Fic: A Girl in Black (24/?)

[mrstater]

Title: A Girl in Black (24/?)
Author: mrstater
Fandom: Downton Abbey
Characters & Pairings: Mary Crawley/Richard Carlisle, Cora Crawley, Sybil Crawley, Violet Crawley, Rosamund Painswick, Anna Smith, Dr Clarkson
Chapter Word Count: 5239 words
Chapter Summary: While Mary's on bed rest, new instincts stir as she finds herself no longer carrying the burden of

Comments

[gilpin25]

This is such a good wake-up-and-face-the-reality chapter for Mary, and she has the best possible characters around to sort her out once she finally lets her guard down, who all come up trumps in their different ways. It's very apt that it's Cora she can finally cry in front of, Sybil who loves her elder sister and therefore sees Richard's faults here as greater than Mary's, and Rosamund and Violet, who are full of peppery wit, commonsense and the best kind of advice - to be honest yourself if you want someone else to do the same. Their section is my favourite part of the three excellent scenes, because together they're such a formidable - and not unkind - pair. Just what the doctor ordered. ;)

I love Mary fighting for her child, because not only does she need to but it would be lovely to see what she's like doing battle for someone else who has no voice yet. And talking of fighting, how could you (and Richard) to poor old Evelyn! He seems forever doomed to be blamed for things that are not necessarily his fault, lol. Roll on the next chapter as it seems sure to be exciting! :D

[mrstater]

I'm sure you can imagine how much I loved writing the Rosamund and Violet scene! It practically wrote itself, they were just too much fun. I always think Violet isn't really as scandalized as she pretends to be, and that she loves to see a good drama unfold. And in a weird way it was fun to write them as a bit supportive of the marriage/Richard now that they know it must happen. Or perhaps it's that they'll say whatever Mary needs to hear to get her to TELL THE MAN, haha.

Very glad you like how Mary is not only going to fight for herself here, but for the baby. Obviously that's been an underlying theme, and in growing up I wanted her to realize that this is about a great deal more than her. I hope you like how that resolves itself.

As well as the cliffhanger with poor old Evelyn. How can I be so mean to him? ;)

Thanks for reading and commenting!