April 1925
That evening, Mary walked into her bedroom and felt the tiredness of the day catching up with her. With Aunt Rosamund staying at Downton, they had had guests for lunch Mr. and Mrs Harding and had spent most of luncheon learning about Mrs Harding's past, Isobel in particular was rather proud of the woman's accomplishments and when Mary had learned that it was Sybil who had helped Mrs Harding with her opportunity as a secretary, she felt nostalgic at the memory of her sister.
"Mrs. Harding rather put me in my place when she was here." Mary sighed.
Anna was folding her dress out as she closed her bedroom door.
"I'm sure she didn't mean to," Anna replied politely, "Gwen had fond memories here and she's not one to speak out of turn."
"No, but when she was talking about Lady Sybil, I had one of those moments where you look at your life, and I realised just how much better Sybil was than I am. It was quite chastening." Mary sighed.
"You're hard on yourself, milady."
"Why did I have to be so pettish? She'd made something of her life, why shouldn't she?"
Anna leaned over the end of bed, gasping in pain. Almost agony. Mary stopped her line of thought and crossed the room to where Anna stood crying.
"Don't panic," Mary said reassuringly, "Are you in pain?"
Anna nodded stiffly.
"I was then. Sharp pains, I had it earlier," Anna turned to her, tears falling down her face, "I'm losing the baby, it's happening again!"
"We don't know that. We're going up to London, I'll telephone Dr. Ryder on the night telephone line."
"But we've missed the last train."
"Then we'll drive into York, there might be a late train." Mary insisted.
"What do I tell Mr. Bates? I don't want to frighten him; I don't want to get his hopes up." Anna questioned.
Mary thought for a moment. She knew that Anna had yet to confirm to Bates that she was pregnant, 0and she couldn't blame her friend for not doing so after having so many miscarriages.
"Tell him it's me. That I need to see a doctor double quick." Mary instructed.
Anna nodded.
"What if I lose it on the way?" her friend cried.
"Then we'd be no worse off then we are now. But we'll make Dr. Ryder see you when we get there, no matter what the time is. Now go, and Anna, have some faith." Mary instructed.
Anna nodded, quietly thanking her as she left the room to make the preparations. Mary changed into her travelling clothes just as Matthew entered the bedroom from his dressing room.
"Where are you off to at this time of night?" Matthew asked curiously.
"I need to go to London for a few days." Mary replied.
"Why?" Matthew asked.
She threw some of her clothes into her suitcase that rested on the end of their bed, not caring that it wasn't neatly packed.
"I don't want you to worry, but you might hear that I need to see a doctor. I don't but I'm swearing you to secrecy. Anna's pregnant and she's in pain, she might be losing the baby."
Matthew's eyes widened with concern.
"Is she alright?"
"She's scared, it's only natural. But Bates doesn't know so you musn't say anything. We've already seen Dr. Ryder a few months ago and he's the only one who can help her."
"The last train left Downton train station hours ago."
"We're driving into York." Mary stated, throwing more of her belongings into the suitcase.
"I'll come with you." Matthew offered.
"You don't have to."
"I want to. You're worried about Anna, and I understand that you want to support her, but you need some support to. So I'm coming."
Knowing it was pointless to argue with him, Mary watched as he packed his own suitcase and carried both his and hers to the great hall once they were finished packing. Aunt Rosamund telephone Meade and requested that he prepare Mary's usual room and make one up for Anna to stay in. Then she bade her parents goodbye, telling them that she needed to see a doctor in London urgently and she would be back within a few days. She requested that they give the boys a kiss from her whilst she was gone and then headed to the car with Anna and Matthew. The ride to York was quicker than Mary had anticipated, and they had managed to catch the last train to London with minutes to spare. Of course, Anna had gone to ride further down the train, but Mary insisted on paying for a first-class ticket for Anna and after a minute's protest, Anna climbed into the first-class cabin with Mary and Matthew.
Once they had arrived in London, Mary was thankful to see that Meade had arranged a car to meet them at the station. Anna sat in the front, occasionally gasping in pain but once they had arrived at Belgrave Square, Mary led Anna up to the servant's quarters and once settled into bed, Dr. Ryder entered the room and Mary left, giving her friend some privacy. As she went back down to the entrance hall, she saw Matthew sitting on a chair waiting for her.
"How is she?" Matthew asked worriedly.
"She's in pain, luckily she hasn't lost any blood so let's just pray that the baby will be fine." Mary replied quietly.
Matthew nodded, standing from his seat and held his arms out to her. Mary smiled weakly, stepping into his embrace, and let out a heavy sigh. As he held her, she felt all the worry lift that she believed and hoped that she had gotten Anna to London on time. She stepped away briefly, but still remained in her husband's arms and smiled as one of his hands moved to her stomach, not yet showing the baby that was growing inside her.
"How is our little one?" Matthew whispered.
"All fine I believe. Hopefully it won't be long before we can feel the baby move." Mary replied quietly.
"It'll be sooner than you think. We're sixteen weeks along in this pregnancy now." Matthew smiled.
"I was around sixteen or seventeen when I felt movement with Charlie."
"A lot longer with George, if I recall."
Mary nodded, meeting his loving gaze and cupped his cheek.
"Has George told you he wants another brother?" Mary asked with a little laugh.
"He has," Matthew laughed, "Charlie wants a sister though."
"Oh dear. Either way, we'll have a disappointed child on our hands."
"Well I'm sure they'll come around to whatever sex the baby is."
She smiled happily as Matthew gently caressed her stomach and eventually the two of them sat on one of the sofas in the entrance hall of Painswick House. Matthew grabbed a book to read from Aunt Rosamund's library and the two of them sat together and read until about an hour later, Dr. Ryder came descending the staircase.
Mary stood from her seat, her heart racing for news of Anna.
"How is she?" she asked urgently.
"Resting. Sleeping by now, I hope." The doctor replied.
"Has she lost the baby?" Mary asked fearfully.
"No. We got there in time. I've put in the stitch that I spoke of, and as they say in medical novels, I'm cautiously optimistic."
Mary smiled with relief at the news as Matthew asked what they should do next. The advice was that Anna needed a few days to rest so Mary made the arrangements for them to return to Downton on Friday. Dr. Ryder bade them goodnight and left the house, allowing Mary and Matthew to finally retire for the night.
"I'll check on Anna in the morning. Hopefully, she'll be much more reassured now and everything will be fine." Mary said tiredly.
Matthew changed for bed and climbed in under the sheets as Mary undressed and pulled out a nightgown to change into. As Matthew watched as she scrambled to put it on, she caught him staring at her abdomen.
"Yes?" Mary asked.
"You're starting to swell. The baby is becoming visible." Matthew replied.
She looked down and noted the slight swell in her lower abdomen just above her knickers and ran her hand across it. She smiled at the sensation, how hard but how soft it felt at the same time and chastised herself quietly for not noticing the change in her body before her husband pointed it out to her. Mary pulled the nightgown on over her head and left her hair down as she climbed into bed next to Matthew.
"I've thought that we could call the baby William if it's a boy." Matthew said quietly.
Mary nodded her agreement, feeling it was rather fitting. Matthew had allowed her to choose the names for their sons the last two times she had given birth and this time, she wanted them both to choose a name or have Matthew make his own suggestion.
"And what if it's a girl?" Mary asked curiously.
"That one appears to be a little trickier. We've had the same discussion about what girls names we like the last two times you've been pregnant." Matthew chuckled.
"I know. Do we call her Cora, Isobel, or Violet? Heavens, Grandmama will most likely be offended if we didn't even consider Martha as an option." Mary grumbled.
"Whatever name we choose, should the baby be a girl, I still insist on her middle name being Mary." Matthew stated affectionately.
"The poor thing. Doomed to live up the reputation that her mother is a cold monster." Mary mused.
Matthew tutted and lifted his chin up so that their eyes met.
"She'll know that her mother is a determined, warm, loving woman. After all, my Mary is the true Mary." He whispered.
"I love you, darling." Mary whispered back.
Leaning up, she gave him a heated kiss. Matthew groaned and shifted his trousers and underwear down his legs and positioned her on top of him. He took her nightgown and underwear off, tossing them over the side of the bed as they joined together. Mary looked down at him as she bucked her hips down against his, moaning in pleasure. She loved the feel of him inside her, hitting that spot that only he knew that made her cry out as the pleasurable wave washed through her entire body. Matthew grunted as she pushed over the edge and with one final thrust up into her, Matthew released.
Mary collapsed on top of him, smiling as she met his gaze once more.
"You need to sleep, darling. You've had a worrying day." Matthew whispered.
"Hmmm you're right. Goodnight, my love." Mary whispered.
"Goodnight, my darling."
She rolled off him and settled in her usual place in the fold of his arm and her head on his chest. She smiled sleepily as she closed her eyes and felt him kiss the top of her head. As she drifted off to sleep, she heard Matthew hum a familiar tune in her ear to soothe her into sleep, a song that she hadn't sung or thought of for years, but she considered it a song of relief. It had been the song she had sung at a concert during the war, a song she had wished she didn't have to sing but she powered through, despite her fears that something terrible had happened to Matthew. When Matthew had reappeared alive and well at Downton, Mary had felt that surge of relief wash through her and Matthew had finished the song with her.
And now he was singing it to her so she could sleep, after a day of worrying about her friend.
When she would wake the next morning, Mary would feel thankful that she had a husband considerate enough to settle her to sleep in a way that meant so much to her.