What was it with these Crawley women, Sir Anthony Strallan thought. It was the morning of his wedding and he was waiting in church for Lady Edith.

He had loved them all. Well, perhaps not all of them, but at least three generations of them.

Now he found himself deep in trouble with one of them again. The granddaughter of the first one he had loved.

...

As a twenty-year-old Sir Anthony Strallan had been seduced by Lady Violet Crawley.

A young man has to have someone to teach him, and Lady Grantham had been a magnificent 45-year-old, really blooming. Anthony had enjoyed being told exactly what to do by that imposing lady. She had made him feel that he was the best lover in the universe, although it was his very first time.

His very first time and then his very first fifteen or maybe twenty times during the following weeks. Then she broke it off, suddenly, but somewhat to his relief. He had been very much in love with her and enjoyed the physical side of it very much. But he had also been very much afraid that her husband would find out.

Or her grownup son.

...

Then there was Rosamund, only a couple of years after he had bedded her mother. She had been very insistent. But he knew there was no future in this. He just couldn't face up to being introduced to her parents - whom he of course knew - as her suitor. Or more precisely, he couldn't court the daughter of the man whose wife he had been to bed with.

Anthony told Rosamund he couldn't marry her, but he didn't tell her why. But Rosamund said she didn't want to marry him either. She didn't want to live in the countryside, she just wanted to know what it was like to make love to a man.

And - well - has a man ever been able to say no to sex with an insistent woman?

And yes, he had enjoyed it. They had only made love a few times, perhaps nine or ten in all. Then Rosamund told him she was engaged to be married to Marmaduke Painswick and wanted to end the affair.

...

All this had faded into the background when he met Maud a couple of years later. She was the love of his life. He had enjoyed some very happy years with her.

All would have been well and he would have had no more problems with the Crawley women if only Maud hadn't died.

...

He had been reminded of it again when Cora had invited him to court her daughter Mary. As the polite man he was he had wondered how he would be able to get out of that.

Of course Cora didn't know anything about his earlier affairs.

Then he hadn't been able to stop himself from falling in love with Edith. Luckily that had been ended by Mary the day the war broke out.

...

When Lady Violet had invited him to tea after the war he had wondered briefly if she had wanted to take up with him again. But he soon realised that she had invited him because of Edith.

He guessed Violet had appreciated his love-making then, since she wanted her granddaughter to enjoy the same.

...

He just couldn't marry Edith. Sooner or later she would find out that he had been to bed with her grandmother. And her aunt.

She would be disgusted with him.

There was nothing to do about it. He just had to get out of this wedding.


AN: Thank you Lady Strallan for the idea! "Woke from a nap after having a crazy dream well nightmare. I dreamt that Sir Anthony left Edith because him and Violet were together. That one fic that I don't think anyone could write."

Well, what can I say? I do like a challenge!

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I find this story a lot more believable after seeing the CS of S5 and hearing Violet more or less admitting to Isobel that she has strayed more than once during her married life.

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Did I hear anyone say "Out of character"?

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Thank you for reading! And feel free to comment! I'm interested to hear what you think.