December 23, 1918

Downton

The adults' dinner started out as a stilted affair and degenerated from there.

Now that Sir Richard knew Matthew was his rival he did not ignore him. He paid Matthew the compliment of not underestimating him. Rosamund did underestimate Matthew and did her protege no favours in doing so.

"I understand that we can ask you any questions and you have to answer them" she said to Matthew.

"No"

"No? I thought ..."

"The lists have closed. Only Cousin Violet and Cousin Sybil are in the game."

"So mother can ask you questions"

"Yes"

"Mother, ask Matthew if he has any vices"

Everyone glared at Rosamund, including Sir Richard; he did not need to have Mary think he was behind this.

Robert started to remonstrate with his sister but Matthew waved him off. Matthew raised his eyebrows at Violet.

"Do you have vices Matthew?"

"You will have to be more specific, one man's vice may be another man's virtue"

"Ask if he gambles" Rosamunds said in a stage whisper.

"Do you gamble?"

"I have gambled my life these past four years but I do not imagine that is what you mean. You are wondering if I gamble for money" Matthew said.

Violet nodded.

Matthew saw Mary's mouth tighten. "When I was young and stupid, a long time ago, I once lost ten dollars in a poker game; that was the last time I played poker. I still pay cribbage, in fact I am the best cribbage player in this hemisphere and I am willing to wager a penny a game to prove it." He saw Mary relax her face although she did not go so far as to smile. He noticed Carson give a small smile. Think you can beat me do you? It'll cost you to find out old man.

Rosamund was not finished. "Ask if he drinks"

Violet rolled her eyes. "Matthew do you drink?"

"Surely having a drink is not a vice, after all we all have wine before us"

"To excess" Rosamund hissed.

"Matthew do you drink to excess?"

"I hardly touch the stuff."

Rosamund pounced "Your wine glass is only one third full"

Matthew gave her a big smile "Carson!"

"Sir!"

"Before my first dinner here what instruction did I give you?"

"To never fill your glass more than one third full"

"And when you clear my place how much wine is left in the glass?"

"Slightly less than one third"

"Thank you" Matthew looked at Violet. "Do you have any more questions?"

"No"

"And Sybil, do you have any questions?"

She smiled at him and shook her head "No"

"Well that is too bad. We were just getting to the interesting vices, like pride, avarice and envy" Matthew was looking at Rosamund and Sir Richard as he said this. Sir Richard frowned in response, Rosamund did not even notice.

Mercifully Robert suggested that the gentlemen forgo their port, which he now he realized he had never seen Matthew drink, and join the ladies straight away. He thought that if Matthew and Sir Richard came into too close a contact it would be swords or pistols at dawn.

In the drawing room Sir Richard gravitated to Mary's side.

Matthew went and sat by Sybil.

"Shouldn't you be protecting your turf from the interloper?" Sybil smiled at him.

"She is either mine by now or she never will be"

Mary looked over and smiled at them.

"I must say there is certainly a difference between that Mary and the one of six months ago."

"The credit is all mine"

"Your modesty becomes you"

"Thank you, thank you very much. How have you been?"

"I am fine"

"Do you still have an interest in all things Gaelic?'

"Yes"

"How is the timetable going?"

"Tomorrow after lunch"

"Why then?"

"If it goes badly we can still catch the last train"

"You think it'll go that way?"

Sybil looked at her father who was speaking to Sir Anthony and Edith. "I am afraid so"

"Not if I can help it"

"What are you going to do?"

"Whatever it takes" he looked at her "Don't worry there won't be any violence... unless Sir Richard gives me an excuse... and remember if it all goes wrong there still is Canada"

To break the tension Sybil said "You know you never told us about your music hall act."

"I really can't, not in this company."

"You can tell me, I'm a nurse, I have seen and heard it all"

Matthew shrugged "OK, you asked for it. With my back looking like it does, on the music hall circuit I am known as the human map and the punch line is" and he leaned over and whispered in her ear.

Sybil laughed so hard she almost spilt her sherry. Everyone looked at them. Matthew effected a look of innocence. Violet narrowed her eyes and harrumphed.

"Look what you have done, now I am in trouble with Grannie."

"Me? You asked for it"

Mary came over. "Am I going to have to talk harshly to you?'

Matthew stood up and started to give her his hang dog look.

Mary stuck her finger in his chest "Do not start that again"

"Again?" Sybil asked. "Do tell"

"Mary can tell you. Excuse me I have to speak to Edith"

"Gentlemen, may I steal Edith away from you a moment?"

Robert and Sir Anthony paused in their discussion of barley futures and how the end of the war would affect them as Matthew steered Edith away to a quiet corner.

"Quick now, what were they talking about?"

Edith smiled "Was it so obvious that my eyes had glazed over?"

"No, you are becoming very practised in the art of being the adoring wife"

"I should hope so. If all goes well ..."

"Yes indeed. I would like to speak to in confidence about Sybil"

"Sybil?"

"Yes, you are aware of her attachment to .."

"Yes"

"What would your father do if he found out?"

"He would sack ..."

"What if Sybil stood by her man?"

"He ... he would cut her off."

"Whose side would you take?"

"Do I have to choose?"

"Yes"

Edith frowned. "I would have to take Sybil's"

"I hoped you would say that. This is what I would like you to do..."

The long day finally came to an end. Sir Anthony and Sir Richard departed for their respective estates. Violet and Rosamund were taken home to the Dower House.

"Do not stay up too late" Cora said as she and Robert headed up the stairs."Tomorrow is going to be hectic"

"I think I will check on Marie Claire to make sure she has settled OK" Matthew said "and then I will turn in myself".

"That sounds like a good idea. I'll check on Patricia" agreed Mary.

Edith and Sybil called it a day as well so they all went upstairs together.

Both little girls were sound asleep. Matthew and Mary stood looking down at Marie Claire. Matthew put his arm around Mary and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You know I bought a ring"

"I gathered as much"

"But..."

"But what?"

"I am waiting to hear from you"

"Hear what?"

"Three words"

Mary stepped away from Matthew and went out into the hall Matthew watched her walk away. She went around the corner. He followed her. By the time he got to the corner she was gone. He sighed and made his way to his bedroom.

When he got to his bedroom he found her sitting on his bed.

When she saw him she stood up. "I want to sleep in my own bed tonight" She started walking to the door.

Matthew stepped out of the doorway so she could pass. As she did she took his hand and pulled him along.

Once they were in her bedroom she went and sat on her bed. "Before we came upstairs I told Anna I would not need her tonight and... I told her to tell Bates you would not need him" she patted the bed beside her "Come sit down"

He did so. He said nothing.

She reached over and took his hand. "My husband spent all my money. He left Patricia and me in a very bad spot. I worry about money. That is the one thing I want to see ..." Tears started falling down her cheeks.

He hugged her. "I am not a spendthrift. I do not gamble. I do not carouse. I am pretty tight with my money. The most extravagant purchase I ever made in my life was a ring" she smiled at this "I owe no one. I worked my way through university. I have saved my wages. I own some land in Alberta. If it comes to that I have enough saved up to pay for passage for you and our daughters to Alberta and to take care of the three of you while I finish my articles and am admitted to the bar. There may be a few lean years living with my mother while I establish my law practice but I promise you I will take care of you. You and the girls will never want" he smiled at her "as long as you don't want too much" Mary leaned her head on his shoulder. " But I don't know how I can prove it to you, my bank papers are all with my mother. You are going to have to take a chance.,, and anyway, didn't you tell me the second time you were going to marry for love instead of for money?"

"I did and I will" she reached up and took his face in her hands "I love you" and she kissed him.

He slid off the bed and knelt on the floor in front of her. He took her hands in his. "Lady Mary Crawley will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

"Hold it cowboy. Are you not forgetting something?"

"What?.. oh the ring..."

"No, not the ring although it would be nice. You made me make a declaration; I have yet to hear from you."

He gave her a great big grin. "Oh Mary, I love you. I have loved you since the first day."

"That is better. Now start over".

"Lady Mary Crawley, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

"Yes, Major Matthew Crawley I will" she pulled him up to her and they ended up in each others arms laying on the bed.

"Don't move, I'll be right back"

"Where are you going?"

"To get the ring"

"No, not yet, give it to me tomorrow in front of everyone"

"You exhibitionist. If you want to do it in front of everyone why not wait until Christmas Day?"

"I want to be engaged before Edith"

"You minx"

"Meow"

"Purr, purr..."

-0-

"What did you mean "You will not tolerate it'?"

Mary was laying on her side with her head propped up by her arm.

"What? What are we talking about?"

"Sybil and Father"

"Oh. My mother says that you can tell a lot about someone by the way he treats cats. I imagine the same applies to daughters." he gave her a hard look "Speaking as someone with daughters I will not be part of a house that casts out its daughters."

"But what will people think ... a chauffeur after all"

"What will people think about a cowboy?"

"That is different, you are going to be the earl"

"Is it? I imagine after I've been earl for fifty years people will still be looking down on me. And you know what. I don't care and your father shouldn't care either."

"But it is different with you. You are an outsider. You did not go to school with these people, or serve in the army with them, or go to the same clubs as them."

"So what if I had? I still wouldn't give a fig for what their opinion was of me."

"It is easy for you to say that, it is not so black and white for Father"

"Throwing your daughter out into a cold December night is pretty black and white"

She gave him a worried look. "What will you do if he does?"

"If she goes we go. I won't abide putting pride and vanity over family"

"Leave Downton?"

"Yes, and you know you are going to have to leave Downton anyway"

Mary ignored that last. "But he will not throw her out" she did not sound confident.

"Your grandmother thinks he will"

"Grannie? When have you talked to her?"

"She has written to me in the last four months almost as much as you have."

"About what?"

"Many things."

"Including Sybil?"

"Yes. She has a plan."

"Well?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"I am laying naked in bed with you and you are asking me if I can keep a secret?"

"OK, this is what she ..."

-0-

"I thought you said you were not a gambler."

"Five Queens is a pretty good hand."

"What would you do if you were Father?"

"I would probably rant and roar for a few minutes, then, when I had gotten it out of my system, I would sit the two of them down and try to figure out how to make the best of things. Branson strikes me as an intelligent fellow, I'm sure that he could make something of himself if he was given a hand up.".

"I hope for all our sakes Father does so" She kissed him. "What would you have done about the entail if you were Father?"

"And you were my daughter?"

"Yes"

"I would have taken a run at it; from what Murray tells me I wouldn't have succeeded, but I would have tried."

She did not say anything.

"Turn over" he told her.

"What?"

"Just turn over"

She rolled over. He put his arm around her and pulled her to him.

"Do not fall asleep"

"Don't worry, I always wake up an hour before dawn"

"I have never done this before"

"Spooned? You've never spooned?"

She could sense him shaking his head. Then she felt him kissing the nape of her neck.