This is definately a missing scene.
I can understand Mary and I can see matthew's reasoning because he is a moral, principaled man and as he still believed his indiscretion killed lavinia. But the make-up scene here is so good . I just wished JF would take a leaf out of you amazing writers.
This M/M fandon would not be so frustrated and disappointed in season 3 after the wedding as it is in the show.

Great tension in this piece. Well done.

Wow, and loved it great job -

Lovely execution as usual and I enjoyed reading this. I agree with Matthew on the money issue and I like how you expressed it here especially when he made Mary see reasoning in the end.

I thought you did a very good job with this. This whole issue (and the tension in fandom) is one that I've taken very personally and to heart. I've found myself taken up with Matthew's side because it doesn't seem like anyone's really given a decent argument in his favor, even though I sympathize with them both. Personally I think that we really need catharsis from this arc (PLEASE FELLOWES GIVE ME PAYOFF.) I would love to see Matthew break down, because he's been bottling up this guilt and shame for so long and seems to not have ever really fully processed it. I kind of doubt we're going to get that...

The raw emotion in THIS is a nice consolation, though. They both seemed very in-character...I could imagine them both saying everything in this fic.

Thanks - I too felt something was missing at the end of this episode and this feels really true to what they would have said (and hopefully will still say in coming episodes). You capture so well their desire to work through this, yet when they are unable to, not to let it affect their love.

I was hoping as well, but grr to them, I hope they are a little happier in the next episode, we've waited for this for so long!

I loved that you showed both their points, articulating them in a realistic way. I do found it in character (both here and in the show) that they could have such an argument, but it is a little maddening at times to see them both so stubborn. I do hope we get a scene where they have it all out in this way. It was nice to read. :)

I wanted to add something to my review. I think Mary ought to tell Matthew about what Lavinia did to save her father from ruin, how she in a way betrayed her uncle to pay off Sir Richard. What Lavinia did wasn't great but very understandable for someone in her position. She did it to save her father. It doesn't seem that different from what Mary wants Matthew to do. Yeah, Matthew doesn't really deserve the money but it's there and he could save the family. I don't know, it's a hard call. But Lavinia didn't die of a broken heart. She died of the flu. Which is nobody's fault. I'm just worried about the spoiler for episode 3. I hope Mary doesn't do something crazy! Audrey

Very plausible ending to the night. This issue is really going to drive a wedge between them. Dying to know how they are going to resolve it on the show. Really enjoyed this story. Realistic angst, not over the top, with a nice sort of truce in the end. Loved it!

I've already mentioned that I'd had an idea for this scene, and really, this is EXACTLY how I saw it in my head. EXACTLY. I felt for Matthew though, when he remembered that he was in the wrong clothes, because it's one thing to have someone be angry at you because that passes. But when they're disappointed - that hurts, and that doesn't go away, because if you've disappointed someone, you've lost something in their eyes and it is really hard to get past that.

And this is such a huge *thing* between them, it's not going to go away quickly or easily. And I hope Fellowes doesn't cop out and give it a quick fix-it. But obviously they will reach a point of just going round in circles, and so really, what can they do? But aaahhh he's never refused to kiss her before! Well of course not, but it's a nice reversal of...power, almost. Maybe not power as such, but perhaps a lesson in always getting one's own way... I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say to be honest! I liked it, and it's something that needs to happen and be discussed but based on the preview for next week, who knows how it's going to be resolved? Or even if it will be!

Anyway. Yes, loved it, and even just the allusions to the make-up sex are hot. ;)

Aww. KISS ME. No. If you insist... AWWW. Full points for a very realistic fight between them... and that they're still disagreeing so fundamentally, and yet ... :D Love everything you do, add this to the list of wonderful stories you've given us!

Bless THIS FIC. :D I LOVE that you communicate their *love* so clearly - that in spite of each other's differences of opinion, they love each other. Of course Mary doesn't want Matthew to compromise his principles, and of course Matthew doesn't want Mary to lose DA! :( The writing is beautifully atmospheric (the tugging off of gloves, the headpiece clattering) and I can just *see* this happening. :) That the source of their frustration *at* each other is all they can't give *to* each other. :( LOVE the ending and the truce and just...EVERYTHING. :D LOVE IT...as much as they LOVE EACH OTHER. :) Keep writing! :D

Matthew in the show is being selfish and Matthew in this fic is being selfish. I understand his reasons but i don't have to agree with them!

And i certainly don't approve of the way he is handling this issue, he is only saying no to the money because of another one of his guilt trips. Because of his moralistic views of a world that doesn't even exist anymore.

Besides he loses nothing if DA is sold, he can still go back to being just a lawyer, having no servants and having a simple life, Mary however loses almost everything if she loses DA. Her birth right, her home, everything she has ever worked for and the future SHE WANTS for herself. THAT makes him selfish, pure and simple.

We are back to having a black-white view of the world in this Matthew and it's like S1!Matthew just kicked S2!Matthew to the curb, and i make no qualms about HATING this man. This person disappoints me to no end, he doesn't LOVE DA (something that i assumed wrongly after the CS), i guess he never loved it all that much if he is willing to risk it for the sake of a stupid/moralistic guilt trip.

Mary is no saint but at least i'm on her side on this because she is fighting for something she wants, hell she has been fighting for this during the entire series. She has been denied 3 times DA and the key to having it now lies in her husbands hands and yet...

Thanks so much for "extending" this story. What a treat. All I have to go by (until January) are trailers, reviews and what you and other authors provide. Naturally, fan fic is the most satisfying of the three. You certainly capture their conflicts and chemistry. More, please.
He should be over the guilt, already. Its a bit insulting to Mary to be guilty over a dance and a kiss that he initiated. Lavinia understood. Had she lived she would not have married him. I think the war messed with his confidence. I am sure that Mary outbursts are rooted in her insecurity.
It will "all" be his some day, if he cares to save it. Maybe he doesn't want to. For a solicitor Matthew is not being logical. Failure to face up and move forwards. Time for Isobel to have a chat with her son.