AN: Hello my readers! I've got another chapter here for you! Thank you for all the reviews! As I often say, I write what comes to my mind, and honestly it's mostly for my own enjoyment, haha! So you can read it, or not, up to you!
"I am absolutely useless." Matthew said, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"You. are. not useless, Matthew." Isobel said through her teeth.
"How can you say that? I'm just half a man, bound to a chair, unable to care for myself. Unable to do anything really. And because of me, William...He shouldn't have bothered." Matthew said, tears running down his cheeks.
"Oh my sweet boy." Isobel said, barely restraining her own tears.
"Please, go mother, I want to be alone." He said coldly, and he raised his hand to wipe away his tears.
"Alright, for now, I'll leave you be. But I'll be back in a few hours with Lavinia-"
"No!" He said sharply.
"Matthew Crawley she is your fiancee! You haven't let her see you since you've been back, and you know that she's worried about you." Isobel said gently.
"She cannot marry me. Not any more. Not like this." Matthew insisted.
"Matthew, she knows about your condition, she is perfectly willing to-"
"Willing to what?! Bind herself to an invalid impotent cripple?" His voice was so cold that Isobel felt a chill run down her spine. "Mother, I will not condemn her to the life of a nursemaid."
"Matthew, the people that love you...they don't see it that way." She said.
"But I do." Isobel shook her head, and fought back tears. "Mother, please, don't question me in this… I know I'll have to see her, to tell her myself, but I am not prepared to do so yet."
"So in the meantime what am I to do? Should I smile and tell her that she must be patient, that you'll let her see you soon, once you're just a bit stronger?" Isobel asked. "She is a kind, good hearted girl Matthew, and you are hurting her."
"I know, mother!" He snapped. "And I am no stranger to pain. You don't need to lie to her, if it doesn't sit well with you. But I will tell her soon." Isobel had nothing left to say to him then. She leaned in, kissed his forehead, and turned away. As she paced away quickly, she decided that it would perhaps be a good idea if she were to stop in and see Violet. The Dowager Countess was no stranger to difficult situations; surely she would have some idea, someway to knock some sense into Matthew. She walked more swiftly then, until the Dower house was right before her. She knocked on the door, and waited. There was no answer. She knocked once again. Still, nothing. Isobel frowned, and knocked one last time. When there was nothing, she reached for the handle, and found the door unlocked. Her inquisitive nature took over, and she opened the door and let herself in.
"Surely you agree, Mary, don't you see that you must return home!" Sybil's voice was loud and tremulous. "Mary, Granny, Edith and I all are in agreement, you cannot think that any of us can think what you're doing is right, not now!" Isobel crept closer to the doorway of the sitting room. "Well now you've done it Mary, Granny wants to speak to you- and on the telephone no less!"
"Mary Crawley, I need you to listen to me now. I completely understand what you have done in the past, and why you made the decisions you did. But now, Mary, everything is- everything must be different. Can't you see that?...No, no, Mary, you're wrong. How could anyone hate you now, when by bringing him home to his family, you're securing the family's future?" Isobel's brow furrowed. Certainly they spoke to Mary, but who was this...him? This boy? "Of course I understand that, Mary, I'm not a fool, but your father will not be overly upset Mary- oh, him… Of course he will be! But how could he hate you when you're bringing home the young heir he thought would never be, the son he thinks he won't ever have-" She stopped short when she heard a clattering out in the hall. Sybil rose from her seat and went to investigate.
"Oh no!" She gasped, when she met Isobels eyes, and took in the broken vase on the ground.
"Mary, think on what has been said, promise that you will...Yes, we'll pass your love on to the family." Violet said quickly, and then placed the phone back down on its hooks. Isobel quickly stormed into the room, and locked eyes with the dowager countess.
"Well, Cousin Violet, I believe that you have something to explain to me, Don't you?"