy you and don't think I won't use it. You asked me to save your family from scandal by keeping the story of your disgusting affair with the Turkish diplomat out of the papers and in doing so you sold yourself to me. I saved you and your family makes me rather a knight in shining armor doesn t it? Don t you feel indebted to your savior? Don't you want to repay me?"
He forced down a violent kiss on her then and as she squirmed to get away he only pushed her against the wall harder, his hands all over her and reaching to pull up her skirt.
"I paid a rather high price for a used slut, so I guess I ll just have to get out of you what I can," Sir Richard snarled as he put his hand over her mouth to stop her screams.
"Mary? Mary, where have you got to?" Edith cried out, hoping that by doing so Sir Richard would stop his assault on her sister.
It worked and as he released Mary he casually whispered, "I hope you take our conversation to heart. Now tidy yourself up, your guests will think we have been doing something indecent," before walking out of the room with a smile on his face.
"Good evening, Lady Edith. Are you looking for Mary? She s just in there. We ve been discussing our plans for the wedding!"
"Indeed!" Mary said with fake enthusiasm and a shake in her voice as she walked out of the room, brushing down her dress, "We have so much to plan."
Sir Richard smiled at her then, and Mary was forced to smile back, playing the part of loving fianc e as best she could.
Edith did her best to downplay her own fear and said a little too quickly, "Oh, well, we d all simply wondered where you'd gotten to. And here you are! Let s go back shall we?"
"Yes, of course," he said with no sign of guilt or apprehension on his face.
As they walked back in Matthew stared at them from his wheelchair, his eyes darting back from Sir Richard to Mary. She seemed upset while he seemed positively cheery. Something wasn t right. Besides, he didn t like them sneaking off and spending so much time alone together. The thought of which forced him to remember that they were engaged and he had no right to disapprove or feel jealous? No, he wasn t jealous. Couldn t possibly be, could it? It was just concern. That sick look on her face as though she wanted to cry or scream. He was definitely just feeling concern. The inner debate only irked him more, and so he tried to stop thinking about it altogether.