Chapter 1: Arrival of the Crawleys

In Manchester, a slightly aged woman was eating breakfast with her son, when a housemaid walked in, saying

"First post, ma'am."

The kindly woman smiled and thanked her, taking the letters as she said,

"Thank you, Emma. One for you."

With that, she handed a letter to her son. As he was starting to read it, the woman had finished reading the first letter and gasped.

"Mother? What is it?"

The man with blonde hair and deep blue eyes, wondered what could have caused such a surprise to his mother when she said,

"Oh Matthew, your brother is returning to England, with his wife. He did mention a noble woman from Joseon that had caught his attention while he worked for the English delegation, but I never expected this!"

Matthew took the letter from his mother, and read the details and was in shock as he said,

"Well, mother, we might have to send a telegram to him soon."

The woman looked at her son with a curious glint as she asked,

"Really? What is it?"

Matthew sighed as he said, "It's from Lord Grantham."

Confusion was evident in the woman's eyes as she further asked, "What on earth does he want?"

Matthew paused before looking up at her, and saying, "He wants to change our lives."

The woman took the letter to read before gasping, not expecting either of the news to reach her that day.

"Well then, I guess we should start preparing." She said, as she smiled. She could not wait to see her second son and his wife, despite knowing the bride from her second son's words.

~~ ….. ~~

A few days later, Matthew and his mother were in a motorcar, arriving in the village when their driver told them,

"Here we are, ma'am. Crawley House."

Matthew let out a breath of trepidation as he said, "For good or ill."

The chauffeur opened the door for them as they both got off, and Matthew silently complained to his mother,

"I still don't see why I couldn't just refuse it."

The mother tutted at that as she once more explained,

"There's no mechanism for you to do so. You will be an earl. You will inherit the estate. Of course, you can throw it away with your habit, that's up to you."

That's when a man came up to greet them. He was in the standard butler's outfit. Matthew spotted him and asked,

"Can I help you?"

The man provided a strained smile as he said, "I'm Molesley, sir, your butler and valet."

Matthew internally groaned, his irritation at his new situation showing as he started to say,

"Mr. Molesley, I'm afraid-"

But before he could finish his sentence, his mother intercepted, trying to speak as politely as she could as she said,

"May I introduce ourselves? I am Mrs. Crawley, and this is my first son, Mr. Matthew Crawley."

Mr. Molesley sensed the irritation, however, and tried to hide his grimace as he nodded and said,

"I'll just give Mr. Taylor a hand with the cases."

Matthew tried to stop him, but his mother once again stopped him from doing so as she told the butler,

"Thank you, Molesley."

Matthew watched the man take his cases as he whispered to his mother,

"I won't let them change me."

The mother understood where her son was coming from, but regardless, she asked him,

"Why would they want to?"

As they were walking into the building, Matthew responded with,

"Mother, Lord Grantham has made the unwelcome discovery that his heir is a middleclass lawyer and son of a middleclass doctor."

His mother huffed as she said, "Upper middleclass."

Matthew guiltily looked at his mother for a quick second before continuing with,

"He'll have to limit the damage by turning me into one of his own kind."

She looked at her eldest son in concern at that statement as she noted,

"When you met him in London, you liked him."

Matthew opened his mouth to retaliate, but closed it again as he could not think of a comment. When they approached their door, they met their housemaid Ellen, who walked them through the house.

Satisfied, the mother told Ellen,

"Oh. Ellen. This is much better than I thought it would be. You have done well."

Ellen smiled politely as she said, "Thank you, ma'am."

That was when their butler, with his slicked hair, poked his head in as he asked,

"Would you like this in here, ma'am, or taken up to your room?"

The mother smiled at their butler as she responded with,

"In here, thank you. So, are you the whole of our new household?"

The butler looked decently surprised at the question, but regained his composure as he answered with,

"There's a local girl, ma'am, Beth. She is the double under housemaid and kitchen maid."

Matthew looked flabbergasted at that information and started to say, "This is ridiculous-"

But his mother put a gentle arm on his as she smiled guiltily and told Molesley,

"Thank you very much, Molesley. Might we have some tea?"

Mr. Molesley eyed Matthew for a moment with worry, before nodding with a, "Very good, ma'am."

With that the man left with Ellen, finally relieving Matthew with, "They can go right now."

His mother rolled her eyes as she knew what was coming, but still asked, "Why?"

Matthew started to rant with,

"Because we do not need a butler or a valet, if it comes to that. We've always managed perfectly well with a cook and a maid and they cannot expect us to alter our-"

But he got cut off as his mother had finally grown tired of his irritation as she said,

"What they expect, Matthew, is that we won't know how to behave. So, if you don't mind, I would rather not confirm their expectations. Either way, George's wife is bringing her own lady's maid, indicating that she is, from a higher class then we used to be. Surely, you can't demand her to lower herself, like you assume they supposedly are asking you to higher yourself?"

Matthew quieted down, but still said,

"I have to be myself, Mother. I'll be no use to anyone if I can't be myself. And before they, or you, get any ideas, I will choose my own wife, like George."

His mother finally looked puzzled at the notion of marriage as she asked, "What on earth do you mean?"

Matthew groaned as he said, "Well, they're clearly going to push one of the daughters at me. They'll have fixed on that when they heard I was a bachelor."

And unfortunately for Matthew, at that exact moment, a woman who he deemed as most beautiful, walked in as Molesley introduced her a step late,

"Lady Mary Crawley."

Matthew swallowed thickly at her appearance as she politely said,

"I do hope I'm not interrupting."

Matthew's mother smiled, though she knew her son was not as calm inside anymore as she answered with,

"Lady Mary."

Mary smiled and said, "Cousin Mary, please."

The mother and son eyed each other warily, as the woman continued with,

"Mama has sent me down to welcome you, and to ask you to dine with us tonight. Including Cousin George and his wife. Unless you're too tired."

Matthew could only stare at Mary, while his mother answered for both of them,

"We would be delighted."

Mary maintained her smile, though her eyes did look Matthew up and down a little condescendingly as she said,

"Good. Come at eight."

She turned to go when, once again, Matthew's mother spoke to her,

"Won't you stay and have some tea?"

Mary smiled, and both the mother and son knew that she had heard their earlier conversation as she responded with,

"Oh, no. You're far too busy. And I wouldn't want to push in."

Matthew looked at her with guilt written all over his features. When he spotted that Mary had already started to walk out, he rushed after her, seeing that she was already astride her horse with the help of a servant.

He heard her tell him, "Lynch, I think we'll go back by the south road."

Lynch responded with, "Very good, my lady."

Matthew stopped by the horse, as he said,

"Lady Mary, I hope you didn't misunderstand me. I was only joking."

Mary looked down at him with a bitter smile as she amusedly said,

"Of course. And I agree. The whole thing is a complete joke."

With that, she rode out, leaving Matthew to helplessly watch after her as she left.

~~…..~~

Not too long after, Matthew saw a motorcar come into the lot, and he stepped back a little, to see a familiar silhouette. He smiled as he walked over, when the chauffeur from earlier opened the door. His brother George stepped out of the vehicle, dressed in a brown suit. George looked up to see his older brother and smiled, rushing up to him and hugging him tightly.

"Matthew! Oh, how I missed you!"

Matthew chuckled before pushing his brother away playfully, and said, "It's been quite a while. How was the country?"

George responded with, "It was an adventure for sure. Not the best of times to be there, but now, I can never go back."

Matthew was about to ask for his brother to further elaborate, but Matthew could tell that George was preoccupied as he rushed over to help someone in the car. Matthew realized it was his sister-in-law immediately. But he was shocked to see a dainty hand grasp George's before a figure dressed in English clothing come out.

She was Asian, and held an air of authority about her, despite a sad look in her eyes. The woman smiled at George, before spotting Matthew. She whispered something to George, who led her up to meet his older brother when Molesley appeared again.

The butler paused in shock, but the woman smiled at the butler as she said in perfect English,

"Hello, you must be the butler. Could you help my lady's maid, Maria, carry our cases? She speaks English better than I do, so there should be no troubles with communication."

Matthew glanced over at another Asian girl, slightly younger than his sister-in-law, stand behind George's wife. Molesley nodded, as he said,

"Very well, my lady."

With that, Maria followed Molesley, as he started to explain to her about how the house worked. Matthew sighed at the newest addition to the servants, but smiled as he walked up to George and his wife as he introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm Matthew, George's older brother."

George smiled as his wife introduced herself, "Hello Matthew. I'm Lilly Crawley."

Matthew shook his head at the fact that his younger brother was married, but before he could say anything else, George said,

"Is mother inside?"

Matthew nodded and led them inside their new home. He noted that Lilly stuck next to George as much as possible, not leaving his side, but he could also sense her awe at the structure that she was looking at. George continued to whisper to her when their mother walked up and exclaimed,

"George? Is that you?"

George chuckled and responded with,

"I'm home, mother."

The older woman smiled and put a hand to his cheek as she said,

"Oh it's been too long. How are you? I think you got thinner, but no matter, you're home now. And, oh, where are my manners? Hello, I'm Isobel, George's mother, you can call me 'Mother' or 'Isobel'."

Lilly blushed a little, but even Isobel could tell that the aura that Lilly exuded was similar to that of Lady Mary in nobility and authority, but the stark difference was that Lilly was humble and almost kind.

"Hello, I'm Lilly. I'm sorry that we arrived late."

With that the two ladies introduced themselves and George joined the conversation, his one arm still around Lilly as he said,

"I'm fine, by the way. Mother, how have you been?"

Isobel smiled at the arrival of her second son, as she said, "Great! Either way, you both must be more exhausted than we are, we will talk a little more later. Go rest, both of you, before we have to go to Downton for dinner."

George looked confused as he said, "Dinner? They invited us to the estate? Whatever for?"

Lilly stood next to George whilst Matthew watched how George seemed to glance towards his wife with worry, as he continued the conversation. And now that Matthew looked more closely at Lilly, she did seem extremely exhausted, and he quickly joined in with,

"I'm supposed to be the heir and get Downton."

George froze and said, "Is that true? Mother, why didn't you say in your letter?"

Isobel smiled and explained, "We wanted it to be a surprise. But more about that later, go rest."

George sighed as he finally nodded and led his wife to their room upstairs. As they were out of sight, Isobel smiled as she said to Matthew,

"You too, we have a lot to do if we are to take a break before we go."

Matthew nodded as he headed up the stairs as well.

~~ ….. ~~

By the time they had to go to Downton, Isobel and Matthew were waiting by the door for George and Lilly. They both heard George and Lilly whispering to each other, their voices showing concern and worry, but the mother and older brother saw that George had persuaded Lilly to hide her worries and attend the dinner with them.

Lilly was in a sky blue dress that complimented her pale complexion. Her hair was done flawlessly, where nobody could find a fault in her fashion sense. Her gloves were white as well to help with the pale, sky blue.

Matthew was momentarily stunned by her beauty and grace, but quickly came out of his reverie as his brother helped her down the stairs, as if she was fragile. It did not appear as if his brother was overly concerned and treated her like his master. Rather, it appeared as if they balanced each other out. Simple with complex, quiet with boisterous, calm with chaos. If anything, Matthew noted that his brother was no longer the fun-loving troublemaker that he used to be. Something about his job in Asia had changed him, made him more taxed, but it was good to see the occasional mischievous smile grow.

When they were altogether, the headed for Downton together. Lilly was nervous, she couldn't help but continuously feel out of place due to her physical appearance. Sure, she could act like the nobility that she was, but her thoughts turned dark at the thought of enjoying the night. She had lost everything and if it had not been for George, she would never have been here.

He had saved her from everything that had happened, and stuck to her through thick and thin. And for that, she had vowed that she would try to fit into the community as much as possible. She learned how the English talked, their culture, their habits. And it irked her in some ways that she had much less power than she used to, but she knew that George would never try to change her and her ideals.

All he had asked her was to live. And live she will. When they finally arrived at the estate, Lilly could not help but tighten her grip on George's arm from the intimidating thought that George's extended family lived in such a grand place. Her heart started to beat faster and faster, as fear and anxiety gripped her tight.

At the entryway, a footman appeared behind her and took her coat. The moment her coat was taken, she gripped George's arm again. He patted her hand gently in concern. She provided him a warm smile as a man approached them.

He came up to them and said,

"Hello again. It's a pleasure to meet you at last, Mrs. Crawley. And George, my fellow, I heard you got married! Is this wonderful woman your wife?"

George and Lilly both tensed at the slightly strained, fake cheery tone he provided them at the talk of their marriage. Lilly squeezed George's arm again to get him started. George smiled as he responded with,

"We're delighted to be here. And this is my beautiful wife, Lilly."

Lilly smiled, not sure what to say. Robert then introduced himself with,

"Call me Robert, or Cousin Robert."

Lilly nodded and said, "Thank you Robert."

Robert smiled, and Lilly provided him with one, when Isobel noticed her daughter-in-law's discomfort and intercepted with,

"We're delighted to be here, aren't we, Matthew?"

Matthew looked at the estate with slight discomfort, not sure how Lilly and George were maintaining their postures. Sure, he noticed their discomfort, but for those who did not know George or were meeting Lilly for the first time would not even have noticed. Rather they both were exuding a controlled authority. Showing that they were not a couple to be messed with, but not enough to threaten Robert's authority.

He hesitantly answered his mother with, "Delighted."

With that, Robert led them into the great hall, where all of the house staff were lined up, waiting, as the rest of the Crawley family entered from a different side. Lilly spotted someone who looked like Robert's wife, Cora, come up to them and say,

"Welcome to Downton."

Isobel smiled and said, "Thank you. You've been so kind."

Lilly noticed the way the daughters looked at George and Matthew, but mostly Matthew. Lilly did notice that some of the servants were looking at her intensely, as if she was an oddity, but she merely ignored it, since she was used to several sets of eyes on her. But the calmness and happy feeling quickly turned awkward when Matthew blurted out,

"What a reception committee."

Everyone quieted down while George snickered at his brother's embarrassment. Lilly slightly looked at him with a warning look, quickly quieting him. Isobel tried to recover the situation with,

"Yes, thank you."

George held back his laughter at his brother's mistake as Robert said,

"This is Carson. We'd all be lost without him. Mama, may I present Matthew Crawley, George Crawley and his wife Lilly Crawley, and Mrs. Crawley, my mother, Lady Grantham."

Isobel stepped forward and held out her hand as she asked,

"What should we call each other?"

The elderly woman looked down at the hand with slight confusion before saying,

"Well, we could always start with Mrs. Crawley and Lady Grantham."

Lilly looked slightly amused at this interaction as Cora stepped forward and said,

"Come into the drawing room and we can make all the proper introductions."

With that, everyone followed Cora into the drawing room, to wait for dinner to be served. By the time dinner started, Lilly was placed next to Robert, who started talking to her,

"So Lilly, how did you meet Cousin George?"

Lilly gently said, "Coming from a noble family, I was walking around for air, looking for certain medications for my grandfather, when George bumped into me by accident."

George heard his name and looked up to find the conversation quieting to listen to their story, so he spoke up,

"Of all things, I was not paying attention when I was trying to run back to my office, and because of that, I knocked down the granddaughter of the most powerful and the richest noble of the country."

Everyone paused at that revelation, shocked at the news. Lilly slightly blushed, but acted like nothing had happened, as George continued telling the story.

"When I tried to help her, everyone in that street almost mobbed me for knocking her down. But luckily, she just laughed it off a joke and continued on her way."

Lilly started to put in her input as she said,

"It was shocking to find an Englishman running around like someone was chasing him, but I let it by since he looked genuinely apologetic once everyone tried to help me. Never had I thought that I would have dropped my handkerchief and he would be bold enough to come to my family's residence."

Matthew chuckled at that, knowing his brother, he must have woken up late. George continued on with,

"It was a small and dainty thing, but I just had to see her one more time, and returning the thing was an excuse. Of course, that's when I started to notice her presence more, until I started to follow her around."

As they continued telling their story, Lilly noticed that Sybil was almost looking at them with admiration. Mary and Edith looked either slightly irritated or bored, and Lilly smiled as they continued on with the dinner. Meanwhile, Robert, Lady Grantham, Carson, and Cora's attitude towards her did altogether change as they warmed up to her. Oh, the wonders of status was a weird thing. Despite her race, they accepted her the moment they realized that she was from a powerful and most-respected family.

Momentarily later, the conversation drifted from the topic of Lilly and George's marriage and Robert turned to Isobel with,

"Do you think you'll enjoy village life? It will be very quiet after life in the city."

Lady Grantham jested with, "Even Manchester."

Lilly watched her mother-in-law give a confident response, "I'm sure I'll find something to keep me busy."

Cora joined in, with, "You might like the hospital."

Lilly watched the Isobel's eyes brighten with, "What sort of hospital is it? How many beds?"

Lady Grantham huffed a little as she said, "Well, it—it isn't really a hospital."

Lilly was amused at the sight of Cousin Robert chuckle at that and answer with,

"Don't let Dr. Clarkson hear you. He thinks it's second only to St. Thomas's."

Lilly just continued watching as Cora inputted,

"It's a cottage hospital, of course, but quite well equipped."

Isobel's interest grew even further as she asked,

"Who pays for it?"

Lilly grimaced at Lady Grantham's comment, "Oh good. Let's talk about money."

Robert heard it as well as he tried to cover for his mother with,

"My father gave the building and an endowment to run it. In a way, he set up his own memorial."

Nobody commented except for Isobel, who said, "But how splendid."

Lilly put down her silverware, now intently listening as Robert said,

"And Mr. Lloyd George's new insurance measures will help."

Lady Grantham groaned out,

"Please don't speak that man's name, we are about to eat."

With that, the food started to get passed around to everyone, when Lilly noticed George glaring at a footman, who seemed to say something to Matthew.

But before anyone else could say something, Mary haughtily said,

"You'll soon get used to the way things are done here."

Matthew begrudgingly said, "If you mean that I'm accustomed to a very different life from this, then that is true."

Sybil gave a look to her sister before asking,

"What will you do with your time?"

Matthew smiled gratefully and answered her with, "I've got a job in Ripon. I said I'll start tomorrow."

Robert paused from his eating when he tensed and asked with disbelief, "A job?"

Lilly looked up at Robert, unsure if that was uncommon in this country. Back at her place, when it was peaceful, all men, especially with a higher status held respectable jobs. She eyed George, who shook his head gently as Matthew responded with,

"In a partnership. You might have heard of it, Havel and Carter. They need someone who understands industrial law, I'm glad to say. Although, I'm afraid most of it will be wills and conveyancing."

Lilly gently held her silverware, as Robert sighed and said,

"You do know I mean to involve you in the running of the estate?"

Matthew smiled at that and said, "Oh, don't worry. There are plenty of hours in the day. And, of course, I'll have the weekend."

Robert resumed his eating, and Lilly could sense his great irritation at the thought of Matthew working separately, as he bit out,

"We'll discuss this later. We mustn't bore the ladies."

Lilly heard Lady Grantham ask, "What—what is a weekend?"

If Lilly had not been married to George, she would not have known what that was either, and had to hold back her amusement at this thought. Maybe things would get better for both her and George here.

Dinner ended and Lilly was with George getting ready to home, when they both heard Isobel say to Cora,

"I'm so interested to see the hospital."

George smiled and whispered to her, "I'm assuming mother and Lady Grantham to start a brawl sooner or later."

Lilly smiled as she responded with, "I know that it will happen. And yet, I feel as if they will be the best of friends despite circumstances."

George raised an eyebrow at her, not sure what his wife was thinking when Isobel walked up to them with a slight determination and headed for home. George then offered his arm to his wife, and the sight of the couple made Cora smile as she and Robert watched them leave.

As the door closed, Cora commented,

"It is surprising that the little troublemaker we had met so many years ago married the richest and most powerful, available woman of a different country. I wonder if we will hear news of a baby soon."

Robert chuckled and said, "Perhaps. But even if not, I am sure that they have something in mind. Now, let's go to bed."

With that, the night ended and Lilly slept peacefully for the first time in a long while.