That 6x06 I said I’d write ages ago. @ghostoflaviniaswire this one’s for you!
This dinner wasn’t at all what he had expected. Of course, he had known it never would have been how he wanted—just him and Mary, dining together at the Criterion like any other couple. Of course, they weren’t a couple. She had summoned him here to surprise Talbot, along with some of his own war widow friends from London. He frankly didn’t know why he was here.
Because you, Evelyn Napier, are a fool still in love with a woman who doesn’t give a damn.
He was thankful that Edith had accompanied her sister, as she seemed just displeased by the arrangement as he was. She made every effort to interrupt Mary and Talbot, which really would have been quite amusing if he wasn’t already in a terrible mood. He was used to her using him like this, but this was quite frankly the last straw.
He downed the last of his Cointreau and stood up when the rest of the party did, plastering a smile on his face and bidding goodbye to the widows as they left, and following Mary, Tom, Talbot, and Edith to the restaurant entrance.
“Might I walk you home?” Talbot threw another one of his sickening smiles at Mary, and it took Evelyn every ounce of aristocratic decorum he had left not to sneer at him. He settled for a death glare.
“Oh, yes, I’m actually feeling rather lightheaded!” Edith piped up.
“I believe Mr. Talbot was addressing me.” Mary shot a glare at her sister, and Evelyn bit his lip to keep from chuckling.
“No, no, that’s quite alright—I’d be happy to walk you both home.” Talbot gave Mary what seemed to be an apologetic smile and offered his arm to Edith.
“I’ll come along as well; I’m getting rather tired.” Tom grinned at Talbot rather curiously and started after them toward the door.
“Well, in that case, I’ll walk home with Mr. Napier.”
“What? That is, certainly, if you like.” Evelyn was temporarily dumbstruck—she had practically ignored him the entire night, and now she wanted him to walk her back to Lady Rosamund’s house? Surely this didn’t mean—no. She was simply toying with him again; he knew it.
They allowed Talbot, Edith, and Tom a head start due to her apparent illness. The pair walked in silence until they both decided to speak at the same time.
“You know—“
“It’s rather—“
She laughed and so did he. “You first.”
“I was only going to say it looked rather bleak—I’ll call a cab. Oh, taxi!” He managed to flag one down after several attempts by waving his hat, and helped her inside before sitting next to her and shutting the door.
“Thank you, for arranging everything. You’re an absolute darling.”
He was fidgeting with the brim of his hat and almost began wringing it when she said that awful word again. ‘Darling’—not as a lover would, but as if speaking to a dog, or a child. “I admit that I was rather cheered when I received your telephone call, as we haven’t spoken in some time. But I beg of you next time to enlist someone else’s aid when seeking to woo your latest beau.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Fueled by either the alcohol or his own frustration, he turned to face her, his expression bored as he continued, “I suppose he leads a very glamorous life, but that’s about the only thing I can say about him.”
“And whatever is that supposed to mean?” Mary demanded, both offended and surprised that Evelyn of all people was speaking this frankly.
“For God’s sake, Mary, he’s an idle, gold-digging braggart who insists to everyone who will listen that he intends to win you over with his newest racecar. I told him about…well, what happened, and he still goes on and on about it. I couldn’t stand listening to him ramble so insensitively…”
“You told him about Matthew?” She gaped at him in disbelief.
“Yes, I told him about Matthew, because I didn’t want to see you get hurt.”
“You’re a darling—“
“Stop calling me that.” He shook his head and scooted away, resting his forearm on the window and watching the rain roll down the pane.
“Heavens, you’re in a grumpy mood tonight.” she replied flippantly, raising an eyebrow and adjusting her gloves.
“Wouldn’t you be as well if I dragged you along to watch me woo my new beau?”
“Not at all! Do you have one?”
“No, I don’t have one, and that’s just what I expected. Of course you wouldn’t. You’d be just as indifferent as you are to everything else.”
“What on earth is that supposed to mean?” she snapped with the fire he so admired. Even when she was angry with him, as she had been all those years ago when she thought him to be the origin of the rumors about her and Pamuk, he found her beautiful. It was so damningly unfair.
“Exactly what I said—you’re indifferent to other people’s feelings. Oh, not all the time, but tonight, certainly.”
“No one asked you to come.”
“Darling, you did, or don’t you remember?” He couldn’t hold back the laugh as he saw the incredulous look on her face, and shook his head as she ordered the driver to stop and forced the door open. “Mary! Mary, wait!” He donned his hat and instructed the driver to wait as he ran after her, umbrella in hand.
“I’m walking home, and I’ll kindly ask you not to follow me.” She shouted over the storm, not looking back at him.
He finally caught up to her and took her arm gently. “Look, you can have the cab, just come back inside, you’ll catch your death out here.”
“What should you care? I’m sure I deserve it since I’m so indifferent.” She spun around, her furious gaze meeting his guilty one.
“Mary, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.” He passed her the umbrella and shrugged off his dinner jacket, draping it over her shoulders and gesturing back toward the taxi…which had already taken off. “I told him to wait!”
“Come on!” She took his hand and darted down an alleyway, letting the umbrella down as they stood underneath the awning of one of the buildings. “Do you really think so ill of me?” she asked after a moment.
“Of course not! What I said was horrid, and untrue, and despicable, and I’m terribly sorry. You know I think the world of you.” he responded earnestly, his eyes meeting hers.
“Why do you have to be such a gentleman?” she murmured, pulling the jacket tighter around her and looking back out at the street.
“It was how I was raised.” he answered with a wry smile, following her gaze. “What else am I supposed to be?”
She turned around, and it was only then that he realized how close they were standing to each other. When her eyes flickered down to his lips, he could stand it no longer. Apparently neither could she, since she was the one who initiated the kiss. His hands wrapped around her waist and hers slid into his hair, knocking the hat askew, but he didn’t give a damn.
At some point, he realized that this could just as well be another game—just Mary being Mary. Part of him wanted to disregard whatever reservations he had and just enjoy this, since had waited so long, and the other part…
“Wait.” He was breathless as he pulled back, dropping his hands. Hers still remained in his hair, which made it nearly impossible to concentrate, especially when she was looking at him like that. “Wait.” he repeated, closing his eyes. “Is this real?”
“Oh, darling…” She took his face in her hands, but he stopped her, leaning his forehead against hers, which forced her to meet his gaze.
“Is this real?”
She hesitated, and he could feel his heart breaking. He was about to apologize, say he understood and wished her all the happiness in the world, when she finally replied, “Yes. I pushed you away—not because I was indifferent, but because I was afraid—afraid to love again. I knew how you felt, and in truth, it frightened me. I thought that if I kept you at arm’s length, if I stayed in control, then I would never have to deal with the prospect of losing you.”
“You’d never lose me.” He raised her palm to his lips.
“The day you said you were blind where I was concerned—so was I, Evelyn. And when I realized it, I ran from it—but it’s you. It will always be you. And I’m so sorry it took me so long to admit it.”
“My darling girl…” He took her in his arms again, sighing as she leaned against him. “I told you it would be better in the long run.”
“Well, let’s hope that I don’t destroy your lofty hopes of the institution.” she quipped with a grin.
“Why Lady Mary Crawley, is this a proposal?” She didn’t answer him—at least not with words—instead pulling his head down and meeting his lips in another kiss. Needless to say, his own answer was a resounding ‘yes.’
