lady_mary | In Which Lady Mary Encounters Bar's Sense of Humour--And Modern Undergarments

Mary is not opposed on principle to a weekend of country sports, but she can't be expected to be happy stranded in Lincolnshire in such dull company, under the watchful eye of an elderly Marchioness who won't permit any of the ladies to ride out with the hunt. To make matters worse, the Marchioness invited Edith, so the weekend isn't even an escape from her vile sister. An unexpected door to Milliways has never been more welcome.

She desperately wants a ride, but there's no way the beading on her evening dress would survive. It's unavoidable. She'll have to ask the Lady Bar for assistance. Mary is surprised when I request for appropriate attire for riding is met with a small iron key and note reading "You'll find everything you need in your room upstairs." She is even more surprised when she sees the clothes laid out for her on the bed. The shirt and jacket are fine, if strangely cut, the boots and gloves are of good quality leather, but the… breeches. There's nothing else in the wardrobe--of course she checked--so is apparently Mary's only option, setting aside admitting defeat and returning to Lincolnshire.

It's only with great difficulty that she fights her way free of her evening dress, camisole, and petticoat, and somehow she manages to loosen the laces on her corset enough to pull it off. (She'll worry later about how in God's name she'll get any of that back on.) At least Bar's generosity in providing the clothing also extended to including a short note explaining their wear. The undergarments are ridiculously scant, in Mary's opinion, and the less said about them the better. This entire ordeal of dressing herself is embarrassingly difficult--it's enough to make Mary reconsider hiding Milliways' existence from Anna. In a rare concession, Mary and Edith were allowed to bring Anna with them for the weekend, even if she isn't a real lady's maid, Lady Grantham didn't want to send two grown daughters without servants. But Anna's in Lincolnshire, which is no help to her here.

Ensemble complete, Mary stands before the full length mirror. She'd be much more comfortable with the usual full skirt to cover the breeches, but it's no worse than the strange things she's seen women from other times wear. There's nothing to be done for her hair, aside from yanking a red feather out of it. Mary eyes the black helmet still sitting on the bed, but… no. Considering the breeches, leaving her head uncovered is a small faux pas. It will have to do. She's spent long enough getting dressed, and for her it's already the end of a long day, so it's past time to find a horse to ride.