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Chapter 21

With Sybil's birthday over and done with once more, Mary Crawley was sure all of them could begin to think of the next big event of their yearly calendar – and it was not about any one of them particularly.

It was Christmas.

She had always enjoyed the holiday and the fun which it brought to Downton Abbey and she did not see why that was going to be any different that year – in fact, she meant to ensure it was not any different.

They had had there trying to times that year, her family – but the next year was going to be better she said to herself, for things had to be different, and the very least which they could do was see it out with a bang.

"Have you begun to think about Christmas at all mama?" she said one morning as she sought Cora out in her room before the two of them had gone downstairs to greet the rest of the family for the day.

Thankfully as time had gone on things between the two of them had got a little easier. She dared to say things were not going to be the way things were before the – the incident – ever again but she did have a little hope now that that was not all her mother saw when she looked at her.

And she did think these little chats between the two of them helped.

And in thinking that, she was right. Cora was pleased to see her daughter taking an interest in the general running of the abbey. It showed her commitment to her marriage to Patrick and to their future, she thought to herself, and all of that could only be a good thing.

"Not yet but I dare say I should have done but I have not – have you had any thoughts on it?" She was not going to hog the reins of the countess from Mary. She was the incumbent but that also meant she was a teacher. And teach she intended to do.

May shrugged. "Not particularly – I was just wondering who was going to be in attendance."

Cora sighed. "Well us, and James and Granny of course – but perhaps we should cast the net a little wider this year."

Neither of them really needed Cora to clarify what she meant but she supposed she would.

"I do think your sister was very sorry to not have Matthew here on her big day – I think it is maybe high time we caved to what does seem to be inevitable and ask him to come here for Christmas."

The thing was, it was not as if Sybil had gone on at her, trying to get Matthew there – she had been a little more reserved and as such, Cora felt almost as if she wanted him to be there with her more and certainly felt as if she would be happier to ask him. Sybil was maturing.

Mary was about to say if they kept asking him here then they were going to make everything a lot more inevitable – but she held her tongue.

Sybil and Matthew cared for one another – if she had had that with a man she did not think she would forgive interference with that.

Besides she did not know what reason she would have to stop a friend being here with her over the most festive time of the year…

"We would have to ask his mother as well – we couldn't leave her out."

"Well then," said Cora –"maybe a bigger family Christmas is just what we should have."

After all, they had only just discovered the family connection – and it would be rather nice to have a few new faces around the table as they played the game thought Mary.

"Maybe it is."

X x x

Thus Mary was rather looking forward to Christmas when it came close. It was going to be a distraction and she badly wanted one of those. And what Sybil wanted was indeed for Matthew was to come to the abbey for the season and she would have his mother come with him – when her sister and her mother had told her of their plan she had been very in favour of it.

From what Sybil had been told Mary, the mother did sound as if she was quite, quite formidable and interesting and so naturally the idea of her coming was one which pleased her a lot, in fact, it did so a lot more than her grandmother thought was seemly.

The dowager was quick to remind Mary that her youngest sister was yet to meet Matthew's mother, so her recommendation was not one which should be taken to heart.

Violet had never been one to invite someone into the family prematurely and when it came to Matthew Crawley, it felt as if that was exactly what they were doing. It was not as if there was anything yet settled between Matthew and Sybil so there was no need to rush into anything by her estimation.

Mary could only hope for Sybil's sake that if she did come, she was not going to be too spiky with Mrs Isobel Crawley but if she was it was going to give her, Mary, a great evening.

"Please just when the two of them are here think of your granddaughter's happiness," pleaded Mary as she got up, put on her gloves and prepared herself for what she knew was going to be a rather chilly walk back to the abbey.

She had gone to the dowager house for tea. This time it had been her mother who had asked her to go into battle for Sybil as Cora had felt that if Violet was likely to listen to either of them on this matter then it was going to be her very English granddaughter over her American daughter in law, though the truth was Mary did not know how much of an effect she had had.

"Oh I will – but given her tender age do we really believe Sybil truly knows what will make her happy yet?" asked her grandmother in such a way that meant there could only be one possible answer.

Mary smiled -almost but not quite sadly – she had been older than Sybil when she had thought she did know what was going to make her happy. When Sybil was sure this young, maybe it meant she truly was on to something.

"It could just be the fact I am her big sister and I want her to be happy – but yet, I think we can."

She had watched Sybil grow up and she knew her to be brave and sensible and out of the three of them, she would say that Sybil knew herself the best out of their generation of Crawley sisters and that was nothing at all to be scoffed at, though she had a feeling if she tried to tell her grandmother that then one way or another she was going to be scoffed at.

"I will see you at church Granny," Mary said as she gave her grandmother a dutiful kiss on the cheek and made her way out into the cold. She would miss the summer whilst it was gone, though she would not say no to a crisp white layer of snow for Christmas day.

One could only hope.

On her return to the abbey, Mr Carson and the newly engaged Anna were waiting for her in the hallway. Mary had quite frankly been surprised when she had heard that she was going to marry Molsley, but then, different horses for different courses.

If the two of them truly thought they could make one another happy, then she wished the two of them good luck.

"Shall I get you some tea, my lady, to warm you up?" asked Anna and Mary nodded.

"That would be lovely."

"Anything for me in there?" Mary asked as she saw that Mr Carson had the post. A nice gossipy letter from Matthew on the dramas of Manchester would be just the thing to read with her tea and she was sure that there was a letter from Matthew in Mr Carson's hands. Alas, she thought – it was addressed to Miss 'S' Crawley.

No office politics for her that day.

"But there is one for you, milord," Carson said as Robert came in to view with Isis on his heels. The two of them had just been heading into the library.

"Perfect timing," Robert said with a nod. He was planning to be spending the next hour or so dealing with some correspondence. He could deal with this that very day, hopefully.

"What is it?" his daughter asked with a smile.

Robert shook his head – the handwriting was a new one on him. "I have no idea – but I will do soon!" he said as he headed into the library.

X x x

Dear Lord Grantham,

I fear it is going to be considered an impertinence, me writing to you as I am about to and if my son knew what I was going to put into this letter, I am sure he would be nothing short of furious with me.

But nevertheless, I am a mother and as a mother, I know when something needs to be said.

I never knew my son as happy as he was when he was in your employ – not for a long time. After a string of bad luck, I believe we were both happy to think that luck had changed.

He was a different man to who he had before. He had a chance to make good – therefore, you would well be able to imagine the distress I felt when I found out he had lost his job at the Abbey. My sorrow was all the more profound as I never was told why he lost the job or the offence which he caused.

Which is why I am writing to you - I understand it is not conventional for me to write this letter and my son is a grown man. Maybe it would be best if I held my tongue – or my pen as it were…

But I do need to know. What did my son do wrong – and is there a way we can make it right?

John is working hard, but I fear for his health in so many ways and I do not believe he did anything wrong. Please, enlighten me if this is not so.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Bates.

X x x

There was a part of Robert which he knew was cowardly, which wished he had not opened the letter which Carson had given to him. He had had no idea who had been writing to him thus he had been more than a little curious when he had opened it.

But he did not know a person alive who liked to get bad news and he did no different. And this was bad news. After all he and Bates had been through, he did care for him so he did not like to hear he was down on his luck, nor that his mother was so worried about him.

None of it went easy with him.

He knew as soon as he answered it however that he was not going to let this plea fall on deaf ears and that there was going to be no ignoring it. He was not even going to bother trying to do that. No almost before he had got to the end of the letter he had decided what he was going to do. He knew in his heart.

The day Bates had gone there had been a part of Robert which had wanted to fetch him back and tell him that he had been wrong – to ask his old comrade to forgive him and for them to carry on as they were. As it was he had been too much of a coward to do that.

But he knew he was not going to be again, he thought after Thomas had got him dressed. He was not a patch of Bates and the truth was he didn't feel as at ease with him.

He wanted the valet he had always wanted back. And as he went into his wife's room he knew he was ready to do battle for him.

"You look lovely," he said as he caught sight of her in the vanity mirror.

"Thank you, darling," his wife replied. "Are you ready to go down?"

"I will be in a moment – I just need to discuss something with you first."

"Whats that?"

"Cora, if I am honest I never quite felt easy about the way I ended things with Bates. After all, we went through together, all I can say is that I owed that man a lot more loyalty than I showed to him in his time here."

Cora turned to him with surprise in her eyes. The truth was all that Bates business had happened so long ago now that she had quite forgotten about that.

"I see – why are you bringing this up now?"

"Because I am going to write to him, say sorry – and ask him to return to work at Downton."

Core felt suddenly exasperated.

"Darling, if he was not up to the job why would we pay him to do it?"

The more he thought on it, the more Robert knew that he had never been the one to fault his work and so he came to understand the man he had fought side by side with had been able to do the job and he, Robert, had been the one who was found wanting. All he could think was he had had a chance to stop this from happening and instead he had just let it happen. Well, that was going to be the day the story change and he did not give a damn how peculiar people found it.

Thomas and Miss O'Brien and even on this occasion Mr Carson could go hang. They were the ones who have said Bates was not what he should have been when he was. They were wrong and he was not about to leave an old friend out in the cold when he could help him instead - that was not his style at all.

"But that is just the thing – I do think he was up to the job…"

In fact, at the time that he was working with him, he did not think he had a single complaint.

"Then why did you not say so at the time?" his wife asked.

He could see what she was thinking – that the two of them were employers and if the two of them were not giving the right jobs to the right people, then there was a very little point in the abbey. What they were there for was to support the locals and the county.

"I think I felt –" he did not wish to say coyed. He was after all an earl and he was meant to be the head of this household.

Nevertheless, he was ashamed to think that was how he had felt – and he truly had let it affect his judgement of the situation – "as if to listen to the opinion of others was the right thing to do. But now - now I think I should have kept my own counsel on the matter."

"Well if he does come back then this is it – we can't keep messing around with the man's life Robert. If he comes back he stays."

"I agree – and if he comes back, stay he will!"

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