"Bertie!"

The old lady was half-lying, half-sitting in bed, propped up by a lot of cushions.

"So you have come at last! It's upon time, it is lucky I'm still alive", she grumbled.

Bertie hadn't expected a greeting like that - or perhaps that was exactly what he had. But he was also shocked about how thin and tired Edith's Granny had become.

He had arrived to Downton just an hour earlier, kissed his wife, played with his son, throwing him up in the air until the little one screamed with delight and Edith told him to be careful. Then he had got a quick snack - the dinner would be on in a few hours - after which he and Edith had left for the Dovager's house in their car.

"Good afternoon", he said now to the old woman who really looked very much more unwell than when he had last seen her. "Pleased to see you. I'm sorry to hear that you are not feeling well."

"Not feeling well?" Violet retorted. "I guess that is a way to put it."

Edith was trying to make her Granny more comfortable, putting the covers tidier around her, puffing up the cushions.

"Edith, please! Don't fuss! I have told you I need to speak to Bertie. Please leave us alone for a while."

With that Violet reached for the bell and rang for Pratt. When he arrived she asked him to get a cup of tea out for Lady Edith downstairs, and also bring up a cup to the bedroom for Bertie.

...

When Edith had left them after a last look of apology to Bertie, Violet started talking again.

"Well, first I want to say that I'm glad you are here at last."

Violet smiled at the man in the chair beside her, the kind and gentle Marquess that her darling Edith had managed to secure for herself. Bertie looked a bit uneasy, she noticed.

"Thank you, I'm happy to be here", Bertie said, although it was obvious to Violet that he wasn't. "And I'm glad if I can be of any help to you." That part of it sounded more believable. Especially since he smiled when he said it.

"And I also have to say that Edith is very lucky to have you", Violet added. "You are a very special man."

Bertie looked down at his hands, feeling quite a bit embarrassed. She had managed to make him blush.

...

"I never thought men like you existed", Violet added. "I certainly never met any one like you when I was young, I can say that much."

"I'm nothing special", Bertie said. "Edith is. I am the one who is lucky."

He was quit for a moment, then he added:

"I love Edith. I love her so much. And now she has given me a wonderful little son as well as her wonderful little daughter that she has let me be the father of."

"And there is another one to be expected, I've heard." Violet said with a feeble but cunning smile.

She had manged to make Bertie blush again.

"The new one will not be much younger than little Herbert", she added, with another cunning smile.

Bertie's was stunned. Was this some kind of critisism? Did she think that two pregnancies so soon after each other were going to be too much for Edith?

But he couldn't really believe he was hearing this. That Edith's Granny summoned him from Northhumberland to discuss birth control? Was this what it had been all about?

Bertie really couldn't discuss things like this with Edith's Granny. Or with anyone else than Edith, come to that. And Edith herself thought they ought to get the children they wanted before it was too late. So they had both been very happy when she was expecting again so soon after little Herbert was born.

None of this was anybody else's business. Bertie was searching for a polite way to say so without offending the old lady - she was Edith's Granny after all and apart from that she probably didn't have very long left to live. He didn't want to upset her.

Perhaps it was best to just let her go on talking. Let her say whatever she had to say and then ignore the parts he didn't like. That was usually a good idea when he was dealing with his own mother...


AN: Thank you for reading! Thank you for the nice comments to last chapter!