Cora put her last hair string up with a clip. She looked at herself and was content with what she saw. She headed over to Mary's room, to see if she was ready or needed some help.

Walking over the gallery on the first floor in Downton was still incredibly weird. She felt so at home here, and at the same time, she felt like a fish out of water. She had slept in one of the guestrooms, it was Mary's big day, and it would be an incredibly early morning if she had to drive from London back to Downton.

It had been months since she was here, she had stayed for Sybbie's christening. She had to admit, it was amusing to see how uncomfortable Robert was in that Catholic church. She had only been immensely proud, seeing how strong Sybil was and that she dared to make her own choices. It had strengthened her in believing she could also go on with her life. Robert would always be in her life; they were connected through their girls. But she needed to go on, the longing she felt for him was not reasonable and it would eventually go away, she hoped.

Mary sat at her dressing table and Anne was busy with her hair. Cora stepped closer and kissed her on her cheek. "You look amazing my darling."

"Thank you." Mary smiled. "This dress is everything I could dream of."

"I am glad. Are you nervous?" Cora knew this was a stupid question to ask Mary. Her oldest daughter thought of herself as too good to be nervous, but to Cora's surprise Mary answered.

"A little bit, but mostly for tonight."

Cora looked up at Anna, who was still working on Mary's hair. "When you love somebody, everything is terrific fun, but you would ask, would you? If you had any questions?" She felt a blush on her face.

Mary lowered her eyes and smiled; her cheeks were also coloured in a pink, red colour. "I would." She said very softly.

"Now." Cora got up when Anna stepped back to look at her work. She took Mary's hands and helped her stand up. Cora tugged on the dress and then looked at Mary's face. "Very, very good luck, my beautiful daughter."

Edith and Sybil stepped inside her room. "Papa is waiting downstairs for you." Sybil said to Marry.

"We will see you in the church." Cora squeezed Mary's hands and followed her two other girls out of the room.


Robert stood at the bottom of the stairs; he would walk Mary towards the altar to hand her over to Matthew. He loved that this was one of the traditions that never faded away. The father would give the bride to the groom. Carson stepped next to Robert.

"This is quite exciting Milord."

Robert turned his head and smiled. It was not like Carson to express those feelings. But he knew how much Carson adored Mary. He was like a second father to her.

He heard sounds on the gallery. Three of his women came towards the stairs. He corrected himself. Two of his women and Cora. He gasped when he got a full view of Cora. Edith and Sybil were dressed in beautiful dresses, but Cora caught his full attention.

Her regal figure was dressed in an emerald, green dress. The bottom was made out of tule, and the top was covered with small shining beads. The bodice was tight around her upper body, the neckline was a low V-line. A beautiful green gemstone necklace rested on her skin. Around her wrist, she had a matching golden bracelet with the same gem in the middle, and on her finger was a similar gemstone. He noticed her wedding ring was still around her finger too. Her lips were painted with a bright pink colour, her eyeshadow a brown shade which made her eyes pop even more than they usually did. He did not know how, but her skin was flawless. It did not look like she had a lot of makeup on, but he knew she had used something to brighten up her colour. Her forced himself to stop looking, it was hard, she was mesmerising.

Like a real princess, she descended the stairs, letting Edith and Sybil greet him first. She then put her hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. Her scent was overwhelming, and he had a hard time focusing on the present. "We will see you in church. Your daughter looks beautiful."

He heard Cora's words, but he could not look at her again. He needed to keep his composure. He wanted to say that there could never be anyone more beautiful than she was now. He waited for her to walk on.

When he heard Carson scrape his throat, he looked up again. There he saw Mary coming down.

Another princess went through his mind. Mary had the same bone structure as her mother, it always struck him how similar they looked.

"Will I do Carson." Mary said.

"Very nicely Milady." Was Carson's answer.

"Are you ready?" Robert offered Mary his arm.

"I think I am, Papa."

Robert put his hand on Mary's hand that was resting on his arm. "Matthew is a lucky guy."

They walked outside towards the car; Cora had already left with Edith and Sybil. He helped Mary get in; her long train was hard to get in the car. But when Anna stepped closer and started helping it was not that hard anymore.

"On to the next step in your life." He said while the driver drove them towards the church.

In front of the church, a lot of people had gathered, to catch a glimpse of the bride. Mary made sure everybody got the time to look at her. She loved this attention.