Bertie slumped back in his seat, eyes wide with shock.
Edith gulped and placed a hand on Bertie's.
"Bertie, please say something"
Bertie shook his head and blinked.
"It is bizarre," he said at last, "when you discover that a person whom you love and idolise is a human being like any other and just as capable of making mistakes"
Edith's face turned her icy and her tone switched from repentant to cold.
"Marigold isn't a mistake,"
Bertie turned to her quickly, as though he had suddenly been jolted awake.
"No...no, that's not what I mean at all. The mistake was that you thought that would make me love you any less,"
Edith took Bertie's hands in her own.
"Really," she asked softly, almost as though she were in a dream made of glass that she was frightened of breaking.
"Really. Oh my dear, when you said you had something important to tell me, I thought it was going to be something awful, like you killed someone,"
Edith laughed, "No, nothing like that,"
"But this doesn't have to change anything, unless you want it to. I already knew you loved Marigold and I already knew that she was going to be part of our lives. And I already knew that; if you wanted me to, I would be a father to her. So this doesn't change a thing,"
He beamed, and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "The only thing it changes is that we can get married with no secrets. No unanswered questions,"
Edith giggled. "Well, there is one unanswered question,"
"Which is?"
"How are you not already married,"
Bertie gave her a confused look. "We only met a year ago Edith, getting married any sooner would have been a rush,"
"No," Edith shook her head, curls bouncing, "I mean, why haven't you married somebody else?"
Bertie leant in for a kiss.
"Why would I marry somebody else?"