diff --git a/.vscode/settings.json b/.vscode/settings.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9b388533a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/settings.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+    "python.testing.pytestArgs": [
+        "tests"
+    ],
+    "python.testing.unittestEnabled": false,
+    "python.testing.pytestEnabled": true
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docx/table.py b/docx/table.py
index b3bc090fb..3693a93d4 100644
--- a/docx/table.py
+++ b/docx/table.py
@@ -77,16 +77,14 @@ def cell(self, row_idx, col_idx):
         Return |_Cell| instance correponding to table cell at *row_idx*,
         *col_idx* intersection, where (0, 0) is the top, left-most cell.
         """
-        cell_idx = col_idx + (row_idx * self._column_count)
-        return self._cells[cell_idx]
+        return self._cells[row_idx][col_idx]
 
     def column_cells(self, column_idx):
         """
         Sequence of cells in the column at *column_idx* in this table.
         """
         cells = self._cells
-        idxs = range(column_idx, len(cells), self._column_count)
-        return [cells[idx] for idx in idxs]
+        return [cells[row_idx][column_idx] for row_idx in range(0, len(cells))]
 
     @lazyproperty
     def columns(self):
@@ -100,10 +98,7 @@ def row_cells(self, row_idx):
         """
         Sequence of cells in the row at *row_idx* in this table.
         """
-        column_count = self._column_count
-        start = row_idx * column_count
-        end = start + column_count
-        return self._cells[start:end]
+        return self._cells[row_idx]
 
     @lazyproperty
     def rows(self):
@@ -161,20 +156,21 @@ def table_direction(self, value):
     @property
     def _cells(self):
         """
-        A sequence of |_Cell| objects, one for each cell of the layout grid.
+        A matrix of |_Cell| objects, one for each cell of the layout grid.
         If the table contains a span, one or more |_Cell| object references
         are repeated.
         """
-        col_count = self._column_count
         cells = []
-        for tc in self._tbl.iter_tcs():
-            for grid_span_idx in range(tc.grid_span):
-                if tc.vMerge == ST_Merge.CONTINUE:
-                    cells.append(cells[-col_count])
-                elif grid_span_idx > 0:
-                    cells.append(cells[-1])
-                else:
-                    cells.append(_Cell(tc, self))
+        for row_idx, tr in enumerate(self._tbl.tr_lst):
+            cells.append([])
+            for col_idx, tc in enumerate(tr.tc_lst):
+                for grid_span_idx in range(tc.grid_span):
+                    if tc.vMerge == ST_Merge.CONTINUE:
+                        cells[row_idx].append(cells[row_idx - 1][col_idx])
+                    elif grid_span_idx > 0:
+                        cells[row_idx].append(cells[row_idx][col_idx])
+                    else:
+                        cells[row_idx].append(_Cell(tc, self))
         return cells
 
     @property