Profiting off the misery of countless souls in the Great War had been another moral bridge Mary and Matthew had been forced to cross. She'd justified it to herself with the idea that if they hadn't done it, someone else would have, and nothing would have been improved. But some nights she still found it hard to sleep, and wondered just what she was becoming.
But it was hard to argue with the results. Martha's already bountiful oil prospects had been aided by Matthew's dabbles in arms trading, and they had finally made enough money to travel back to England and put their plan into motion. She still often had to remind herself that after so many years of waiting and hoping, it was actually happening at last.
Their first step had been to create a title that would put them in high standing with the community. They had always known this would likely be the biggest expense, and so Mary tried not to be put out at such a percentage of their wealth being wiped out right off the bat. Next, they had to look the part, with several tailored suits and gowns. Matthew had a barber help him grow a dashing thin moustache and pointed beard, while Mary realized she would have to hide her face entirely with so many people who could recognize her even these years later. They decided to turn this to their advantage, giving the new Count Donovan a wife who refused to show her face, which would doubtlessly just add to their appeal.
Patrick and Edith not coming to their dinner party had been a disappointment, but they didn't fret too much, as it was certain that such a strange pair of new residents would attract their attention. And sure enough, a few years later came a personal invitation. This actually worked out better than planned, as in what Mary grumblingly considered was their own home they'd likely be more open with news of just what the state of Downton was these days, and anything that could be turned to Mary and Matthew's own benefit.
"I wish I could be with you, my lady," said Anna as she put the finishing touches on Mary's outfit.
"Believe me, I do too. Unfortunately, explaining that this household includes two women whose faces are never seen would probably tip us over into unbelievability."
"Yes, shame about that. Well, I'm sure I'll think of something to occupy my time." Mary shuddered a bit at the relish in the voice of the woman who was acting as her maid again. It had taken a while, but she'd finally gotten the whole story of Anna's time in prison, and was very troubled at the thought of what that experience could do to even the brightest soul.
The two of them met Matthew and Bates, now acting as Matthew's valet, at the front door. Mary smiled again at how close the two of them had clearly gotten, however much they were trying to keep it under wraps for now. "Shall we, my dear?" she asked as she lowered her veil."
Matthew took her arm. "I can't wait."
0000000000000000000000000000
It was a galling feeling to wait to enter what should be her own home. She was surprised to find the door answered not by the familiar Carson, but a younger man in a head butler's uniform. She hoped this didn't indicate some misfortune had befallen the beloved staff member whose creaking bass voice had been such a constant and comforting presence growing up.
"The Count and Countess Donovan, to see your lord and lady," said Matthew with admirable pomp for someone who'd never actually been part of this life.
The butler nodded. "Yes, you are expected. Come in, they are waiting in the library."
The same room in which Mary's life had fallen apart. It seemed only fitting. It was quite hard to keep herself from stopping to gawk at all the familiar sights of the Abbey as she and Matthew were led through. And then they reached the library, and at the sight of her traitorous sister and cousin, all of Mary's worries over the years about going too far in her revenge flew out of her head. Seeing them rich, powerful, and contented made her want to fly across the room and throttle them. But none of this showed in the quite correct posture that had quickly come back to her from her mother's old lessons.
The butler announced them, and Patrick waved him off with a "Thank you, Barrow." The name caused a spark of memory in Mary, as she thought it was the name of a footman hired shortly before everything had fallen apart. But for now there were more important things to worry about.
Patrick and Edith stood up with what seemed for all the world to be genuine gladness to see them. Of course, they thought they would have to charm the new neighbors who seemed to wield some influence, no matter what their actual feelings. "I do apologize for missing your party, but I imagine you know what it's like on these old estates. As soon as one problem is solved, two more pop up."
Matthew chuckled. "I imagine even Hercules himself would have trouble with the Hydras I've had to deal with." Yes, Mary thought, throw in some gratuitous reference to show you're educated, that's what all these people love.
Edith piped up with, "And of course, the enigmatic countess. When I heard about your wardrobe I didn't quite believe it, but I must say the veil is quite becoming."
Mary ground her teeth a bit at the obvious insincerity, but it helped that she was about to employ one of her more amusing ideas. "Well, I thank you kindly," she replied, and had to stifle a laugh at Patrick and Edith's pitiful attempts to hide their shock, as she'd spoken with an imitation of the accent she'd heard from some of Martha's oil partners from Texas. She was sure it sounded horrible to a native of the area, but how were two such proper English aristocrats to know?
Luckily, Matthew himself was under no such compunction, and gave his own fitting laugh in character. "I'm sorry, I know it can be quite a surprise. But my business has taken me often to the American south, and after a while the charm of the local ladies became too much to resist." He was also clearly enjoying their discomfort; after all, how could they protest the idea given Edith's own parents?
Mary twisted the knife a bit further. "I had a bad case of the German measles as a girl, and the doctors were able to save me, but they couldn't do anything about my face. I thought I'd never be able to find anyone who loved me, but the Count here saw past it." She took Matthew's hand, and he gave her a comforting grip back.
Patrick and Edith now looked delightfully uncomfortable, and when it seemed neither of them were going to break the silence, Matthew said, "You must forgive her, these Americans don't share our sense of decorum, but I've grown to find her frankness quite appealing. You must be familiar with that, Lady Edith, given what we heard about your mother."
Edith was snapped back to the moment on being directly addressed. "Oh, Papa had all kinds of stories about when Mama first came here, but she'd largely gone native by the time I came around." Mary caught a brief hesitation when it came to speaking about Cora. Could Edith have some measure of regret for what she'd done? Well, it didn't matter. All Mary cared about now was what had actually happened.
And as long as she was building a reputation for not standing on social appropriateness, she might as well dig a bit further. "Speaking of, the papers have been pretty stingy about what happened to the former earl and his wife. I'd like to drop in on them some time and catch up with a fellow carpetbagger."
Edith looked to Patrick; now she really was uncomfortable with the topic. But Patrick didn't seem moved at all. "The poor dears just went through too much to consider staying on. Their other daughters ran into horrible scandals, and now one's passed away and the other's who knows where. Now they live in another place on the property called Crawley House." Mary recognized the name; so that old place was now inhabited again? "They're quite well looked after, as the former head butler and housekeeper left to take care of them. It was best for all; they're all quite set in their ways and were starting to have some trouble with the new way of doing things."
Mary couldn't stop a sigh of relief at knowing Carson was all right, and Mrs. Hughes too, but fortunately it seemed no one had noticed.
Matthew nodded. "I thought the fellow who greeted us was a bit young for the station."
"I imagine it came as quite a shock to Mr. Barrow, but he's stepped up to the task quite ably. But now, what of you two? I'm sure there must be more to your story than we've heard."
0000000000000000000000000000
Thomas felt a flush of pride at Lord Grantham doling out such praise. Even if it did have to come from listening at the keyhole himself, when typically he would be relying on O'Brien to do this kind of work for him. It still pained him that he'd been forced to sever their partnership, and as far as he knew the poor lady still had no idea why he'd suddenly become so distant from her.
"Well, that's one way to move up in the world, I suppose," came the sudden voice of Patrick, causing Thomas and Duke Phillip to both shout and leap apart from each other.
Phillip stood up with remarkably unearned poise, and pulled on his trousers as he said, "I know the game, and I trust we can work something out?"
Patrick scoffed. "As it happens, I don't have any use for you at the moment. Just one more blue blood trying to add some flavor to his pitiful life, a quite common tale." Then he turned to Thomas, still cowering and struggling to keep himself covered with the bedsheet. "You, on the other hand…"
Phillip finished dressing and left the room. "My wife has been having some problems with her new maid," he said as he advanced on Thomas. "She's gotten the idea that the only reason Mrs. O'Brien didn't leave with the other two was to get payback for her former mistress. And after observing things for myself, I've come to much the same conclusion. And a certain member of the staff has let me know that she's particularly close with you."
Thomas tried to reply, but could only stammer in his continuing shock. Philip went on, "You know what she's up to, don't you? Perhaps you're even a part of it. Well, now I want you to put a stop to it. You know what I was able to do to Lady Mary, and I don't imagine it'll be very hard when the accusation is actually true."
He had done as asked, and their friendship had been permanently soured. Even worse, Patrick made sure to inform him that this was far from the end of their arrangement. He could reveal Thomas' secret any time he wanted, and that meant Thomas was his to do with however he pleased. There had been several more jobs of this nature over the years, some of which had actually resulted in genuine praise which he found himself reveling in despite his own wishes. It seemed he was rather more weak-willed than he'd imagined. And he guessed that soon there would be another such job about the new arrivals.
0000000000000000000000000000
As they returned to Haxby Park, after finishing their giggles at how badly Mary had discombobulated her sister and cousin, Matthew said, "I hope some useful information came out of that. There were a few times where I wasn't sure I'd be able to control myself any more."
Mary nodded. "We know where Mama and Papa are, which was one of the things I was most curious about. And they're with Carson and Mrs. Hughes, two of the most steadfast and trustworthy people it's ever been my pleasure to know. Crawley House had been empty since long before I was born, but it's certainly a comfortable place." She paused a bit, unsure to go ahead with her next thought, but even with his new look Matthew's eyes were so inviting and loving that she went for it. "In fact, what do you think of leaving them a message?"
Matthew frowned. "It's far too early to let anyone else know about us."
"Oh, nothing about who we are. Just letting them know that someone is on their side and working to make things right. Ever since we faked my death I've felt guilty about what I was putting them through, and I just want to make it a little better."
He sighed. "All right. Now let's get into something more comfortable while I try to resist the urge to burn this suit."
0000000000000000000000000000
Robert looked curiously at the letter on the stoop of Crawley House. Whoever had knocked on the door was gone, and it featured no hint as to who they were, with no writing at all. But when he took it inside and read it, he felt his heart stop.
"Cora, look at this," he said as he entered the sitting room. The note was small, simply saying, "I cannot tell you who I am, but know that I am working to get justice for you and your daughters. May we one day be able to meet."
Cora actually raised herself out of the languidness that she was stuck in most of the time these days. "Is this supposed to be a joke?"
Robert shook his head. "Don't ask me why, but it feels like it's true. And if that's the case, I wish them jolly good luck."
He kept to himself the most important piece of news. After Mary's death and their banishment to this place, he'd comforted himself with the few physical keepsakes of his daughter that were left. This included her primary school assignments from when she was learning the alphabet, and as a consequence he was intimately familiar with every twist and curl of her handwriting. The writing on the note wasn't quite the same, and if he didn't miss his guess was done by someone trying to disguise the way they usually wrote, but his practiced eye picked up on several unmistakable similarities.
There was always a chance he was seeing things in his desperate need to see his girl again, so he wouldn't tell Cora just yet. Besides, if it really was her, she clearly didn't want him knowing that just yet, and he would respect those wishes. But for the moment, he felt a spark of life inside him that he had thought long extinguished, and hoped that when the day came, he would be able to do his part to serve out justice.
0000000000000000000000000000
A/N: After reading some reviews, I realized I haven't yet made clear on this site that this story is not my idea; it comes from Mr. Chaos, who's been including story ideas for anyone to pick up in his own Downton fic Authors of Our Own Fate. It's very good, check it out!
Mary's accent is a nod to Michelle Dockery's cameo in Hanna, a sorely underappreciated film that is hopefully getting more attention as an early starring role for Lady Bird.