Chapter Six
The next morning Mary snuck out of her room and knocked on Edith's door. She glanced about herself nervously for a few seconds and then knocked more urgently.
"Edith!" She hissed, "Come along!"
Her sister appeared at the door a moment later, laden with two bags. Mary rolled her eyes, but said nothing. Neither of the girls was used to carrying their own bags, let alone sneaking out of the house whilst doing so. As a result they had trouble doing it quietly.
"We'll take a carriage to Liverpool and get a ship to Dublin from there," Edith whispered, "It would be quicker in the car but the noise would be sure to wake someone up. It should only take two hours anyway."
"I've left a note for Matthew and the ship leaves at eight-thirty so we'll be long gone by the time they discover that we've left," Mary remarked as she put their bags in the back of the car before walking over to help Edith with the horse.
"Mary, it's freezing, get into the carriage!" Edith said, but Mary shook her head and helped her sister hook Diamond up. Before too long they had set off into the bleak morning, leaving Downton behind them in a cloud of dust from the horse's hooves.
They drove along the country roads and Mary's head began to fall onto her sister's shoulder, as her eyes drifted shut and she fell deep into her dreams. When she awoke it seemed as if she had simply blinked, but in truth she'd slept all the way to Liverpool and found that Edith was now unloading their bags from the carriage and passing them over to a stranger in uniform.
"He's going to put them in our cabin," she told Mary, who clambered, in a very unladylike fashion, down from the seat. As she thanked the man, a new problem occurred to her.
"Edith, what are we going to do with the carriage?" She asked, putting a hand to her head. Edith paused for a moment and Mary was shocked when she shrugged.
"I suppose we'll simply have to leave it here."
"Leave it here?" Mary's eyebrows shot up. "Leave father's carriage and my prized horse here?" Edith sighed and opened her mouth as if to speak when the man who was helping them with the bags spoke up.
"Erm, if I may, ma'am," he said in a strong Liverpool accent. "I got a friend, ye see, who looks after horses, I could take ye horse to 'im, if you'd like, he only lives round the corner, barely a stone's throw from the docks."
"Oh, well, thank you," Mary said, smiling gratefully, "That's ever so obliging of you and my sister and I would be very grateful"
The man nodded and led Diamond off with the carriage. As Mary watched them go she felt slightly uneasy, noticing this, Edith rolled her eyes.
"Mary, do come along or the ship will leave without us," she said, taking her sisters arm, "The world won't wait for you."
"Don't I know it," Mary responded cryptically. Edith gave her a questioning look but didn't comment. When they got to their cabin, Mary told her sister to go to bed. "I slept on the journey from Downton; you should sleep on the crossing."
Edith nodded and went into the bedroom while Mary changed from her riding clothes, which she had worn to the docks, into something more comfortable. In this case she changed into a dress which she considered rather ghastly. It was calf-length, green with little blue and yellow flowers on it. Mother had chosen it for her first season and, somewhat miraculously, it still fit. Mary had packed her… rather less glamorous clothes for Ireland, deciding that neither she nor Edith would have any need for anything particularly grand.
She left the cabin and went up onto the deck, looking out at Liverpool as it sank, slowly, into the distance. The crossing would take almost ten hours and Mary wasn't particularly looking forward to it. She didn't think she would get seasick, but she couldn't say the same for Edith.
When they were children, every little thing had seemed to make Edith ill. It was one of the reasons that Mary had grown up resenting Edith because, as a child, she'd had their parents at her bedside most nights when she came down with a bout of Influenza or Tonsillitis. Mary could recall asking her mother to sing to her and, on more than one occasion, the reply had been, "Not now, darling, Edith isn't well." Her mother would then brush Mary aside and sweep up the stairs. The Countess of Grantham, a tall, beautiful creature whom Mary idolised. She caught sing of her ring for a second and smiled as she realised that she too would one day hold that title. She enjoyed the peace of the moment as her thoughts turned from there to Matthew. Her darling Matthew.
Mary sighed and rested her chin on her hands, which lay on the railings. She thought back to the night of the Servants' Ball and his proposal. The butterflies which came to her stomach when she thought of him made her want to giggle in a most unladylike (and un-Marylike) fashion. The last few weeks had been a blur of surreal happiness, beyond anything she had felt for years. Mary appreciated this opportunity to rest for a minute and reflect, as it allowed her to realise that she didn't have a single doubt about marrying him. The only thing that worried her was whether or not she would always be able to please Matthew as a wife. To make him as happy as she knew that he would make her. He was already denied her virtue; she just hoped she could gratify him in other ways. Although Mary would be the first to admit that she may not appear to be the most maternal woman, she hoped very much that they would have a family. The thought that she and Matthew would be able to have children together, that she may one day give him a healthy son who would grow up take over the Grantham title made her smile again. For a few moments more Mary indulged herself, thinking about what their son would look like. She hoped he would be an exact, tiny replica of Matthew.
"Lady Mary Crawley?" A voice came from behind her, jerking her away from her fantasies. To her great surprise she turned to see Evelyn Napier standing a few feet away from her. Her stomach gave a slightly uncomfortable lurch and then she smiled.
"Mr Napier," she exclaimed, "How lovely to see you, and how strange that it should be aboard this ship, after such a long time."
"Yes," Napier smiled, "How long has it been?"
"Almost eight years," Mary said as he joined her and leaned on the rail beside her, "You and I are both almost a decade older."
"Does the prospect scare you?" He asked with a slight smirk.
"Oh, more than it would be ladylike to tell you."
They both laughed and as Mary pushed back a stray strand of her hair a twinkle of something caught his eye.
"Ah," he said, indicating her ring, "And who is the lucky fellow?"
Mary glanced at her ring and smiled, as she simply could not help herself.
"Mr Matthew Crawley"
"Ah, the young fellow who is to inherit your father's estate," Napier nodded, "Well, he's a lucky, lucky man."
"Thank you. What about you, Mr Napier? Last I recall, you were calling off your wedding."
"Yes," Mr Napier nodded, "And since then I've been married to a different woman by the name of Esther and I've a lovely daughter, Elizabeth."
"A daughter? How sweet!" Mary smiled, "Congratulations, I'm so pleased for you."
"Yes, well, Elizabeth is almost three now, and quite a mischievous young lady for her age. I'm heading to see Esther and Elizabeth, now. I've been working on the mainland and they've been living in Ireland."
"I'm afraid my journey to Ireland isn't nearly as casual," she sighed. "Do you remember my youngest sister, Sybil?"
"Ah, yes, young Lady Sybil, how is she? And Lady Edith?"
"Lady Edith is here with me and Lady Sybil is...in Ireland. She's been out of contact and we are all rather worried about her. I'm afraid mine and Edith's mission could be described as a rescue effort." Mary rolled her eyes as Napier smiled slightly.
"Well, Lady Mary, I wish you the best", he said, lifting his hat to her as she smiled and he walked away. Mary watched him go for a moment and then turned as if to return to her cabin. She sighed; span round on her heel and decided to rest in the fresh air a while longer. Although it was far too soon to spot the coast she looked keenly out for it, only able to imagine what surprises might be laying in store for her when she reached the shore.
Many thanks to Janep94 for BETA'ing for me :)
Stephanie xxx