Mary

Mary walked slowly down the high street of Downton Village, enjoying her time away from the Abbey. She had loved the Abbey, been proud that it was her home, that it would always be her home when she became the future Countess of Grantham. Now though, she could barely stand to be inside its cloying walls. Everything about it reminded her that she didn't truly belong there. She felt an imposter and she hated it.

Mama was not helping matters. Almost every moment Mary spent at home lately had seen her mother hovering nervously over her shoulder. Mary still wasn't sure what she felt towards her Mama. She felt betrayed above all else and angry. How could Mama do something so stupid! To have a child with a servant!

And Carson. Mary had loved Carson dearly. He had been her refuge from nannies and governesses, dried her tears when she was hurt, and bolstered her confidence when her own fell short. He had been her strongest support, always. She had always been curious why he was so fond of her, but now it all made sense.

But to think of Carson and Mama… Mary wrinkled her nose in disgust. She couldn't help but think that her Mama was to blame in all of this. She couldn't imagine Carson abandoning his strict adherence to the rules in this way. He was Carson for God's sake! Everything he did had to be done properly.

"Cousin Mary!"

Mary looked behind her to find Cousin Matthew beaming at her from his bicycle. She smiled at him, welcome of the distraction from her thoughts. He pulled next to her to dismount and walk alongside her.

"I'm glad I've run into you here."

"Oh?" Mary asked flippantly. "Why is that?"

"I wanted to apologize again." At Mary's questioning look he went on, "For not finding a way to break the entail."

"Oh, I'm over that!" Mary laughed humorlessly. "I know now that there is nothing you or anyone else can do about it."

"Still," he said earnestly, pulling her to a stop with him. "It's frightfully unfair. I wish there was something I could do. You've seemed so downcast. I thought perhaps you were angry with me. And I couldn't stand for you to be angry with me."

Mary held his unwavering gaze for a long moment. How had she never realised how blue his eyes were? She blinked.

"I'm sorry if I've made you think I am angry with you. I can assure you that I am not."

"I'm glad."

They smiled shyly at each other and began to walk along the street again. They soon passed Crawley House and Matthew still walked beside her.

"Weren't you on your way home?" Mary asked.

"I was," Matthew shrugged, "but I thought I might walk a while with you. That is, if you're agreeable."

Mary smiled slyly at him from the corner of her eye. "I suppose I am."

Violet and Cora

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company? I assume that this isn't a social call."

Cora was having tea at the Dower House with her mother-in-law. It was unusual, and they both knew it. The two women did not share a close bond. They had come together for the first time to try to fight the entail, but now that it was clear the estate was going to Matthew Cora had no reason to be taking tea with her mother-in-law today.

Cora was, in fact, on a mission of sorts. She had convinced Robert of the wisdom of making Carson the new Dower House butler. Cora didn't agree with all of Robert's reasonings but keeping Carson away from the big House seemed to be for the best. So she had come here to talk to Violet while Robert went to London to find Carson. Cora had been wondering how she was to bring up the issue of Carson when Violet had bluntly opened a door for her.

"I came to see how your plans for finding a new butler were coming along. After Bruce leaves."

Violet scoffed. "As well as you'd expect. Why do you ask?"

Cora placed her teacup delicately on the table. "Have you found anyone yet?"

"No," Violet said simply, narrowing her eyes at her daughter-in-law. Cora almost withered under the older woman's gaze but remembered why she was here - for Mary and Robert - straightened her spine and looked Violet in the eye.

"I may have found you a new butler, then."

"Oh? Who is it, might I ask?"

Cora gulped imperceptibly and said, "Carson."

Violet was rarely ever surprised and even when she was she was loathe to admit it. Even now, taken aback as she was, she managed to control her astonishment through sheer force of will. Carson was the last person she would ever consider working as her butler. As far as she knew, the man had planned on dying at the Abbey. She didn't think he would leave his position as butler to Lord Grantham for the world.

"What's wrong with Carson? Is he ill?" she asked suddenly throwing Cora off her guard.

"What do you mean? There's nothing wrong with him."

Violet would not be put off so easily. "Then why are you suggesting he leave the Abbey to work here?"

Cora sputtered trying to remember the explanation she and Robert had come up with before she had come here. "Well, he's getting older. It won't be as hard on him here as at the Abbey. There would be less duties, but he would still be a proficient butler."

"If Carson's getting older then I'm practically ancient! Where are you going to put me when I'm no longer useful?"

"That isn't it. We just want Carson to be comfortable and working at the Abbey is becoming too much for him," Cora tried to reason.

"Why don't I believe you?"

Cora had thought she had been prepared for everything her mother-in-law could throw at her. She had been dealing with her for the last twenty odd years. But she had not expected Violet's barrage of questions. She was still struggling to come up with a reply when a flash of understanding crossed Violet's face causing Cora's stomach to turn.

"That's why they've both been moping about the estate. She's found out then," Violet stated matter-of-factly.

Cora felt her jaw drop. "What?"

Violet rolled her eyes. "Mary's found out that Carson is her father. That's why she and Robert have been sulking about. And presumably why you now want Carson to work for me?"

"You knew!" Cora gasped. Out of all of the possible outcomes of her conversation with Violet this had not been one she expected.

"Of course, I knew, my dear." she said taking a sip of her tea. "Did you think I didn't?"

Cora could only blink stupidly at the woman across from her. "But if you knew, why did you want to fight the entail?"

"Legally, Mary is Robert's daughter, no matter your...indiscretion," Violet sneered. "Robert has accepted her as his own so who was I to disagree? And… Mary is my granddaughter, I love her."

Cora stared in awe at Violet, feeling tears gather in her eyes. She had never known how deeply Violet cared about her family before now. "Thank you for that."

"Now," Violet sniffed putting the sentimental moment behind her. "This business about Carson. He cannot work here."

"What? Whyever not?" Cora could barely keep up with Violet's sudden change in direction.

"He cannot work here because he doesn't belong here. He belongs at the Abbey."

"If he stays at the Abbey, someone is bound to find out," Cora fretted. "I'm afraid Mrs. Hughes might already suspect something. Isn't it too dangerous to keep him so close?"

"You've kept him close for the past twenty years. What's so different now?"

"I suppose you're right. Robert won't like it though." The two women shared a conspiratorial smirk. Cora's smiled faded as a thought struck her. "You're not angry with me then? About Carson?"

Violet contemplated her daughter-in-law shrewdly for a long moment. "Not anymore."

Robert

Robert strode through Hyde Park with a face like thunder. Everyone he passed lowered their eyes and hurried past him not wanting to incur the wrath of the apparently vengeful man. Robert failed to notice his impact on his fellow park goers he was so far lost in his thoughts.

After Mrs. Hughes had told him of Carson's whereabouts, Robert had taken the last train to London. He had arrived in the city agitated and had left Bates to settle in at the club while he had gone straight to the Waldorf to find his errant butler. Robert felt bile rise up in his throat at the welcome he had received. He had not even been able to see Carson. Robert had been informed that Mr. Carson was "working" and could not see His Lordship, perhaps they could arrange meet another time. Only the thought of making a scene had kept Robert from demanding that he see the man at once. He had settled for leaving a note requesting that they meet in Hyde Park the next day.

Robert arrived at the Peter Pan statue and looked around for Carson. Not finding him, Robert found a nearby bench and sat down. He clenched his fists in anger. Even now, Carson was making him wait. He had half a mind to leave and forget he had ever come to London.

But he had promised Mary he would bring Carson home. Robert drew in a deep breath willing himself to calm. His anger would not help him convince Carson that he was needed back at Downton. He was doing this for Mary, Robert thought. He would do this for his daughter.

Glancing around at the people walking, Robert closed his eyes and leaned back to let his mind wander. When Cora had first told him she was expecting, he had been surprised. He hadn't thought they had been together often enough to cause her condition, but he had had no reason to suspect her of infidelity. In fact, he had not been wholly virtuous in those first months of their marriage. So he had been surprised but happy, and when Mary had arrived he had fallen hopelessly in love. She had been such a perfect baby that it was all he could do to look upon her in wonder. He had never loved someone as he did her before.

He watched Mary grow with pride, and loving her so deeply had helped him fall in love with Cora. By the time Edith had been born, he and Cora had found their great romance in each other. He loved his girls though his English upbringing keep him from showing it overtly.

But that niggling doubt still lingered. He had been afraid to ask Cora, afraid that he would not like her answer, and so had kept his doubts to himself. A year after Sybil was born, when he had assumed the title of Lord Grantham Robert gathered the courage to ask Cora if Mary was indeed his daughter.

And she had told him. Everything.

Robert remembers clearly the stunned silence in which he had sat and listened to Cora's tearful admission. He had felt betrayed, not only by his wife, but by his own man. Carson had been Robert's valet since he had returned from university. To learn that he had had an affair with Cora was the ultimate betrayal in Robert's eyes. Robert's anger had burned fast and hot. He couldn't believe that his Cora had been unfaithful, conveniently forgetting his own transgressions. He spent the night in his dressing room for the first time since the beginning of their marriage.

He had sacked Carson the next morning with no explanation. It had left him without a valet, but the look of shock on the man's face had been satisfying to Robert's bruised ego. He had been deaf to both Cora's pleas and Mary's tears. The five-year-old girl had not understood why her favorite Carson was leaving. Her cries for Carson had only infuriated Robert more.

If it hadn't been for the calming influence of then butler Finch, Robert and Cora's marriage might well have ended. Finch had stepped in as valet and in that calming way he had, had drawn the problem from Robert. The butler hadn't even blinked when Robert told him the sordid tale of his wife and his valet. Finch had only looked at him shrewdly and then reminded him of his own actions during the first of his marriage. Chagrinned, Robert accepted the truth in the butler's words.

But Robert was stubborn and, like his mother, he was loathe to admit when he was wrong. Four months of strained dinners and separate sleeping quarters would pass before he began to thaw towards Cora. They began a tentative courtship again. They had finally come to forgive each other when disaster struck.

Finch had fallen suddenly ill and was forced to retire. Robert was forced to look for a new butler with little success. No one he interviewed was right for the job. He became angry with himself when he realized why. He was looking for Carson. Carson had been training to become Finch's successor, but Carson had betrayed Robert and been sacked. Robert didn't even know if the man was still alive.

When he had mentioned his frustration to Cora, she had leapt onto the idea of Carson as their butler. At every opportunity she had lobbied for Carson until Robert had questioned why she wanted him back. Mary was still missing Carson and Cora thought that bringing him back would be better for her. She told Robert that Carson's connection to the family would make him trustworthy. After a brief argument, Cora convinced him that Carson would be perfect for the job, and Robert began the search for him.

When Carson was found, Robert sent for him. Carson had entered the meeting with His Lordship apprehensively. Robert had taken a moment to enjoy the man's newfound humility, soon put him out of his misery. He had offered Carson the position of butler on a set of conditions. The desperation that had flashed through Carson's eyes at the offer still haunted Robert. Carson had accepted the terms and taken up the job of butler of Downton Abbey.

Robert had grown to accept Carson in his house, going so far as to even become friendly with him. Their love of Mary was one thing they both had in common and it drew them closer. Carson had kept all of his promises to Robert when he had come back to Downton and Robert had been content to trust his family to him. He had never thought that Carson would betray that trust again and tell Mary about her true parentage.

Robert felt a looming shadow fall over him. He kept his eyes closed until whomever it was cleared their throat. He looked up to see Carson standing proudly before him. Robert felt his jaw clinch in anger. Did the man have no shame?

"You wished to speak with me, my Lord?"

A/N Thanks to those of you who have stuck with this story.