A Night of Dancing: New Loves and Old Friends & Old Loves and New Friends
Author's Note: I wrote this story because wanted to try my hand at different characters while still having Bertie and Edith as the main focus. Also – still told from Bertie's POV because as far as characters go, I LOVE him ;)
Bertie was very excited. He, Edith, Mary, Henry, Tom and Laura Edmunds had all just taken their seats at their table on the mezzanine floor overlooking the newest elite dance club on the London scene. Edith, as owner of one of the most successful women's magazines in England had received a VIP invite to the club's grand opening night soiree and had parlayed that into an extended invitation for her fiancé and her Editor-in-Chief. Bertie knew that it was a night that Edith had been looking forward to for weeks. Originally, it was just the three of them, but ever since Edith and Mary had vowed to be kinder to each other, she told him she thought the magnanimous thing to do was to extend the invitation to Mary, her husband and her wonderful brother-in-law, Tom. Bertie was pleased and so proud at her generosity of spirit. A further added bonus was that both Laura and Tom's faces had lit up a little when they'd been told about each other's attendance. This only confirmed a suspicion that Bertie had secretly harbored since they'd all met for the first time at Henry's race at Brooklands earlier that summer and he was curious to see how the evening would play out for the two of them particularly.
"Well, first off, thanks Edie, for including us!" Began Henry. "This club looks just divine! I think we're in for a real treat tonight"
"Indeed." Started Mary. "Already it seems this place is a who's who of the London scene. Oh look, there's Natalie Rowlands and her husband! Oh darling, we must go and say hello shortly." She said to Henry only while wrapping her arm around his.
Bertie and Edith exchanged a knowing look between them, which Bertie quickly realized had not escaped Tom's notice.
"Yes, I think we're in for a good night. A lively night indoors with some dancing is just the ticket on a cold December night, I think!" Tom encouraged.
Edith smiled pleasantly and looked around the table, even smiling at Mary. "I'm so glad you were all able to make it as well. I do think we're in for a special evening-"
She was interrupted by the arrival of a waiter who took orders for their first round of cocktails, Bertie, feeling even more generous than usual, ordered a round of champagne for everyone, not just to celebrate his fiancé's professional success, and the six of them being together and forging new friendships, but mostly his and Edith's upcoming marriage. The wedding was closer than ever and Bertie was feeling an overwhelming sense of excitement about the next chapter of their lives. He looked around the table and surveyed the group. Henry and Mary were making eyes at each other, and Tom was smiling jubilantly at Edith, but, to Bertie's surprise, Laura looked a little nervous. He wondered if perhaps she felt slightly out of her element, being with Edith's entire family in a very upscale establishment, which was likely above her means under normal circumstances.
He decided to try and remedy her nerves.
"Laura, I just realized, you're the only proper Londoner among the group, here. So, as the only true local, do you have any tips for the rest of us?" Bertie asked and then immediately berated himself. He had intended to try and bring her into the conversation to make her at ease, but somehow managed to put her on the spot with a question he didn't think she would likely enjoy trying to answer.
As she struggled to formulate a reply, he immediately interjected again and said "I don't know about you, but I feel like a real fish out of water at these kind of places, I'm such a country-dweller in my heart!"
Laura seemed to immediately relax a little and Bertie was pleased. She took her time in replying and finally said "Oh yes, I know what you mean. Although I am a townie in my heart, I tend to like … quieter places than this. But it's so lively here! It's nice to try something new every once in a while!"
Tom smiled at Laura and commended her "Well said!"
Bertie stole a glance at Edith who was already smiling at him knowingly. Bertie loved that nothing seemed to escape her notice, and her smile seemed to indicate a real affection and appreciation for his efforts.
Henry, having missed the subtext of the previous interaction, changed the topic of conversation rather drastically. "Edie, and Bertie – how was last week? It was Marigold's first visit to Brancaster, wasn't it? How did it go?"
"Oh, marvelously well!" Edith replied: "She seemed to take to the place quite quickly – which was certainly helped by the efforts of Bertie's mother" She finished and smiled at Bertie, inviting him to continue the story.
"Oh yes – the two of them were thick as thieves by the end of the weekend, weren't they? Marigold spent more time with my mother than with either you or I" He started, smiling back at Edith.
"And I think it bodes well for the future." Bertie continued "Moving her from Downton to Brancaster won't be quite such a harsh transition now that we've provided a soft introduction to the place."
Mary decided then was a good moment to throw her two cents in. "Well, if I know my sister, that was likely her intention from the very beginning of planning this little visit." She said knowingly and tilting her head at Edith and catching Edith's eye.
"Indeed it was. I freely admit it." Edith replied.
"And I was your willing accomplice in this mission. And if I may boast, we enjoyed a resounding success!" Bertie replied, looking around the table.
"Yes! Marigold has mentioned various parts of the visit several times since her return to Downton. I'm so delighted, Bertie!"
Bertie smiled at her in pride. He had worked hard to make sure the visit with Marigold had gone well. He knew how important it was, because if Marigold felt comfortable at Brancaster, then Edith would feel truly at home. And that was always his end goal. The fact that he was developing a real, true affection for his future stepchild was simply an added bonus.
He turned to address the rest of the table to bring them back into the conversation. "Although, one minor hiccup from Marigold's visit is that she apparently still calls me "the man who played dollies with me in the big Brancaster place", so I managed to get her to remember the house, just not me yet!"
Everyone laughed and Laura particularly smiled at him in sympathy. Mary, however, had a perplexed look on her face.
"What do you intend for Marigold to call you?" She asked Bertie, in a very matter-of-fact tone.
Bertie met her fierce gaze with equal veracity as he responded: "I hope she calls me dad. Or daddy, or perhaps father or papa. Whatever she chooses, really…. I'm sure she and I will work that out in time."
He finished by smiling, to demonstrate the strength of his conviction in his intention to fully embrace the role of taking on the child. He felt certain that Mary's hidden implication was somehow to question his commitment to forming a relationship with Marigold. Thankfully, she seemed to appreciate the strength of his reply and smiled and nodded at him.
Just then, the waiter returned with the round of champagne and an extra two bottles for the table. Bertie tipped the man and proposed a toast.
"To new loves and old friends & old loves and new friends!" He looked around the table at everyone, and came to rest his gaze on his darling Edith as he raised a glass and everyone followed suit.
"Cheers!" Everyone said in unison and took a sip of their drink.
"We should try and make this a regular thing!" chimed Henry, very enthusiastically. Bertie suspected that, unlike Laura, Henry was quite inhis element in a big social event like this. He clearly was a natural in social situations.
"Well… a regular thing that we all get together at least – I doubt we'll be able to make sure that every occasion is as special as this one!" said Laura.
"Too true! And it's just as important that we see each other, not necessarily always in such grandeur!" supported Edith.
"But still…" Tom began "Can't hurt to enjoy the splendor while we're here!" He said, as he smiled at everyone at the table.
Bertie was starting to really like his future brother-in-law. He was such a strong, positive influence on every person in his near proximity. He seemed to genuinely only want the best for the people he loved and he made a concerted effort to have a good impact on everyone he talked to. On top of which, he really was putting in an effort to make sure Laura felt included even if as Bertie suspected, Tom might have some more personal motivations for paying Laura attention.
Mary decided to chime in then as well. "Yes – and I still can't believe that Edith is the VIP who got us the ticket!" She snipped, while smiling with a slightly devious look behind her eyes.
However, it had not had the impact she had intended and everyone fell silent and either looked at Mary or looked down awkwardly. Bertie immediately stole a glance at Edith who was looking at Mary and appeared to be more surprised than anything else.
For Mary's part, she looked immediately repentant. "I apologize, Edith….. Old Habits…. it won'thappen again." And then Bertie noticed Mary look at Edith with a determination on her face, clearly trying to catch her eye. She succeeded after a moment and the two women spoke in unison as they said:
"…for Sybil."
This caught Tom's attention and he shifted forward in his seat as he asked: "What's for Sybil?"
Laura was watching Tom as he eagerly awaited a response to his question. Edith took up the mantle of explaining.
She looked at Tom, and then quickly at Mary, and then back over to Tom as she said "Mary and I have made a mutual promise to try to be kinder to each other. I think our animosity has hit its breaking point one too many times. So we are … creating a new narrative. And we decided to do this for Sybil. She used to always implore us to get along. And we never did while she was alive." Edith stopped and looked down for just a moment. "But we're doing it now. For her. It's what she would want us to do." Edith finished by looking at Mary and smiling, albeit a bit too formally. Mary acknowledged the gesture and smiled in return. Tom, for his part, was so overcome, he looked a little verklempt.
He leaned back and didn't speak for several more moments. Bertie watched him intently, feeling very sympathetic. He could only imagine what he must be feeling.
"Edith, Mary. That makes me so happy to hear….. on so many levels. I loved Sybil. And I love you both. And to hear that you two will stop hating each other…" He trailed off and smiled joyously.
Bertie loved that Edith was returning his smile with equal fondness. Mary also smiled at him and quickly quipped. "Well. Don't expect us to suddenly be best friends or braid each other's hair…. But yes. We will be doing our level best to get along from now on."
Tom smiled. "Well I'm still delighted. This is such great news. Sybil would be thrilled, I'm sure."
Edith and Mary both smiled at Tom. Laura seemed to want to partake in the conversation and leaned forward and asked "Did you both get along well with Sybil when you were growing up?"
"Oh yes – I think we both had wonderful relationships with Sybil" Edith replied, then turned to Mary as she continued "I think Sybil was quite adept at serving as a mediator between the two of us." Mary only nodded in acquiescence. "Sybil seemed to understand both of us perfectly and was quite skilled at…. managing the show when all three of us were together."
Mary looked at Edith as a memory seemed to come back to the forefront for her "Do you remember Edith, when we were young and the three of us played hide and seek – Sybil would always insist on being the seeker? It was the oddest thing!"
Edith smiled and continued. "Yes! She always said that it was the only way to make the game challenging since she was the youngest …which never made any sense to me!"
Mary was smiling so genuinely as they continued this exchange that Bertie was surprised at how different her face looked as she reminisced with Edith "Exactly! Especially considering she always seemed to know where I chose to hide, every time!"
"Me as well!" Edith was almost giggling "She had an omniscience about that sort of thing!"
Mary continued "And she knew the house and grounds so well. The few times she did hide, it took hours and hours to find her!"
"Do you remember that time, Mary, when no one could find Sybil one day – and papa and mama were in such a state. Search parties were sent out, and Mrs. Hughes was the one to find her that evening, she'd been in the barn playing with the piglets for hours and hours? She was covered in mud and happy as a clam!"
Mary smiled and nodded "I do, indeed remember. Carson was in a snit!"
Tom leaned forward to Edith and asked "How old would Sybil have been?"
"Um, I'm not sure exactly, perhaps around nine or ten years old?"
Tom smiled to himself and decided to jump in "Do you remember the time when I was still the chauffeur and the three of you were off to the dressmakers with your mother. Cora was making suggestions for how she could be strategic for her gown selection in order to woo young men and Sybil stated that she'd rather wear a potato sack than do what your mother was asking?"
Mary and Edith both laughed a little at the memory. But Bertie could see that, despite the fact that he was smiling, reminiscing about Sybil was making Tom a little sad, whether he would admit it or not. He also noticed that Edith was looking, not at Tom but at Laura as this exchange was playing out, and was not surprised when she changed the topic slightly.
"Oh! But Tom – I must admit, one of my favourite memories of you is from Isobel and Dickie's engagement announcement dinner when you got up and ordered Larry Gray out of the room and called him a bastard!" Edith replied enthusiastically. "I know I should disapprove of such language, but it was highly satisfying to hear him addressed thusly!"
"Agreed!" Mary immediately replied. "You're probably the only one with the courage to tell Larry Gray what he really has coming to him!"
Author's note: Continued in Chapter 2! Thanks for reading this far!