Edith's words echoed through Sir Anthony's head. Alice is my daughter. But I'm not married. Her father is married, but not to me.

Yes, that was exactly what she had told him. And after the first shock at hearing it, it filled him with a small glimmer of hope. She wasn't married to Alice's father, she probably couldn't marry him either. So perhaps - perhaps, perhaps - there was still a small chance that she would want to...

And a smile started spreading on Anthony's face, even though he did his best to suppress it, knowing he had no right whatsoever to expect anything at all from Edith. And also, he didn't want to smile when he heard that the little girl had been awoken from her sleep and started to cry. The poor little thing!

Anthony didn't really mind that Edith had carried on an affair with a married man. He didn't know her reasons, but he was sure that the way he himself had abandoned her was partly to blame for it.

...

Edith didn't see Anthony's reaction to her words, which was perhaps as well. She was too busy comforting Alice.

Alice had been disturbed by Edith's angry voice. Her little crying face was red and twisted from fear and unhappiness. The tears came streaming from her eyes while she cried. Edith got up from the sofa and walked around the library, rocking her daughter softly up and down in her arms.

"Hush, hush, my darling!" Edith said in a soft and comforting tone. "Don't be afraid, my little one. Mummy isn't angry, not with you, at any rate."

After a while Alice calmed down. She was sitting on her mother's arm, with her thumb in her mouth. She had almost stopped crying, she only sobbed softly a number of times, with larger and larger intervals.

Anthony had got up from his seat immediately when Edith did so. Now he stood there looking admiringly at Edith who was so good with her little child. She was a good mother, he had known all the time that she would be that. He smiled, they were so sweet together, the two of them.

Alice looked accusingly at Sir Anthony over Edith's shoulder. Why had he made Mummy upset? Alice had thought the man was nice, but she had been wrong, it seemed.

...

Edith had wondered and worried many times what Anthony would think if he ever found out that she was an unmarried mother. She had expected him to despise her, to think that he had been lucky to get away from someone as loose as her. So perhaps it was as well that she didn't see his first reaction, she thought.

But he had said it was for the best that he jilted her - why on earth would he think that?

"I have to hide my child away", Edith said in a low voice, when she saw that Anthony was smiling. "An outing like this, when we can be together all day, it is a rare thing. Most days I don't see her at all, and the days that I do it is often only for five or ten minutes. I have to pretend I hardly know her. Tim Drewe and his wife are taking care of her, after I get back to him today, he will take her home with him, and I will probably not be able to see her for many days. My parents don't even know she exists."

She was quiet for a moment, wondering what more she should tell him, then she continued.

"Her father is missing, he is either dead or running away from me. He has been missing in Germany for more than one and a half year. And I frankly don't think I want him back any longer. He doesn't even know about Alice either."

She was quiet for a moment again.

"So why do you think it was for the best? How can you be happy about this?" she added with trembling voice.

Anthony could see that she had tears in her eyes, he had already stopped smiling. But this whole thing gave him a chance to be of real use to Edith. He had frankly never understood why she had wanted him, that time, when she pursued him after the war. He had really thought she was about to waste herself on him. But now - if she married him - it would be possible for her to live with her daughter openly.

"I'm not... happy... about your... situation... of course not", Anthony stuttered. "It must be... terrible..."

"So, why were you smiling like that then?"

"Because...well...I only thought...if you are not married...and can't marry Alice's father...and if you can find it in your heart... to forgive me...then perhaps...well...if you find Locksley ...suitable... for little Alice... to grow up in..."

He hesitated for a moment, seeing Edith staring at him in disbelief. Then he continued.

"The thought... of that...made me happy. But...of course... I can never... expect you...to forgive..."

Then he did a thing that even surprised himself. He stepped close to her, putting his arm around her shoulders and his lips against the top of her head.

"I...love you...Edith", he murmured against her hair, not sure if she could hear him over the gentle sobs of the baby and not entirely sure if he wanted her to hear him.

...

Edith did hear Anthony's words, but she wasn't sure if he was really saying them or if she was only imagining things, so she didn't answer him. But she didn't try to get away from him, she enjoyed having his arm around her shoulders like that. It was comforting - but it also made her heart flutter, having him so near her.

After standing like that in silence for a while they all sat down on the sofa.

They were sitting there all three of them together, Alice in her mother's arms, Anthony with his good arm around Edith. Alice had stopped sobbing all together now and was busy sucking her little thumb. Her eyelids had started to droop, and soon she was fast asleep again.

The grown ups were sitting there, very close and very quiet, for a long while. They were careful not to wake the little baby up again. Then Edith at last looked up at Anthony with her eyes full of sorrow.

And he started to kiss her tears away...

AN: Thank you for reading! Thank you for the nice reviews!