AN: Here we are, another chapter!
It was easy enough for Gregory to confirm that Mary was pregnant.
"You two certainly don't have any trouble in this department, do you?" Gregory laughed as he shook Matthew's hand. Matthew turned and kissed his wife on the lips.
"So you were right after all, my love." Matthew said, beaming from ear to ear.
Mary smiled at him, and took his hand, before turning again to look seriously at Gregory.
"Tell me the truth Gregory, how is my mother?" She asked, her voice tense.
"Not very well, I'm afraid. It came on so quickly- she just doesn't seem to be getting any better. But Sybil is actually on her way now, to help take care of her." Gregory explained as he pulled on his coat.
"Sybil is coming back?" Mary gasped.
"The minute Edith called, she was shouting for Tom to pack their things, so that they could get passage on the very next boat. She couldn't stand the thought of your mother without all three of her daughters." Gregory continued with a small nod of the head.
"Of course not! I can't stand it myself- I have half a mind to get dressed and head to the abbey this instant!" Mary laughed, nearly rising to dress.
"Mary, as a doctor, and a brother in law who loves you, I must advise you that you should stay away from your mother while she is in this condition. Not only could you pass the illness to William and Catharine, you could potentially do harm to the new one you're carrying." Gregory said firmly.
"I know. I know that I cannot go to her- but I wish that I could." Mary sighed, brushing back tears that seemed to come out of nowhere.
"She wouldn't want you to risk your own health or the health of her grandchildren." Matthew said as he kissed her palm softly.
"Of course she wouldn't, I know I'd send Catharine or William away from me if I were ill." Mary consented, and then hung her head in her hands for a moment. "Thank you, Gregory, For everything. Please, keep me updated." Mary said, as she looked up.
"I will." Gregory nods, and then shows himself out of the room.
"Matthew, I feel very tired, would you check on the children?" Mary asks, looking up at Matthew with her dark soulful eyes.
"Of course darling." He says simply, and leans in to kiss her goodnight.
Mary settled herself comfortably back in her pillows and closes her eyes, and falls quickly into a dreamless sleep that lasts the entire night. When she wakes the next morning, it's only seven thirty. Matthew is still deeply asleep beside her.
"He does look so peaceful." Mary thinks to herself as she kisses his cheek before rising. She decides to dress herself simply today, in a grey skirt and blouse, without corset as even in the early months of pregnancy she has decided she wont wear one unless she absolutely must- and besides if she called Anna to dress her, she'd probably wake Matthew and he deserved his rest.
The first place she went was the Nursery, and she saw that while William still slumbered soundly with his thumb in his mouth, Catharine was awake, though kicking contentedly without making a sound.
"What a little angel you are, not waking your big brother." Mary cooed, and takes Catharine to change her nappy. "Such a sweet babe. I'll take you downstairs for breakfast this morning I think, and we'll have some girls time, just me and you, does that sound nice?" Mary asks her in a sugar sweet tone, and Catharine smiled as if she could understand exactly what her Mama had suggested.
As Mary descended the stairs very carefully with Catharine in her arms, there was a decisive knock on the front door. "I suppose I'll answer it. No need to take Mosely away from whatever it is he's doing." Mary thought to herself with a sigh, and quickly make her way over to the front door, and pulled it open.
"Mary?" Lavinia asked, slightly surprised, but pleased.
"Lavinia? My goodness what are you doing here?" Mary asked, her manners slipping away as shock settled over her.
"I- well- I know it's early but- Could I come in Mary?" Lavinia stammers. Mary nodded warily, and extended her free arm towards the sitting room. "Of course you may. Pardon me, Lavinia, I don't mean to sound rude, but what on earth are you doing here?" Mary asked when they had taken seats.
"Goodness, I almost don't know where to begin." Lavinia sighed, her eyes focusing on the wriggling baby that Mary held in her arms. "Oh- how rude of, Lavinia, This is my daughter, Catharine Isobel Violet Crawley." Mary told her, mocking a traditional introduction. "She's very lovely... May I?" Lavinia asks and then smiles. "Of course." Mary says, carefully handing Catharine over to the woman she wasn't so sure she could trust.
"She's absolutely perfect. Congratulations Mary." Lavinia says gently as she carefully cradled the little bundle. "Yes, Thank you. Now you seemed to have some thing you wanted to discuss." Mary prompted. "Oh! Yes, of course. I suppose I should cut to the chase then." Lavinia laughed painfully. "Go on." Mary said again reaching to take back Catharine.
"Richard Carslile died three days ago. The Influenza, it seems." Lavinia began. Mary looked at her and nodded, feeling almost ashamed that she felt relief. "Oh- that's…I'm sorry to hear it." Mary finally managed.
"I must tell you now that I was very angry that Matthew left me for you, Mary- I don't tell you this to make you unhappy, but for the rest of my story to make sense, you have to understand this." Lavinia said next, looking at Mary with eyes filled with tears. "That's perfectly understandable Lavinia." Mary told her gently, and motioned for her to continue.
"When we had come here, after Edith's wedding, he saw how upset I was, and told me that he had a way to get back at you- a way to ruin your life the way you had ruined both of ours. At the moment, I was so angry, and so hurt that I agreed, without thinking much. And he told me all about you and the affair with the turk- how he had it on good source, and that he was going to publish it on your wedding anniversary. Almost instantly I began to have second thoughts. How could I ruin the life of someone I'd once loved, and a woman I didn't know well enough to judge, a woman who was going to be a mother soon. But I kept my mouth shut because, well, you did not double cross Carslile. Then I met someone. An American actually, named Thomas Scott, and he began courting me, and I soon realized I no longer cared for what Matthew had done to me by breaking our engagement because I love Thomas more than I ever knew it was possible to love another human being. By then though, it was too late. Nothing would stop him from publishing. Then on the eighteenth of March, he fell suddenly very ill. He telephoned me and said not to worry, he'd publish it when he was well again. But he never got well again. It was only a head cold they said- but the head cold turned into influenza and no one could do a thing for him. The day after he passed, they found this envelope on his desk, addressed to me." Lavinia spoke slowly as she pulled a large, crisp envelope from the small bag she carried with her. "It contains the article Richard was going to publish, as well as the contract he'd had with Vera Bates, and all the evidence. I know that he thought that if he gave it to me, I'd find a way to release it to the public, but I couldn't do that. So I'm bringing it here, to you, so that you can destroy it, once and for all, and hopefully have some peace of mind." Lavinia finished, and slid the envelope across the table to her.
Mary stared at it dumbly, her eyes filled with tears.
"Lavinia, you cant know what this means to me. Thank you, thank you so very much. I don't know how to repay you." Mary said as her tears escaped.
"Mary, I'd like for us to be friends again. I mean really friends. I know you only spoke to me for Matthews sake back when- you know. But I think that If we'd known eachother under different circumstances we'd have liked eachother immensely. So what do you say? Friends?" Lavinia asked, her voice quiet and full of hope.
"Yes, of course we shall be friends." Mary agreed eagerly, for she knew Lavinia was correct.
"I'd heard from your Aunt Rosamund that you'd had twins- a boy I heard." Lavinia asked after a moment.
"Oh, Yes, Little William, our dear sweet boy. He's still asleep in the nursery. Would you like to see him?" Mary asked, rising from her chair.
"I would, actually." Lavinia said with a smile, and followed Mary.
Mary knew in that instant that she would have a very good friendship with Lavinia Swire. A very good friendship indeed.
AN: SO, I know someone said they didn't want anyone to die- so I hope no one is too upset with the one that did happen. Also, yes, Lavinia is back! Because I think she's an excellent human being who deserved better than what the writers on Downton gave her. Thank you for reading!