Author's Note: I decided to tackle the conversation...
Chapter 7: The Truth Must Be Told
Edith Crawley stoically walked out of the office of Mrs. Pelham and walked down the hallway. Her body language spoke volumes- defeat, regret and peace. If you saw her face, you could see it was holding back tears, but she was strong and able to handle it. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she had told Mrs. Pelham the truth about Marigold.
"I'm not sure if Bertie told you that I was engaged before to a wonderful man named Sir Anthony. He left me at the altar, and I was lost and figured I would be a spinster for life. It was after I got back on my feet and started writing that I met a man named Michael Gregson," Edith began as she watched Mrs. Pelham's facial expressions. She had spent years watching and observing people, and she could see that her expression was neutral.
"I see... and what does this have to do with Bertie?" Mrs. Pelham asked neutrally.
"Michael was everything to me. Until I met Bertie, I had never met a person who wanted to understand and know me. I fell for him hard and fast..." Edith said wistfully at the memory of Michael, but knew she had to tell the whole story. "The only problem was that he was twenty years older than me and married."
"You had an affair with a married man?" Mrs. Pelham said, her expression changing from shock to disbelief. How could her son fall for a woman who had loved a married man?
"There's more to the story... Michael's wife was an insane woman, and he was more than ready to divorce her..." Edith continued softly all the while watching Mrs. Pelham's body language become more stiff and rigid toward her. "On the night before he left for Germany, we slept together. I had no idea it would be the last time I saw him..."
"You slept with a married man?" Mrs. Pelham said... "If word of this gets out, Brancaster will once again become the sordid place it was when Peter was in charge."
"There is one more thing you should know," Edith said, her voice becoming stronger with the love she felt for her daughter. "Marigold is my daughter by birth. I didn't know until later that I was pregnant with Michael's child."
"Miss Marigold is your child? No wonder you wished to bring her here..." Mrs. Pelham said, her voice becoming colder and harsher with each word.
"Yes," Edith said simply. "I almost gave her up twice- in Switzerland and to a family that worked for my Father, but I couldn't bear it. Even if it ruined my life for good, Marigold was my daughter and I needed her with me."
"And you say Bertie knows all of this?" Mrs. Pelham said. Her voice was cool and it was obvious that any sense of warmth that she had toward Edith had completeley and utterly vanished.
"He knows it all. I couldn't marry him without him knowing the truth," Edith said. "I almost lost your son because I didn't tell him from the beginning about Marigold, but when I had the blessing of him accepting me, flaws and all..."
"Flaws is an understatement... a woman having an affair with a married man is one thing..." Mrs. Pelham pratically barked out in interruption. "But to add to it a child... What of her father, will he try to claim her?"
"No. Michael is dead. He died in Germany trying to get the divorce..." Edith said. "He never found out that I was pregnant with his child. Also, it was through him that I inherited the magazine and my flat in London."
"I must say this does change things," Mrs. Pelham said after a few moments of silence in a room that felt like someone could cut through like a piece of ice.
"An affair with a married man can be kept silent especially since he is dead. But, an illegitimate child will only bring gossip, shame and disgrace to a title that is only beginning to revive after the death of Peter," Mrs. Pelham said as Edith could feel her heart breaking with each word that came out of her mouth.
"Bertie is the most wonderful thing to happen to me. He came into my life when I wasn't expecting to find love. He was open, honest, strong, capable, loving and never talked down to me..." Edith said as she knew the conversation was coming to an end. "I didn't think it was right for me to keep the truth about my past from the woman who helped raise him to be the man he is now..."
Mrs. Pelham didn't reply, and Edith dared to plunge forward as she stood to leave the room. "Even if it means giving up the happiness that I know I can look forward to as the wife of your son, I had to let you know the truth." With that, Edith turned and left the room. Mrs. Pelham watched her leave and her mind reeled over the revelations from the one her son had chosen to marry.
Edith couldn't face her parents or anyone else for that matter. She needed a chance to escape, to find a moments peace, and to process everything that had just happened. She made her way to her room and picked up the light jacket she had worn Saturday. She placed it on and headed out- stopping long enough to wipe the tears that were now streaming down her face. She didn't say a word to anyone- intent on finding the place that she had loved since she had returned to Brancaster.
Author's Note: In my mind, this is the best I could imagine the conversation going down. I leave some to the imagination, but let the body language and atmosphere help provide descriptions...
Reviews, especially after this tough chapter, will help me write the next chapter faster... Bertie and Edith's converation.
