Work Text:
May 7, 1914
“You must be careful not to break Sybil’s heart, I think she has a crush on you.”
“Well, that’s something no one could accuse you of,” Matthew had replied indignantly.
“Oh, I don’t know.”
Mary’s eyes had been downcast, and now, in the clear light of day, Matthew still could scarcely believe what had happened the night before. Had Mary really flirted with him? Allowed him to kiss her? He hadn’t actually proposed, had he? It was true, he did want to marry her, but he couldn’t have asked after one kiss. Though, truth be told, he’d have proposed to her without the kiss. From the moment he first saw her he knew that one day she would be his wife.
However, now was not the moment to relive his wonderful evening with Mary. He sighed as he flipped through a sheaf of papers, his mind refusing to focus on the task at hand. He had one client meeting left before he would be released and could rush back to Downton to prepare for tonight's dinner at the Abbey. It was a client that Matthew would have preferred not to deal with in the first place but knowing that the old curmudgeon was standing between him and quality time with Mary made the prospect of this meeting even worse.
* * *
“Shall I remind you of some of the choicest remarks you made about me when I first came here? Because they live in my memory as fresh as the day they were spoken.”
“Oh, Matthew,” she’d smiled coyly, “What I am always telling you? You must pay no attention to the things I say.”
Mary looked up confused. Her mother, grandmother and sisters were all looking at her expectantly. She had been so absorbed remembering the previous night that she had completely forgotten that they were in the room with her.
“Mary?” Cora asked, a look of concern on her face.
“Yes?” Mary replied, her voice cool and calm though she could feel the blush rising on her cheeks.
“Were you even paying attention to us?” Edith asked.
“Of course I was.”
“Then what were we talking about?” Edith demanded further.
Mary looked around the room at all the expectant faces and faltered slightly. She hadn’t been paying attention—and they all knew it—but she would never admit it. She especially did not want to admit what she’d actually been thinking about. Yes, she loved Matthew, but she was still reeling from his kiss and subsequent proposal. She wasn’t ready to let others in on her happiness. She’d barely even admitted it to herself; the last thing she wanted was for Edith get her hands on it. As her mind raced to come up with an answer, she heard the dressing gong sound out in the hall.
“Oh, was the gong?” she asked innocently as she rose from her chair and swept from the room, leaving Edith scowling and Cora and Violet exchanging knowing looks.
* * *
“Matthew, will you please stop fidgeting?” Isobel implored, glaring at Matthew as they rode up to the Abbey. He looked up at her, mouth agape, completely ignorant of the fact that he’d been drumming his hands on his lap while simultaneously tapping both of his feet.
“Sorry, Mother,” he mumbled, turning his face to the window and gazing out, concentrating all his efforts on controlling his body for the remainder of the drive. Isobel watched him closely. Something was definitely going on with him, but the days of him confiding in her seemed to be long gone. She’d seen the way both Sybil and Mary had looked at him the night before and wondered idly if his mood had something to do with one of them. She supposed that all would be revealed at dinner, Matthew being prone to wearing his heart on his sleeve, but she hoped that he wouldn’t be set for yet another heartbreak at the hands of Lady Mary Crawley.
The car came to a stop and light flooded out onto the driveway from the front door as Carson came out to greet them. “The family is already gathering in the Drawing Room,” he informed them as he took their coats and Matthew’s top hat. “I’ll show you right in.”
Matthew tried to hide his disappointment when he noticed that Mary had not yet joined the family, but judging by the look on his mother’s face he doubted that he was wholly successful. Luckily, it was only another minute or so before the door opened again, and Mary entered the room. In his haste to greet her, Matthew rose too quickly and banged his leg on the table. When he looked up, he saw the slight smirk on her face as she turned smoothly to greet her grandmother, turning her back to him. His eyes were drawn instantly to the creamy expanse of her exposed back. He heard Robert chuckle next to him and reminded himself to pick his jaw up off the floor. He was vaguely aware of everyone’s eyes darting between him and Mary and suddenly felt very self-conscious. Had she told her sisters about his rushed proposal? Had they laughed together about how he’d made a fool of himself? Just as Matthew had crossed the expanse of the drawing room to Mary’s side, Carson reappeared and announced that dinner was ready. Wordlessly, he offered his arm to Mary and breathed a silent sigh of relief as she smiled and took it, allowing him to escort her to the dining room.
His happiness was short lived when they got to the table and discovered that Cora had sat them across the room from each other. He helped her sit and she held his hand a moment longer than was truly necessary, her eyes meeting his and holding his attention. He swallowed thickly and stood to full height before turning and looking for his own seat. Once seated, he glanced up and saw her watching him with dark eyes. She slowly picked up her newly filled wine glass and raised it to her lips, her eyes locked with Matthew’s. He wet his lips remembering the taste of the wine and the feel of her lips on his the night before. All the other sounds in the room faded from the room as Matthew and Mary held eye contact. He lifted his wine glass to her before taking a sip. Her eyes widened and she glanced away briefly as she set down her glass. He watched her as she slowly raised one wrist and began slowly unbuttoning her glove. He swallowed again and thanked every deity he could think of that he was safely seated for at least another hour. Seeming pleased with herself, Mary turned then to her father and began conversing politely.
Dinner stretched on and on. Matthew found himself getting more and more frustrated as the minutes slowly ticked by. Mary was continuing to do everything she could to keep Matthew’s eyes trained solely on her, all the while seeming to be the perfect model of manners and grace. In the odd moments when Matthew could pull his eyes away from her, he could see his mother eyeing him suspiciously. He hadn’t told Isobel any of what had happened the previous night, but he could sense her putting the pieces together.
Mary was completely aware of the covert looks shooting between her mother and grandmother, but was stubbornly ignoring them, instead focusing on her silent game with Matthew. She would make eye contact and place her fork delicately in her mouth before slowly pulling it back out and licking her lips. She was fully prepared for a scolding from her mother after Isobel and Matthew left, but it was a price she was willing to pay as she saw Matthew shift awkwardly in his seat for the sixth time in as many courses. She could barely contain herself, impatiently waiting for the dinner to be over so that she could pull him off into some unused room and kiss him again. She knew that, as a proper young lady, the last thing she should be thinking about was the feel of his arms wrapped around her and his body pressed firmly against hers. Maybe he would press her into the bookshelves in the small library, hidden from sight and as far from the drawing room as possible. Maybe he would slip his hands down her—
“Mary!” Isobel said suddenly, drawing Mary’s attention back to the room. “Are you well? You look feverish.”
Mary looked around the table. All eyes were on her and she felt heat rising up her neck as she flushed an even deeper red. Matthew was looking at her with a hungry look in his eyes and she was certain that he had been thinking about exactly the same thing that she had been.
Robert, who had previously been oblivious to the scene unfolding before him, looked from Matthew, breathing harder than was necessary for dinner, to Mary who was blushing deeply, her hand hovering over her chest as she also tried to control her breathing.
“Oh, Mary,” Robert said, rubbing his hand across his forehead, “must you really? And right in front of my salad.”
Cora slowly turned her eyes to her husband. “Robert?”
“Look at them, Cora!” Robert exclaimed, gesturing between Mary and Matthew. Sybil tried to stifle a giggle, Edith looked thunderous, and Isobel, Violet and Cora all exchanged knowing looks.
“Robert, dear,” Violet began in that mother knows best voice that drove Robert crazy, “you are the one who hoped they would find their way together.”
“I did not mean like this!” Robert protested. “Do we at least have a wedding to plan?” He eyed everyone around the table in turn.
“Um…” Matthew began.
“Not yet, Papa.” Mary said cooly. “I’ve told him I’ll think about it.”
“Well, think faster.” Robert said before downing his glass of wine. “Carson, I think dinner is over now.”
“We still have two more courses, Milord?” Carson said, looking helplessly to Cora, who simply shrugged as Robert got up and stormed away from the table.
“Well,” Mary began, looking directly at Matthew again, “if dinner is over…I have something to collect from the library.”
“I need something from the library too,” Matthew choked out, glancing down at his lap, “perhaps you’ll be good enough to help me find it…I’ll be there in a…a minute.”
“Oh, Matthew,” Isobel said quietly, shaking her head.
“Perhaps we should go through,” Cora put in helpfully. “Don’t feel like you need to stay in here all by yourself, Matthew.” She patted his shoulder as she got up from the table.
“No, I think a glass of port might be nice,” he said, swallowing again and looking hopefully at Carson, who just sniffed.
“Why would you want to just sit in here alone?” Edith asked. Isobel, Violet and Cora again exchanged looks, but no one decided to answer her question as the ladies began to file out of the room.
Matthew grimaced and nodded as they left, willing his body to cooperate with him. He wanted desperately to get up and join Mary, but his legs were heavy and leaden. He knew that the entire family would most likely know precisely what they were up to in the library and that chaperones would soon surround them, but he longed for just a few minutes of having Mary completely to himself.
He sat there for a moment longer as Carson ushered Thomas and William from the room. As he was contemplating how long an appropriate amount of time to wait before going in search of Mary would be, the door quietly opened again.
“Why are you waiting in here?” Mary asked. “I need your help in the library.”
“I don’t know that I can get up right now,” he began, then stopped and shook his head. “Well, I can get up but not…oh never mind.”
She arched her eyebrows at him imploringly. “I’m not sure I follow….”
“You don’t?” He cocked his head at her. “You seemed like you knew exactly what you were doing during dinner.”
“Oh,” she smiled. “You mean,” she blushed again, her eyes flicking down to where he had his napkin balled in his lap. “You need my help as much as I need yours.”
“Darling,” he shifted uncomfortably in his chair again, “I think you’ve helped more than enough already.”
“You know,” she smiled again, “There isn’t anyone out there. No one would see you, if you came with me to the library right now.” She moved closer to the door again and he glanced down again. There was no point in hiding in the dining room alone if Mary already seemed aware of the full situation, and more importantly, did not seem to care. He threw his napkin on the table and finished the last swallow of his wine before getting up and following Mary.
To his surprise, she seemed to be ushering him along to the small library. The room was dark, and as soon as they were both inside, Mary grabbed Matthew and pressed the entire length of her body up against him, stretching up on her toes to kiss him. His arms wrapped around her body, and he began walking her backwards to the sofa that was on the other side of the room. She released one hand from her grip on his neck and felt behind her for the seat, using her other arm to pull him down with her. She hummed appreciatively into his mouth as his body covered hers. His hand dropped down from her waist as he reached for her leg, trying to hitch it up over his own.
“God, Mary,” he breathed into her mouth as his hand began to slide up her leg under her skirt. “Do you have any idea what this dress does to me?”
“I’m beginning to get a pretty good idea,” she replied as he began lavishing kisses along her neck.
“I’ll never forget the first time I saw you in it,” he said, nipping at her jaw. “It was the night that we talked at the fair, when I snuck in to visit your Papa. You and your sisters were walking across the hall and when I saw you I thought I’d never breathe again.”
Mary sucked in a breath as he slid his hand even further up her leg. She turned her head into him and began nibbling his ear. He felt her hand working its way inside his coat, its warm heat stoking the fire that was already growing in his chest. Her whole body trembled against his as he pushed his tongue into her mouth. She opened her mouth to him and he pressed his hips into her as she gripped his shoulder.
“Matthew?” Isobel called from the doorway of the library, “they’re bringing the car around.”
He dropped his head to Mary’s shoulder, letting out a frustrated groan. “Of all the nights for her to want to leave early,” he said, looking over his shoulder.
“You could always walk back later?” she suggested hopefully.
“Oh, my darling,” he chuckled, “there’s no way they are going to let that happen. I’m surprised she isn’t in here dragging me out by ear.”
“We’ll just have to come up with more ways to sneak off on our own,” she said with a devilish grin.
“I think that is an idea I can fully get behind.” He pressed a final kiss to her lips and stood up, carefully adjusting his clothes. “Until next time, then.” He bent down and kissed her hand, before turning to go find his mother.
She watched him go, allowing her breathing to return to normal, before following to join the rest of the family bidding them farewell. Yes, they would definitely have to come up with more ways to be on their own.