A/N: in case you're wondering how/why I'm updating so quickly- I'd practically written most of the chapters over the last few weeks, so all I'm doing is revising and tweaking them as I update. I won't be able to update in two weeks' time though, for a few weeks, so I'm trying to get everything published before then!

…

Matthew carefully shut the living room door behind him as he resumed his phone conversation in the hallway. He and Lavinia had been watching 'Matilda', her favourite film, when his phone rang. It was a long-term client of his firm's, John Cole, enquiring after Mary Crawley. Mr Cole was a newspaper and magazine proprietor, is most well-known publication being 'Society'- a high quality, quarterly magazine which featured articles ranging from reports on New York Fashion Week, to the effect of the recession on the property market in England's wealthiest locations. Apparently Mary had applied to him for a position as a junior researcher, which Matthew wasn't surprised to hear. It wouldn't put her Land Economy degree from Cambridge to much use, but it was the sort of job that she could thrive in. Mr Cole had wanted to know if she was any relation to Matthew (his favourite solicitor) - they had, after all, gone to the same university two years apart.

"No, no" Matthew laughed, "Many people presume that. But I actually do know her. She's a good friend of mine."

"Oh, marvellous." Mr Cole's deep voice boomed down the phone. "You're not down as a referee of hers, but I'd love to know your opinion all the same. If she's anything like you then we'll snap her up in a heartbeat!"

Matthew laughed again, although it was slightly forced (Mr Cole was a jolly, ebullient man and Matthew always felt the need to try and match his propensity to laugh). He sensed an opportunity to help Mary secure a job that she would actually enjoy, and wanted to do whatever he could. He and Mary had been back on good terms over the two weeks since they made amends. There had been no mention of or allusion to the kiss, making Matthew glad that he'd chosen to stay with Lavinia- he was obviously wrong in thinking that Mary might have feelings for him. He'd not seen her since his dinner at her house, as he'd been swamped at the office and was spending more time with Lavinia, now that she'd settled into her job; but they phoned and texted frequently, and Matthew was glad that the dust had settled and things were back to normal.

"I've never worked with her before, but I can tell you that she is incredibly intelligent. She absorbs things like a sponge and is somehow always two steps ahead of everyone else. I think she would be a real asset to your company." Matthew began enthusiastically, as he paced up and down the small corridor.

"High praise, indeed! She did do rather well at school and university, but she hasn't got very much experience in a working environment, considering she's been graduated for three years. Her only proper job was acting as her father's PA. That's my only concern. Otherwise, she's at the top of the pile!"

"Oh, that's not for lack of trying." Matthew assured, "I'm sure you know better than most people how tough the job market has been recently, especially with the backlog of graduates trying to find employment." Hearing the man's murmurs of agreement, he continued, "But she still managed to secure three or four internships at a variety of companies, and although they're not directly relevant to what you do, I think it shows her determination to gain as much experience as possible. After all, I remember you once telling me that the best journalists are those who have experienced life, not those who have merely experienced journalism." Matthew allowed his long-dormant advocacy skills to flourish. "Plus, being a PA to Robert Crawley is no mean feat. He's almost as busy and successful as you are, sir!" Matthew joked, knowing that a bit of flattery would go down well with the journalism tycoon. He received an earful of a hearty guffaw down the phone.

"I can certainly believe that! Very well, very well. This all sounds extremely promising. Now, given that you know her as a friend, it would be foolish of me not to ask- what is she like as a person? I've tried to cultivate a certain kind of atmosphere in my company, as I've mentioned in the past, and I need someone who can fit in with that. I also don't want someone who's going to sit and blindly obey directions from their superiors. They need to have a kind of spark about them. I want someone atypical."

"That's Mary all over." Matthew enthused, "I don't think I've met anybody else like her. She has this fire inside of her, this unique quality. You can see it through her wit, her tenacity. She's humble enough to know that she has more to learn, but she's definitely confident enough to make her ideas heard. It's hard to describe, but I guarantee that you'll take to her, sir. I can't imagine why you wouldn't."

"She sounds like an absolute treasure, Matthew!" The loudness of Mr Cole's voice seemed to correlate with his interest in what Matthew was saying. Matthew had to hold the phone away from his ear.

"She certainly is that. And the best part is, I don't think she realises how incredible she is. So I would advise you to snap her up before she does realise!" He joked again, glad that his efforts of persuasion were successful.

"Thanks for the tip!" Mr Cole howled. Matthew made a mental note to ask Lavinia to check if his ear-drum had been punctured. "Oh, goodness me, I've just realised it's a Saturday. I'm in the office at the moment, going through applications - you know what they say, no rest for the wicked! It completely slipped my mind that it's the weekend. So sorry to bother you on your day off."

"No problem at all, anything I can do to help." Matthew replied. As fond as he was of his client, however, his real motivation had been to help Mary. He'd always seen great potential in her, which he was sure she was unaware of, and he wanted to help her realise it.

"You're a good man. Anyway, I must ring off now. But thanks ever so much for your help, I'll contact her on Monday, and I'm sure I'll speak to you soon."

"Of course, take care, sir." Matthew waited to hear the dial-tone before he set his phone down, pleased with himself. Turning around to go back inside, he saw Lavinia standing in the doorway. "Oh, hello. Is the film finished?" He asked, secretly hoping that it had finished. Matilda is a delightful story, when you're a child, but he didn't much fancy watching it repeatedly now that he was in his mid-twenties.

"No, I just came out to ask you if you wanted some tea." Lavinia replied quietly. "Who were you talking to about Mary?" She didn't do very well at concealing her jealousy.

"One of the firm's clients called, saying Mary had applied to his company. He wanted to know what I thought about her, so I just said whatever I could to help her get a job. She's been unemployed for months now." Matthew tried to appeal to Lavinia's compassionate nature.

"But she brought that on herself, didn't she?" Lavinia was apparently not in a compassionate mood at the moment.

Matthew thought back to what Lavinia must have heard him say about Mary. He could understand her concern. "She quit working for Robert because she didn't want to get too comfortable in that job. She wanted to find her own path and not rely so much on her parents. I think that's understandable."

"So instead she's relying on you to get her jobs?" This was probably the most uptight Matthew had ever seen his girlfriend. Luckily, Matthew knew her well enough to know how to appease her.

"Lavinia," He said softly as he brought his arms around her. "You know I'm just trying to help out a friend. Mary doesn't know I helped." He gave her a small kiss on her nose. "Besides," he whispered, "there are plenty of good things that I could say about you if somebody asked me. Things that only I know about." This drew a giggle from Lavinia as she batted him away and returned to the living room, and to that bloody DVD.

Matthew's return to Matilda was delayed by a message alert on his phone. It was from Mary.

Matthew, I am bored of being unemployed. I don't want to live in a world where Edith is able to go shopping more often than I am. Help me!

He chuckled at her text. He could practically hear her droll tone emanating from the phone. Little did she know!

Why don't you take over from Greta? I'm sure that poor woman has had enough of cleaning up after you for the last decade. He teased back, not wanting to tell her about his conversation with John. She should feel like she got the job purely because of her own merit, rather than because of his influence.

You're hilarious. This is no time for jokes- I have a serious deficiency of cash and credit. Can't you find out from your office which companies are merging or whatever, and let me know so I can invest in their shares?

No.

Why not?

Because that's insider dealing. Would you like us both to end up in jail?

Urgh. You always put a downer on my plans. Mary's text concluded with a succession of irritated-looking emoticons, prompting Matthew to chuckle even more.

Just be patient. Something will come through for you soon, I'm sure. Joking aside, Matthew knew she must have been worrying about her continual lack of employment. Edith didn't do anything to help the situation- she took every opportunity to announce her decadent evening and weekend plans in front of Mary, making sure her older sister was well aware of how much disposable income she had.

Hmm. I'm holding you to that.

By all means.

"Babe?" Matthew looked up to see Lavinia in the living room doorway again. He suddenly realised he'd been grinning as he texted Mary. "What are you doing? What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's just Tom being his usual self." He assured her.

…

On Monday evening, Lavinia visited Matthew's flat and, realising that his fridge was abysmally empty, they decided to go out for dinner.

Settling down in their usual seats by the window, Matthew scanned the room for the waiter. They visited this restaurant frequently, it being his favourite local eatery, so they already knew what they wanted to order. He started when his eyes fell upon a wholly unexpected sight. He stood up and walked over to the object of his attention, not noticing Lavinia's confused looks.

"Tom?" He called to his friend.

Tom almost jumped out of his seat. He'd been caught. Nevertheless, he stood up and attempted to hide his dinner partner by positioning himself in front of her. "Is that Sybil?" Matthew asked incredulously, peering around Tom's shoulder as Tom frantically tried to reposition himself to block Matthew's line of sight.

Matthew told himself he must be hallucinating. Why on Earth would Tom and Sybil be at dinner together?

"Matthew!" Sybil said brightly, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. "How are you?"

Matthew could only respond with a look of bewilderment. Was he supposed to know what was going on here? He looked back to Tom, his eyes desperately asking for an explanation.

"Mate, can I talk to you outside for a minute?" Tom finally relented. He was going to have to explain to his best friend that he was dating Mary Crawley's little sister.

Matthew managed a slight nod, his eyebrows still knotted together with disbelief. Tom turned to smile apologetically at his date, before following his friend out of the restaurant.

…

"Why didn't you tell me?" Matthew exclaimed. "This is quite a big thing to hide from me! Does Mary know?"

"I know, I'm sorry, mate. We didn't want anybody to know. Sybil said her family, especially her mother, can get pretty controlling, and she doesn't want any interference. She didn't mention this, but I imagine the fact that I'm a security guard and can't even afford to own a car probably has something to do with it." Tom sighed. "So we thought it would be best if we kept it a secret for now, and see how things go. I would have told you otherwise, but Sybil was worried you might accidentally let it slip to Mary, or worse- to their parents." Tom looked remorseful. He'd felt terrible for keeping secrets from Matthew, especially since he'd been the first person Matthew had called after that incident with Mary last month.

"It's fine, I understand. I know what Mary's parents can be like, especially the mother." Matthew smiled sympathetically. "A word of advice, though- if you're keeping something a secret from your friend, maybe don't flaunt it in a restaurant which is a five-minute walk from his flat. That aside, your secret's safe with me, I won't tell anyone." He reassured.

"You won't even tell Mary?" Matthew nodded in reply. Tom was overcome with relief. "Thanks so much, mate. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it, you've done enough for me in the past." Matthew patted Tom on the arm affectionately. His phone started ringing. Glancing at it, he raised an eyebrow. "Speak of the Devil."

"Mary?" Tom asked.

Matthew nodded as he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Matthew Crawley, where are you? I must speak to you this instant." Mary's voice was set in 'authoritative' mode.

"I'm at Alberto's. What is it? Where are you? I can hear traffic."

"I'm walking away from your flat because you're not there. I'll be there in two minutes, wait outside for me." Mary disconnected the call before Matthew even had a chance to reply. As so often happened, she'd left him no choice but to adhere to her command.

"She's on her way here, it seems." Matthew informed his friend, who immediately started to panic.

"No! She can't come here, she'll see me with Sybil! Call her back and tell her not to come." Matthew had hardly seen his friend so frazzled over something that didn't involve a shortage of alcohol.

"It sounds like she's quite determined to come. I doubt she'd listen to me if I told her not to."

"Do you think she knows?" Tom's panic reached a crescendo. "Is that why she's calling?"

"I don't think so, no." Matthew couldn't help but laugh. "She probably wouldn't be calling me about it, would she? I think Sybil would probably be her first port of call."

Tom visibly relaxed. "Good point. OK, I'll go back inside and let Sybil know. Make sure you keep Mary outside!"

"Will do." Matthew winked back at his friend.

…

Watching the exchange between Matthew and Tom, and then seeing them suddenly turn and leave the restaurant, Lavinia walked over to where Sybil was now seated alone.

"Sybil?" She asked timidly. Although she'd met Mary a few times and they got along well, she'd only met the other Crawleys once before, and she was rather intimidated by them. At Sybil's questioning expression, she explained, "I'm Lavinia, Matthew's girlfriend. We met briefly at Mary's birthday party?"

"Oh! Of course, I remember you now. Sorry about that, I'm not very good at remembering faces!" Sybil laughed cheerily and gestured for Lavinia to take the seat opposite her, now vacated by Tom, putting Lavinia at ease.

Lavinia asked if Sybil could tell her why Matthew and Tom had left, and Sybil happily obliged. If Matthew knew, there was no harm in telling Lavinia about her relationship with Tom.

"You have nothing to worry about- Matthew is one of the most trustworthy people I know. If you ask him not to tell anybody, he won't." Lavinia said, her voice growing affectionate from thoughts of her boyfriend.

Sybil nodded in agreement. "He is a good guy. Very honourable. That's why my father's constantly gushing about him! He'd have Matthew run his businesses for him if he could!" Lavinia smiled proudly at this. "Although, I thought it was a bit much to ask him to stay over with Mary last month." Sybil laughed.

Lavinia did not laugh with her. "What do you mean?" She queried.

"When my parents went away for the night, they didn't want to leave Mary alone so they asked Matthew if he could stay with her. It was a few weeks ago now." Sybil added, thinking Lavinia must have just forgotten about it.

"I think you must be mistaken," Lavinia said slowly, her brow furrowed, "Matthew has never spent the night at your parents' house."

"Well he didn't need to in the end, because my parents came back early. Apparently Matthew and Mary were both terrified because they thought someone was breaking into the house, but it was just Daddy coming through the front door!" Sybil laughed again, but stopped when she realised Lavinia was still pensive.

"So…you're saying Matthew agreed to spend the night with Mary? In your parents' house? Alone?" Lavinia's tone had become much less timid and much more urgent.

Sybil felt uneasy. Obviously Matthew had deliberately concealed this from Lavinia for some reason, and now she'd gone and spilled the beans!

"Erm…well, I wasn't there myself, so I don't know for sure." Sybil tried to back-track. Just then, Tom came rushing back over.

"Hello, Lavinia." He said, reaching down to kiss her cheek. "Sorry I missed you earlier. I'm sure Sybil's told you all about it." He chuckled, looking over at Sybil gratefully. He noticed that she looked uncomfortable.

"Where's Matthew?" Lavinia demanded. Tom's eyebrows shot up. Lavinia was never this impolite.

"He's just outside." Tom gestured towards the door. Without a word to either of her companions, Lavinia shoved her chair back and marched outside. Tom looked searchingly back to Sybil.

"I may have said something I wasn't supposed to."

"What did you say?" Tom slid back into his seat and reached for Sybil's hand.

"We were just talking about how Matthew's a great guy, and I mentioned how he stayed at my parents' place with Mary a few weeks ago." Sybil explained earnestly, hoping Tom would tell her that everything was fine.

Instead, Tom released her hand, and ran both of his through his hair in agitation.

"Shit."

…

Lavinia pushed the door open with as much force as she could muster. She'd left her handbag at her table, but she didn't care. She looked to her right, then swiftly to her left. Her heart stopped.

Matthew was grinning as he clutched a giggling Mary Crawley in his arms, lifting her off the pavement.

…

A/N: (even more) trouble in paradise for Matthew and Lavinia? Things are getting a bit complicated, aren't they?

Thanks again for all your thoughtful reviews. Please keep them coming, they help me when I make changes to my chapters before I update them, and when I write new chapters, because I know what you guys like! xxx