Edith (thinking): I am so bored! Cricket is a game only for men. They love playing it; they love watching it. Why? Why do they like it? It is so boring. I wonder if Anthony liked…no, I mustn't think about him. This wouldn't have been so boring if he'd been playing, but, of course, he couldn't, not now. No, I mustn't cry, not here. How long is it to tea? Nearly another hour. I think I'll go and bother the baby.
She looks over at the marquee behind her where Cora is cradling little Sybil.
Edith (thinking): Sybil would have been bored to death too. I do miss you Sybil.
There is a smattering of applause, and Edith sees that Carson has caught Matthew out. Matthew joins her walking back to the marquee.
Edith (aloud): Well done! A good innings!
Edith (thinking): I hope that was the right thing to say.
Matthew: Not as good as I hoped. Robert was rather expecting more of me, I fear.
Mary (joining them): You will have confirmed all his worst prejudices and that will please him.
Matthew gives her a rather hurt look.
Edith (thinking): Oh dear. This is the beginning of another argument. I'd better make myself scarce. Mama is so happy sitting there with her first grandchild gurgling on her lap. I better not disturb her. The only person here I feel any connection with is Tom. He and I have both lost the one person we loved. But Tom is out there batting for the Upstairs team, and I can see he feels uncomfortable. He would prefer to be playing for Downstairs or not at all. I have no one to talk to. Anthony would have…no, Edith! Stop it. Why does he pop into my head at all sorts of awkward moments? It isn't just the sad or lonely ones either. I want him here when I'm happy and want to share it. I haven't just lost my husband-to-be; I've lost my best friend. The person I could always talk to. About anything. Stop it, Edith. It's over.
She wanders out of the marquee and stands in its shade for a few minutes to watch her father bat. Suddenly, there is a whisper behind her from the trees.
Anthony: Edith. Edith, here.
Edith looks round and sees Sir Anthony Strallan hovering at the edge of the woods behind the marquee. All she can do is stare at him for what feels like forever, but in reality is only a few seconds.
Anthony: Edith, I must speak with you. Please?
Edith looks round to make sure she isn't being watched then joins him behind the marquee. He is thin and drawn with a darkness around his eyes. He looks like he hasn't eaten or slept for weeks. He speaks hesitantly with pleading in his eyes.
Edith: Anthony?!
Anthony: Edith, I'm so sorry to approach you like this, but I had to talk to you. I couldn't come to Downton, and I didn't think you would actually be given any letters I wrote. I just…
Edith: Yes?
Anthony: I had to ask…
He falls to his knees, tears in his eyes.
Anthony: Please. Please, forgive me. I know what I did was cruel. I know I shouldn't have done it like that, but I panicked. I wanted you to be free. I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I want it so much, because I can't forgive myself. I want to know, before I die, that you forgive me.
Edith: Of course I forgive you. I forgave you that day. I know you only did it because you thought it was the right thing to do, but, truly, it wasn't. I wasn't throwing away my life. You were making me happy.
She's jolted to a stop by the realisation of what he's just said.
Edith: What do you mean "before you die"?
Anthony: I can't live without you. I can't bear to live with the knowledge of what I have done to you, to us. But I can't have you. So I must ask you to forgive me for this too.
He takes a revolver from his pocket and puts it to his head.
Edith: No! Anthony! Listen to me, just wait a little longer, please?! I know you believe this might solve everything for you, but do you really think it would help me get on with my life if the last memory I have of the man I love is him blowing his brains out in front of me?
She drops to her knees in front of him, pleading. Anthony doesn't move. He is crying freely now, utterly distraught.
Edith: I swear to you, if you do this, then I will take that gun from your hand and put it to my own head right after. And then they can bury us together. Is that what you really want?
Anthony (whispering): Of course not.
Matthew has heard what he thought were voices behind the marquee. Mary and he have finished exchanging words and he's been left alone. He comes round the back of the tent to see Anthony and Edith kneeling, Anthony holding a gun to his own head. Thinking as fast as he can, he decides on the best way of diffusing this dangerous situation. He summons his most commanding voice.
Matthew: Major Strallan.
Anthony looks up, shaken by the use of his military title.
Matthew: Give me the gun, Major. That's an order.
Automatically, Anthony goes to hand the pistol over, slowly at first then, without thinking, passing it willingly to Matthew, who quickly unloads it and puts it in his own pocket. Edith, weeping with relief, throws her arms around Anthony. Anthony, so deep in his own misery, still wants to comfort her, and puts his left arm around her. They hear applause and realise that the game is stopping for tea.
Matthew (placing his hand on Edith's shoulder): Edith, we must get him away from here before Robert sees him.
Edith nods.
Matthew: Could you claim to feel unwell and ask Tom to drive you back to Downton? Anthony and I will walk back to the road through the woods and meet you at the crossroads, and we'll take Anthony back to Locksley from there. Is that alright?
Edith: Good plan.
Matthew senses that she doesn't want to leave Anthony alone.
Matthew: I'll stay with him. If anyone asks, tell them I've gone to the cloakroom.
Edith nods again and taking a deep breath walks back to the front of the marquee.
Matthew (to Anthony): Come on, Major. Let's get you home.
When Edith is in the middle of the marquee, and is sure she can be seen by everyone, she puts her arm to her forehead and staggers a little before crumpling up in a faint. Cora cries out but can't get to Edith because of the baby. Mrs Hughes reaches down to Edith as she 'comes to'.
Mrs Hughes: Lady Edith!
Edith: Oh! Oh dear. I do feel odd. Perhaps it's the sun.
Mrs Hughes: We should get you home.
Edith: Oh no, I'm sure…
Cora: I think that would be for the best, Edith. We'll call Jones to take you home.
Edith: Oh, I can't do that. He's Downstairs' best batter. Couldn't Tom take me?
Tom: That's fine by me, Lady Grantham, Lady Edith. (Then to Edith under his breath) I don't want to play bally cricket anyway!
Cora fusses over Edith.
Edith (to Cora): I'll be fine, Mama. I'm sure it's just the sun.
Tom walks Edith over to the parked cars.
Edith: Tom, I need to tell you something.
Tom: I know you're not just feeling faint, if that's what you're about to say.
Edith: How did you know?
Tom: Sybil fainted a couple of times, when she was first pregnant, and it wasn't anything like as graceful.
No further explanation is needed. Edith puts her hand on his arm in comfort. Tom climbs in and starts the car.
Edith: Could you take me to the crossroads just behind that wood over there please Tom?
Tom: Of course. What are we going to do there?
Edith: Pick up Matthew and Anthony Strallan and take him home to Locksley.
Tom stares at her in incredulity.
Tom: What the…what is he doing here?
Edith: Tom, don't be like that. He came here to see me and…and to ask my forgiveness.
Tom: Too right, he should!
Edith: And now we've got to get him home, and not let Papa see him. Please be gentle with him, Tom. He's in a terrible state. Well, you'll see.
Tom: Alright. But only because you asked me.
Matthew and Anthony have been walking for about five minutes. Anthony has gradually managed to compose himself, although he still feels shaky, fragile, and immensely ashamed of his actions.
Matthew (trying to sound casual): You don't happen to have a penknife on you, do you, Anthony?
Anthony: No, sorry. I don't carry them now. Can't open them with one hand, you know?
Matthew: Ah.
Anthony: If you are trying to make sure I'm not going to open my wrists, you can rest assured that I don't have any other weapons on me, Matthew.
Matthew: I'm that obvious?
Anthony: There wasn't any other way of asking the question, was there? Anyway, thank you for your concern. You still have my service revolver.
Matthew: Yes, but I'm not going to give it you back, not yet. You realise that if you'd…if you'd done it, that would have given Edith nightmares for the rest of her life, don't you?
Anthony: Oh God. Yes, of course I realise that now. But…the pain, Matthew.
Anthony begins to weep again. Matthew regrets his reprimand.
Anthony: I can't possibly tie her to me as I am. But I can't live without her, I really can't. I've tried for the last few months since…I thought the pain would subside, get less with time. But it hasn't; it's just got worse and worse.
Matthew: When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?
Anthony: I can't remember. Before the weddi…
He can't say the word.
Anthony: ….before that day, anyway.
Matthew: And your wound?
Anthony: However did you know? The pain is unbearable sometimes. It has got worse since…
Matthew: When I came back from France in a wheelchair, and didn't think I would ever walk again, I felt desperate, like you, sometimes…that I didn't deserve either Mary or Lavinia. It just shatters you, doesn't it? But I was lucky. I recovered.
Anthony (realising something): You were a Lieutenant, weren't you?
Matthew: By the end I was a Captain.
Anthony (not entirely seriously): I still outrank you. And you gave me an order!
Matthew (also not too seriously): Bloody good thing I did!
Anthony (more serious again): You still get nightmares, Matthew?
Matthew: God, yes. You?
Anthony: Almost every night.
Matthew: Only you and me, Anthony…out of all of them, everyone at Downton…we are the only two who know what hell it was over there…and still is, in our heads. We'll never get over it, you know. We'll merely learn to live with it, eventually.
Anthony: You're right, of course. Having Mary helps, I would imagine.
Matthew: Yes. Yes it does. You have no idea. And if Mary doesn't mind, and she can be selfish I can tell you, I'm sure Edith would certainly not have minded, because she's much more selfless. You wouldn't have been condemning her in any way.
Anthony: Matthew, I'm nearly twice her age, with one working arm, and a head full of demons! Look at me! How could I have done that to her? I should have stopped it before…before we…I fell in love.
Matthew: We can't choose who we fall in love with. And once we have, we accept them as they are. End of discussion. And as for not having much time, well, I'm sure both you and Tom Branson know only too well that that is in the lap of the gods. You're a fit chap; you might have another twenty five or thirty happy, active years in you yet. I don't know how long you had with your first wife, Anthony, but Tom and Sybil had less than two years.
Anthony stares at him.
Anthony: I wanted to write to Tom after I heard about Sybil, but…well, I thought it best if I didn't.
He lapses into silence.
Matthew: I'm not going to let you be alone, Anthony, at least for a few days. That's not a suggestion: I'm not going to argue it with you. You must have someone with you; me, Clarkson, one of your friends…
Anthony: I have no friends.
Matthew: None? I don't believe…
Anthony: After I jilted Edith, my few acquaintances didn't want to have anything to do with me. I don't blame them. I deserved it. And anyway, as Mary said, I'm dull as ditchwater. Never have been one for society, really. Couldn't get the hang of it.
Matthew (gently): Edith never found you dull. She came alive when you were with her.
Matthew sees tears in Anthony's eyes again.
Matthew: Come on, old chap, they'll be waiting for us.
They get to the end of the footpath through the woods and see that Tom and Edith are parked up ahead. Tom sees Anthony and Matthew walking towards them.
Tom (to Edith): Good grief! He looks like a ghost.
Tom realises Edith is crying. He puts his arm around her shoulder.
Tom (whispering to Edith): What's going on? Really?
Edith (responding to Tom in a whisper): He…he tried to kill himself back there. Matthew talked him out of it. I feared…I thought he might try again and wouldn't get here.
Tom: Bloody hell! Sorry Edith.
Matthew and Anthony reach the car. Matthew climbs in followed sheepishly by Anthony.
Matthew: Thank you Tom. I'm sorry we've ruined your innings.
Tom: Bally stupid English game! You should try a good game of Hurling. Now there's a game! People actually get hurt playing that!
Matthew and Edith laugh glad to break the tension, and even Anthony smiles.
Anthony: Thank you for driving us…me, Tom. I am sorry to have spoiled the afternoon for you all.
There's a muddle of polite refusals.
Anthony: You must let me offer you all tea when we get to Locksley, to make up for missing tea at the ground.