The Bet
is a Downton Abbey fanfic by kehlana where Mary and Edith Crawley challenge each other to see who can be married first after the incident with the salted pudding in Series 1.
Can also be read here.
Tropes that appear in this fanfic:
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- Anthony Foyle, one of Mary's suitors in Series 4 and 5, is brought in as a rival for Matthew by Cora, nearly 10 years before his appearance in canon. Similarly, Henry Talbot, Lady Shackleton's nephew and Mary's husband by the end of Series 6, is also brought in, but dismissed by Violet.
- Larry Grey, Lord Merton's son who was attracted to Sybil, also appears as another suitor brought in. Apparently Cora and Violet know he likes Sybil, but are leery of the age gap between them.
- Since Mary and Edith are getting married earlier than in canon, Martha Levinson shows up earlier.
- The family takes a trip to Duneagle where the Flintshires are, some 7-8 years before their appearance in canon.
- Adaptation Expansion: Mary and Edith's line about Mary getting every prize gets expanded into a challenge to form an engagement before the other does. It also expounds on the several-month time gap between episodes 5 and 6 of Series 1.
- Adaptational Explanation: It's mentioned here that Tony Gillingham didn't show up earlier in canon because his father and Lord Grantham had a falling out years before.
- Adaptational Karma: The series doesn't go into much detail about the consequences of Edith revealing that Kemal Pamuk died in Mary's bed aside from Mary being shunned and Mary retaliating by lying to Sir Anthony that Edith thought him boring. Here, the gossip chain ensnares Edith and Sybil, which Edith definitely didn't want.
- Adaptational Origin Connection: It's mentioned here that Robert and Sir Anthony are old friends from their school days.
- Adaptational Timespan Change: In the show, O'Brien brings Daisy to speak with Edith shortly before the dinner with Sir Anthony. Here, it appears to have been a month or so later.
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Larry Grey, who's deep in his cups at Robert and Cora's anniversary dinner, gets it into his head to sexually assault Sybil.
- Alternative Character Interpretation: In-universe, there are differing opinions on the timing of Mary's engagement to Matthew; one is that it's damage control and another is that it disproves the rumors entirely.
- Ascended Extra:
- In canon, Sir Anthony Strallan is primarily a Romantic False Lead for Edith and Mary to a lesser extent who gets Put on a Bus for most of Series 2 and then drops out of the story entirely during Series 3 when he jilts Edith at the altar. Here, his background is expounded on considerably: he's an old schoolmate of Robert's and has strong ties to Germany through his mother as well as his studies abroad.
- Sir Anthony's sister Mrs. Chetwood makes a full appearance here instead of being merely mentioned in the show as a source of argument between Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Patmore; her first name is Henrietta and she has four children, at least one of whom is older than Edith.
- The Crawleys' law-studying cousin Freddie is shown here; in this version he's a nephew of Violet's.
- Attack Backfire: Invoked by Mary, who warns Edith that while her own reputation might be ruined by Edith spreading the news about Pamuk, so would Edith and Sybil's.
- Big Sister Instinct: Mary attacks Larry Grey when he drunkenly forces himself on Sybil.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Gender-flipped and downplayed. Isobel views Matthew's relationship with Mary with a very jaundiced eye due to her leading both him and Tony Foyle on. She doesn't want Matthew stuck in a marriage where all the affection is on his side.
- Call-Forward:
- Edith being a good tennis player, as shown in the second film.
- Matthew punching Larry Grey after he insults Mary is almost exactly like the Christmas Special in Series 2; however this time Larry puts up even less of a fight thanks to being drunk.
- Didn't Think This Through: The story emphasizes how much trouble Edith stirred up with revealing Pamuk was in Mary's room. It really begins to set in when Edith overhears Mary revealing to Matthew that she did not invite Pamuk, and she's petrified; it isn't a matter of if Mary will take revenge, but when and how.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Rosamund considers herself the practical and considerate one (Responsible) to Robert's flights of fancy and romantic views on marriage (Foolish).
- Gossip Evolution: The rumors Edith starts about Mary and Kemal Pamuk circulate wildly into different versions, which also casts a shadow on Sybil.Beatrice Semphill: A slut (Mary) and a harpy (Edith). I wonder what's wrong with the youngest one, since the older are such a pair!
- Innocently Insensitive: Mary realizes to her dismay that taking Anna on as her Lady's Maid means breaking Anna and Bates up.
- Internal Reveal: Chapter 19 hinges on the reveal that Pamuk took Mary against her will.
- Jerkass: Susan, the Marchioness of Flintshire as in canon. She doesn't actually appear in the flesh at any point, but she makes no attempt to hide her disdain for Mary (in her home no less) after the Pamuk gossip gets out by focusing her attention on Edith (which she's never done before) and is condescending towards Isobel about having Mary as a daughter-in-law.
- The Matchmaker: As in canon, Cora was trying to set up Mary with Anthony Strallan. When that fails due to Edith setting her cap at him, she brings in Tony Foyle.
- Named by the Adaptation: Violet's maiden name is stated to be Wentworth here.
- Noodle Incident: Robert and Viscount Gillingham (Tony's father) had a falling out over undisclosed matters some time ago, which explains why Tony didn't come back into Mary's life until after Matthew's death.
- "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Larry uses this when caught feeling Sybil up.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Mary, who doesn't really like being in America, actually starts considering moving there with Matthew to set themselves up as her uncle Harold's heirs in case she doesn't get anything.
- Papa Wolf: When Robert hears of Larry assaulting Sybil, he has to be talked down from killing him on the spot.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Mary finally makes a decision on marrying Matthew because she can't bear the thought of him not wanting her.
- Self-Deprecation: While talking to Mary in Chapter 4, Matthew refers to himself as Mr. Collins, setting himself as the cousin who could turn the family out and Romantic False Lead to the more gentlemanly Tony.
- Shipper on Deck: Rosamund appears to be one for Mary and Tony, even after Mary said she wasn't going to marry him.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Sir Anthony and his sister Henrietta Chetwood; Anthony is shy and somewhat diffident while Henrietta is confident and assertive.
- Sore Loser: When Larry Grey loses a bicycle race to Matthew, he stomps on his hat in anger.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 19. Larry assaults Sybil, which causes Mary to admit the truth about Pamuk to Matthew. Susan tells Isobel about Mary and Pamuk out of spite. And Cora is pregnant.
