Fic - An Unexpected Visitor, Chapter 5
An Unexpected Visitor
Rating - Teenage
Fandom - Downton Abbey, Mary and Matthew
Summary - Matthew finds his busy day at the office interrupted by a very unexpected visitor.
Genre - Romance/Humour
Status - Work in Progress, Chapter 5 of 7
Word Count - 1, 615 words
Previous Chapters - Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4.
This story is meant to be a fun, and pretty silly, romantic comedy type story, full of fun fluffiness and set in some random time in the future, post World War I.
Chapter 5
Mary wasn’t sure how long she and Matthew were kissing for, but after a while, Mary was vaguely aware that his hands were reaching up her neck and were just about to twist in her carefully done up hair. A small, rational part of her mind took hold and she found herself breaking the kiss and pulling away from Matthew for a moment. In a voice more teasing when she’d intended reprimanding, and made all the less authoritative by her husky and breathless tone, she said, “Watch the hair, Matthew, I don’t want it ruined!”
Matthew looked at her in sluggish surprise, his eyes slowly starting to focus on reality again after their rather distracting and passionate kiss. For the first time, he seemed to notice she was in her evening gown, for he looked her up and down a few times, his gaze soon becoming slow, leisurely, almost seductive. Mary found herself having to hide her smile as she saw the appreciation in his eyes as he admired her, from her elegantly arranged hair do, down her new stylish and exquisitely beaded red evening dress to her small feet in their smart matching red heeled boots. Realisation dawned a few moments later and Matthew asked rhetorically, and with more than a little frustration and exasperation, “We’re going to your parents tonight for dinner, aren’t we?”
Mary nodded sadly, having absolutely no desire to play dutiful daughter at the Abbey tonight. Not only would she much rather stay here with Matthew, but, despite her scoffing at first, she’d grown quite fond of their quiet dinners at home. There, the only people she had to worry about behaving for were her husband and sometimes his mother, neither of which were too particular about the rules and etiquette of evening meals. Mary had even found she didn’t miss the extravagant cooking of Mrs Patmore, for Matthew’s cook, Mrs Bird, had not only gladly risen to the challenge of impressing her new mistress and Lady, but was also rather eager to try out new recipes Mary suggested, especially if they stemmed from Mrs Patmore at the Abbey. It seemed that anything Mrs Patmore could do, Mrs Bird was determined to do too, and better. Still, her parents expected to see their daughter and their heir at least once a week, usually more, and Mary wondered if they didn’t sometimes labour under the false apprehension of wanting to keep an eye on her and to make sure she didn’t feel unwelcome and disconnected from the family.
Tonight, of all nights, she did not want to go up to the Abbey; her and Matthew has some unfinished business she’d been waiting all afternoon to continue and was rather enjoying the recent opportunity to do so. Still, it would at least give her the chance of telling them all her exciting news. With that thought in mind, she opened her mouth, about to tell Matthew first, when her eyes caught sight of the clock. “We’ve not got much time before the car will be here, Matthew! You’d better go get ready.”
Matthew murmured in agreement, but he made no move to leave and neither did she. Instead, he leant forwards again and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss which Mary was quite unable to resist. As his arms snaked around her waist and pulled her closer, Mary heard herself sigh in contentment and wrapped her arms more tightly around him, letting her fingers gently caress his neck before burying them in his hair.
“Matthew,” Mary muttered, as his lips moved to trail a path of blazing kisses across her jaw line, her voice meant as a warning, but it came out as more of a breathless invitation. “We really haven’t got much time.”
Matthew’s reply was to murmur incoherently against her cheek, before he kissed her passionately again, spinning her around and pushing her back against the wall by the fireplace. Mary’s head collided with the oil painting of the estate which hung there, but she barely noticed it as Matthew’s hands began to move up from her waist, trailing scolding paths of fire across her back, before they found her neck and swept up into her hair. This time, Mary made no protestation and instead felt herself moaning slightly as his hands twisted around the loose strands that fell from their clip, gently tugging at them and causing a small spark of pain that sent shivers of electricity down her spine. Pressing his body tightly against hers and pushing her back more firmly against the wall, he pulled her face closer towards his and deepened the kiss.
Some time later, the length of which must surely have been only a few minutes, though it felt like a sweet and blissful eternity to Mary, a gentle knock on the door interrupted them and they begrudgingly broke apart. Straightening their clothes somewhat and trying to control their breathing and heart rate, they both faced the door as it opened slowly a few moments later.
“Forgive the interruption, Sir, but the car will be here soon.” Molesley said, looking slightly embarrassed to see his master and mistress looking so obviously dishevelled, though his embarrassment was nothing to what it had once been. He was more than use to it by now and had learnt quickly what places to avoid, how to gently interrupt and how to make a hasty retreat. It was all done with such a sense of decorum and dignity that Mary thought it would put Carson quite to shame and she wondered, not for the first time, if these things were taught when butlers and valets were trained.
“Yes, yes. Of course,” Matthew quickly answered, even now still almost as embarrassed as his valet to be caught spending time with his wife. He couldn’t seem to help but look her over again though, a smile pushing his embarrassment away as he took in her rather dishevelled appearance. His smile grew and his eyes twinkled as he caught sight of her hair and said playfully, “I’m afraid you may need to have your hair redone after all, my dear.”
Mary reached up and touched her hair, though she was not too surprised when she felt strands falling loose and odd curls sticking out. She gave him a venomous glare as he walked out of the room, his eyes still twinkling mischievously as he took one last, lingering glance at her. She was pleased to see that Anna was waiting patiently by the doorway, as if she knew she would be needed, and Mary felt more than a little guilty as she asked her ladies maid to fix her hair once more. Mary had been most pleased when Anna had enthusiastically agreed to come with her when she was married and moved to Crawley House as Mary knew how lucky she was to have a ladies maid as professional and understanding as Anna. She’d very quickly settled into her new role and had become used to Mary’s odd requests and the rather frequent requirements to sort out her hair, or her dress, at strange times of the day.
Anna was also very quick and talented when it came to hairstyles and she soon had Mary’s hair looking as stunning as it had before Matthew had deigned to ruin it. It was a good thing too, for when Mary looked at the clock on the table in her dressing room, she suddenly realised how late it was and that her family’s chauffeur would be here soon. Considering that her husband had returned from work early that day, Mary had no idea where the time had gone. Well, maybe she had a slight idea.
She quickly headed towards the stairs and was rather put out when Matthew was waiting for her at the bottom. Even when he had to get ready from scratch and Mary only needed her hair fixed up, he still managed to beat her. Though, as Mary had told him numerous times when he’d teased her about it, it wasn’t her fault that women were expected to dress up so just for an evening dinner. Anyway, as she’d often teased him, he never seemed to mind admiring the finished result and this evening was no different. He watched her appreciatively as she came slowly and elegantly down the stairs and Mary was rather appreciating her own view too. When she reached the hallway, she let Matthew draw her into his arms, though he was careful to avoid touching her hair as he gave her a delicate yet lingering kiss on the cheek.
“My dear,” Matthew began, “it has recently struck me that you have yet to tell me your real reason for visiting me today.”
“Oh,” Mary answered in reply, she had quite forgotten to tell him before, as Matthew had rather distracted her again. She opened her mouth to begin, when the loud sound of a car crunching on the gravelled drive as it stopped outside was heard. They had to quickly break apart and move out of the way, as Molesley speedily appeared to do his duty and opened the door.
“My Lady,” Anna said from behind Mary, holding out her coat for her to slip into, before fixing her hat on Mary’s head.
“Thank you, Anna,” Mary replied, stepping towards Matthew, who placed his hat upon his own head and then held out his arm for her, before they both stepped outside into the crisp, cool spring air. Remembering then what she’d been about to tell him, but realising now was not the time, she patted his arm and said, “I shall tell you later, my dear.”
Next Chapter
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Thanks for still reading and I hope you're still enjoying the story. Two more chapters will be on their way soon.