I'm sorry I didn't have a chance before to thank you all for the warm welcome earlier (work has been a bear and I have hardly a moment to think straight)--I'm so happy to be here with lovely, fellow Mary & Matthew shippers!
Hi LaraJo. Yeah, that board used to be interesting, but it's been taken over by a group of Sybil/Branson fans and that is all they talk about. Lots of anti-Mary and Matthew stuff, too, which is just ridiculous. They are the main characters of the show whether they like it or not. How can anyone not like them??? They must not be paying attention to anyone but Sybil/Branson.
But who needs them as I now have you all to chat with!
Anyhoo, Michelle Dockery had said at the beginning of this series that the war hardened Matthew and that Mary wasn't going to be able to get anything out of him like she did in the first series. Meaning, like someone else said in an above post, that Matthew wasn't going to be wearing his heart on his sleeve. I think Mary really hurt him by hesitating to marry him and he's just trying to protect his own heart now. But Mary has worked hard this series to correct her mistake and prove to him how much she does love him. She's put his happiness first by being so kind and welcoming to Lavinia on his behalf when inside her heart is breaking over losing him. It's humbled her and now she knows what it means to love someone and put their needs above her own. I have to admire her for not throwing herself at him and demanding he give her another chance. She knows she blew it with him and knows it's up to her to prove herself to him. She gave him her beloved stuffed toy to take into battle and I doubt she would have ever done that for anyone else. She prayed for him, felt cold when he nearly died, nursed him despite never having or wanting to nurse anyone else before--that is a woman who truly loves. Matthew can hardly fail to see her efforts and see how she's changed and grown. But he attached himself to another before he realised how much Mary truly loved him and he is now too honourable to back out of the engagement. The only way to get him away from Lavinia would be if Lavinia was exposed for something underhanded--perhaps she's really not who she appears to be--or if Lavinia finally notices that Matthew's heart belongs to another.
She must leave
him in order for him to feel released from his obligation to her. Although Matthew is very honest--perhaps he will be like Captain Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music" and tell Lavinia, "It's no use, you and me. When two people love each other..." and confess he loves only Mary and cannot in all honestly commit his life to Lavinia. My fear is that Mary will let Carlisle intimidate her into marrying him and then it will be too late. I can only hope that Carlisle will be exposed for doing some dastardly deeds (perhaps having Vera killed??) and then Mary will leave him before she says "I do." I will be so angry and upset if Matthew marries Lavinia and/or Mary marries Carlisle. Nothing knocks me down more than investing in two characters only to have them never end up together. Perhaps in the Christmas episode Matthew will have sent Lavinia on her way and comes just in time to Mary and Carlisle's wedding to interrupt it and demand it not go on!! Well, a girl can dream, can't she?
