In the World of Downton Abbey

Chapter 14 - Back to Crawley House

Mandy wrote Anna the next day and told her everything that happened. She needed to tell someone, and she certainly couldn't tell George. She pleaded with Anna not to say a word about what happened with Matthew to Thomas. He would break for sure, considering the look on his face when she left Downton. She had to tell him herself... but tell him what? That she fell in love with the man who gave her that blasted hairpin, and who she kissed back when he kissed her in the shade of a tree in the middle of a cute village?

She groaned and her head fell over her folded arm on her desk. "I'm doomed. Thomas is going to hate me for this. Why do I have to be such an easy woman?"

Someone knocked on the her office door and she popped her head up. She expected to see George, but standing in the doorway was Mrs. Crawley. Her gaze traveled around the room. "My, it looks so much better in here with those filing cabinets."

"Tell me about it." Mandy sat up in her seat. "It took me a whole day to organize all the files according to patient or date for the order forms. I had a splitting headache when I was through with it. Both George and I did after he came in to help."

Mrs. Crawley came in and sat down in a chair that Mandy had put in front of her desk, and she couldn't help but notice facial similarities between Mrs. Crawley and Matthew. Strange, since these were the actors she saw, people who were nowhere near related to each other. Maybe her mind was so focused on Matthew, that she saw him everywhere.

"George seems to be quite fond of you," Mrs. Crawley commented.

"Yes, we're just good friends. He already said that he didn't have any intention of wooing me, thank goodness. I don't want any more of that than I need to. At least right now. I just want to focus on my work here."

"Are you getting a handle on the accounting work?"

"Yes, I have gotten the hang of it. I spend my whole day in the hospital, aside from when I buy my lunches in the village."

The woman's mouth opened in mild shock. "What? Are you saying that you only eat once a day?"

"Pretty much. I wake up, get ready and go straight downstairs to my office and get started on work. I go out and get my lunch in the village, come back and eat in my office, usually with George, and I forget to eat dinner since I'm so busy with paperwork and adding numbers. The time flies, and it's already ten by the next time I look at the clock."

The look Mrs. Crawley gave her reminded Mandy of the look her mom would give her after she did some completely stupid. "Well," the woman began firmly, "I simply cannot allow a working woman such as yourself to go hungry. I think you should come back and stay at Crawley House so you can have three decent meals."

Mandy's heart jumped sharply at the thought of sitting down in at least one meal with Matthew. His kiss suddenly flashed in her memory. "Um, I don't know... after what's happened?"

She waved a hand. "That's all in the past, my dear. Come and stay at Crawley House in a better room that you have now, with a bath that you don't have to share with your co-workers and patients." Mandy pursed her lips together, and Mrs. Crawley noticed her unsure expression. "You are concerned about Matthew." Mandy nodded. "Well, he'll just have to control himself, won't he? Plus, you two are friends. I hear that you two have talked on occasions."

Yeah, and on one of those occasions, he kissed me! "Yes, you're right, but... I guess I don't want people at Downton to find out and make a fuss about it."

"Don't you worry about that. I heard from Cora—Lady Grantham—that the house has quieted down and has gotten back to normal. I don't think anyone there would care that you are staying with us."