I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to post this chapter but I spilt water all over my computer and the keyboard no longer worked so I had to have it repaired but now that I have finally posted it, i really hope you enjoy reading it!
Chapter 2:
Anna was helping Mary get ready for the race, she had just made the finishing touches to her outfit before putting on her hat.
Once she was dressed, she sat down in front of her dressing table mirror, and stared at herself for a moment, before closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths.
"Are you sure you're alright, milady?" asked the concerned maid.
"I know that I will be, by the end of the day hopefully, does that count?" she asked, turning to face her maid.
Anna simply looked at her and smiled "are you ready then?" she asked, picking up some of Mary's clothes.
"As ready as I'll ever be" she replied, taking another breath, "I know what I have to do" she added before making her way to the door.
"Good luck" Anna whispered before both women left the room.
Mary gracefully made her way downstairs, going over everything she had to do and say in her head, making her feel quite dizzy and nervous.
Matthew had been waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, hoping to have a quiet talk with her about what had happened the other night.
"Matthew!" she said, surprised to see him waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.
"Hello" he said with a smile on his face, "can we talk?" he whispered.
"As a matter of fact, I wanted to talk to you too" she replied.
"Oh?" he asked curiously.
"Can we go somewhere a little quieter?" she replied, gesturing towards the library. "Sir Richard isn't around is he?" she asked, looking over her shoulder before entering the room.
"I believe he is already on the racing ground, no doubt trying to find somebody to argue with." he joked, but he noticed that the expression on Mary's face was a much more serious one.
Mary simply nodded and stared into thin air, wondering what to say. She walked over to the fireplace, closely followed by Matthew.
"Mary, what is it?" he asked, feeling a little worried.
"Matthew, I... well, as you know, I am going to sack Sir Richard today and..." she began, trying to think what she could say next.
"Yes, I know, and I promise that when you do, I will be here for you, to support you and look after you." he interrupted.
"Well that's just it..." she began again.
As she was trying to get the right words out of her mouth, Sir Richard came through the front door, looking for her. Just as he was about to call her name, he heard her voice, but she wasn't alone, oh of course she wasn't alone, she was with him. Richard was furious, how many times had he warned her to stay away from him? Why wouldn't she listen?
Mary and Matthew's conversation intrigued him so he walked towards the library and discretely opened the door, just enough so that he could hear everything they were saying. He stood there, listening to every word of their conversation, his face turning red with anger.
"Once I sack Richard, I need to be sure that you will stand by me, not only because of my foolishness with Pamuk, but also because..." she hesitated not knowing how to tell him the next part. Taking a deep breath, she began "because, Matthew, I.. I think that I might be pregnant." Having said everything she had wanted to say, she felt a little more relaxed and she sat down on the couch by the fire.
Had he heard her right? Did she say 'pregnant'? Matthew's face turned a little pale and he was left speechless. What had they done? He knew that he needed to say something but he couldn't quite get the words to leave his mouth.
"Pregnant?" he replied, stunned. He took a seat next to her, turned to face her and took her hands in his. Looking into her sad, brown eyes, he soon came up with a solution "If you are pregnant, then I promise to stand by you. I will not abandon you Mary. Everything will be alright, I promise." he replied, trying to reassure her before taking her into his arms and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"I'm scared, Matthew..." she whispered, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.
Pulling away from her, he took her hands in his again and looked her in the eye "Listen to me, Mary" he began, squeezing her hands a little tighter, "Brake with Richard this afternoon and once you have announced it, I will ask for Robert's permission to marry you. We could get married in spring; it's only a month and a half away and then, everything will be perfectly alright." he said, always having an answer for everything.
"Oh Matthew, I'm so sorry for putting you in this situation" she replied, wiping her tears away. "It's all my fault, why does everything always go so terribly wrong?" she asked, sobbing.
"Don't worry my darling, you have nothing to be sorry for." he said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know that this wasn't planned and that it is quite inconvenient but apart from that, I couldn't be happier." he said, moving his hand down to rest on her tummy.
Mary looked up at him and smiled before putting her hand over his and stroking it gently. "Thank you" she whispered. "I just hope everything goes to plan with Richard..."
Having heard all this, Richard was furious. She's going to regret this, he thought to himself, making a fist. He felt like screaming. He stormed off and made his way outside. Suddenly an idea came to him and he set off walking in the direction of the stables.
"I must go find Sir Richard" she said, standing up. "I'd rather just get it over with." she added, making her way to the door.
"Would you like me to come with you?" he asked, feeling even more protective of her now than before.
"No." She replied, looking into thin air. "This is something I must do on my own." she added, turning to face Matthew, looking quite nervous.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "You know how angry he gets and if he tries to hurt you-"
"He won't" she said, cutting him off and shaking her head.
"You can't know that for sure Mary, and now that there's the baby..." he said, looking down at her tummy and back up to meet her eyes.
"I'll talk to him in the field, just before the race, it will be crowded and he wouldn't dare lay a hand on me in public. He would never do anything to threaten his reputation." she replied, making Matthew feel a little more at ease.
"You go out first" he said, opening the door for her, "I'll leave after you, just in case Sir Richard is watching."
Mary nodded before leaving the room.
"Mary." he called after her, "good luck." he whispered.
Mary smiled appreciatively at him and headed outside.
"Milady, Sir Richard has been looking for you." Anna said, sounding rather out of breath as she ran towards Mary. "The race is about to start and apparently Diamond isn't up to racing so Sir Richard has found you another horse."
"Oh, I see..." she replied. "Thank you, Anna, for letting me know. Do you know where I might find him?" she asked.
"He's down by the track with your horse milady" she answered.
Mary nodded in appreciation and walked towards the track where she found Richard waiting for her. She had mixed feelings about talking to him, she was terrified of his reaction, causing her hands to shake which she tried to hide but she also knew that once she had told him, she would be free of him and she could finally be with Matthew... Just the thought of him made her smile.
"Ah, there you are, I have looked everywhere for you" he said, hiding his anger. "Flinch tells me that Diamond has a bad leg and that she is in no fit state to race, so I called my stable hand and found you this horse." he said as Mary approached him.
Mary was surprised that Flinch hadn't personally told her that Diamond was lame, he normally did... She walked up to the horse to stroke its nose but as she did it stepped backwards a flinched, causing Mary to jump a little.
"It's nothing to worry about" he began "he has been in the horse box all day, once he has stretched his legs he should be fine." he reassured her, a little grin on his face.
"What is he called?" she asked, turning away from the horse to face Richard.
"Storm." he replied, a strict look on his face.
"Ah" she answered before remembering what she had to do. "Richard, I wonder if I might have a word?" she asked, griping her hands behind her back to stop her hands from shaking.
"Of course, but the race is about to start, you wouldn't walk to be late, would you?" he replied, getting madder and madder. Just looking at her made him see red, oh but she would pay this time. If she thinks she can make a fool out of me and get away with it, she's got another thing coming, he thought to himself.
Feeling annoyed with herself for not having told him, she led her horse towards the starting line.
Looking around and noticing that Matthew wasn't there yet, made Richard feel quite content. This should be fun, he thought, watching Mary as she mounted the horse.
Matthew decided that it was safe to leave the house and he headed towards the race. He could hear the villagers cheering so he knew it was about to start. He walked a little faster so that he could be there when the race began. As he got closer he could see the participants on their horses but he couldn't see Diamond, he then thought he saw Mary but noticed that she was on a different horse. Robert must have got it wrong, he thought. Just then, he heard Anna shouting him which intrigued him so he decided to go see what it was that she wanted.
"Mr. Crawley" she said. "I know it isn't really my place to say but Sir Richard told us that Lady Mary's horse, Diamond was injured which meant that she couldn't ride her in the race..." she began.
"Ah, so that explains why she is riding a different horse." he replied, smiling at the young maid.
"Yes, but, that's just it, you see Mr. Flinch has just been up to the house to ask why Lady Mary hasn't been down to the stables for Diamond." she said.
"You mean to say that there is nothing wrong with her horse?" he asked, confused.
"No, nothing at all" she replied. "She seems a lot healthier than the horse Lady Mary is about to ride." she added.
"But then why on earth would Sir Richard make it up? Unless... Anna, where has Lady Mary's new horse come from?" he asked, starting to feel concerned.
"Sir Richard sent for it, I think but..." seeing the worried expression on Matthew's face, Anna stopped talking.
"Oh god!" he whispered. "I've got to get down there!" he said, just before running down to where the race was taking place but to his horror when he arrived, he noticed that the race had already begun.
"Wait! What is it?" she asked, running after him but he realizing he wasn't going to stop, she slowed down and followed him, feeling in some way involved and starting to feel quite concerned.
Mary was loving being back in the saddle – she hadn't ridden for weeks – but although the experience was exhilarating, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable on this horse, he seemed rather jumpy and nervous. Sir Richard had told her that Storm would eventually settle down after stretching his legs and that his nervousness was due to the fact he had been boxed up all day but she was starting to wonder if what Richard had said wasn't entirely the truth, somehow something didn't feel right.
She was just coming up to the line, marking her first lap when Storm started violently throwing his head up and down, causing Mary to lose concentration. Her eyes opened wider as she began to feel rather worried. She somehow managed to slow the horse down a little, losing her the leading position.
"Calm down now, it's alright" she whispered to the horse, leaning forward to pat its neck before encouraging the animal to pick up some more speed as she didn't intend on giving up the race.
As she passed the crowd again, she caught a glimpse of Matthew who had made his way to the barrier and seemed to be calling her name.
"Mary!" he shouted as loud as he could. "Stop the horse!" he cried but before he could say anymore she had already passed him and was gaining more speed as her horse galloped down the hill, catching up to the others contestants.
Sir Richard was stood enjoying the race by the stands, he was surprised at how well Mary had handled the little incident but he was almost sure that there was more to come so he simply sat back with a drink in his hand and waited for something to happen.
Anna had just arrived and feeling rather thirsty she walked over to the drinks stand close to where Sir Richard was talking to his valet, they seemed to be having a good time, Sir Richard hadn't stopped smiling. Intrigued by what they could possibly be talking about, the young maid picked up a drink of water and discretely moved closer to the two men, listening to their conversation without being too obvious.
"You can't know for sure that the horse will bolt though, can you sir?" she heard the naïve valet ask which only intrigued her more, what were they talking about? she wondered.
"Ah, now that's where you're wrong" he replied with an obvious grin on his face. "'Storm' is an ex race horse that stopped racing in 1919 when the chap riding him was killed after being thrown from the horse's back and trampled on. No one really knew what made it react the way it did. It has only been ridden once since the accident and that was by an expert stable hand who was also injured… Therefor I know for a fact that Lady Mary will not get off that horse safely." He informed him proudly.
"Are you quite sure about this, Sir? It sounds… dangerous..." he answered after hearing what Sir Richard had to say.
"Oh I am" he replied without hesitating, "I put my reputation on the line for that woman and she repaid me by sneaking behind my back in order to seduce Mr. Crawley. She isn't going to get away with this, I assure you."
Having listened to everything Sir Richard had to say, Anna couldn't believe what she had just heard. She spilt her glass of water and walked off in search of Matthew.
"Mr. Crawley!" she shouted as she made her way to the front of the crowd, towards the barrier where he was standing.
"Anna, we must stop the race, I don't know what exactly but I do know that something isn't right, Sir Richard has done something and-" but before he could finish, the young maid cut him off.
"It's Sir Richard" she whispered before sighing and telling Matthew everything she had just heard.
"I knew it… the bastard." He said under his breath. "I don't know what to do." he said, looking up at the maid in hope of an answer.
"Nor do I." she replied, looking down at the ground, hoping something would pop into her head.
Mary was now in second position and she could see the finish line ahead, she was so close to overtaking the leader so she decided to push the horse just a little bit more, determined to win the race.
As she began to overtake the horse in front, she felt the wind blowing through her hair under her hat, this is freedom, she thought to herself. She took a long deep breath as she took her place as leader once again and prepared to cross the finish line.
Matthew and Anna could only watch and hope that Mary would finish the race safely, without any devastating accidents.
As she crossed the finish line, Mary relaxed a little, loosening her grip on the reins. The crowd cheered and horns started to go off, marking the end of the race but hearing the noise, the horse started to feel anxious and noticing the sudden change of behavior in the horse, Mary started to feel a little tense, her grip on the reins immediately tightened and only seconds later, as predicted the horse began bolting.
Mary hung on to the reins and to the horse's main as she felt herself slipping. Her heart began beating considerably faster and she felt rather sick. Just then, the horse set off in the direction of the crowd, stopped in front of the barrier and reared up, violently stamping his hooves.
The crowd took a step backwards, protecting themselves from the – out of control – animal. Matthew ran towards the horse, shouting at Mary to jump. He could see how scared she was, the fear was clearly visible in her eyes. He had only seen that fear once before, during the war when he had been injured, the moment he had regained consciousness, he had stared up at her, into her deep brown eyes, and he saw fear, the fear of losing him, of never seeing him again and he saw that same fear in her eyes as she looked down at him just then.
A sudden bolt of adrenaline ran through him at that very moment as he jumped over the fence and made his way over to where the horse was trying to throw Mary off its back.
"Matthew, what are you doing?!" she cried. "Get out of the way!" she shouted again, trying to direct the horse away from him.
Seeing all the crowd gathering together, Robert and Cora made their way from under the marquis to where everyone seemed to be gathered.
"What on earth is going on?" Robert asked as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd, closely followed by his wife.
The minute Cora saw her eldest daughter clinging on to the horse for dear life, she gasped and froze, she didn't know what to do.
"Good god!" Robert exclaimed, not knowing what to do for the best either. "Matthew get away from there!" he shouted as he ducked under the barrier and quickly but carefully walked over to where Matthew was standing.
"Papa, please no!" she shouted down, not wanting her father to get hurt.
"Robert, please get back behind the fence." Matthew said, laying a hand on his shoulder and gently pushing him away. "Mary, jump from the horse." He shouted back up to her.
"I am not jumping from this horse!" she shouted back stubbornly. But just as she had finished speaking, the horse unexpectedly reared up again, throwing her up off of its back.
The crowd seemed to stop talking, for a second there was no sound. Everybody stood, open-mouthed and watched as she fell. It almost seemed to be happening in slow motion. Cora nearly fainted at the site and Robert watched wide-eyed.
As she fell, she let out a cry that nearly broke Matthew's heart. When her body hit the ground, time seemed to speed up again and the crowd's gasps filled the air.
"Mary!" Matthew shouted, terrified as he watched her fragile body crash to the ground. He instinctively dropped to the ground by her side and turned her body over so that he could see her face.
Robert ran towards them and bent over his daughter to gently stroke her pale cheek. "God…" he said, realizing what had just happened.
Matthew lifted her head to rest on his lap and stroked her hair away from her face. "Mary, wake up" he whispered but she didn't respond. Mary was all he cared about now and even though hundreds of people were stood watching over him, including the Earl of Grantham, he couldn't hide his affections for her any longer.
"Mary, my darling, if you can hear me please open your eyes." He whispered again, a little closer to her face this time before pressing a warm, gentle kiss to her forehead.
Robert watched in astonishment, the heir to his estate had just kissed his eldest daughter who happened to be engaged! Where was Sir Richard anyway? He thought. What was going on in front of him was clearly wrong but seeing how much love Matthew had in his eyes for Mary; he decided not to say anything about it. Matthew obviously loved Mary far more than Richard Carlisle ever could.
"Mary, please" Matthew said once again, taking her hand in his and bringing it up to his lips to press another kiss on the back of it.
Just then he felt her fingers move and her eyes slowly opened.
"Thank god." Robert said, under his breath. "I'll go get Clarkson" he told them as he patted Matthew on the shoulder before getting up, straightening his composure and walking back into the crowd.
"What happened?" she asked quietly, feeling a little confused as to why everyone was gathered around, staring at her.
"Your horse reared up and threw you off of its back, how do you feel?" he asked.
"My head rather hurts" she said in a groggy voice, lifting a hand to her forehead before attempting to sit up.
Remembering that she was carrying their child, Matthew suddenly froze. "And how.. how is the baby" he asked discretely, lowering his voice.
Mary instinctively placed a hand on her tummy, then she looked up at Matthew for a second, "I'm not sure" she replied in a scared voice, "how would I know?" she asked, before taking a deep breath.
"Well, are you hurting anywhere?" he asked shyly.
"No, apart from my head, I feel alright." She answered.
"That's a good sign then." He said, relieved. "Let me take you somewhere a little more comfortable" he said, scooping her up off the floor, into his arms and carrying her over to the marquis.
"Thank you" she whispered as he sat her down on a large chair with pillows to support her back.
"I'll get you some water, are you sure you feel alright?" he asked again, he couldn't help but worry about her, he loved her.
"I'll be just fine." She replied with an appreciative smile on her face.
"A storm-braver if ever I saw one" he whispered before pressing yet another warm kiss to her forehead. She looked up and smiled fondly at him.
"Goodness, Mary, what happened to you?" Sybil asked as she came and sat by her eldest sister, accompanied by Tom and Edith.
"I had quite a bad fall, that's all" she replied, turning to face her sister and putting on a brave face.
Just then Sir Richard walked over to them, feeling angrier than ever, all he had done was drive them closer together.
"What a cozy scene" he said sarcastically. "It seems you had rather a lucky escape." He continued, staring at Mary.
Hearing his voice, Matthew turned around to face him.
"This was you, wasn't it?" he asked, walking over to him.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Richard replied, a smug grin on his face.
"Don't pretend you didn't have anything to do with this" Matthew begun, "you knew exactly what would happen and you still let Mary, your fiancée, get on to that horse." He said.
"It isn't my fault she can't control her own horse!" he replied, looking over at Mary and laughing to himself. He could see how angry Matthew was getting and he found it quite amusing.
"You bastard!" Matthew shouted before punching his rival to the ground.
"Matthew!" Mary screamed, trying to stop the fight.
"Stop this at once!" Robert shouted, sounding disappointed in Matthew, he knew what Sir Richard was like, but Matthew was better than this.
Both men stopped fighting and Matthew slowly got up from the floor, straightening his shirt and jacket. Richard looked rather embarrassed, his face was bright red and when he stood up he noticed that everybody was watching him.
"Wh… What is going on here?" Violet asked as she made her way through the crowd towards her son.
"I am leaving now, I doubt we'll meet again." Richard said as he turned to face the older woman.
"Do you promise?" she asked, a cheeky grin on her face.
Richard straightened his composure, gave Mary one last glance and turned his back on them all, disappearing into the crowd.
Just as they were watching Sir Richard leave, Sybil shouted for her Papa.
"Quick Papa, something's wrong with Mary!" she shouted, sounding rather worried.
"Mary dear what is it?" Robert asked his daughter as he walked over to her.
Matthew ran towards Mary and knew straight away what was wrong. "Get Clarkson!" he ordered. Mary was clutching her tummy and taking deep breaths.
"What's wrong with her?" Edith asked after seeing how much pain her sister was in.
"Matthew" Mary whispered as she gave him a knowing look before screaming out in pain again.
"I'm sorry my darling, I must tell them." He replied, feeling scared and nervous himself. He took a deep breath before telling everyone the truth, he knew that once he did, Mary's reputation would be ruined and Robert would be absolutely furious with him but he had to tell them, Mary and his baby were much more important to him than his reputation, he couldn't lose them.
"She's pregnant." He said, looking back at Mary with apologetic eyes.
"What?!" Robert shouted, looking down at his eldest daughter who had in some way betrayed him.
Everyone else just froze for a minute, taking in the news, forgetting how much pain Mary was in.
"Where's Clarkson?!" Matthew shouted as he tried to comfort Mary the best he could. "I promised you that everything would be alright, and it will, you've got to trust me and be strong for me Mary, okay?" he told her before taking her hand in his and squeezing it tightly.
End of Chapter 2, i hope you enjoyed reading. I know I left it on a bit of a cliffhanger but the chapter would have been to heavy and too long if I had continued but i promise to update as fast as i can! As usual please leave reviews, they encourage me to write better and post faster.
Thank you so much for reading, please feel free to send me suggestions or ideas for the next chapter or simply to improve this one :)x