Hello! Firstly, thanks for even reading this as it`s not very good, but also, please comment at the end! Dying to hear from you guys at the mo… thanks! :o)

Her heart beat a little faster inside her chest as she walked out into the darkened yard. It hadn`t been hard to slip away… Aunt Rosamund wanted to play bridge and every woman joined, even Sybil, who had come back with Tom, the journalist, for new year. But where was Matthew?

Then, she was gripped from behind. 'Matthew!' She gasped as she struggled to turn around, but when she did, she saw only the face of… Patrick Crawly leering down at her.

'Hello, little lady.'

She felt his hot breath in her ear, and struggled to kick him somewhere. Dammit, where was Matthew?

'You can't get awa-ay…' he sang softly, as his griping hands reached for her bodice, tugging at the strap and quickly undoing it, leaving her with only her and skirt on. She tried blindly to shield her body from him.

She wrenched herself away, screaming 'Help! Hel-' but it was cut short by his hand smashing to her face, with something sharp, and she fell to the ground, her face warm with…blood?

He loomed over her, gripping a knife. 'I`ll show you what happens to girls who scream!' His knife lowered to her face. She whimpered softly…

Suddenly, he was knocked to the side by a barrel of blond haired fury that had to be Matthew. 'DID YOU CUT HER? I SWEAR TO GOD THAT IF YOU'VE CUT HER I'LL SKIN YOU!'

Patrick cowered away, his hands shielding his face. 'No,no! I, I just-'

'WHAT IS THIS?'

Silence fell on the scene. 'Matthew?' Robert questioned, but then saw Mary.

'Oh my darling!' Cora rushed to Mary and hugged her tightly as the others came running outside.

'Mama, I-' Mary was cut short by her fall to the floor. She felt so dizzy… so … dizzy…

The last thing she remembered was being carried up to her room, wrapped in a blanket,put gently on the bed as the others gathered round…and then the whirling stopped as she blissfully blacked out.