As usual I don't own Downton Abbey. Julian Fellowes does. This is one of two really short chapters before the Wedding.

Please rate and review.

Chapter 12 Noticing Things and the Final Preparations.

Mary's POV

For the rest of the three weeks before the wedding there were constant arguments in the house. Raised voices were heard throughout. I wondered what the servants would think. I took refuge in going to Ripon or Malton every day with Anna and Edith as my companions. We bought things for the honeymoon and my marriage. They still wouldn't tell me the location of the honeymoon but I knew it would last a month. We went to various shops picking out clothes, bathing suits and underwear and small trinkets. When we went to Ripon we met Matthew for lunch and if he could we spent the afternoon together. When Matthew and I were together Anna and Edith kept a distance.

We bought many other things together such as a camera so we could document our honeymoon and life together. It was important to Matthew that that I felt that Crawley House was my home. We bought things for the house including the bedroom. 6 years before I would have insisted that we had separate bedrooms but now I was set against it. We would never sleep apart unless one of us was ill or I was in a confinement.

It was interesting seeing our tastes come through as we chose things. I liked quite classic plain Regency and early Victorian objects, whereas Matthew preferred more modern Art Nouveau objects. I'd never noticed his preferences before but then I hadn't spent a great deal of time at Crawley House and of course Isobel had her tastes. Three people with contrasting tastes all living under the same roof. How would we survive? We had to compromise. Compromise was the key to a good marriage I thought. Those afternoons were the happiest I had experienced in a long time. We'd never courted properly and this was our courtship. We forgot the wedding and just thought about us.

We ended each afternoon in Lyons tea shop. Matthew took his tea with milk and one sugar cube and put the jam and then the cream on his scone. I noticed that he wore a watch on his left wrist and when he was worried he twisted it around. These little things I was noticing about him that I would never have noticed before would make our life special.

Another thing we did was to ride bicycles together around the village. I felt very young and gay when we did this especially when we picked up steam and had races. Despite Anna securing my hair well it often came loose as we were riding. He often pulled over and tried to re-secure my hair. It was these little touches that I loved about him.

The week before the wedding was a hectic time. Our relatives would leave nothing to chance. With fittings for my dress and the flowers to be arranged. The library to be set up for the reception. The house was nothing but quiet. Still Matthew and I found time to ourselves. As I wandered around my childhood home I wondered what the next few years would bring. I knew that I would return to the house that I grew up in but it would be different when I returned. I would be its mistress and the Countess. I would help Matthew in his task when the time came. I grew up watching my father and knew how to run the estate with all the strength of a man. Matthew knew that he was marrying in to a family of strong women. I hoped he realised how strong we were.

Next chapter- The Night Before the Wedding.