XX

Mary delicately blew across the foamy coffee. Seated outside at a café near the office, she relished the few minutes in the early morning to contemplate before the day's rush began. The recent Leave vote had shaken the real estate industry and they were fielding calls and soothing brows all over the UK and Europe.

It was just a few days after the dinner with Matthew. Such a swirl of events and unexpected panic after the vote had meant neither had been in touch with the other since he had dropped her off.

She had casually asked Edith to look up his name. At least she hoped it was casual.

"Says here that Matthew Crawley's father died when he was 14. A sudden stroke that left the adolescent with only his mother for close family. He was away at school when it happened." Edith looked over her iPhone at her sister. "That's so sad."

Mary slowly nodded. There had been that air of defensiveness about him. Slight, but noticeable to her. A protective shield against the world. Except she felt that they had connected.

He had let her into his mind, his thoughts.

Edith continued, "So it seems he finished public school and won scholarship to Oxford and completed his legal training under the guidance of Sir Edwin Miskrell at the Inns of Court. He worked a few years at prestigious firm in the City and took that training when he accepted a position with his father-in-law…"

"What?" Mary's flustered tone stopped Edith in the middle of the sentence. Indeed Edith had seldom seen her sister at a loss.

Clearly this was news to her.

Mary recovered quickly though. "Go on…" trying to maintain a level tone.

Edith did so, "his father-in-law's investment firm where he began to specialize in real estate until such time as he created his own company in partnership with Thomas Branson. He lives in Fulham with his wife Lavinia. They have no children." She finished and put down her mobile.

Mary sat silent. Matthew had never disclosed that information. She scoured her memory as to whether he wore a ring that night. No…she definitely remembered no wedding ring during the meal as he ate the lobster.

Could he have deliberately kept if off?

Edith sat impatient, dying to know more. She and her sister had only recently mended old teenage fences of spits and spats and had become quite good friends. Mary had always chosen their youngest sibling Sybil. Full of fire but also sweet natured Sybil was everyone's favourite really. But the two older sisters found common ground in the workplace. Edith making her way into a journalist career with The Guardian and Mary entering the real estate field at Grantham. Her equestrian career had dominated Mary's life beforehand. She hardly had time for anything else. But since 2012 she and Mary had grown close.

Mary was so deep in thought she hardly heard Edith asking "is that important? His marriage?"

Slowly Mary returned out of her reverie. "It shouldn't be. We've just hired him to look into some restructuring and investment ideas."

Edith would have none of that. "Oh Mary please. Come on. Come clean. That bothered you."

Mary squirmed slightly in her seat. She pursed her lips and sighed. "Very well. I rather liked his unguarded approach. Or what I took to be without guile. I guess I was wrong."

"I don't see that at all." Edith replied. "You have very good instincts. I don't think he was being deliberately secretive in his disclosure." Trying to draw her out a bit on just how private their conversation went. "Is it really vital to your working relationship?"

Mary stammered "No….no."

Mary never stammers, Edith caught her eye across the table. "Are you interested in him?" She looked down again at her iPhone. Matthew was photographed at a business luncheon shaking hands with a client. He was in profile. "He is rather attractive."

Her sister did not like that. She retorted briskly, "I'm not shallow Edith. Nor disarmed by a pair of fine eyes."

Edith knew the reference to her sister's favourite Austen novel. "But you did notice them?"

She gave in a bit. "I did."

"And the rest of him?" Edith could not resist.

"Divine." Mary disclosed with a languid exhalation. "But it was more than that. We got along so well. I'm just surprised he didn't tell me." She had not told any of her family about Matthew's interest in sponsoring her equestrian return. She wasn't at all sure she would take him up on the offer.

Especially now.

"Maybe he felt the same." Edith reached out for her cup of steamed coffee. "He was so engrossed in conversation with you that it just never came up."

"That's true." Mary had to admit.

"Did you tell him about Henry?"

Mary's eyes narrowed, moved back and forth. "It never came up." She smiled as she confessed that.

"Exactly." Edith chuckled. "It sounds like you two were a world unto yourselves."

All Mary could do was slowly nod in affirmation. She was gob smacked by this news. It had been like no other night in her life. Nothing had happened. They had just talked. Yet it was more intimate than any romantic date. She had gone to bed with her fair share of men in her life. Now she lived with the one who had worn down all her arguments to the contrary.

But Matthew. Matthew was different. He had ripped away all her layers so easily. He gave her his time and his attention. He listened. He cared.

Ridiculous, she would have said. No one can do that in one evening. But it happened. She knew he felt it too. Was that why he didn't tell her? Was that why she didn't tell him?

Edith suddenly felt an anxious pang. Mary had never given herself fully to anyone. "Don't let him break your heart Mary."

"I thought you said I never had one…" Mary glanced over at her sister with a soft smile. She was so glad they were now friends. Think of the closeness they would have missed.

"Just being a spiteful teenager. I was wrong of course." Edith shared. "You keep it well guarded. Is he worth exposing it?"

"I've never said I was interested in him." She protested half-heartedly.

"You don't have to." Edith verbalized what they both knew. She held out her hand to grab Mary's. "It's all over you face."

Mary withdrew back and sat up straight in the seat. "I won't let him see it. It's just business after all." She got up with purpose, "now I must get on. We have a meeting at 9:30."

Edith said not a word. She let her go.

XX

Tom Branson sat in the passenger seat as Matthew smoothly guided the Porsche around a corner and into the car park at their offices along the Thames. He knew they very easily could have taken a taxi or even walked the several blocks over to Milner and Co, an exclusive mortgage brokerage firm they regularly dealt with. There had been an emergency meeting to deal with Brexit. Matthew, by the blood shot look in his eyes, had been up most of the night soothing brows and cutting deals both to stop hemorrhages and to take advantage of the wildly uneven currency market.

But Matthew had wanted to drive. "Soothes my nerves," he said with a grin.

And it did. Matthew rolled into his space. He appreciated the fact that he never had to watch over Branson or worry about the state of their partnership. The two worked seamlessly together. They had met while each worked for another boss and both chafed to get out on their own. Neither had the assets to set up alone, so they pooled resources and opened up CB Property first in a small leasehold property in Camden and later in more capacious offices in SW1 Pall Mall. Tom specialized in commercial real estate both in England and Ireland. Matthew initially handling trusts and asset management. As their partnership thrived they were now considering bringing in a third partner. One of the things on the back burner.

Matthew had not told Tom about his offer to invest in Mary's venture to set up a riding centre to provide income for her own equestrian dreams. In fact given the events of the past days, he's not had any time to put his own mind to it.

That did not mean, however, he did not think about Mary. Indeed he found himself thinking about her far too often.

The swish of her head as she affixed loose strands of hair behind her ear. The lithe movement of her body as she walked in front of him down the steps to the bar.

His stomach twisted and churned in knots as the guilt mingled with the desire.

Matthew pushed away those thoughts. Task at hand man, he chided himself. He was currently listening to Tom read from a brief A-Z Directory entry.

"Grantham LTD has been incorporated since the 1960s. The current earl took over management of the firm when his father died in 1978. They have a reputation for solid, if predictable investments in properties among the landed gentry and aristocracy. His primary income is derived from his family's inheritance so he can afford a certain amount of loss." Tom heard Matthew's inhalation.

"What? Is that bollocks?"

Matthew pursed his lips. "I got the distinct impression they were on the edge of a nervous breakdown." He grabbed his key out of the ignition.

"Why else call us in?" Matthew finished as he opened the door and got out.

Tom had to agree. Their firm specialized in getting firms out of scrapes and returning them to profit. Their reputation had grown recently with a successful turnaround of a LLC in South Bank. When they had started out three years before, they had planned on growing the investment side of their firm but instead it was the consultancy work that brought in the dosh. Matthew was keen to get back into property which was why Tom was surprised Matthew took on Grantham LTD himself rather than handing it off to himself.

Indeed he seemed downright eager.

"And I thought it was because you're secretly the heir to the title." Tom tried to draw Matthew out on the truth of the matter.

Matthew chortled. "No fear. Our family was originally Crowley but in the early 19th century some near sighted government official wrote the surname down incorrectly in a birth registry and we've been Crawley's ever since." He was more than secretly glad of that. Mary was no relation at all to him. The similar name was a happenstance. A sign perhaps? Matthew pushed that thought to the back of his head.

"What else does it say?" Matthew straightened his tie as it was windblown from the convertible. He pushed his fingers through his hair. He had to pull it together for the next round of meetings.

Tom scrolled "His daughter Mary Crawley is Public Relations Director. The two other daughters are not a part of the company."

Matthew nodded in contemplation. He remembered Mary mentioning a sister, but not two. A wisp of a smile crossed his lips at that memory. "Does it mention anything else about her?" He tried to sound casual.

"Uh…" Tom clicked a side picture. "I see the daughter arm in arm with some tall dude at a societal function."

Tom took note of a sudden stiffness in Matthew's body language as he pushed the picture down to read the caption. "It's her boyfriend Henry Talbot, former UK Rally Car driver and currently employed by International Motor Sports."

The up ticked snort escaped Matthew's lips before he could stop it. "A rally car driver?"

"Careful mate. You sound a right smug bugger." Tom mocked. "And as you are currently inspecting your own pride and joy for infinitesimal scratches you are on dangerous ground."

Matthew jerked his head up from the Boxster's fender. He grinned sheepishly. "Rebuke taken and accepted."

"Why do you care?" Tom was curious. Matthew was the most upright of all his friends and coworkers. He treated everyone with respect. Never a hint of scandal or sexual shenanigans.

"No reason." Matthew said he hoped with reasonable coolness.

But he knew it was a misrepresentation of the facts. He did care. In his current bewildered state, he cared a great deal.

XX

Lavinia knew Matthew was home from the mutterings down the hall. His office was to the left off the spacious living area that looked out onto Parsons Green. They both had fallen in love with the property four years ago upon their marriage. It had been a steep investment for Matthew but he knew the potential for growth in the area and agreed to the asking price. The terraced house sat slightly apart from its neighbours.

"What's up?" She shouted. Setting her keys down in the dish. The table near the door had become a jumble of keys, bills, and Matthew's collection of electronic gadgets.

Matthew answered in exasperation, "Vin. I can't find my iPad anywhere."

She heard more shuffling and swearing.

"I need it for the meeting this afternoon. It's got all the websites bookmarked…." The rest was muffled.

She glanced at the pile of stuff on the table. "Here it is." Triumphantly she shoved aside some papers to find the device buried beneath.

When she grabbed it, however, another pile was dislodged and fell to the floor. She rolled her eyes in annoyance and knelt down to clean it up.

She took the pile with her walking down the hall, trying to organize them all as she went. One of the items was Matthew's doodle book as she called it. He was forever scratching away in it, with images and caricatures and portraits of everyone he knew or just happened to pass in the street. It had fallen open at the last page.

"Thanks awfully." Matthew was so relieved to get it.

Lavinia handed him the iPad. He looked up and saw she had his sketch pad in her hand as well. His eyes turned saucer like in a sudden dread. The thought crossed his mind to snatch it. Before she saw Mary's picture. Wondered who she was? Why was she with Matthew?

He stayed his hand, though. Such action would just draw suspicion. And besides why would Lavinia even think anything. He was always drawing people in the book.

His mind raced from thought to thought. Potential outcomes. What if she asked him?

He was mentally shot just thinking about the possibilities.

He was not cut out for this kind of subterfuge.

In the end, Lavinia closed the book and set it on the desk along with the iPad and some bills. She said nothing. Smiled instead and began to chat about the long vacation plans for the school where she taught. They were to chaperone the primary aged children to Paris for a week end visit to all the sites.

"Sheer bloody exhausting," She finished, "but the Head wants to expose them to culture. Of course she's not going along."

"No…" Matthew's vague reply. "What?"

Lavinia's even tone brought him back to reality. "Nothing. Will you be ready to leave in an hour? I told my father we'd be there by seven."

Matthew pinched his brow. "Yes. Of course. Sorry darling. I … I got a million things on my mind…"

Lavinia knew all too well. "I'll leave you to it then." And she walked out of the office.

Matthew thought he had gotten away with it. But it only made the churning in his stomach worse.

He returned to his tasks at hand, but he knew in his gut that everything in his life was about to change. He had not told Mary he was married. That had not been out of any premeditation. The subject simply had not come up. He realized too late that he had left his ring at the fitness centre locker. He always took it off when swimming because it was loose and he feared it dropping down a drain. He needed to tell her. Before they set out on this equestrian venture. It would not do to have anything false between them.

No matter how much that might change things between them.

Out in the hall, Lavinia took a deep breath. She had noticed. Her observant nature took in Matthew's slight panicked expression when his eyes fell upon the drawing.

She took in his look. Noticed it really, because she felt something as well.

Initially taking it as just another of his well rendered sketches.

Matthew was an accomplished artist. Lavinia had always tried to tell him so. He would dismiss himself as a mere amateur, but she knew better. But it was part of their relationship that he kept to himself. So she didn't push him.

Most of the sketches were funny caricatures of the officious, dull types he dealt with in his business. It allowed him to vent some of the utter boredom of their pretentiousness by distorting and playing around with their features.

He had drawn Lavinia many times. She loved how he managed to capture her in candid settings, reading a book or doing the dishes.

But this one was different. She had looked more closely at it as she walked down the hall to his office. The drawing of the woman was subtle and striking at the same time. Her eyes staring straight into the viewers. Her hair textured and capturing the twists and curls in intimate detail.

He kept so many things to himself. Sometimes she believed she hardly knew him. They had married after dating a relatively short period of time. She was not naïve enough to believe Matthew was head over heels in love. She knew he cultivated the hopes of gaining the eye of her father. At the time she admired his ambition. He was sweet and kind and the best of lovers.

He did love her. In his own way. They had a good marriage.

But was it enough for him? As his wealth increased, his tastes did so too. The car the latest example. He could have anything he wanted.

Did he still want her?

XX

Mary took the last sip of her wine. They were about to clean up after dinner.

Time to broach the subject. "Henry, I've got the potential for a new project. One that will take me away from London for weeks at a time. Back home to Downton, actually."

Henry stopped piling the plates together. "What is it? Sounds involved."

"Getting back into riding actually. Opening a centre, a stable." Mary tried to sound cool about it, but just the thought thrilled her. Enlivened her as nothing had done for quite some time.

Henry was surprised. "I thought you had given all that up? After 2012." They had not known each other then, but she had told him about Diamond's accident. About her quitting. "You've got quite the good set up with your father. Will he approve?"

She honestly had no idea. But she knew she'd convince him in the end to agree to give her the time off if she promised to double her efforts when she was in London. And of course, she had to get his permission to use the land in the south field for the riding centre. Her mind whirled at all she had to do.

"We'll see. I'll tell him when I'm farther along. It's still very much in the planning stage." They carried the plates and glasses into the kitchen.

Henry knew better than to give away any of his own misgivings. She was ever in control of her own life. She made that abundantly clear when they moved in together. But they were already on each other's nerves most of the time. And now more time away.

"Papa wants me to organize a dinner party for some new clients. Part of the attempt to win them over." It was partially true. Her father had mentioned it. Well, she had mentioned it and he had agreed.

Just that morning.

"When? You know my schedule. It's tight during racing season." Henry pulled the dishtowel down.

She rolled her eyes. She knew it all the time. It was all he ever talked about. Initially when dating she found the racing thrilling. The fast cars. The reverberations of sounds and squeals. The excitement of victory.

But it had dulled.

"About a week. Probably next Friday night. It'll be just two or three couples at most. We have two new clients and Papa will always want Charlie and Elsie over as well." The Carsons owned a chain of bed and breakfasts and were always looking for new ones to purchase.

"So about ten to twelve at most. If they all bring wives or significant others that is." She tried to sound non-chalant about it. But it was her driving motivation to host this meal if she searched her soul deep enough.

Mary was curious about Matthew's wife. And a social gathering was the perfect opportunity to casually observe the strawberry blonde she had googled earlier in the day.

That Matthew was married had settled like a lump in her chest.

But even if it had been otherwise, how could she change things? It wasn't like she could just text him a message or phone his mobile about getting together again. They had exchanged personal information. For the business arrangement they had said. Had used as a pretext to get each other's details. Because they had both wanted it.

She was attached as well. Not married, true. But in a relationship.

Could she deny her feelings for Matthew? Go on without him in her life now? Give up the opportunity he presented to her, because it also came with the baggage of an emotional attachment neither could acknowledge?

Mary put away the wine glasses carefully in the cabinet. Henry had gone into the living room and turned on the TV. She could hear the Game of Thrones theme music.

She would not give up this chance of resurrecting her riding career. It dangled in front of her like a child's toy. An ornament at Christmas. Bright and shiny. Something she wanted. Something she could earn with hard work and dedication.

Could the price of that be giving up any thought of a personal relationship with Matthew?

They'd be partners in the equestrian venture.

That was the only solution.

With that determination she closed the cabinet and moved into her office to crunch some numbers regarding the construction of new stables at Downton.

…. And to send out the e-mail invitation to Matthew and Lavinia Crawley for the dinner party a week hence.

Strictly business of course…

XX

The dinner party is next… what do you think should happen? As always reviews, views, and opinions are appreciated!