Thank you so much for all your support, and suggestions, for this story. Thank you even for the threats and disapprovals, because I know I am really entertaining you if you care so much to complain. But fear not, unlike Baron Fellowes, I will take your wishes into consideration!
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Locksley had been well looked after by Oakley and his wife, the butler and housekeeper, in Anthony's absence, although most of it had been shut up in dustsheets. Walters, Anthony's agent, lived in a cottage on the estate, but the Oakleys lived in the house. By the time Anthony returned there, a fortnight after he had first received Murray's letter in Italy and sent word that he was coming home, Locksley had been dusted, aired, and was pristine again, awaiting its master. This was just as well, as Robert Crawley called on Anthony unannounced two days after he had taken up residence once more. A more awkward and strangulated meeting could not be envisaged.
After the initial shock, followed by strained pleasantries which were anything but, Anthony enquired what he could do for Robert.
"This entail business…of course it was a shock for us…you too I imagine. And you realise that you will succeed to the title only if I die before Mary or Edith produce any sons of their own: thankfully that is the most probable outcome of this…this…"
"…mess?" offered Anthony without a hint of irony.
"…yes…Still, one must prepare for all eventualities. Therefore it would seem sensible if you were to come round to Downton sometime and Tom and I can show you how we do things" Robert concluded.
"That is very generous of you, Lord Grantham, but I feel it would it be a terrible imposition on Lady Edith if I visited Downton" said Anthony with averted eyes.
"Yes, well, I think she's over that now. You do know, don't you, that she's being courted by this Michael Gregson who edits The Sketch. We expect an announcement very soon."
"I am very glad for her" was all Anthony could manage to mumble.
"So shall we expect you, say, ten o'clock on Wednesday? If it takes longer than a couple of hours you can stay for luncheon."
"That is very kind. I look forward to it."
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Robert was of a mind to be gracious. It seemed to be the best course of action anyway, but especially after he had set eyes on Strallan again. He'd lost weight, his eyes were more hooded and his shoulders more bowed than ever and he seemed tired. Robert thought people went abroad for their health. It didn't seem to have done Anthony any good at all. And the man was still harping on about Edith. Well, that was his business, and at least Robert didn't have to worry about Edith getting involved with him again. She had Michael now.
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Anthony meanwhile was feeling more and more uncomfortable with the whole situation. He felt trapped, just like an animal in one of those hellish metal traps that Anthony refused to have on his land.
He'd managed to run Locksley on his own well enough up until the last year and a bit. Running something as large as Downton was a very different matter. Also, he'd heard from his own tenants over the years how Downton tenancies tended to be involved than those on the Locksley estate; more emotional somehow. Anthony's own theory was that the character of the landowner affected the quality of the working relationships on an estate. Anthony and his father before him were men of a quiet character, fair and careful. Whereas Robert…but it was the least Anthony could do to go over and let Robert and Tom take him through the arrangements as they stood at present. Robert had held out a hand. Anthony wasn't going to refuse to take it.
But meeting Edith filled him with terror, and soon it would be a reality, rather than a remote possibility. In his mind's eye, Anthony's over-active imagination put horrible words of retribution into Edith's mouth. He hoped he knew Edith well enough to understand that she was too kind and forgiving to do that to him. It didn't take away from the fact that that was what he thought he deserved.
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At ten o'clock precisely on Wednesday, Anthony's Rolls drew up in front of Downton Abbey. The footman opened the car door for Anthony and when he got out he was met with frosty polish by Carson. The butler was even more aloof than Anthony remembered him. Anthony sighed and resigned himself to more of the same from everyone here. So it was with surprise and delight that he was met by Cora in the hall. She took his good hand in both of hers and held it.
"Sir Anthony!" Her American pronunciation of his name emphasised the 'th' sound; it soothed him although he usually found it annoying.
"Lady Grantham." He bowed his head in gallant gratitude for her welcome.
"We live in interesting times!" she said with a sad smile.
"Indeed. I was so sorry to hear about Lady Sybil and Mr. Matthew, and now little Robert. Are you bearing up?"
"I'm doing my best." She looked him in the eyes with concern, but said no more.
"If I can be of any assistance, any assistance at all, I do hope you know you need only ask." He paused. "I trust Lady Edith will not have to endure meeting me" he almost whispered at her.
"She has told me that she will be down for luncheon. I'm sure she'll be fine, but thank you for asking. Now, I must convey you to the library and my husband and Tom, before they say that I am monopolising you and wasting their time!"
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The morning was less stressful than Anthony feared. Downton had been in a bit of a mess up until last year when Matthew invested a substantial sum in the estate and insisted on modernising some of the crop rotations, overhauled the tenancy agreements, instituted some mechanisation, and a few other necessities that had been ignored for far too long. Now Downton was starting to approach nearer to the efficiency and effectiveness that Anthony demanded of Locksley. There were still improvements to be made in the accounting practices but that was easily put in place and Anthony was an expert. Before any of them had noticed the time, Carson entered the library to announce that luncheon was served.
Anthony knew he would feel dreadful. He knew that he wouldn't know what to say and had avoided preparing something because it would both feel and sound false. When he walked into the dining room with Robert and Tom, and his eyes met hers, Edith's, his dearest darling's, for the first time in eighteen months, his body felt like it to belonged to someone else. He bowed his head to her, even more formally than he had to her mother, and waited for her to speak first.
Edith's entire week – since Robert had told her Anthony would be coming to Downton – had been dominated by the thought of this moment. Now it was here, she didn't know what to do or say. He looked so very pale, just as he had done in the church. He also looked thinner and more haunted, but worst of all he looked terrified of her. She realised she was staring at him and turned her head out of embarrassment. Anthony saw this, and interpreted it as a dismissal, an expression of disgust. Just what I deserve. The family sat. Cora had placed Anthony between herself and Mary so that Edith and he wouldn't have to sit together. Conversation was halting, but between Robert, Cora, and Tom the six of them managed to get through the brief meal without too many awkward silences. At one point Mary had surprised Anthony. She leant over to him and said quietly "I remember when we first met. We were sat together here like this at dinner and you were trying to tell me about the importance of mechanisation to the estate. Little did I know that Matthew would have to carry out that mechanisation five years later, and that you and Tom would be his successors in that reform. I admit you were ahead of your time Sir Anthony."
"That is very kind of you to remember, Lady Mary. But I certainly wasn't the only one concerned at that time. And of course the war put everything back a few years for so many estates."
"Not every estate has had our misfortunes though."
"I haven't had a chance to say how sorry I am for your loss. I know what it is to lose a spouse and a child. You find yourself wondering why you were not taken too, don't you? You want to know why you were left behind, when there is nothing here for you. You wonder how everyone else gets on with life, when in reality it has ended." He had a faraway look on his face as he spoke and wasn't looking at Mary, but Mary was staring at him.
"That is it…utterly…that is how I feel. No one else has had any idea."
"I daresay your mother does know. She too has lost a child, although losing an adult child isn't the same."
"But still…" Her words were left hanging between them, as luncheon ended and everyone rose. Anthony made his excuses, said his thanks and his goodbyes, and left.
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