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Chapter 2

With a loud sigh and a quiet close of the door, Mary entered her small, but beautiful home. Her parents had several houses built along the edge of Downton Abbey's property to sell and rent, which were also given to their daughters while they searched for independence as they became adults and no longer wanted to live at home. It had been their way to keep their children close, but also allow them that freedom.

Mary rather enjoyed being close to her home and close to the Abbey. Downton Abbey was their family's legacy. She would inherit it one day, as the daughter of Robert Crawley, aka Lord Grantham. It was no longer lived in by them and hadn't been lived in since the 50s. No, now it was used as a place where people held elegant receptions and weddings, as well as a tourist venue. They brought quite a lot of money in just from the tours alone.

But even still, Downton felt like home to Mary. She could walk through the halls and it just felt like it was where she belonged. And so, she needed to remain near it.

Kicking off her heels, Mary went directly to her bathroom to begin taking down her hair. Her eyes meet her own in the mirror and she let out another sigh. Tonight had been exhausting. She knew that she should be thrilled for her baby sister and her upcoming wedding, but it was just a sour reminder of what she didn't have. She, of course, didn't let Sybil see the disappointment on her face and pretended with great vigor, she would add, about how excited she was to be there. Anna had been a great help with that. Her friend understood her disappointments and had helped to curtail any conversations that tried to get into her personal life.

Also, there had been Edith. Unfortunately, for her, Edith had been sat down right next to Mary. And the girl had been complaining about this, that, or the other all evening. Mary had to control every nasty word that wanted to escape her lips all night. There was even once where Anna insisted the two of them get up and go get a drink. Thank God for Anna.

Even though Mary hadn't drank, she did appreciate the gesture. They went up to the bar and Mary had waved over to Bates, her father's friend, who gave a grunt and a small wave. She wondered if he really was glad they were at his bar or if he was being generous.

After she pulled her hair down and slipped off her dress to put on a more comfortable gown, Mary slid her phone from her purse. There were three new messages from Matthew. Her breath stuck within her throat. Earlier that evening, he had asked her to call him. She had ignored him, because that was what she did now. She ignored every message and call that he attempted, even though every single time she wanted to answer.

Taking in a deep breath, she clicked on the message.

I wanted to speak with you in person, but I understand that you no longer want to speak with me. Know that I am respecting your wishes.

I have met someone. Her name is Lavinia.

The third message was a picture of the two of them out to dinner. Mary stared at the woman who had taken her place. No, Mary corrected her, this woman hadn't done that. Mary was the one who had walked away, who had ruined everything. She shook her head and eyed Lavinia again. She was pretty enough, fitting well next to Matthew. Mary frowned. Her heart tightened and she felt as though everything was slipping faster away from her.

Before she could do anything else, Mary forced herself to type Matthew a message in response.

I am so very happy for you, Matthew. I hope you both are happy.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Anna twirled the little umbrella around in the drink in front of her. It wasn't her favorite drink, but it was a free drink. Alex smiled at her and she lifted it up to take another sip. The man before her seemed charming enough. He had made her laugh and smile.

"Do you like to play cards?" He questioned her. Anna pursed her lips in thought. She honestly didn't know. Did she? Anna had very little free time to do what she wanted. She was always working and trying to make ends meet.

"I guess," Anna answered, continuing with her drink.

"Perhaps, I could teach you some fun games," Alex suggested. Anna chuckled, looking around at the packed and loud bar.

"In here?"

"No, next time," Alex responded. "Somewhere a bit less loud."

"Right," Anna laughed. She shrugged her shoulders. Alex was nice; she could see herself meeting up with him a time or two more. She was not sure he was dating material, for her, but she would need a few extra meetings to determine it.

She blinked for a moment. Her head felt a bit foggy.

"Are you alright?" Alex asked her, concerned.

"Yeah," she brushed off, though she was struggling to focus. Had she had too much to drink? Anna tried to recall just how many drinks she had with her meal over the several hours they had been sitting there.

"Are you sure?" Alex was now standing next to her with his hand on her shoulder, as though he was trying to balance her frame to keep it from falling over.

"I'm fine," Anna told him, shrugging his hand off her shoulder. Suddenly, she didn't feel quite as safe as she had a moment before. She didn't know if it was the drinks and that she had drank more than she thought, which was making her paranoid. Or, if there was something else there. "I'm going to get some water." She tried to stand, but her balance was off, making her sink back into her chair.

"I'll get it." And with that, Alex had disappeared.

Anna rubbed the middle of her forehead with the palm of her hand, trying to make the fog go away. While she was able, she reached for her phone in her purse. She needed to text Mary and ask her to come and pick her up. There was no way that she could walk home like this. But the phone slipped out of her hands and slid across the floor, underneath another table.

"Dammit," she slurred, attempting to crawl down onto her hands and knees.

Anna felt a hand on her arm, pulling her up.

"Come on," Alex said into her ear. "Let me walk you home."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Mary had cried for a good half hour. While she had attempted to remain stoic and sure of herself, here at home, she was able to allow all these tears to flow. It had been a good, but heartbreaking cry. She knew that this was for the best, for Matthew, anyway. She really did want him to be happy. She loved him.

It was what she could admit to herself, when she was alone. She would never dare admit it to her parents or her sisters. They knew it, of course, but if she said it out loud they would all question her even more about why she was pushing him away. Only Anna knew why and only Anna would ever know why.

Anna tried to convince her to speak with Matthew and tell him everything. Yes, Anna had good intentions, but she didn't truly understand. Matthew and she could no longer be anything. Instead, Mary would remain alone, until maybe, one day, she met someone that would make her content enough and make her parents no longer ask her when she would get married.

They wanted her to make an heir, of course. But if she didn't, Edith or her child would be next in line. And if not her, Sybil's line. There were no more silly rules about it having to be a man and her parents did have three children. Between the three of them, there was bound to be at least one grandchild to carry the Grantham line.

Ideally, it would have been Mary and Matthew to do so, but that could no longer be.

Mary sat up and wiped under her eyes. It was then that she realized she had not heard from Anna. Checking her watch, she realized she had been home for an hour. Surely Anna was back at her flat by now, right?

She lifted up her phone and dialed Anna's phone. It rang and rang.

Hi, this is Anna! Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Mary twisted her lips and hung up the phone. She tried a text message.

Anna, are you home? Please text me back.

Waiting for nearly ten minutes, Mary decided that Anna was likely already asleep. Or, maybe, she had really enjoyed her company for the evening.

"Good for her," Mary murmured. But she texted Anna one last time.

I hope you're having fun. I expect a phone call in the morning. Good night.

Satisfied, Mary sat the phone on her bedside table and made sure the sound was left on, just in case Anna needed her. Then she went to bed.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

John Bates finished stacking the drinks in the back and came back up front to close up the bar for the night. He glanced around the room, as he always did. This was the perfect set up for something bad to happen. He couldn't tell you how many fights he had broken up or how many men he saw trying to lure women into dangerous situations or how many people he saw trying to steal out of a drunkard's wallet. Because of that, he was always on guard. If at all possible, he was going to do his best to keep it from happening in his bar.

Had you asked him years ago where he would see himself now, he would have never seen himself owning a bar. But it had been gifted to him and he was good at it. It also brought in decent money, so he couldn't much complain about it either. It was his livelihood.

John's eyes paused their scan when he saw a woman leaning against a man. She looked nearly passed out, as the man attempted to guide her through the crowd. His radar in his head went off. Something seemed fishy.

As he walked closer to the couple, he recognized the woman as a friend to the Crawleys. She had been at the bachelorette party for Sybil. She had not been with a man. John quickened his steps so that he was in front of them and reached out his hand to stop their movements.

"What is going on here?" He got right to the point. John found that if he did that it gave the perpetrator less time to make up a story.

The guy looked at John and scoffed, as his eyes fell down to the cane within his hand. He was underestimating John. Good. John liked when people did that. It gave him the advantage.

"My date got a little too drunk," the man told John, not even flinching with his lie. "I'm taking her home."

"You're not her date," John strongly stated. "She was here with my friends, earlier."

Something went over the guy's features, recognition that he might get caught.

"Then she joined me for a drink."

John inhaled sharply. The woman was barely awake.

"Ma'am," he tried, leaning forward. "Do you know this man?"

The woman's head shook.

"I…" she attempted to speak.

"You're not going anywhere," John then said. The man looked between John and the woman on his arm. He dropped her then, making John lean forward to keep her from falling to the ground, as the man ran out of the bar. "Run after him!" John screamed at one of his staff members.

The young man ran outside and John attempted to adjust the woman in his arms. Her breathing was labored and her skin looked exceptionally pale. He was certain that she was not drunk and instead had been drugged. He swallowed hard.

As he brought her into his arms and adjusted his cane to keep his balance, his bartender ran back in, panting.

"He got away."

"That…that's alright. I…I'm going to need you to close up. I'm running her to A&E. I think she's been drugged."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

When her phone went off, Mary was in a deep sleep. She groaned and slowly adjusted to the sound of the ringing. Then she jumped up and grabbed the phone. It could be Anna needing a ride or an emergency.

Seeing it was her father, panic filled her frame. Was it Mama? Granny?

"Hello?"

"Mary, thank goodness. Bates just called me."

"Bates? It's…it's nearly two in the morning…."

"Your friend, Anna…"

"Anna?" It was all clicking now. Anna had been at Bates' bar; there was more panic.

"Yes, Anna – something's happened. Bates has taken her to A&E. He rang me to contact you, he thought…."
"I'm heading there right now."

"Do you need me to come with you?" Mary smiled.

"No thank you, Papa. I promise I'll ring you in the morning. Go back to sleep. Thank you for letting me know."

She hung up her phone and threw on her clothes, rushing to the hospital.

To be continued...