Mary entered her household in London and climbed the marble stairs, taking off her leather gloves in the process.

'Welcome back my lady,' her housekeeper, Mrs Dolton, said smiling at her.

'Where is Richard and Lucy?' she asked with a tight smile on her face.

'I believe they are in the drawing room ma'am,' Mrs Dolton sighed, expecting that there would once again be another argument.

'Very good Mrs Dolton,' Mary said before making her way to the drawing room. She opened the door and the first thing she saw was the young blonde haired woman who was the mistress to her husband.

'Mary!' Lucy cried and she smiled at her.

'You may not address me by my name Lucy as if you are family, you are to call me Lady Mary, or ma'am whilst you remain under this roof.' Mary said coldly and Lucy shrunk from her piercing gaze.

'What is going on?' Richard's voice emerged as he entered the room, 'Mary darling you're back so soon.'

'You act surprised,' Mary sneered and Richard glared at her, 'My father has died Richard and the funeral is to be held next week. You are going to attend whether you like it or not and you're little harlot of a mistress is to remain here.' Mary growled and Richard took a menacing step towards his wife.

'What?'

'You heard me Richard, you are my husband and you are going to pay your respects to my father!'

'That I will do but Lucy will accompany us!' Richard bellowed at her and Mary just laughed.

'Over my dead body will she attend!'

'Lucy get out!' Richard snarled and as soon as Lucy left, Richard faced Mary and gave her a savage look, as if he wanted to tear her to shreds.

'I want her out of this house Richard! There are three of us in this marriage! I can divorce you on the grounds of being adulterous and cruel towards me and I will no longer tolerate her! She is never to step foot in this house again!' Mary yelled at him before receiving a harsh blow to the face.

'You will not tell me what to do!' he snarled and Mary laughed coldly.

'You must make a decision Richard Carlisle! It's either me or your mistress!' she laughed, flexing her jaw. Richard walked over to the window and looked at her.

'If I release you from this marriage, what's to say you won't go running off to Crawley?'

'I have not seen Matthew since our wedding day!' Mary lied and luckily Richard believed her, 'plus you cannot divorce me Richard Carlisle for I have done nothing wrong!'

'That may be true but that's not what the court will hear,' Richard laughed evilly and walked over to her. Mary swallowed and backed away from him, knowing this would end bad. 'You want to be released? You do it on my terms! You have committed adultery and you are with a bastard child!' Richard had her backed up against a wall.

'Or what?'

Richard laughed cruelly and threw her to the floor, unbuttoning his trousers. Mary started to scream, her screeching echoing through the hallways causing chills to run through the bodies of the servants and Lucy. Lucy had been standing outside the door, hearing the whole conversation, the crying of Lady Mary and the rough grunts of Richard as he raped his wife. Lucy covered her mouth and began to weep, not for her but for Mary. It was clear that their marriage was never meant to be and Richard was more attracted to herself than to his wife. Then everything went silent.

'That is what will happen,' she heard Richard say to her and she ran to another corridor as she heard him walk towards the door. When Richard had passed, Lucy ran back to the drawing room to find Lady Mary still on the floor, her face emotionless, her dress ripped and her body exposed and bruised.

'Lady Mary,' Lucy whispered and she bent over Mary, 'Lady Mary?' Mary slowly turned her head towards the blonde and looked at her with expressionless eyes.

'What do you want?'

'Do what he says, be free of him.' Lucy pleaded.

'So you may take my place and I will live in disgrace?' Mary whispered.

'It will be better than this my lady, Richard loves me…' Lucy started but she was cut off by Mary's bitter laughter as she sat up to face her.

'Richard does not know what it is to love another, only how to prevent love from prevailing between others.'

'I do not understand…'

'Matthew Crawley, the heir to Downton, to my home… he and I were in love and Richard made sure that we could not be together.'

'My Lady, if you and Mr Crawley were in love he will take you back with open arms, despite your disgrace.'

'No… I will not give into Richard. If he thinks I will cave in because he can force himself upon me, he is very much mistaken for next time he will not walk away from me untouched.' Mary vowed and Lucy gulped, 'I want you out Lucy… do you hear me? I want you to leave, I never want to lay eyes on you again. Find your own husband and do not go to bed with mine.'

'And if I don't.'

'I will have you personally removed. I can deal with Richard, he thinks me weak but I am stronger than he thinks and don't think I won't do it Lucy.'

Lucy nodded and stood up, 'I shall go and pack my things.' She said before turning on her heel and swiftly exiting the room, a plan set in her mind.

The next morning, Mary sat in the breakfast room, eating her breakfast when Richard stormed in.

'WHAT AUTHORITY DO YOU HAVE TO SEND LUCY AWAY!'

'I am your wife! The lady of the household and I will not have her here.' Mary said, not looking up from her book as she ate. This only aggravated Richard more and he moved towards her again, his temper sky high.

'You'll regret this Mary!' he snapped and Mary laughed emotionlessly.

'If you're going to force yourself upon me again you can think twice. I do not care what you do to me but as long as the whore is gone and there are not three people in this marriage or I file a divorce against you, you are stuck with me.' She said simple, turning the page of her book again.

The fact that Mary was so laid back infuriated Richard more and he roared with anger before grabbing her by the hair and throwing her up against the wall. She gasped at the pain and felt blood trickle down the side of her head before she began to laugh.

'Is that the best you can do? I am not scared of you' she taunted and Richard found himself getting angrier and angrier and angrier and a harsh smile made its way onto his lips.

'Mary, Mary, Mary, you are quite mistaken to not be scared of me,' he picked her up by the neck, choking her slightly and carried her over to the window. He chucked her against the window so that she smashed through the glass and landed onto the balcony, screaming in agony. 'Are you scared now Mary?' he yelled across the crashing sounds of the rain.

'You won't kill me Richard, you wouldn't want to go down for murder, imagine what your business world would say about you. Problems in the marriage, the death of your wife, her beaten, raped, the whole house knowing about your mistress… a little suspicious don't you think?' Mary laughed, soaked from the rain and Richard hit her one more time before leaving her out in the rain. Mary waited till he had gone before collapsing in pain, her strong façade breaking into sobs of anguish and agony.

Lucy knocked on the great doors of Downton Abbey and waited for a few minutes before they opened to reveal a handsome man in his late twenties.

'Sorry about that ma'am, I've given all my staff two weeks holidays, how may I help you?' he asked kindly.

'Are you Mr Matthew Crawley,' Lucy asked and Matthew nodded.

'Yes, I am. Else known now as Lord Grantham,' he laughed, 'do come in.' Matthew led Lucy to the library and poured her a cup of tea.

'My name is Lucy Grey and I am Richard Carlisle's mistress.' She said, biting her lip and Matthew looked at her shocked, 'before you say anything Sir, I want you to know that Lady Mary is in trouble.'

'What!'

'She has told Richard that you two have not set eyes upon each other since their wedding day and he believes it, however I do not, else you wouldn't be here! The point is, Lady Mary came home and delivered a few words to Richard and it didn't end well,' Lucy ran her fingers through her loose hair, 'The truth is, she told me to leave and I did. I came straight here actually.'

'What has happened Miss Grey?'

'They had a huge argument Sir, I've never seen Richard like that before. It was over me and something about a divorce. Either way it ended in him striking her again and this time he forced himself upon her. I cannot get her screams out of my head Lord Grantham, she is in trouble and you must rescue her! She is determined to rile Richard until he gives in and that is not in Richard's nature.' Lucy sobbed and Matthew blinked before standing up.

'I guess I'd best pay the Carlisle's a visit.' He said, 'and you are coming with me Miss Grey.' Matthew added before calling for a car to be sent.

Meanwhile, Mary had not moved from her position and just let the rain fall upon her. She would not give in to Richard if it was the last thing she did. She didn't need his permission to divorce him, in fact she would go ahead and do it no matter what he said. She winced as she picked herself up, her hands having shards of glass in them. She looked at the window in which Richard had so violently chucked her through and bit back her tears. She gingerly opened the window, wincing as she did so, and made her way towards her bedroom. Ringing for her lady's maid, Mary had the glass washed out of her hands and the rest of herself cleaned up before being dressed in a black dress. Unexpectedly, a wave of nausea hit her and she sat down on the bed.

'Actually Gwendolyn, I think I shall just rest a bit. You may go.' She said, lying down, her head throbbing, the nauseas feeling not passing. After an hour she fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of the life she could have had with Matthew, their children, Downton and a smile crept onto her face as she slept. She found herself being awoken by Gwendolyn at around 4 in the afternoon and luckily her head no longer throbbed and the nausea was no longer present.

'My Lady, you and the master have a guest.' She said and Mary nodded, getting up. She walked down towards the drawing room to find Richard reading the morning paper.

'Mary,' he said coldly. As Mary sat down, Mrs Dolton opened the door.

'Lucy Grey sir,' she announced and Mary glowered as Lucy ran in, Richard opening his arms to her and kissing her.

'My darling, you have returned.' He grinned and Lucy smiled.

'Of course, I could never leave you my love.' She turned around to look at Mary and was shocked to see that Mary was in a worse condition than before, 'My lady…'

'I thought I told you to leave,' Mary hissed and Lucy shut her mouth. All three of them jumped when the doorbell chimed and once again Mrs Dolton appeared.

'Lord Grantham, Sir.' She announced and Mary's heart fluttered when Matthew entered the room.

'Well, Lord Grantham, what an honour it is for you to visit us,' Richard said, a smile plastered on his face and Matthew laughed.

'Please Sir Richard, do not call me by my title… I am still Matthew Crawley.' Matthew smiled and he turned to Mary and his jaw dropped when he saw how pale, run down, frail and scared she looked before him. His eyes were immediately drawn to the cut on the side of her head, just below her hairline, 'Cousin Mary, it's a pleasure to see you. I believe the last time we met was at your wedding.' Matthew smiled and Mary was immediately puzzled. Matthew knew that he was lying and she looked towards her husband and then to Lucy who gave her a look with her eyes and immediately she understood. Lucy had brought Matthew to her.

'Yes, I believe it was,' Mary smiled, 'and now you are Lord Grantham.'

'It would seem so, my sincerest apologies for your father's death Mary; it was most tragic and unfair that he was taken so young. I must have just missed you when I arrived at Downton.' He said before turning to Richard, 'you'd best have been taking the best care of Mary my fellow.' He grinned and Richard shot Mary a glance.

'Why yes, Mary and I have one of the strongest marriages out there.' He grinned, his eyes shining brightly again and Mary scoffed, earning a glare from her husband. But Matthew shrugged it off.

'And who is this beautiful lady?' Matthew said, pretending to notice Lucy for the first time.

'She… is a family friend.' Richard smiled tautly and Matthew nodded.

'Matthew Crawley,' he smiled at her and he shook her hand while Lucy made herself give a very convincing smitten look on her face.

'Lucy Grey,' she giggled and she felt Richard's angry gaze burn into the back of her head.

'Alright Mr Crawley, what is your reason for this unexpected visitation,' Richard said through gritted teeth and he cracked his knuckles. Mary chewed the inside of her mouth, worrying about what would happen.

'I came to inquire after Mary and to console her. Robert Crawley was as much a father to me as he was to Lady Mary,' Matthew smiled and Richard narrowed his eyes, sharply turning them to Mary who made sure her gaze was down, 'Cousin Mary, will you take a walk with me, I could use some fresh air and I think it would do you good,' he smiled and Mary stood up.

'I would be delighted,' Mary smiled.

'I would also like to discuss some family matters with you,' Matthew added.

'I think I should join since I am part of the family now,' Richard said forcefully and Matthew looked at him.

'Sir, you may be married to Lady Mary, but you are not a Crawley and therefore you do not have say nor a hear in this matter,' Matthew said sternly and even Richard looked shocked, 'Mary?' He held his arm out and Mary smiled and took it, leading her towards the grounds. As soon as they were away from prying eyes and quite deep within the forest, Matthew immediately drew Mary close to him, 'oh Mary what has he done to you,' he cried, kissing all her bruises and Mary began to cry.

'It's my fault, I provoked him. He has never been this violent to me before,' she weeped.

'What did he do?' Matthew whispered and Mary took in a deep breath and tried to steady herself but although she was not sobbing, she could not stop the tears from flowing.

'He has raped me, he has hit me and this morning he threw me through a window.' She said in a hushed whisper and Matthew pulled her close.

'I won't allow him to do this to you any longer. Lucy came to me you know, and told me to rescue you from him; so here I am.' Matthew whispered against her ear and she clung to him.

'He says we can divorce only if he divorces me but I must admit that I have been adulterous and am with child,' she whispered.

'If it means we can be together, agree… at least say that you will subject yourself to being adulterous but not to being with child.' Matthew said, stroking her hair back behind her ears before kissing her softly, 'if Richard asks what we were talking about, tell him it was a financial settlement from your father. Come home to me darling, be free by your father's funeral and know this… Lavinia is not you, yes she was a part of my life but she is the reason we are together now, she wanted me to be happy. It was unfair of me to label us as cursed when we are not, I love you Mary and only you and I want you to be my wife, I want you to run Downton with me, I want you to bear my children, I want to live the rest of my life by your side.'

'Oh Matthew…' Mary breathed, 'a thousand times yes…'

RxR please :3