Chapter Six

The bright sun and warmth of June was once again upon the residents of Downton. The village hall was once again being decorated and prepped with stalls for the annual summer flower show, something which the village hadn't celebrated during the war or since the war ended. As Mary strolled through the village, she smiled to see the residents of the village chattering lively about how much they were looking forward to celebrating the show. The residents bade her good morning as she smiled in returned, silently feeling grateful that she was still able to walk through her home village without the scrutiny of the scandal she could have been facing.

As she walked across the green opposite the church, she was greeted by Matthew riding on his bicycle.

"Good afternoon." Mary greeted happily.

"Good afternoon, I was just about to ride up and call on you at the house." Matthew greeted with a smile.

"I was about to head back. Would you like to walk with me?" Mary offered.

Matthew smiled, climbing off the bicycle, and walked alongside her. It had been almost a month since her engagement to Carlisle had ended and almost a month since Robert had officially given Matthew his blessing to court her. Of course, her father's blessing had come with conditions that the two of them be supervised whilst they spent any time together. Mary could understand her father's reasoning, she had told him the truth about Pamuk, and he wanted to prevent any possibility of another scandal that he didn't have to cover up with Sir Richard. How her father had managed to prevent Sir Richard publishing the scandal in revenge, she didn't know. But she sincerely hoped that the day would soon come where she could make her father happy again. That, and a day where she could finally be Matthew's wife.

"How have you spent your day?" Matthew asked.

"Nothing too exciting," Mary replied, "I went for a ride this morning, Diamond enjoyed the exercise. I had luncheon at Granny's and then decided to walk around the village."

"How is Cousin Violet?" Matthew asked.

"She's well despite not entering the flower show this year." Mary replied.

"Why is that?" Matthew asked with a frown.

"Granny says it's to prevent a headache." Mary said.

"A headache?"

"Yes. I believe she called it an Isobel headache."

Matthew chuckled as Mary rolled her eyes.

"Cousin Violet seems the type to not mind a headache where mother is concerned." He joked.

"I believe with all their sparring over the hospital, Granny feels that's more than enough for her to contend with." Mary sighed.

"But the house is no longer being used as a convalescent hospital and the hospital is back to its usual running of things. Surely Cousin Violet and mother are no longer arguing over it all again?" Matthew queried.

"You know Granny, she's very set in her ways. Your mother has views on how the hospital should be and even during the war there were tensions over how the house should be run as the soldiers came to recover. Now the war is over, and life has returned to a somewhat more normal existence, Granny doesn't want to relinquish control or accept change." Mary explained.

"Well, let them do battle and leave us out of it. I've seen enough bloodshed to last a lifetime." Matthew sighed.

Mary paused, looking at him with concern. He would never talk to her about the war. It was something that was evidently painful and terrible for him to relive. The war had nearly cost him his life, his future. Even if now, things were certainly different. Seeing the pained expression on his face, Mary felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She so wanted to make him feel better. As they continued walking, Mary looked around and smiled to herself as she noticed that nobody was around to witness them if they should share a moment together. Not wanting their time together to become awkward after Matthew's comment about the war, Mary stopped by a wall surrounded by trees and took his bike from him, resting it against one of the trees as his looked at her confused. Rolling her eyes, she grasped his hand and walked him to the wall until his back was placed firmly against it. She looked deep into his eyes before she closed hers and pressed her lips to his softly. Her arms gripped the front of his coat as he opened his mouth to her, and his arms wound around her waist and held her close. The kiss turned a little needier…the need for more from each other…the need for more spark…the need for more love…Mary wrapped her arms around his neck as he moaned, their tongues meeting eagerly.

It felt heavenly. All other kisses she had experienced paled in comparison to Matthew. Pamuk had kissed her lustfully, but she hadn't reciprocated his desires. Her experience with Pamuk had been entirely about the man's wants and desires, she had very little say in the matter. Her kiss with the Duke of Crowborough had been a naïve dream with the promise of more which had never come to pass. Her first kiss with Matthew had been a build-up of flirting, tension, and uncertainty of each other that had resulted in Matthew declaring his love for her and proposing. After Matthew, there had been Richard and he had only kissed her after threatening her. With Carlisle it had been more out of fear and shock that he would treat her in such a way. But with each kiss she had shared with Matthew since the Spanish flu had hit Downton Abbey had been fuelled with desire, passion, love, care, and longing.

She knew that Matthew longed for her. Every single kiss that she shared with him poured forth all the love and need he felt for her from the way he held her close to his body they practically shared body heat to the way he always whispered her name as they kissed; a whisper that caressed her soul. The way Matthew poured every feeling into their kisses only made her want more and to never let him go. But the sound of a car driving nearby caused Mary to break the kiss and step out of his embrace.

"Well that was…" Matthew chuckled.

Mary blushed, starting to think that her urge to kiss him was something she should be ashamed of. But Matthew smiled at her reassuringly, taking hold of her hand and placing a kiss to the back of it.

"We should get back." Mary said, regret filling her voice.

Matthew nodded, taking hold of his bicycle and the two started to walk back to the Abbey. Once settled back inside the house, they were greeted by Robert in the great hall.

"Good afternoon. Matthew, it's a surprise to see you here this early." Robert greeted.

"I met Mary in the village on my way up here and offered to walk her back. I was hoping that we could go for a walk in the grounds, with your permission?" Matthew asked.

"Of course," Robert said with a smile, "Be back in time for tea."

"We will." Matthew promised.

Mary smiled as she took Matthew's arm and the two of them left the house and began to walk across the lawn and ventured into the grounds. She panted as they reached the hills of the estate, climbing up them as Matthew walked in front of her and held his hand out to help her climb the last steep ascent before they both stood on top of the hill with a clear view of Downton and beyond.

"It's beautiful." Mary muttered, looking out at the green fields filled with various animals, the odd car driving on the country roads against the deep blue sky in the afternoon sun.

"I agree but it's not the most beautiful thing I've set my sights on today." Matthew whispered.

She turned and looked at him, gasping in surprise as she saw what he was doing. Matthew was on the ground, one knee up whilst the other was laying on the grass beneath him. His blue eyes were lit up happily, as one hand reached for hers whilst the other held a diamond ring. Mary took his hand whilst the other covered her mouth in shock.

"I never thought I could love as much as I love you. We've been through so much, my darling, and I don't want to spend another day without you. I love you, I want you to build a life with me as my partner, as my lover, as my wife." Matthew declared.

"Matthew-" Mary whispered, feeling tears forming in her eyes.

"Lady Mary Crawley, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" Matthew asked with a smile.

"Yes!" Mary declared loudly.

Matthew grinned and placed the ring on her finger before standing at full height and kissed her eagerly. Mary closed her eyes, sighing happily as she felt his arms circle her waist. Their lips moved together as she cupped his face in both her hands until the kiss broke, and they stared at each other with wide smiles mirroring the other. Matthew pulled her to him, scooping her up in his arms as hers went round his neck and hugged him tightly. He spun her around on the spot, both of them laughing with glee as they realised that this wasn't a dream. That this moment was truly happening.

They were engaged. She was going to be Matthew's wife and Matthew was going to be her husband. Years of longing for this moment were finally over and they could both move forward together.

When he placed her back on her feet, his hands wiped the tears from her face.

"Oh darling, I didn't mean to make you cry." Matthew said soothingly.

Mary shook her head, smiling up at him reassuringly.

"I'm just so happy. I never thought this moment would come. I thought it would only exist in my dreams." Mary confessed.

"Well…it might have taken a while…but we're here now. And I cannot wait for you to be my wife." Matthew grinned.

Returning his grin, she leaned in and kissed him eagerly, releasing a needy groan from Matthew's lips when she pulled away.

"You don't play fair." Matthew accused, raising an eyebrow.

"Isn't it normal for a woman to tease her fiancé?" Mary asked innocently.

Matthew grabbed her waist and pulled her to him, causing her to yelp in surprise. His lips descended on hers and kissed her hotly, his tongue parting her lips as he pushed inside her mouth and teased her in return. Mary felt her knees buckle, her legs felt wobbly as she fell against him. She felt Matthew lift her off her feet, holding her tightly to him until he pulled away from her lips, smirking in triumph at her dazed expression.

"Remember, my darling, if you play with fire don't expect me to put it out." Matthew warned her in a husky whisper.

She whimpered as he set her back down to the ground.

"Matthew…" she whispered hotly.

It was her turn to smirk in triumph as he shivered at the tone of her voice. It was very apparent that they both had a desirable effect on each other.

"Come. We should return to the house and share our news." Matthew instructed, offering out his hand.

Smiling, Mary held his hand, and they started the descent back down the hill.

oOo

Afternoon tea was a lot more delightful than it usually was.

Robert knew what Matthew had intended when he had asked for permission to go on a walk with Mary today. His heir had asked a month ago for permission to propose to Mary, but Robert had insisted on a period of courting to allow the dust to settle following the breaking of Mary's engagement to Carlisle. Ideally, he would have liked a little longer before Matthew proposed to his daughter, but Matthew had been insistent that he had waited long enough for Mary's love and wished to make her his wife as soon as possible.

Upon everyone entering the library and settling with a cup of tea, Mary made the announcement that she and Matthew were engaged, and the room erupted into delightful cheers and happy smiles. Cheeks were kissed, hands were shaken, and everyone threw themselves into discussing the wedding they hadn't even set a date for yet.

"Have you thought about when you would want the wedding day to be?" Cora asked.

"Soon. We have only just got engaged, mama. We haven't discussed when but we both know that we've waited long enough for this moment." Mary replied.

"It'll have to wait until July is over. Remember that Sybil's wedding is in three weeks." Cora said delicately.

Robert sighed, rubbing his temple. Whilst he felt overjoyed at the prospect that Mary and Matthew were finally coming together after years apart, he couldn't say he felt the same towards his youngest daughter's upcoming marriage to Tom Branson. Of course, he had reluctantly given his blessing on the marriage, he felt as if he had no choice. After witnessing Cora nearly dying from Spanish flu and his own guilt at nearly consummating his affair with Jane, he felt that he needed to repent and allow some happiness back into the family. He wasn't planning to travel to Dublin for Sybil's wedding…of course Sybil would assume that he disapproved but if anything it was more of the matter of his finances…not that anyone knew about all that yet.

How was he supposed to be happy after the bargain he had struck with Sir Richard Carlisle?

His mind played that conversation with Carlisle over and over as the past month had flown by. It was the only way to ensure that Mary could live a happy life. Of course, he hadn't been stupid. In return to paying for Carlisle's continued silence, he'd had the man sign a confession of blackmail as leverage in case Carlisle ever did decide to publish Mary's scandal in his papers.

"Robert?" Cora asked, her voice filled with annoyance.

Coming out of his worries, he blinked.

"What?"

"I was saying that we'll have the banns read when we return from Dublin for Sybil's wedding? Does that sound okay to you?" his wife questioned.

Robert noticed how Mary rolled her eyes as his attention came back to those sitting in his library.

"Oh…yes that sounds fine…I suppose you'll be discussing honeymoon destinations as well. Are you planning on returning mid-September?" Robert asked.

He noticed the slight blush on Mary's face and Matthew nodded his confirmation.

"You'll be missed at Duneagle," Robert added, "But I suppose Shrimpie will understand."

"As much as I enjoy Scotland, I would much rather prefer somewhere warmer for my honeymoon that Duneagle." Mary smiled.

"Yes, I'm sure you would." Violet commented.

The conversation changed to other topics for the family to discuss but the focus remained mostly on Mary and Matthew's wedding. But for Robert, all he could think about was making an appointment as soon as possible with Murray to discuss the future of his family and what his bargain with Sir Richard Carlisle meant for the future of Downton Abbey.