Chapter 7
Matthew sat in the chair watching her sleep. He wondered if others still thought her beautiful. She opened her eyes with a start and a very quiet gasp.
"Have you killed him?"
"No, he's unconscious in the bathroom. You may look if you wish."
"What is this, Matthew?"
"I only know a small part. Your father is leaving, I believe he's leaving the county, and he's taking the children with him. He wishes you to come but was afraid your attachment to Downton and whatever is between you and Von Roons would stop you. He thinks I can get you to go."
"You seem to know a lot."
"Hmm, well, that is all."
"So, what is your argument?"
"I haven't really got one, but I don't really need one, do I? Whether or not Robert makes it away Downton will be seized. Even if Von Roons is able to get some claim for you, it almost certainly won't stay yours. And the children could use you."
"Anyone could have told me that, but he sends you."
"That part is interesting, I admit. I'm not sure what he was up to. It all feels a bit like your grandmother, though. Perhaps it has come out more as he ages."
Mary started to smile and then her eyes smoothed away any reaction. She looked to the bathroom but did not get up. Matthew sat back in the chair.
"How did you get in?"
"It was fairly easy. My German is good enough and it's dark. They are a little complacent."
"I suppose that will change. Why didn't you kill him?"
It would have been personal, he thought, something he had never done in all his murderous acts. "There are reprisals in towns where Germans have too much trouble," he said.
"I suppose. And so we sit?"
"About another half hour or so."
He got up and switched off the light. As he reached over she saw his jacket and her eyes widened.
"You are hurt."
"It's not my blood."
"Karl's?"
"No, a guard along the lane."
"I thought you said you were avoiding reprisals."
"He was a bouncer, looks a little like me. I have switched some clothes with him and I have his ID. It may look like the Home Guard was involved in the assault and your kidnapping or escape, create some confusion for a bit at least."
"And you killed him?"
What did she think his life had been? He motioned for her to be quiet as they heard someone walking in the downstairs hall. She settled back on the bed and looked at him as he watched the door. They sat like that until Matthew stood and motioned towards her clothes. As she dressed he turned to the door and picked up the German's coat.
They walked out into the darkened hall, down the servants' steps and into the back lane. They stood inside the back door for a few minutes and Mary looked panicked until her eyes met his. He realized Robert, or whoever had sent him, was cleverer than he had given credit. She would follow him at least for a bit and he found he still knew her. They got by without speaking.
A car pulled along the back lane and paused for just a moment without braking. Then it moved past to the north. Matthew stepped into the yard with his hand on Mary's elbow. They walked to the opposite end of the lane and the car pulled along to the east. They stepped in as the car slowed with barely a brake and moved off.
Matthew looked at Mary in the dark car. He had no idea who was driving nor where they headed. He supposed he had thought they would talk quietly about their past, that she would touch his arm perhaps, but he knew now that would not happen.
"I am sorry you have not been able to be with the children. They asked after you."
Matthew looked out the window. What would she tell them? He didn't want to know.
"Would you have tried to stop Isobel?"
"Yes," he said quietly.
"But not yourself."
"I don't know."
She leaned back and closed her eyes. He watched her as the car moved along in the darkness. Her face softened as she fell asleep.
He had nothing to give her. She would go with Robert and the children and perhaps survive the war. Without Downton her world would never be the same and he would always be part of the loss.
He thought the trip was taking too long and he wondered at the plan but said nothing as the second hour or so passed. The car downshifted and turned off the main road, lurching a bit. Mary woke with a shake.
"I cannot believe I fell asleep." She stopped and looked ahead. "I am sorry about it all, Matthew."
"I am too."
She looked into his eyes as much as she could in the darkness as the car shook them.
"Your face doesn't show anything anymore, I think. It used to be so mobile, even when you went away the last time."
She was right, he supposed.
"Sir," the driver said, gesturing back with his head.
Matthew turned and looked into the darkness.
"When did you notice it?"
"Not sure, perhaps five minutes."
Matthew peered down the road.
"Is there any sort of hard turn ahead, do you know?"
"Yes, I think sort of a 's' around a small hill."
"Good. Stop just on the other side. Have you any weapons?"
"Yes, in the bag beneath the passenger seat."
"Any explosives?"
"Just some grenades, four. Five magazines with the Bren under there, though."
Matthew reached under the passenger seat in front of Mary.
"I'm going to take the whole thing, is that all right?"
"Yes, sir."
Mary looked between the two men as Matthew leaned sideways against the back seat, facing her.
"Who is the driver, Matthew?"
"I don't actually know, Mary. He is driving the car."
"And yet you do what he says."
"We all have our roles."
"After all this time, we are still at those differences."
"We are still different."
The car slowed.
"How will you join us?"
"I will not. I wasn't going to be."
A crunch of trouble passed her forehead with something else going on with her eyes. At that moment he saw the gaze that had pulled him into Downton, made him a father, brought him back to life after the first war, shown him love. He smiled as the car came to a stop. Her forehead relaxed as she returned a small smile. Her eyes stayed the same. That was it then, another reference point he could still see.
Matthew nodded to the driver who glanced behind and he looked at Mary as he dragged the heavy bag with the weapons to his side.
"Good bye, Mary."
She nodded and stared at him as he stepped back out of the car and closed the door. The car moved off as he turned to the side of the road.
Matthew walked to the edge of the small hill as the car moved out of sight. He could see the trailing vehicle making its way along the dark road. Their driver must have practiced the route to be so quick and smooth because the vehicle behind was moving in slow spurts and clearly lurching. He sighted along a dip and rise and opened the bag as he dropped down against the hard earth. He pulled out the Bren and lined up its magazines, locking the first into place as he spread the tripod holding up the barrel. The grenades were German and he put them on the top of the bag. After a moment he pulled out the pistol that had been in the bin back by his room and placed it to his left, then put the knife to the back of the bag near his waist as he stretched on the ground. The car with Mary moved out of sight as he became sure the trailing vehicle was a German army truck.
Mary's car pulled up to a small clutch of men standing near a mass of rock blending down to a small cove. She could just see a boat, stern bobbing. Her father stepped to her.
"Thank God," he said as he lightly grasped her arm.
"The children?"
"Already on the boat that will take us away."
"Matthew stayed behind on the road."
Robert nodded. "I never used a man so ill."
"But he is his own."
Robert tipped his head to the side, looking at her, and then turned them both towards the water. Mary's steps stuttered a bit at first but she climbed smoothly into the little boat. As they were rowed away from the shore a muffled explosion wafted from down the road near the hill and the punches of automatic gunfire rattled just above the sound of the small waves on the rock.
-END-
AN: Thanks for your comments, and for reading! I haven't written fanfiction but I have enjoyed reading it for a few years and finally offer a little contribution. These are great characters and it has been fun to envision them in a different world, apart but still so important to each other.