Chapter 2* The Heir and the Spare
Love another person, thought the heir, yes it is close enough. Gathering his thoughts he said without tremor or regret in his voice, "I want you to take my place."
Matthew Crawley nearly choked at the statement of the man on the other side of the table. Wiping his mouth he collected his thoughts and said quickly, "I'm sorry I don't understand what you mean in the slightest."
"It is exactly what I said," answered Patrick graciously, "I want you to take my place. I cannot do it. Marry that poor girl and leave her in a loveless marriage. I looked into the entail and the line of succession. It is possible for me to give it up. It would not be easy, but it could be done. You are next in line after me. I wanted to offer it to you before I abdicated and went away."
" So... you would like me to marry one of the ladies even though you won't. Why should I do it?" asked the solicitor gaining annoyance as he thought about being forced into an arranged marriage.
"No I…I just want to be sure they will be cared for. Whether or not you marry one of them is up to you. But you want to marry…yes?"
"Well, yes. I would like to marry and raise a family. Somewhere, in the country with space and a garden."
"Then you would love the Abbey. It is a magnificent building with so many rooms. The girls and I used to play throughout the rooms and into the grounds. We used to play knights in the grounds. Lady Sybil and I would attack and try to save the fair pup Venus from the evil knights Mary and Edith. They used to be great friends before they learned about the entail."
"Why did the entail matter?"
"Well Edith fancies that we love one another. She had decided we were going to marry long ago when she was very young, but Lord and Lady Grantham decided that because of the entail Mary and should be wed. Truthfully I do prefer Edith's company to Mary's, she is like a dear sister, but I still would not marry her without love." Patrick answered both trying to tell the truth and not admit too much about his own love.
"So you want me to do what exactly? Just appear ruining everyone's plans and upsetting everything? They would hate me," said the solicitor.
"Not if they knew you and if you were…well we will just have to make them," Patrick answered with a flustered air.
"Fine," answered Matthew sensing his new friend was uncomfortable, "How do we begin?"
"Well we need to make you a future earl. You will need to understand the proper etiquette, to round out your knowledge, to understand the inner workings of an estate, to get used to staff….
Six Weeks Later –London
Lady Rosamund Painswick was attending the Bernard's dinner party. It was the off season, but Lord Francis Bernard did not particularly like the country so he gave some rather good dinners. Lady Painswick was not his particular friend, but Lord Painswick, God rest him, had been good friends with him since school and Lord Bernard always remembered her in his guest list. Entering the parlor Rosamund noted that, for an off season party, the room was rather full. She scanned the room and saw several people she knew. Her eyes landed on Patrick Crawley. He was accompanied by a blond young man whom she had never seen before and the Duke of Crowborough. It was the blonde man who most interested her. Rosamund took pride in being able to identify all of the young, eligible me of town to her Mama, but this man was unknown.
Moving to stand with a group of ladies with whom she was well acquainted, Rosamund set to determining the facts about the blue eyed gentleman. The conversation was, conveniently, about the young man in question. He had been seen earlier in the week at a hunt at Anthony Strallan's estate with the Duke of Crowborough and Mr. Crawley. The word was that, although he shot very poorly, he had behaved with gentile manners and was, in fact, better to converse with than the host of that party.
Looking away from his companions Patrick noticed his cousin Rosamund watching Matthew. He turned to the lawyer and said quietly, "This is the first real test…" and then in a louder voice he said, "Come Matthew, meet the lovely Lady Painswick.
The night progressed swimmingly on Matthew's part. Everyone found his work droll, his manners charming, and the coincidence of his last name funny. On reentering the drawing room after his glass of port, he joined the ladies for a card game, which he skillfully lost so that the young ladies might win.
As the evening drew to a close he and Patrick wished everyone a goodnight. Matthew watched as Patrick's hand lingered on the arm of the Duke. Over the past few months he had begun to understand why his friend would not marry one of Lord Grantham's daughters. He was not interested in them.
"Patrick," he ventured to ask as the entered the taxi, "How do you plan to get them to release you from your duties as heir?"
"I hadn't even thought of it," answered Patrick. For a moment he thought Matthew had finally caught on to him and Crowborough, but maybe he had not. He returned to their conversation and asked "Would it be complicated?"
"It depends on the entail. Unfortunately, if it is as you described, it does not seem like we have the ability to break it. Neither of us is the heir apparent so we cannot dissolve it. It would take a special bill to even try to dismantle it and that would have to be based on the rule against perpetuities…"
Here Patrick cut over his companion's legal knowledge to ask, "The rule against perpetuities?"
"It says that you cannot try to control the movement of property long after your death, but even that is a weak argument. The only thing I can think of to cause the turnover is your death." answered Matthew, "We may have made me a well behaved gentleman for nothing."
"No," said Patrick, "I'm sure there is something. We will talk about it when I get back."
"Back? From where?"
"America. My father and I are sailing a week from today on the Titanic."
"Well, when you return I will have laid out all our options. Best of luck on your travels." answered Matthew stepping out of the taxi at his rented rooms.
"And to you in making our plans worthwhile. Goodbye Matthew I'll see you in a month." replied Patrick pulling the door of the taxi shut and giving directions to his on home.
April 16 was an alarming day for Matthew Crawley as news reached England that the Titanic the unsinkable ship had sunk bringing many passengers to their deaths. When the paper published the final list of the lost, Matthew began to pack.
"Darling," his mother Isobel, "What are you doing?"
"Obviously, I'm packing." responded her son tersely.
"Yes I can see that, but why?" she rephrased her question ignoring the bite to her only son's voice.
"I have a funeral to attend for a friend who was on the Titanic. Now if you'll excuse me. I don't want to miss my train." Kissing her forehead her son left his mother in a confused state trying, but not succeeding in recalling who of their acquaintance who had been making the trans-Atlantic journey.
The memorial service for Patrick and his father was held on a calm April morning two weeks after the Titanic sunk in the stone church near Downton Abbey. In one of the back rows sitting up straight, but careful to keep out of view was a blonde blue eyed man with a very strange letter in his pocket.