"What do you think about this one?" Mary asked her mother. Cora shook her head and picked out another dress instead.

Now that Mary was ready to marry Matthew everything was moving very fast. The church had been booked, the menus discussed and the wedding invitations sent out.

Mary, Cora, Edith and Sybil were in London, where Mary was trying on wedding dresses.

Mary tried on the dress had Cora pointed out. It was an ivory dress with long sleeves, an intricate but beautiful pattern on its fitted skirt, a high collar and it had fifty buttons, the shop owner was very proud of it.

"Try it on," the owner said. "My daughter designed it, and sewed on all the details by hand. I think it will go very well with your colouring."

Mary tried it on. She looked at herself in the mirror and thought that she really looked great; she couldn't wait to see the look on Matthew's face when she walked down the aisle.

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Matthew nearly had a heart attack when he saw Mary walk the aisle with her father. Her dress was amazing and he couldn't wait to get her out of it, but even more amazing than her dress was the smile that she was wearing.

She was looking directly at him, walking down the aisle to him. He didn't think he'd ever seen such a beautiful sight in his life.

Mary walked down the aisle, smiling, happy; everyone could see that she really wanted to get married to the man waiting for her.

The wedding ceremony went off without a hitch, Cora and Violet had cried in the church, even Robert had looked a bit sad, the food had been great and the weather perfect, and pretty soon, Mary and Matthew were alone in the cottage where they were going to spend their two week honeymoon. Edith and Sybil had been her bridesmaids and they had looked great in their dresses.

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Mary was standing in the bathroom attempting to get out of her wedding dress with little success. The buttons were all at the back and she couldn't reach them.

The easiest thing would be to get Matthew to help her but she was feeling shy.

'Get over it,' she told herself. 'You're now married to him, and you did want to marry him.' Still she couldn't let herself ask for his help, and she'd already refused it when he'd offered.

She stood in the bathroom for five more minutes and then walked out. Matthew was surprised to see that she was still in the wedding dress.

"I hope this doesn't sound too forward," he said, smiling, "but I hoped that you would come out of there dressed in something else."

Mary looked at him, "You mean you're tired of seeing me in this dress, already?"

He shook his head.

"Good, because I don't think I'm ever taking it off."

He nodded as though it made perfect sense.

"You need help, don't you?" he asked her.

"If you would be so kind, husband dearest."

He stood up and took her into his arms and kissed her. "Did I tell you how beautiful you looked today?"

"You may have mentioned it once or ten times."

"I'll say it again then, Mrs. Crawley. You looked and still look very beautiful. I love you Mary Crawley."

"I know."

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Later that night, Mary and Matthew lay in their bed, nestled in each other's arms. Mary's head was on his chest while she slept. He looked at his wife for a while then fell asleep as well, a smile on his face.

It was good thing Mary decided to walk into my room that night was his last thought before he drifted off, who knows how long we'd have taken to get here if she hadn't.

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