I meant for this to be quite a bit longer, seeing as I hate short one-shots. But here I am, writing one. I guess it's just a little something to express my feelings.
The funeral was quiet. Of course, most funerals are; just like how most of the deceased members will be woefully missed by the attendees. People will scorn and scoff when they say that this funeral was different, that this man was special and that he meant a great deal to those around him. But it is all true.
If you casually knew Matthew Crawley, you would know him as a man of business and possibly vision. If he was more than a casual acquaintance to you, he was known as a man of integrity and humility, of honor and kindness. He dearly loved his wife, family, and newborn son. And they loved him in return just as much.
Mrs. Matthew Crawley stared at her late husband's casket as they lowered it into the earth. She gently squeezed her son, George. He was all she had left of her husband. The babe squirmed innocently in her arms, blissfully ignorant of the fate of his father. Mary felt the tears coming, but she held them in, determined to be strong. She hadn't cried once during the tedious funeral, and she wasn't about to give in yet. She had to be strong for George, and for the whole family really. Little George was the heir of Downton; she just needed to be strong for George.
And over the course of the following years, Mary Crawley put her entire body and soul into not only being strong for George, but making George strong too.