Disclaimer: I don't own Downton Abbey or its wonderful inhabitants. I only wish I did. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: I want to thank you all for the overwhelming support of my little story so far! I can't believe the response so far, so thank you very much. I also have to thank Orangeshipper once again for her amazing editing skills!I apologize for the lapse in time between updates, but you know, real life *sigh*.I also apologize for the shortness of the chapter but I'm afraid I had to separate the chapter into two to make it more coherent. I promise that I will update the next chapter much sooner, as the bulk of it is already written! Thanks for continuing to read! Please take a moment to review if you have the time. Enjoy!


When Matthew saw Mary again a few nights later, he could scarcely say she looked any better. She was still very pale. He kept trying to catch her gaze in the drawing room before dinner to no avail. She kept her gaze down never venturing to look up for a moment. When he had made up his mind to go over and talk to her Carson came in and announced that dinner was served. He had hoped to ascertain how she was before dinner had begun, but he found that he didn't need to ask. He observed her throughout dinner and found that she was barely touching the food in front of her. Mrs. Patmore's rolled mutton joint with capers and anchovies were delicious, but it almost looked as though it disgusted Mary. He wondered if she was very unwell still. When the dessert, Crepe Suzette, arrived he found that she was forced to excuse herself. Clearly she was still not feeling well. Why was it that no one around her appeared to notice? Why had they allowed her to come down if she was this ill? Matthew felt a sudden surge of anger at Lord and Lady Grantham for not taking proper care of her. It was a ridiculous feeling of course. Mary was a grown woman after all. And what right did he have to care?

Mary re-appeared after a few moments, just before the ladies were about to go through. Matthew finally managed to catch her eye and mouthed "Are you feeling alright?" He could see that she paused before attempting to give her best reassuring smile to him as she nodded. He wasn't convinced. He tried to convince Robert in an indirect way that they should go through, but Robert had said that he was enjoying the solace of some time without other ladies present. Matthew did his best to appear animated throughout their time together, however when they did go through he found himself walking at an almost ungentlemanly like pace to the drawing room. When he went in he scanned around the room attempting to search out Mary. She wasn't there.

Matthew walked over to his mother. "Where's Mary?" He found himself asking her.

"She wasn't looking well, so Cora sent her to bed."

"I was rather hoping to ask her how she was. I haven't seen her since, well since I carried her here the other day."

"I'm sure you'll have another opportunity." His mother said, putting a reassuring hand on his arm.

"Yes, Matthew said as he sheepishly looked at his shoes. "Of course I will." Matthew put on his best smile and moved to sit beside Sybil who was engaged in a rather spirited conversation about the vote with the Dowager.


"Robert please! Let's go back to our room and speak about this privately!" Cora pleaded while walking in the corridor next to their daughter's bedrooms. Cora attempted to catch him before he made a motion for the door handle of his eldest daughter's bedroom.

"How dare you!" Lord Grantham yelled in the direction of his daughter as he burst into her bedroom.

Mary sat up quickly in bed startled. She hadn't been asleep, but she certainly hadn't been expecting her father to come barging in her room in the middle of the night. She clutched her blanket a little higher as though it afforded some extra protection against her father's anger.

Robert had asked his wife if Mary had been feeling alright in bed after the dinner with Matthew and Isobel. Cora had wanted to pick the right moment to tell her husband what was happening, but then, well, she supposed that there would never be the right moment for this conversation.

"Keep your voice down darling. We don't want the servants- " Cora made sure that the door was closed at the very least.

He ignored her. "Never mind that you've thoughtlessly chosen to drag your own name through the mud, of which it may well or not be, but what of your sisters? Does it trouble you that you might have severely damaged their marital prospects?"

"Papa-" Mary began. She didn't know what to say. She clutched her blanket tighter.

"The irreparable damage you've caused your poor mother by burdening her with this situation-"

"Really Robert I hardly think-" Cora found herself cut off.

"Not to mention the damage you may have done to the family as a whole. The sheer and utter scandal that you've brought down on our heads! How could you? How could you Mary?"

Mary dropped her blanket and put her head in her hands attempting to dry her tears. "I'm sorry Papa!" Mary exclaimed, tears streaming down her face.

"Robert, that's enough. Can't you see she's very distraught?" Cora went to put her arm around her sobbing child.

"She ought to be distraught at the prospect of ruin hanging over our heads. She ought to feel something resembling remorse for the trouble she's caused the members of her family!" Robert turned away from them both.

"Don't you think that she isn't already punishing herself? She knows that she's made a mistake. One that, need I remind you, she'll spend the rest of her life paying for. Isn't that enough?" Cora yelled at her husband's back.

Robert turned his back to his wife and daughter in a moment of contemplation. "She leaves in the morning." He decided.

"Really Robert it's hardly as urgent as all of that. Won't it look more suspicious if she suddenly goes away with no explanation? We need to be smart about this darling. Can't you see that?"

"I know I've disappointed you Papa-" Mary began finally finding the courage to speak.

"Disappointed? Disappointment doesn't begin to explain my feelings for the situation before us! How could you let this happen?"

"Robert!"

"He came to my room and I asked him to leave. He wouldn't go and, I don't know. Before I knew it we were… It all happened so fast I hardly know what, or how it happened. I knew generally what was happening, but all of the mechanics of it… He told me it would be safe!" Mary sobbed but shook her head, and continued. "There is really no excuse I can give you, except my own ignorance and stupidity."

"How could you not know that this could come?" Surely she had had some idea Robert thought to himself.

"Because I'm a woman and I'm not meant to know of such things. Isn't that what men believe? Oh I've read novels that imply such consequences but we're left to interpret the rest. While you all go around sowing your wild oats, we women live in ignorance of matters that affects us greatly."

"So if you would have known more, you would have made more of an informed decision, is that it?" Robert retorted back.

"That's enough both of you!" Cora finally yelled over them. They stopped and both looked at Cora aghast. "Well now that I have your attention I think we need to calm down and discuss a plan. Mary has been thinking and she has made a decision about what she would like to do."

Mary gently touched the blanket before her trying to think of what to say. She had a plan, or at least part of a plan. She could make the rest of her decision after the baby came. She was figuring out how to begin when…

"Well?" Robert exclaimed at his daughter.

She paused before beginning. "You're right of course Papa, I must go away. It's the only hope we have of possibly avoiding scandal so, I've decided to leave to have the baby and then… I'm not sure. I will decide what is right when the child comes. In the mean time I will tell people that I am going to visit relatives in America, regardless of where I go. It gives a plausible excuse of why I might disappear for so long."

"You needn't go-"

"Of course she must go Robert-"

"I mean," Robert appeared to be softening by the second at the prospect of one of his children going away, "You needn't go as far as America if you wish. I own a small house near Keswick. You can stay there while… while it's all going on. I know it would grieve your Mama to be so far away from you." Mary's eyes began to well up at the prospect of not being sent so very far away. "It would grieve me too." He said sitting on the bed beside her. "I'm sorry for the yelling. Your mother is right. If we're smart about this, no one need ever hear about it. And in less than a year you could be back at home with us."

"What if I," Mary paused before continuing. "That is, what if I choose to stay with the baby? What will happen to me then?" Mary looked at her father with an almost childlike innocence.

Robert moved closer to her placing a hand on her shoulder. "Well now. Why don't we cross that bridge if we come to it?"

"I'm frightened, I'm so afraid of what will become of me." Mary said shedding another tear.

"Now you listen to me Mary," Cora began. "You're going to be a mother which in itself is a terrifying prospect. So from this day forward, you need to be strong, both for yourself and for the baby. You're a Crawley after all. And so is the baby."

"Oh Mama," Mary exhaled into her mother's shoulder. She heard her father speak again.

"You should know that regardless of what becomes of him or her, you will always have your family to support you." Mary didn't say anything as Robert took her into his arms and hugged her as if it might be the last for a while. Cora's heart warmed at the sight. She had never doubted that she had married a good man. She could only hope that Mary could find the same.


A/N: Hope it was worth the wait! Please take a moment to review if you have the time! I really value your feedback!