Matthew's Lover: The Story of What Happened Before Downton

Chapter Seven

Lucie longed for Matthew, but knew that he was never coming back. It was a good thing he had ended it she decided, for Miss Barbary had begun to nose around. Why was Lucie constantly with her solicitor? What reason was there for that? Why was Lucie not trying to find a husband?

And so Miss Barbary decided the best cause of action was to take Lucie to America to look for a husband. The search in England hadn't worked, and Miss Barbary wanted to get Lucie off her hands. And so they went to America.

There Miss Barbary used her connections to find a man suitable for Lucie. This man was Robert Singleton, one of the wealthiest men in the World, let alone America. He fell for Lucie and within four months of Lucie having been in America he proposed.

Lucie, of course, wished to turn him down but Miss Barbary strongly disagreed.

"Come now Lucie, why do you wish to turn him down?"

"Because, Miss Barbary, he is a stuck up idiot!"

This was Lucie's reply, to which Miss Barbary took in a deep breath, grabbed Lucie's arm, shoved her in her bedroom, locked her in her bedroom, and then sat down and composed a letter to Mr Singleton which essentially said that Lucie would be delighted to marry him. And so once again Lucie had had no say in her life.

Matthew Crawley, back in Manchester, found himself missing Lucie.

'Why?' He asked himself that question constantly. She had proved herself to only want one thing out of a man. She had proved herself to not care for others' love. She had proved herself to be the last woman on Earth who Matthew thought he would ever love.

And yet, if that was so, why did he still have these feelings about her? Why did he still long for her? Why did he still wish that he had acted differently that day? Why did he still wonder what would have happened if he hadn't rejected her, or rejected her quite so harshly at least. For if he hadn't he would still have her. She would still be in the country, for Matthew knew she had left for America, and was almost certainly never coming back. She'd gone and that was it.

But little did Matthew know, and little did Lucie know, that she would be returning to England, and that Mr Singleton would be the cause for that.