September 1, 1918

Downton Abbey

Mary was the first one down for dinner. She found her grandmother and mother already waiting.

"Come let us sit in the drawing room while we wait for the others to come down." Violet beckoned her.

Once they were seated Violet said "You and Matthew seem to be getting along very well"

"Yes, we are"

"Has he ..."

"No, not yet"

"Do you think he will?"

"Well the hook is firmly set, it is just a matter of reeling him in"

"Do you love him?" Cora asked.

Mary paused are a moment and replied. "I do not know that I love him. Do not take me wrong. I do like him a great deal. He is a good friend. He is very pleasant company. He has a certain rustic charm. He is intelligent and respects my intelligence. He makes me laugh. Patricia does love him and he would make her an excellent father. With a little training and a firm hand on the reins he would make an excellent Earl. I feel as if I have been happily married to him for a long time. So I will marry him but there is no passion between us."

"But you look so loving..." Cora looked shocked.

"What can I say. I am a very good actress. I looked happy to be married to Patrick. I can look to be in love to land Matthew."

At the door to the drawing room, which had been left ajar, Matthew drew in his breath. Edith, who was beside him, looked like she was about to barge in the drawing room and give Mary a piece of her mind. Matthew put his finger to his lips and nodded towards the staircase.

When they were safely at the foot of the stairs, Edith hissed "You cannot let Mary get away with lying to you like that"

"Well at least I found out before I sprung the trap" Matthew whispered back, He thought for a moment. "Do you mind if I play along with her, have a little fun at her expense for the rest of my leave?"

"I would love it" Edith smiled "It is about time Mary got some of hers back"

In a normal voice Matthew said "Edith, it looks like we are the first ones down"

"Yes, so it seems" Edith replied.

Just then Violet, Cora and Mary emerged from the drawing room. Mary gave Matthew a big smile and came and stood beside him. When Mary, Cora and Violet were not looking at him he winked at Edith. Edith smiled back at him.

Over dinner Violet's interrogation involved Matthew's eduction.

"Did you manage to get any eduction on the plains of Western Canada?" she asked.

"Yes, I managed to learn a little reading, 'riting 'n 'rithmetic" he gave her a big smile.

She tightened her eyes. "Would you please elaborate?"

"I attended elementary school, junior high and high school in Coalbanks, the town where I grew up, for twelve years. After three years off I attended the University of Alberta, which I assure you is nothing like Oxford or Cambridge, for two years working towards a bachelor's degree in history,. Then I transferred to the University's law school and had just graduated when the war started. For the last four years I have been doing postgraduate work in France".

"So you were planning on being a lawyer?"

"Yes, but the King had other plans for me"

"Is your intention to pursue becoming a lawyer after the war?"

"Yes, if I survive and nothing better comes along"

"Could you practice law in England?"

"I do not see why not, the two legal systems are basically the same."

After dinner when Robert and Matthew had joined the ladies in the drawing room Violet said "Sybil pointed out that I missed an obvious question. What did you do during the three years you took off between high school and university?"

"I was a member of the Royal North West Mounted Police."

"You were a Mountie?"

"Yes"

"How romantic" said Sybil.

Matthew gave her a smile. "Not at all. It was boring more than anything else."

"What did you do?" Sybil asked.

"Before I answer I would like to welcome you to the game. Now I can ask you questions" He gave a hint of a leer and she blushed. "Anyway what I did. Well after completing 12 weeks of training at the depot in Regina I was assigned to a patrol an area northeast of Coalbanks about 20 miles north south and 50 miles east west, east of the Little Bow River and north of the Belly River. The west end of that area had just been opened up to homesteaders and the east end was a big chunk of the Circle Ranch which was one of the last of the great ranches. There were no towns, villages or hamlets. The local gathering places were the headquarters of the ranch and four little one roomed schoolhouses. For almost three years I patrolled that bald prairie. I knew every cowboy, homesteader, gopher, coyote, pronghorn antelope and rattlesnake by name. I knew their life stories. Everyone of them was starved for company. There was no crime to speak of. A little cattle rustling. A little moonshining." He could see their puzzled looks. "The illegal manufacture of liquor. Which lead to the occasional outbreak of drunkenness at the dances they held in the schoolhouses. I don't remember ever having to arrest anyone for anything too serious. I certainly never pointed my revolver at any one. The most dangerous thing I did was fight a prairie fire. I buried five people and I delivered one baby. I read every book I could get my hands on, including the Bible, which I read through three times."

"So why did you quit?"

"Did I mention the weather? Southern Alberta has the harshest climate you can imagine outside of the Arctic or the Sahara. It gets less than 20 inches of rain a year. 90 F in the summer and -40 F in the winter. The wind blows all of the time. In the winter there is a warm wind that blows from the Rocky Mountains called the Chinook which can raise the temperature from -30 F to +50 F in four hours. There are no trees outside of the river valleys. The constant sun fries your brain. The native vegetation is a kind of grass called prairie wool which only grows about one inch high. After three years and 20,000 miles in the saddle I decided to go back to school and get a job inside somewhere. Although I seemed to have traded that inside life for one where I live in a hole in the ground in the rain and mud of northern France."

"Tell me about delivering the baby" commanded Sybil.

"Yes do tell" seconded Edith.

Matthew looked at the others. They looked shocked and appalled. He beckoned to Sybil and Edith. "Come sit with me in the corner and I will tell you all about it"

Edith and Sybil monopolized Matthew's time for the rest of the evening. Sybil had a great deal of questions about living in Southern Alberta. Whenever Mary drifted over and tried to get a word in edgewise they ignored her. She finally gave up and went to bed early.