AN/ I know 'Brary' doesn't appeal to everyone but I just love them together. I'm also now one to beg, but reviews make me so very happy 😄 I will also take any suggestions regarding characters or plot.
Mary sat despondent on her bed, she missed Tom already. She remembered telling Isobel once that she felt only half herself without Matthew, now she didn't feel at all like herself without Tom. Surely this love couldn't be bigger. It was different yes, but it had to be equal to her love of Matthew.
Smiling as she recalled the events of the night before she compared the two men, great friends and brothers in law. Matthew was gentle and always mindful of ones feelings. He brought out a softness in Mary, one that she wasn't sure that she liked. It was a softness reserved for him and him alone, when he was alive. He hadn't changed her as a whole, just changed her attitude towards him. She shook her head as she refused to think ill of a dead man.
Tom, however was passionate and assertive, in the bedroom and in life. He excited her to her core. He challenged her too, in a way no other man ever had. It was he who brought her out of the fog after Matthew's death, giving her something to strive towards. Tom knew her better than anyone else, and she realised that a bond like that only stemmed from friendship, for they were fierce friends. Truthfully, Tom Branson was her first true friend. She didn't have to worry about his status or his connections. They weren't introduced in a ballroom or as children by their parents, which was how she had met all of her society friends. It was real and he saw the Mary she wanted to be, the Mary she strove to be, not some figment of Matthew's imagination or the demure lady in town.
Yes, he was her sister's husband, he would always be Sybil's husband. But both Mary and Tom were different people when they were married to their respective spouses. Tom was the lovesick, determined chauffeur and Mary only had eyes for the blue eyed heir. They were both altered by grief and marriage, for the better in both cases, thankfully. Tom had changed so much since he first arrived at Downton. Mary smiled as she remembered attempting to stop his and Sybil's elopement. Now he and Mary may have to elope!
She sighed as she picked up her picture of Matthew. "Matthew, darling. I'm finally happy again and wherever you are I hope you can see how deeply I love him. I know you would approve, you loved him like a brother." She felt tears well in her eyes as she slipped off her silver and diamond engagement ring and then her wedding ring. He had been so proud, buying it new. "Darling, I shall never forget you. I will always keep you in my heart and George will have two people now to share wonderful memories with him of his marvellous papa. But I cannot be untrue to you any longer so I'll leave the ring with you,"
She sat the picture back on her nightstand and place the rings in the box he had presented her with. Then, she stood up, wiped her tears and, having dressed herself, walked downstairs to meet Tom. With a smile on her face she prepared to begin a new chapter in her life. The prospect sent excited shivers down her spine.