Chapter 1:

Author's Note: This story originally began as the third chapter to my "The Ritz – Winning Back My Darling Edith" story – but before I knew it – it was very long and seemed to have taken a life of it's own. So now it's more of a sequel, really. I suggest reading 'The Ritz' first since I make several references to it in this story.

Bertie woke up the next morning in his hotel feeling like he could float around on a cloud, he was so happy. He and Edith were back together, at last. The day before had had so much riding on it, and he had never truly let himself plan for what he might do if he failed to win Edith back, the possibility was too terrible to even contemplate. But he didn't have to. Edith had accepted his apologies and his proposal and now they could move forward together, he was beaming and smiling to himself, like a man in love.

Edith might have been the one at work that day, but Bertie was no slouch. While waiting to see her again, he made lunch and dinner reservations for them. He also called his butler at Brancaster to apprise him of the new plan. He and Lady Edith would arrive the next day by train, and her parents, the day after that. After that was the more difficult task, Bertie's mother. They spoke on the phone for awhile while she attempted to convince him to delay the announcement until they had more time to plan, but Bertie was not to be thus persuaded. He knew his mother meant well, and wanted his happiness, but her stern opinions were sure to be a hindrance he knew, not just for the announcement of the engagement, but likely beyond that as well. Bertie wasn't nervous about Edith and his mother meeting, there was no possible way that his mother wouldn't like Edith, but the Marigold issue…. well, Bertie hadn't quite figured out how much to involve his mother in that, or not involve her, if he so chose. But that would be a decision for another day.

Bertie finished up with his mother and quickly headed out to pick up Edith from work and take her to Rules for lunch. It was a nice to go there with her and be able to have a nice leisurely lunch. It mirrored their first date in an interesting manner: they had failed to have a drink as had been the plan but instead rushed out and ended up having a much more interesting, and, it turned out, memorable evening putting out the magazine for publication. Over lunch, they had relaxed discussions about wedding plans and food. Edith brought up cousin Peter, inquiring about his trip to Tangiers and the subsequent memorial service back in Northumberland. Bertie told her all about both, and explained that the latter had felt considerably harder since she had not been there and he had wanted her there so badly. Neither wanted to dwell on sad thoughts so the conversation quickly turned to how he was adjusting to his new responsibilities as a Marquess. Bertie was quite candid with Edith, explaining some of the challenges he had faced already and he confessed to her that he wasn't accustomed to having staff in his home and he was harboring hopes that Edith would help him learn the ropes.

Edith responded "I would be delighted to help you in any way I can, but I'll remind you that you and I won't live together until we're married, so you're on your own for at least a few more months"

Bertie laughed and replied "That's very true, and perhaps a good segue into discussing the task of fixing a date. Do you have any thoughts on where and when you'd like us to get married?"

"Yes, I've given it some thought. If it's alright with you, I'd like to get married at Downton."

Bertie leaned over and grabbed her hand "I'll marry you wherever you want. So long as you say yes."

Edith smiled at him in that smile that took up her whole face again and Bertie beamed with pride, delighted that he was able to get her to smile like that.

"As for when, I've always been rather partial to winter weddings, so what do you think about Christmastime? Or perhaps shortly thereafter?"

Bertie quickly calculated that that was just over three months away. That was very manageable to him. He had been harboring a small fear that she was going to choose the following summer or some distance season that felt eons away from then. But three months was something he certainly could manage.

"A winter wedding around Christmastime at Downton sounds perfect."

Shortly after fixing the rough date and location of their wedding, Edith brought up the Marigold story again. Bertie sensed that she was eager to tell him the story and he was happy about that. He wanted her to feel comfortable enough with him that she could tell him anything. And since Marigold, and her history were clearly a big part of Edith's past, he wanted to know it, and he wanted Edith to want him to know it. It all seemed like a good sign to him.

Edith suggested that after lunch they take the long walk back to her flat and spend the rest of the afternoon there, since, as she warned him, the story might take a long while for her to tell it in full. Bertie heartily agreed to the plan, and built on it by suggesting after the story was over, he leave her to change for dinner and he come back at 7pm to pick her up for their 8pm reservation later that evening.

After lunch, they undertook the long walk back to her flat, arriving just before 4pm. Edith opened her front door and walked in, leaving a space for Bertie to follow as well before she shut the door behind them. She looked at him and smiled, but Bertie could clearly see she was already a little uncomfortable. He didn't blame her. They were about to embark on what was sure to be a long conversation on a topic of some difficulty for her.

"Shall I pour us a drink?" Edith asked. And Bertie smiled at her and decided he would start things off on the right page.

"Darling, I'll get the drinks, you sit down on the couch and get comfortable. What would you like?"

Edith smiled and told him she'd like a whisky with a little water. Bertie poured both their drinks and headed back over to the couch.

Bertie sat down and handed Edith's glass to her.

Edith took in a big sigh and looked into her glass. She was clearly nervous so Bertie decided to continue to do what he could to make her at ease. "Edith – before you say anything, I want you to know two things: First, I hope you feel comfortable with me and trust me enough to tell me whatever you like. You know you have my unconditional love, trust and support. However, with that being said – you don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to. How you proceed is entirely up to you and you'll have my support no matter what you say or don't say."

Edith smiled and took a breath and a sip of the drink. Bertie waited patiently as she stared at her glass and hesitated. She stole a glance at him, who was looking right back at her.

"Ok. So perhaps I should begin right at the very beginning. You already know about Sir Anthony Strallan, and his leaving me at the altar.." Bertie nodded. Edith had told him about that, although he still couldn't believe that any man would be foolish enough to leave Edith but he wouldn't lament it, because Strallan's loss was his gain.

"After that, I think I needed something to … hang my hat on, so to speak. Something that was my own, that I could be proud of. So, I thought about what I wanted. I found that I was interested in politics. So I wrote an opinion piece for the Times on the new Act from Parliament providing the vote to women, criticizing its deficiencies – and, to my delight, and my father's horror – it was published!"

Bertie raised his eyebrows in surprise and smiled in pride.

"Getting my letter published felt like a real accomplishment and I was quite proud of it. Shortly afterward, I received a letter from the editor of the Sketch Magazine. He indicated that he'd read my letter and was impressed with my writing and offered me a weekly column in his magazine, with a considerable amount of freedom to choose what I wanted to write about. And, as you may have guessed – that editor was Michael Gregson"

Bertie saw Edith pause after saying his name and look at him. He didn't want to speak yet, since the story was only beginning and he wanted her to feel safe to tell it however she chose.

"It took awhile for me to accept, because between my writing the letter for the Times, and accepting Michael's offer – Sybil went into labour and, as you know, she passed away during childbirth. This was devastating of course, and so I was quite preoccupied at home and our family was in mourning. However, a short while later, Michael wrote a second time and extended the offer of the column again. After some internal deliberation, and some fighting with my father, I took a meeting with Michael and I ultimately accepted his offer."

"I wrote every week, and Michael reviewed my columns. To some he made some noteworthy edits, but most of the time he kept the main structure of my arguments as I had written them. I appreciated that if he ever made a change to one of my columns, he always wrote or telephoned - to tell me precisely what he was changing and why. It felt like a demonstration that he respected my intelligence, and I quite appreciated the courtesy of his effort. This continued for some time and I made a few trips to London every few weeks accordingly.

"After awhile, I began to sense that he was… flirting. My sense was promoted to certainty with time, and I found I was not opposed to the idea of him, I liked Michael and I very much enjoyed his company…. until… I made some inquiries and discovered that… Michael was….. married."

Edith looked up from her glass at Bertie in a way that told him that this was the moment she had been dreading. She was clearly looking to see how Bertie might react to the news that Marigold's father was married to someone else. But Bertie was a quick learner, and he had meant what he said to her earlier when he told her he trusted her. And he knew her well enough to know that if Michael was married to someone else, there absolutely would be more to this story. Edith would never consent to be a mistress to a married man without any consideration of the wife. He would wait for her to continue her story before emitting any kind of reaction whatsoever. However, Edith seemed to have lost her nerve a bit. She had transferred her gaze back down to her glass and seemed to be contemplating something. He tried to encourage her a bit "So what happened after that?"

"Well, naturally, I went straight down to London the next day to admonish him. I told him I had discovered he was married and was insulted by his flirting, and promptly tendered my resignation from his publication. I can still remember how sad he looked as I skewered him…."

Edith looked down and took a beat, and Bertie saw a flicker of sadness in her eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. "He begged me to allow him to offer up an explanation. I recall, I expressed doubt as to his ability to do so, but I did permit him to speak after I was through admonishing him. He explained that yes, technically he was still married, but his wife was in an asylum. She had been deemed a lunatic almost ten years earlier and there was no hope for a cure to her mental ailment. He spoke very lovingly about her, and indicated that he had had to mourn her, and their marriage for quite awhile before he accepted that she truly was lost to him … or something to that effect, I can't recall how he worded it exactly. However, the law prohibits a divorce in such a circumstance since a lunatic can neither be the guilty nor the innocent party."

Bertie had no idea what his face looked like. He hadn't known what he had expected from her in terms of what explanation she would proffer, but it wasn't that. But he was pleased, however, to have been proven right. He knew there would be more to Gregson's being married and this was a very thorough justification for Edith being involved with a married man.

Edith continued: "Anyway. He begged me to reconsider resigning. And I did end up withdrawing my resignation. I loved writing the column and wanted to continue it. But I also explained to him that although I was sympathetic to his plight, I simply could not take up with a married man. It was not possible. He accepted my romantic rejection and expressed that he was pleased I would continue my writing."

"So we continued professionally for awhile as we had initially. That is, until the following summer, my family travelled to the Highlands, to visit Lord and Lady Flintshire, who are cousins of my father's. Michael knew I was travelling and he made a point of going to Scotland as well. He… renewed his expression of his feelings for me and hoped I might be persuadable. So I told him the truth – That I had feelings for him as well, but we were at an impasse as there was no future. He had hoped to find an ally in Matthew, Mary's first husband, but Matthew discouraged Michael from any further advances. Michael seemed to accept defeat and told me he would give up… but….. I …told him not to."

Edith had been looking at Bertie but looked back down at her drink for that last part. Bertie could see that she was uncomfortable but it was definitely too soon to speak so he simply hoped she would continue.

"I essentially told him that if he found a different way forward other than simply asking me to live with him in sin, I would ….be open to considering it. And he said he would see what could be done. Also – immediately after this trip, on the day that Mary gave birth to George, Matthew, died on his way home from the hospital. So, once again, our house was in mourning for some time. Not only was Matthew very young, and Mary's husband, and the heir to my father's title and the estate, but he was a lovely and wonderful person and we all missed him very much. So, I suspect Michael didn't press any issues during this time as a sign of deference to our house of mourning. But six months later, he invited me to London and told me we were to celebrate his "progress". He had learned that if he moved to Germany, however temporarily, and officially became a German citizen, he would be permitted to divorce Lizzie, his wife, and would be free to marry again. That night, he asked me directly – If he did this, would I marry him? And … I said that I would. And thus began our romantic relationship."

Author's Note: Continued in Chapter 2 – Hopefully you've enjoyed so far!