Chapter Ten

The rest of the night passed slowly and torturously. Tom and Matthew carried Violet up to the bedroom that was reserved for whenever she came to stay. Mary then went to the library, where she waited with all of the others, although her father and Cousin Isobel had chosen to stay with her grandmother until the doctor arrived.

As they sat and waited Mary started to realise, perhaps for the first time, that Granny was really very old. It seemed so obvious, yet Mary had never considered that her grandmother might even be nearing the end of her life. She was, had always been, as strong as an ox. Now it seemed that that strength may remain solely in her character, not necessarily in her health.

A while later Sybil arrived on the threshold to the library. For a moment she paused, as if she were about to speak, but then thought better of it and sat down without saying a word. The silence between them all seemed charged. Mary watched Matthew's feet as he paced up and down, as impatient in awaiting this verdict as he had been at Bates' trial. Was that really what it was to be? A verdict? Yes, she supposed. Dr Clarkson could announce life or death now just as the judge and jury had just a month or so earlier. Her thoughts drifted then to all of the times that her Granny had been there for her, when she was younger. The earliest memory she had of her grandmother was from when she was five years old. Her mother had been in labour with Sybil and Edith was somehow asleep. Mary couldn't sleep herself because Cora's screams echoed through the house. She had sat up in her bed, knees pulled up to her chest, sobbing softly, when she suddenly felt the bed dip with extra weight and chanced a glance upwards.

"My dear, what on earth is the matter?" Granny's voice echoed through her thoughts, over twenty years later, clear as if she had spoken to her in this very room.

"Mama's going to have another baby, another little person to care for. If she has a boy, no one will care for me anymore,"

"Why on earth do you say that, Mary?" Violet had been shocked by her granddaughter's statement.

"Because of the entall."

"The what?"

"The entall, Granny, the entall!"

"Oh, the Entail!" her grandmother's face had turned to sympathy and, in an unusual display of affection; she'd pulled the small girl onto her lap. "My dear, just because you have another little sister, or a brother, does not mean that your Mama or Papa will love you any less, do you understand?"

And Mary had nodded, even if she hadn't quite trusted this theory. Years later she was ashamed to admit that there were still times when she was not quite able to trust it. Despite this, what stood out most to her about that whole conversation was what her grandmother had said next.

"And no matter what, dear, I will always care for you. Always."

Mary sighed and stood up, walking over to Matthew and wrapping her arms around him, if only to make him stop his dreadful pacing. He responded by closing his arms tightly around her and resting his cheek on her hair. The simple fact that they were able to embrace like this and nobody would so much as bat an eyelash gave Mary a warm feeling inside. Their moment of serenity was quickly extinguished by the opening of the door and the appearance of her father and Dr. Clarkson.

"Dr Clarkson!" Mary said, spinning on her heels to face him, "How is she? How is Granny?"

"I think should all sit down," the doctor said ominously. No one moved. He hesitated for a second before continuing, "The Dowager Countess is ageing; there is no denying it, however much we may want to. She's may have a limited amount of time left-"

"Well how much time?" Edith demanded.

"It's hard to say," Clarkson answered, regretfully. "A few months, a few years, these things are difficult to predict. Though I must warn you that, with another turn like this, that time could be significantly diminished."

"Is there anything we can do to help her? To lengthen the time she has?" Cora asked, but the doctor simply shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, Lady Grantham, the only thing you can do is make what time she has left as comfortable and as memorable for you all as possible."

Sybil's breath caught in her throat and Tom put a hand on her shoulder, gripping it, comfortingly. Mary's eyes closed and Matthew took her in his arms once more. Cora stood up and walked over to Robert, putting a hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned his head into her hand, kissing her palm.

"You all go to bed," he told them and Cora looked at him questioningly. "I'll be up soon," he reassured her and she nodded, ushering everyone out of the room and up to their own.

Half an hour later Robert saw the Doctor out of the house and then ascended the stairs to get ready for bed. He did so in his own room and then went to Cora's. He found her sitting up in bed, looking as lovely as ever, with an oddly blank expression on her lovely, pale face.

"Cora? My love, what's the matter?" he asked, "Is it mother? I'm so terribly torn up about it-"

"Do you remember, about a year after we were married, you wrote for me in my diary? The most beautiful passage I've ever read?" She asked, her voice quiet, calm, distant.

"Of course I remember," he smiled slightly at the memory of her reaction. That was the night they had fallen so deeply in love, but the expression on his wife's face was making the Earl incredibly uneasy and so he walked over to the bed.

He walked over and sat down beside her, placing a hand on her knee, "Cora, darling, what's wrong?" he asked softly and she turned her eyes on him.

He slunk back at what he saw. He'd never been looked at like that by Cora. It was a look he was more used to seeing in the eyes of his eldest daughter when she'd been denied what she saw as her birth right. Betrayal, accusation...disgust.

"Well, tonight I was going to return the favour and write something in your diary. A little something to let you know how much I still love you, something to tell you that I am here, should you ever need to talk. However, I opened it onto the wrong page and a name caught my eye."

Dread was growing steadily inside of Robert, evolving into a nauseating feeling that sat in his stomach.

"You already know what the name was, don't you?" she asked him and he swallowed loudly.

They spoke at the same time; "Jane."

DUN DUN DUN!

And there you have it, your first great plot twist :D There might be a slight pause in between chapters now, as I feel as if my muse is about to travel out of my reach (again). However, I do hope you continue to look out for this story as it will most certainly be updated at one point or another.

Much love, Stephanie xxx