DA's series 2: The Ghost of 1914 -- OR -- Does Matthew have a mean streak? (part 3)
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The Pissing Contest That Never Really Gets Started
In episode 2.02, set in April 1917, five months after his reunion with Mary (and five years after he received the news of being the new heir), we find the formerly brooding and pessimistic Matthew ("Mary, if I don't come back...") strangely rejuvenated in the trenches. He has indeed no intention to play the hero and he is happily looking forward to escape the trenches for several months by being transfered back home: "Fancy a tour in England, Davis? ... General Sir Herbert Strutt has asked for my transfer to be his ADC. He's touring England to boost recruitment and he's remembered that I know Manchester and Yorkshire pretty well. It'll mean a couple of months at home and a promotion to captain. I can't object to that." However, once Matthew is back at Downton with Lavinia in tow, Mary has a surprise for him: a suitor of her own, multi-millionaire Richard Carlisle. The war is on at home, and three lines into his visit, Matthew is already pining to get back to the trenches. When Robert asks him if there is a chance that Matthew's transfer could be "permanent? That we can count you out of danger? It would be such a relief", Matthew dismisses the idea: "I wouldn't want that, I'm afraid. He's promised to get me back to France when he's done with me." He's changed his tune. At dinner, it's Matthew's turn to cast langorous glances at Mary across the table, enough for Carson to suggest to her that Captain Crawley might not be "happy with the changes, so to speak".
When Richard Carlisle claims in the Christmas Special that Matthew never loved Lavinia Swire, provoking Matthew to punch him down, he refers back to a conversation between him and Lavinia which it is possible to date precisely: "She said it once. It was late. She was tired, you two were locked together in the corner of the room and she said, ‘if he could just admit the truth, then all four of us can have a chance." There is only one occasion where Matthew was on leave, Mary and Carlisle were already involved, all four were at Downton together, and it was sufficiently early on in the relationships for all four to have enough time to reestablish themselves in case Matthew came clear about his feelings for Mary: this one and only occasion was in 2.02, set in April 1917, the evening Mary introduced Carlisle to Matthew and Lavinia at Downton, the night Carson fell ill during dinner. Like in Greek drama, the important scene happens off-screen, probably in the drawing room some time after dinner (since it was "late"), but it cannot have happened any other time.
That same night, an observant Carson suggests to Mary that there is reason to believe that Captain Crawley might not be "happy with the changes, so to speak". The next day, Rosamund catches Carlisle threatening Lavinia behind the laurels for some undisclosed reason ("How dare you threaten me?" - "How dare I? Oh, I assure you, I dare a great deal more than that." - "You can't. You wouldn't." - "I didn't say I would. I was merely reminding you it was in my power"). There is no dinner party at the Abbey that night which could have brought Mary & Carlisle and Matthew & Lavinia together once more. The day after that, Carlisle proposes to Mary before taking the train back to London, Lavinia is having a crying fit outside Crawley House, and Matthew is - of course - concerned that Mary might not want him (for dinner, that is) on the last day of his leave. Carlisle's departure from Downton that day rules out the possibility that the never-love-conversation between him and Lavinia could have taken place at any later date than the aforementioned evening. This proves that Matthew - the very same night he is introduced to Carlisle - has nevertheless made it obvious to Lavinia that he loves Mary instead of her - obvious enough for Lavinia to voice her concern in Carlisle's presence.
What is odd about Matthew's reaction to Mary's involvement with Carlisle is that he doesn't put up a fight against the guy. One might expect some natural rivalry between men who are attracted to the same woman, some kind of pissing contest (like we're going to see in the Christmas Special), some showing off, some verbal competition, but there is nothing whatsoever coming from Matthew at this stage - when it still could have influenced Mary's decision to go further with Carlisle. If we are to believe both Carson's observation that Matthew isn't happy with the changes, and the Carlisle/Lavinia conversation about Matthew being visibly attached to Mary, his behaviour in this episode is puzzling. Even Mary seems to have noticed, based on only one encounter (although her 2.04 judgement may derive from Carson's comment), that Matthew doesn't like Carlisle much. Still, Matthew makes no attempt at self-promotion in the presence of his multi-millionaire rival, like Lavinia does and did in Mary's presence. Instead, he dreams of escaping back to his trenches - which may after all be his way of showing off, being our hero at the front while that coward Carlisle stays at home selling newspapers.
Other than that, Matthew treats Mary, with looks and with words, as the cause of his misfortune. In his opinion, obviously, she has abandoned him, and he doesn't take it too well. And he starts displaying the first signs of a mean streak (if we disregard his looking deliberately away in episode 2.1). His behaviour towards Mary outside Crawley House, as she comes to pour out his heart to him, is positively put-offish: First, he is referring Mary to his mother, as if he himself had no interest in seeing her: "If you're looking for Mother, she's at the hospital. I've just come from there." Now where does that come from? When has Mary ever had a reason to see Matthew's mother? Doesn't he want her, that he has to pass her on to his mother? As I mentioned earlier, it's always Mary's task to assure Matthew that she's not disinterested, and it's no different here: "Actually it's you I came to see." And how does Matthew react to her reappraisal: "Oh? How can I help?" Oh my God, has he turned into his mother himself now? The last time I remember him say those words was in 1.02, where he said it to Molesley, a stranger, approaching him as he got out of the car at Crawley House. Is it possible to be any more unpersonal? Just add nosy Lavinia popping out to check up on them with her luncheon question, and Mary's mood is ruined. Matthew keeps on grinding: "So, what was your mission?" Mission! He still can't get over himself and give her credit for wanting to see him as a friend, like she used to, and as he would have expected her to after their farewell in 2.1. No wonder Mary is unable to say anything approaching "I'm still in love with you" to a man who is so condescending. What's the point of him knowing if he doesn't seem to mind if she's indifferent? So she asks about dinner instead, and of course Matthew accuses her of not wanting him! And when she again assures him that of course she wants him, very much, he doesn't respond to that at all but declares the conversation over by saying "I'm sorry you've had a wasted journey".
We wonder what's wrong with Matthew? He is absolutely freaked out! He's taken by surprise by the whole Carlisle thing, he's hurt, he's angry, it's all Mary's fault! What could he have done differently to persuade her to wait just a little bit now that he's found his way back to her? One episode ago she got dressed without servants to see him off to war a happy man and gave him her stuffed dog to take with him. He did all he could in the meantime: He's always taking Mary's dog instead of Lavinia picture when he's leaving the trenches, he's on his way home to her to stay for a couple of months and not get shot at - and she? How does she repay his renewed hope and affection? SHE goes after a multi-millionaire while he's away. Once we allow Matthew to have a mean streak, his behaviour all of a sudden becomes very easy to understand and accept - to because it's only human to be jealous and to lash out at the person one feels betrayed by. We might know that Carlisle is only second best in Mary's opinion, because Matthew is unavailable, but Matthew doesn't know that. He doesn't feel he's unavailable. He knows how he feels about Lavinia. He never said he liked her better. He always took the dog. Oh no, in Matthew's eyes, Mary's choices have always been about him, since 1913. In his opinion, she never wanted him anyway because he was middle-class.
After the Downton dinner the same night, the one Matthew assumed Mary did not want him to attend, he makes a statement which - in the light of Carlisle's pre-punch accusation - may be taken to be not just a modification of the truth, but rather an outright lie. Continuing his dinner conversation with Mary from 2.01, he asks: "What about you? Last time, you told me good news was imminent" - "Would you be happy if it were?" - "Of course. I've found someone now. [Looking at Lavinia] And I want you to do the same." Yet, only two days earlier - though after meeting Carlisle - Matthew has apparently still behaved in a way in Mary's presence as to suggest to Lavinia that his feelings for Mary haven't died. Now all of a sudden, Matthew claims to be happy on Mary's behalf at the prospect of her getting engaged, something he was reluctant to suggest during their first dinner in 2.01. And he closes the door to any possible reunion with Mary by declaring that Lavinia is his future and by asking Mary to look elsewhere for a companion.
My immediate reaction to this is that Matthew's statement is spiteful on purpose. If she doesn't want him, he doesn't want her either. He still acknowledges his own feelings for Mary to himself, which is why he is careful not to bring up the idea of love when talking about Lavinia, only that he has "found someone". He is honest about that. But he makes himself unavailable to Mary out of spite, like at the very beginning of series 2. He suggests that she should find someone else because he has made his choice already, and that choice is Lavinia. Still it is difficult to believe that Matthew wants Mary to find someone else, or that he would be happy if the good news were imminent. If Lavinia's observation from two nights earlier is correct, a sudden change of heart in Matthew within two days would be a bit tricky to account for. Otherwise, this would be the first time that he is actually lying to Mary, and the idea that he should be willing to lie even to her is deeply problematic, considering that Mary was actually willing to lose him in 1.06 for the explicit reason that she did not want to catch him with a lie (i.e. concealing the truth about her pre-marital sexual encounter) because that's not how they are together.
One other alternative could indeed be that some M/M scenes do not appear in the same chronological order in the series as Fellowes has written them. The reason I suspect this is that Mary's 2.04 letter to Matthew, in which she tells him the good news about her and Carlisle, mentions that they have yet to be introduced - which makes little sense given their 2.02 encounter. This would mean that the Matthew-Carlisle introduction was originally planned to take place after the letter, and that the inconsistency in the script simply hadn't been rectified before shooting began. If Matthew's "found someone" statement was originally conceived to take place before the letter and the introduction and the Lavinia-Carlisle conversation, then we might possibly pass it off as wishful thinking rather than lying, as Matthew believing that he will be able to deal with Mary's engagement plans gracefully. Nevertheless, the final order of the scenes, the one we eventually have to deal with, lets Matthew's statement appear as a lie, more or less, and his motive as spite.
Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
After the weird «I found someone» conversation in the previous episode, the next encounter between Matthew and Mary in 2.03 some months later is entirely cordial again (which adds to my doubts concerning the original chronology around Carlisle's introduction). Matthew is still touring England, and he pops in at Downton - which has now turned into a convalenscent home - to say hello. When he sees Mary carrying around carafes on a tray, his first words to her are "I hadn't cast you as Florence Nightingale" - echoing his amazement at the train station in 2.01 when he realised that Mary had gotten up before the servants. His comment is probably meant as a compliment, but it also signals that Matthew still hasn't let go of his image of Mary as an aristocratic woman on a pedestal, unwilling to get her hands dirty - up to that point, at least. Now however, he stares at her with his jaw dropped, just as he did when he first met her in September 1912.
Once Matthew has arrived at Downton with Major Strutt, he continues to express his "choice", his preference for Mary, through his actions just as he did in 2.01 and in the trenches. He converses with Mary in front of the main entrance while Lavinia is left standing in the background like a wallflower. Matthew is in fact loitering so much that even Strutt reacts ("Crawley?") and Matthew tears himself away from Mary, "if only to keep our respective mothers apart". If only... Because otherwise he would have stayed!
Still, when Robert asks Matthew if he is enjoying his respite from the front, Matthew becomes evasive: "Actually I'm struggling a bit. I've just lost my soldier servant and I haven't managed to replace him yet." This statement doesn't give us a clear indication if he enjoys being at home or if he's struggling with the situation at home (i.e. him and Mary seeing other people). However, he is obviously already focusing on his return to the trenches, where it will only be him and Mary's dog in his pocket and there is nothing to remind him that there could ever be other men in her life.
During dinner, Matthew finds time to complement "Lady Rosamund, Mary, all of you" for having been "so kind to Lavinia" but he doesn't complement her. On the contrary, when Violet alludes that Lavinia has yet to show herself to be deserving of the title Countess of Grantham ("Well, naturally. We're all curious to know more of Miss Swire if she's to reign over Downton as queen"), Matthew does nothing to defend his fiancée. Instead, he brings up the very idea that she might hide some dirty secret - in public, at a dinner table, and he expresses concern for himself rather than her about it: "Dear me, I hope you haven't unearthed anything too fearful". Violet refers him to Mary, signalling to him that there might indeed be something.
Matthew doesn't need to be asked twice (which is the quickest reaction time he'll ever display in series 2, until the Christmas Special). When he takes leave of Mary in the library, he asks her about Violet's comment at dinner. What he says here is pure projection, all the way through: "Cousin Violet said you had something to say to me about Lavinia. What is it?" - "I haven't the slightest idea." - "What a relief. She was hinting you'd uncovered some horrid stain." Matthew has allowed himself to let matters escalate in his mind, from a hope of nothing "too fearful" to the fact of a "horrid stain". Of course he wouldn't admit that he wants to hear about a horrid stain - that would suggest to Mary that he already realises that Lavinia is a poor choice, and he wouldn't want to embarrass himself by proving everyone right. Instead, he makes it look as if Mary wants to talk bad about Lavinia - which would give him the comforting impression that Mary might be jealous, and he could still throw Lavinia over - justly - as a consequence of the shocking news. But Mary doesn't fall for the trick. Matthew is even giving her a second chance when she claims to have no idea what she might have to say to him about Lavinia (which is not a lie, inasmuch as she truly does not want to reveal Lavinia's secret), giving her cues about what he'd like to hear, but Mary doesn't bite. When she claims that Lavinia is a charming person, Matthew only comments that Mary's compliment is impressive ("What a testimonial") without necessarily agreeing with her.
The main reason Mary accepts Lavinia in 2.03 is that she cannot find any defects that really discredit her (not even her involvement in the Marconi scandal): "The only evidence I've uncovered is that she's a charming person. ... The truth is, we're very much alike. So, naturally, I think she's perfect." In Mary's opinion - and she is rather candid about that to Matthew - she herself would be just as good a match for him as Lavinia, no better and no worse, a mere matter of taste. Therefore, as long as Matthew is engaged to Lavinia, knowing that Mary would be just as perfect, Mary will choose to interpret that as a sign that he prefers Lavinia over her. She has come to a conclusion regarding Lavinia's importance to Matthew, and signals no interest in further investigation or further effort to win him back. She will judge him by his "proper" actions.
At least Matthew takes proper leave of Lavinia, even excusing himself from the General before doing so (which he didn't when he said hello to Mary as he arrived). He kisses Lavinia's hand and wishes her to be safe, if he doesn't see her again before he has to go back to the front. It has been noted that the only really cordial moments between Matthew and Lavinia are real or imagined goodbye scenes, as if he only can bring himself to feel anything in particular for her when he knows that he'll soon be without her anyway. Considering that this moment outside Downton might even be the last time Lavinia sees her fiancé before he returns to France, this public hand kiss is not even cordial enough for an engaged couple. As far as his farewell with Mary is concerned, Matthew does not need any particular gesture, a simple "You too" suffices. His last look from the departing car goes to her, however, not to Lavinia. Matthew's mundane actions, rather than his proper words and gestures, convey his choice every time.
To sum up, both Mary's and Matthew's "second best" choices are presented in a less than flattering light in this episode, considering their previous entanglement and machinations and their present secrecy about it. Carlisle had no intention of telling Mary (it was Rosamund who found him and Lavinia in the garden and who started the ball rolling), and Lavinia had no intention of telling Matthew. Neither Carlisle or Lavinia will ever bring the subject up. Other than that, we learn that Matthew loves to see Mary dress down and that he seems to want to break it off with Lavinia already now. He cannot bring himself to do that without external help, however - for face-saving reasons and because he wants to see Mary jealous before giving up his engagement scam. Mary is not willing to oblige.
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