Author Note: Hi all – I just wanted to thank you all so much for your responses to the last chapter. It completely blew me away when I saw this fic now has over 100 views and I did a little happy dance! I am so grateful to all of you for your reviews and you certainly gave me a lot to think about.

I wondered whether I had made Mary too cold in the last chapter – for some of you, I know that I did and that was not my intention. I love Mary and would hate to write a fic which did not do justice to her character – that could be said of every character I am writing. Having reflected though, I think I stand by what I wrote in the last chapter. This is Mary in a loveless marriage, the thing she was so careful to avoid in the show. She never married just anyone – until now. She is feeling trapped, confined, annoyed and she knows the issues of conception and making Downton safe just got a lot harder. She can't even comfort herself with her duty right now. Basically, she pissed off to the max.

As for Sybil and Matthew, I seem to be really dividing opinion and to be honest with you all as time goes on, I think this fic will continue to do that. Differing opinions are going to crop up…. I don't know if any of you guys are on Tumblr, but if you are, you may have seen that ask game about picking 500 words of a fic for the author to write a DVD commentary about? I would love to do that for this fic right now, but it would give too much away. I may well do it at the end though, as I would love to tell you I am doing A so we can get to B but I am not ready to tell you what B is yet!

A Twist of Fate is all about it getting messy and complicated and there will be no easy wins. That is as much as I am prepared to say for now except that I am intensely aware at the moment that I am not going to be able to please everyone as we go down the line. As such, I am just going to have to stick with my plot, and we'll just have to see how it lands….

But I would be honoured if you would carry on with this journey with me all the same! :)

Chapter 14

Mary had stopped shaking by the time that she left Patrick's room. She was well aware she had some harsh things to him but if he would only stop acting in such an idiotic manner it would be a lot easier for her not to do that.

She was determined to put the fight with Patrick and indeed everything to do with her husband out of her head. So, before she went downstairs she went back to her own room for just a moment to gather herself and found Anna was still there, tidying.

"How do I look?" she asked her maid with a sigh.

"Quite wonderful given the day you have had." She had said that before Mary had left the room to see Patrick but it did not hurt to hear it again.

Mary could not help but roll her eyes.

But she would not engage in a conversation like that. Not now.

"Do make sure you eat well tonight Anna."

She did not plan to be up until late.

When she got down, the first people who she saw were Matthew and Sybil and if she had had a way of telling her darling not to be so obvious then she would take it like a shot… but as far as she could see there wasn't. And she was not going to embarrass her. If it had been Edith, then maybe but she could and would not do it to Sybil. Not even now.

And besides, the fact was she still had much bigger fish to fry. Just because Patrick was now laid up and was going to be for a while, it did not mean that the house party was over.

That was the last thing it meant. Evelyn and Kamal were not going to be going anywhere for the night. And if what this all meant was that she got to enjoy the pleasure of their company without Patrick learning over her shoulder, that was fine by her.

Yet, of course, not everyone was going to agree with her or feel as she did.

Mary truly wished she could be spared Edith who was coming towards her then, looking as if she was ready for a fight.

"Why are you not with Patrick?" her sister asked as she got to her side.

"Because I am not the one who has broken their leg," really she did not why she had to choose right then to be as stupid as she had ever been.

"But you are his wife."

And she wished she was not with every fibre of her being. Now that she was, even that did not mean she had to be with him all the time.

"And I am going to be for a long time to come, so I am sure I can take tonight off."

She would have time to dote on him later if she had too.

Edith backed off then but only as she heard what she had not said.

That they were going to be married for a long time to come.

So she had better get used to it.

Edith shook her head and glanced at the stairs. Part of her said all she wanted to do was run and be at his side. She hated the thought of him being by himself right then… but as his sister in law, she had no doubt of the comments which she was going to draw if she went to his side. Besides, she was expected at dinner….

The door opened and James walked in.

"How is he?" Edith asked right away. She hoped she could allow herself that.

On the whole, James did not think a lot of his cousins, second daughter but just right then he did. Edith was nothing if not kind - which his daughter in law was not then. The others he could not fault. Robert and Cora had stayed with them the whole time Clarkson was with Patrick.

But Mary had shown no such care.

Ever since they had first imagined they were going to marry, he had always been so focused on Mary and Patrick and their glorious future that he now wondered if he had not been able to see what was in front of him all along.

"He is sleeping – the leg has been set but it is going to give him a great deal of pain in the days to come," she took his hand as she tried to be a comfort to him and strangely enough she was in that moment.

If Sybil looked over at that moment, Edith knew she would have strongly disapproved but she was far too caught up with Matthew as was Mary with their guests.

It hurt them both and it felt as if they were kindred spirits.

"Perhaps in the days to come you might go and spend a little time with your cousin, my dear. I know he is going to be glad of the company," said James.

"I am sure I will."

James gave a nod as he squeezed her hand.

He knew they all thought of him as a cold fish. Perhaps he had given them a reason to think so in the past but if there was one person in the world he cared about the very most then it was only natural it should be his son.

As their conversation trailed off, the door opened.

"Dinner is served," Carson announced.

Cora rose, and they made their way towards the door.

"I do hope your husband is not too seriously hurt," Edith heard Mr Pamuk say to Mary.

"He is sure to survive, so let's not worry too much." Her sister replied.

Edith did not think she would mind her sister having all the luck if she appreciated it but she didn't.

And for that reason alone, she could not bring herself to like her at all in that moment.

X x x

Mary had wished it was going to be but dinner was not the relaxed affair she had planned on, thanks to Patrick's fall. No matter what they were talking about, James and Edith seemed to work the conversation back to poor Patrick laying upstairs in pain.

Now she had had a bit of time away from him, she had to say even her hearted had softened a little, but not so much she wanted to spend too much time thinking about what had gone on.

Even her mother seemed to try and drive her to think about her husband every time she had a chance not to.

Therefore, she thanked God for Mr Pamuk.

How strange that this stranger from distant land felt to her as if he was the one who understood her best. He did not try to talk to her of her husband at all but rather the conversation between the two of them turned to art and literature and turkey.

They talked about dentists and their childhoods and trips to distant lands.

"I should love to visit Turkey one day," she admitted.

"It is very beautiful," he replied with a smile, and she could well believe it.

She remained enraptured in their conversation through dinner, and they only separated when the ladies went through.

On the re-joining of the two sexes, Mary and Mr Pamuk soon snuck off for a tour of the houses art, whilst Sybil and Matthew found themselves happily side by side once more. On seeing Mary and Pamuk sneak out they had done so as well, but they had gone to a different room.

"Poor Patrick, he had quite a day already and then to miss such a lovely dinner."

Matthew did not know what had possessed him to say that as he was sure the dinner was the last of his problems. And now he looked like a bit of a fool in front of Sybil but he had had to say something.

They were so close and with his eyes closed he could still see her as she had been that afternoon, flushed and beautiful.

"It was a shame," said Sybil with genuine sympathy, as she too thought it one of the best dinners which they had enjoyed for a long time. Or since the wedding at least. But, of course, that could have been since they had such a lovely day together. She did not know if it was selfish to think that way and maybe it was but just then looking into his eyes it was all she could think…

"I am so glad you came and - in about honesty, I do not want you to go," he had so far only been on two visits to them but she knew it was going to be a whole lot harder to see him got this time than it had been last time.

He braced himself to once more sound silly but he had to say what was in his mind if it was not going to go mad...

"And I, in all honesty, would love to dance with you right here and now even though there is no music."

She blushed deeply as she realised she very much wanted to take him up on that offer.

As of yet, they had not danced together (but she was sure they would) yet it was almost too easy for her to imagine the manner in which he would hold her. Respectfully but also very close.

"I do want to kiss you!" she had tried as hard as she could to keep it in but could no longer.

And no sooner had the request made than he knew he wanted to grant it…but the more time went on the more he knew the two of them have to bind there time until it was more appropriate.

"Will the promise of a kiss satisfy?" he asked her.

If he came again before the 27th December he knew she was going to be seventeen and he would be twenty-five and just perhaps the rest would be a bit more open to the two of them and that was what he wanted. There were times when he was well able to see that cousin Cora had not yet got her head around the fact her youngest daughter. If she needed time, then he was going to make sure she got it.

"Will a kiss on your forehead satisfy?" he asked her as he looked deep into her beautiful eyes.

There was part of him which wished he was going to dare a bit more than that but… not yet.

"If it all I can have."

He moved closer to her and pushed his lips very firmly to her forehead. He did not think he had ever met anyone as kind as she was or as beautiful. He hoped one day the two of them were going to make each other very happy, but as he drew back and saw the smile on her face he had cause to believe he already had.

X x x

Anna was pleased to get back to the servant's quarters that night.

By the sounds of the gossip in the servant's hall, Lady Mary had quite enjoyed herself that night with the Turkish diplomat. It was all any of the young maids had been able to talk about. Anna was not sure if she blamed them for he was rather good looking.

But that said, her loyalty was with Lady Mary and she liked to think she knew her better than the others.

She was sure she had appreciated his beauty but she had had a lot of other things on her mind.

And now it was the end of the day – she was not sure she had ever seen her lady so grateful for that. Or been so grateful herself.

She had just been about to go up to bed and debrief the day with Gwen when she saw Mr Molsley out of the corner of her eyes.

"How is Mr Patrick?" she asked him.

"Well, he is rather down in the dumps at no mistake. There is going to be no easy fix to his leg."

Anna was sorry to hear that for she liked Mr Patrick.

But the thing was about broken bones were they healed. She was sure he would be better, in time.

"Do tell him I am thinking of him when you see him tomorrow. I am sure Mrs Patmore is going to be making all of his favourites for him over the next few days."

"I dare say," said Mr Molsley as she begun to head for the staircase.

"How was Lady Mary tonight? I heard she was not all that kind to Mr Patrick earlier."

The young master had not said as much to him but when you were servants in the house such as they were, it was not the sort of thing which you could fail to pick up on.

"I think she has had quite a trying day," Anna replied. As she lived her life in service, she lived by the first rule of it as well and she was not going to the secrets of her mistress away, even if she did know them.

Not even to him.

"Good night!" She said to him brightly and with that, she headed upstairs, glad she had not betrayed any confidences.

She would have felt most uncomfortable if she had. And if she got her head on the pillow soon, she might yet not feel too tired when the sun came up. Six hours of uninterrupted sleep was what she needed.

Mr Molsley stood at the bottom of the stairs for just a moment looking at the place where she had been and then went to bed himself.

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