"The Open Secret
" is a Downton Abbey fanfic written by Willa Dedalus where the Kemal Pamuk scandal happened before the Titanic sank, resulting in Lady Mary Crawley being thrown out of Downton and meeting Matthew earlier than in canon.
Completed.
Tropes that appear in this fanfic:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: While Thomas had a few dalliances with men before and during the series, here he had a long-term relationship that ended with his partner perishing on the Titanic.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- The inciting incident is that the Kemal Pamuk scandal happened earlier than in canon.
- Lord Merton appears earlier in canon to tell Reginald that he's now heir to Downton Abbey and keeping an eye on Mary in Manchester.
- Bates is mentioned as working at Downton at the same time the Kemal Pamuk scandal happened, a year earlier than in the show where he arrived at Downton the same day news broke of the Titanic.
- Lord Merton's son Larry Grey appears at a party in 1913, about seven years before he first appeared in canon.
- While Robert's cousin "Shrimpie" was alluded to early in the series, he didn't appear until Series 3. Here, he shows up in World War I (the equivalent of Series 2), where he gets Matthew a position as a decoder.
- Adaptation Expansion:
- Matthew and Isobel's life in Manchester is expanded on, including some of Matthew's friends and Reginald's work as a doctor.
- The details of the entail are expounded on, particularly two clauses where the current Earl must work with his heir and an in-universe Contractual Purity clause.
- Adaptational Explanation:
- Reginald Crawley's cause of death isn't stated in canon. Here, it's clearly stated as pneumonia brought on by lung cancer.
- Violet mentions here that Rosamund's marriage to Marmaduke Painswick was arranged by her husband, which explains her disdain towards her deceased son-in-law in canon. She never wanted him as Rosamund's husband in the first place.
- Adaptational Heroism: Kemal Pamuk didn't try anything with Mary other than the Forceful Kiss. However, Patrick did and framed Pamuk, using Louis and Barrow to corroborate him.
- Adaptational Intelligence:
- Robert doesn't seem to be aware of how much of a schemer Thomas is in canon. Here, he appears to be somewhat aware because he uses him to spy on Matthew.
- Robert isn't mismanaging Downton. However, somebody else is, and he isn't aware of who.
- Adaptational Name Change: The previous Earl of Grantham (Violet's deceased husband) is named Arthur here instead of Patrick.
- Age-Gap Romance: Reginald and Isobel were about 10 years apart; when Matthew was born, people mistook Reginald for Matthew's grandfather.
- Age Lift: George Crawley is somewhat older in canon since Matthew and Mary were married earlier.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- It's unclear whether or not Robert and Cora were sleeping together before their wedding; they were engaged for two years prior to the wedding and the timeline suggests that Cora might have been pregnant with Mary.
- Whether or not Violet and Cora knew if the Count of Cavour was taking Mary on as a mistress instead of a wife.
- An Arm and a Leg: The First Earl of Grantham lost his right arm in combat. He didn't mind it much, proudly displaying it in his portrait.
- Angsty Surviving Twin: Matthew's grandfather Lionel, whose twin brother Arthur died in a boating accident. Lionel then started the family tradition of wearing a white vest to a funeral.
- Ascended Extra:
- Matthew's father Reginald, a Posthumous Character in canon, makes a full appearance here.
- James and Patrick Crawley, whose deaths kicked off the series (maybe in Patrick's case), have their personalities expounded on.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Mary and Matthew play a long game of this after the former comes to Downton. They're really married but trying to keep up appearances that they aren't until the entail can be broken.
- Big Sister Instinct: Mary towards Sybil, as she accompanies her to the Ripon count. It also goes both ways since Sybil was the main person who spoke in Mary's defense when she was kicked out of Downton.
- Birthday Episode: Mary's birthday occurs during Chapter 18.
- Blackmail: Matthew and Mary discover that Patrick knew that Thomas and Louis were in a relationship and used that fact to force them to help in his Slut-Shaming of Mary.
- Call-Forward:
- In a flashback to Robert's wedding day, Violet remarks that Robert and James should be allowed to rise and fall on their own merit, to which Lord Arthur replies "Why, Violet, you're a romantic!" as Sybil did in Series 1. Violet replies she'll forget he called her that.
- Mary showing Matthew how each spoon is used is somewhat reminiscent of Carson doing the same with Alfred in Series 3.
- The Confidant: Sybil was the only person who kept contact with Mary while she was in Manchester.
- Contractual Purity: In-universe, there's a stipulation in the Crawley entail that the Countess of Grantham must be of pure character. This is one of the aspects that Matthew seeks to break.
- Dirty Old Man: The Count of Cavour, who's old enough to have known Mary's grandfather and has his hands constantly ghosting over Mary throughout his time at Downton. He intends to take Mary on as a mistress... and is getting married in a month, not to mention having a similar arrangement with another aristocrat's daughter.
- Disease Bleach: This version of Carson looks decidedly older due to his sadness over Mary's exile.
- Distaff Counterpart: Larry Grey and Sarah Kensington are displayed as such in Chapter 18, where Sarah makes an offer to Matthew about becoming his mistress while Larry makes an offer to Mary to be his mistress.
- Due to the Dead: Hundreds arrive in Manchester for Dr. Crawley's funeral.
- Empathic Environment: It's raining heavily after Matthew's failed attempt to have the entail broken, reflecting his downhearted mood.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Barrow admits that he helped Patrick and Louis frame Pamuk, but was horrified by what it meant for Mary.
- Excessive Mourning: Defied; Mary is forced to not wear mourning clothes a week after Reginald's funeral because she's trying to conceal her marriage to Matthew.
- Flashback: There are several to Robert and James' younger days before the former met Cora, Robert's wedding to Cora, how the Kemal Pamuk scandal came about, and how Matthew and Mary's relationship in Manchester progressed before the sinking of the Titanic.
- Food Slap: Discussed; in a flashback to Lord Arthur (Robert's father) and Martha discussing terms for Robert's marriage to Cora, Arthur asks if Cora's conduct is above reproach. Martha responds that if she was in New York she'd throw her glass of wine in his face for an insult like that.
- Forbidden Chekhov's Gun: Mary and Matthew's rings, which aren't brought out until they find it necessary to reveal their marriage.
- Foreign Cuss Word: When Matthew reveals he knows the Count of Cavour intends to take Mary as his mistress along with another lady, the Count mutters something under his breath in Italian.
- Frame-Up: Patrick framed Kemal Pamuk for getting into Mary's bedroom, scheming to get her thrown out of Downton.
- The Ghost: Louis, Patrick's valet, is never seen even in flashbacks.
- Gossipy Hens: Lady Rosamund's friends Celia and Celeste Morgan are described as being gossip mongers.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: This is Violet's opinion on army training, as it doesn't prepare much for surviving.
- I Have No Son!: Mary was practically disowned by her parents after Kemal Pamuk was "found" in her bed. In the first chapter when Sybil tells Robert they should inform Mary about James and Patrick's fates but Robert replies that "Mary isn't family."
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Reginald, Matthew, and Mary to varying extents. Reginald turns down the chance to be Robert's heir and then passes his torch to Matthew, while Mary would have been fine with the simpler life of being married to a solicitor, but Matthew took the chance on his father's insistence that he make things right for Mary.
- Irony: Robert notes that he and Cora went to Galliopi on their honeymoon, now he's going back as an officer.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Violet notes that she has no reason to believe that Matthew wasn't lying about his and Mary's relationship given they'd been concealing it for the best part of two years.
- Kissing Cousins: Mary and Matthew, as in canon.
- Meaningful Name: Reginald and Isobel chose Matthew because he was born relatively late when they thought they wouldn't have children.
- Mythical Motifs: Mary refers to Persephone going to the Underworld at Matthew's first dinner at Downton, a nod to her referencing Perseus and Andromeda in canon.
- Named After Somebody Famous: George Crawley is ostensibly named after St. George, the patron saint of England and King George V. However, it's implied to have also been a nod to Matthew's father Reginald, whose middle name was George.
- Named by the Adaptation: The first Earl of Grantham was named Daniel Crawley.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted since there have been two Arthur Crawleys, Robert's father the Earl of Grantham and Matthew's great-uncle who died young.
- Original Character:
- Philomena Grey, Lord Merton's sister. Mary stays with her while in Manchester.
- Lady Sarah Kensington, a fellow debutante of Mary's and her bitter rival. She's also Patrick's mistress.
- Louis, Patrick Crawley's valet who was in a relationship with Barrow and also perished on the Titanic with James and Patrick.
- Lorenzo Caserta, Count of Cavour, is an elderly Italian nobleman who Violet attempts to set up with Mary.
- Pants-Pulling Prank: Matthew fights off a rioter harassing Mary by pulling his pants down.
- Posthumous Character: Arthur Crawley, Robert's father and the previous Earl of Grantham. Also counts under Predecessor Villain since a lot of the changes he personally made to the entail are big obstacles for Matthew and Mary, specifically the bit about the countess' character.
- The Promise: Here, Matthew is motivated by a deathbed promise to his father that he would find a way to break the entail so Mary could live in peace.
- Recursive Fanfiction: Inspired a fanfiction of its own with a similar premise called "Secrets Revealed" where Matthew and Mary come to Downton openly as a married couple and parents to a daughter named Helena.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Violet uses her connections with Shrimpie to get Robert a position in London after he recovers from his injury and it's implied either she or Robert got Matthew his position in Naval intelligence.
- Sleeping Single: Mary and Matthew after they get to Downton. Justified because they're trying to keep the appearance that they aren't married.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- Kemal Pamuk didn't go Out with a Bang here.
- Reginald Crawley is dead by April 1912 in canon. Here, the title of heir passes to him for a few months before he dies and Matthew becomes heir.
- Speech Impediment: James is described as having a stutter in his youth.
- Succession Crisis: Matthew cites this as part of his suit to break the entail during World War I when Robert is away at war and while Matthew is unmarried, should he be called up and be killed in action, that would leave the title vacant.
- Swapped Roles: Robert and Matthew's roles in canon are reversed during World War I; instead of Matthew going to war and Robert remaining at Downton, Robert goes to war and Matthew stays.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Patrick, according to Edith.
- War Is Hell: While not actually seen, Robert describes the horrible conditions during the Galliopi campaign where most of the soldiers were ill, the men ate and slept next to corpses, and charges were ineffectual thanks to the dunes, remarking dryly that they could have saved the Turks some trouble and just shot themselves.
- Wartime Wedding: Subverted by way of Dramatic Irony. Matthew and Mary are already married, but they make their marriage known during the war, making it look like Matthew married her to escape conscription.
- White Shirt of Death: Invoked; Matthew's grandfather Lionel wore a white vest to his brother Arthur's funeral and Matthew wears the same to his father's funeral as a show of defiance, a bright light in darkness.
- Wooden Ships and Iron Men: Daniel, the First Earl of Grantham, was an admiral in His Majesty's navy and spent much of his life at sea.
- You Are Fat: One of the first things that Arthur says to Robert when he returns from his honeymoon is that he's gained a stone (about 14 lbs).
- You Are in Command Now: Matthew is put in charge of Downton while Robert is away at war.
