AN: Contribution the Andith Fest 2015 I only saw yesterday that today is day. Therefore, it's only a teaser, but with more to come. Enjoy!
Ghosts in Fading Shadows
London, September 1946
„Oh, Mama, you must come, please", Marigold pleaded her mother. "Peter said he has found the perfect home or us."
Edith looked at her oldest daughter, who seemed glow by excitement.
Marigold and Peter had married two years ago. It had been wartime - again – and Peter had to go to the battlefield too soon after their wedding day. Painful memories had returned to Edith like to many of her generation. Thankfully, Peter had returned unharmed and now it was time to settle down to family life.
No wonder that the girl was close to overexcited. Edith had been much older at her wedding, but she very well remembered the feelings, when she had entered her own home for the first time. The world had changed a lot, but some things never changed.
"I'm pretty sure you know the house. It isn't far from Downton... Did I say that Peter thinks it is prefect?"
"Yes, you did, darling." Edith smiled. "I'll come to Yorkshire with you."
"You are the best!" Marigold kissed her mother cheek. She tried not to smile over her face, but she failed.
The daughter's smile was answered. After the war, the bombs over London, the fear for Peter, Marigold deserved all the peace and happiness of the world, Edith thought. "Thank you, child", she said with a laugh. "Do you want to go by car or by train? You could ask Miller to organise the train tickets."
Marigold nodded. "That's what Peter suggested too. He'll pick us up in Ripon, he said."
At once, she hurried to leave the room to look for Miller, the family's butler.
Edith gazed after her daughter. "Oh, and please don't forget to tell Aunt Mary. I don't want to surprise her with our visit...", she called.
"Yes, yes", Marigold said, while she slipped away to tell Peter the news.
Edith sighed. She would better call her sister by herself.
Yorkshire, a week later
It always felt a bit awkward to return to Downton. The house wasn't the home of her childhood anymore, but it was still full of memories. Mary and her husband had changed a lot during the last years. It was their right, of course, and with their mother now living in New York, Downton had been taken in possession by her successor completely.
Edith wandered from the living room to the library. The room had been refurnished by the latest fashion. It appeared brighter now, but Edith somehow missed the presence of her late father. Only over there by the windows, where his desk still stood, she thought to sense him in the shadow.
"There you are, Mama." Peter entered the room. "Are you ready to go?"
"I only have to fetch my coat." Not surprising, in Yorkshire it was already a bit cooler than down in London. However, Edith was pretty sure that neither Peter, nor Marigold were realising the difference.
Would she decide to live in Yorkshire again? Probably not. She would only try to chase the past, to recover old feelings and to restore things, which didn't exist anymore...
"... he inherited it together with the title, you know", Peter just said.
"Who?" Edith was puzzled.
"The owner of the house", the young man repeated. "He inherited it from his uncle, but he want to stay in London. He isn't made for the country life, he said."
"I hope, you both are", Edith answered and patted the cheek of her son in law.
It was not before they were driven half of the way, when she realised that she had better paid more attention to his words.
"We are not going to Locksley, are we?" she asked and only the excitement growing all over Marigold's face made her trying not to respond in panic.