A/N: Here it is. The final chapter. There has been so much speculation and apparent spoiler-y type information going around regarding this couple that I can hardly bear to watch the show anymore. I hate to be that viewer, but if Julian Fellowes (who owns the delightful universe of Downton Abbey, by the way) does anything else to cause dear Edith misery - and Heaven forbid it be her who dies, I will likely stop watching the show.

These characters have somehow become far too near and dear to my heart.

I wanted to thank everyone who sent such lovely reviews to me throughout my writing this fic. It was received far better than I ever could have hoped. And for that, I am so grateful to all of you reviewers and readers for being so unfailingly kind.

Merci.

WS

Chapter 9 - Epilogue

Edith Strallan had always been an avid reader.

She used to use books as a distraction - pulling her from her depressing reality and plunging her mind into the glorious fictitious worlds of authors from around the globe. Lately, however, her interest in books had much increased, due to the amount of reading she did for the eager ears of the tiny blonde girl sitting on her lap.

Three years had passed since the first night she had spent with Sir Anthony Strallan as husband and wife, and when almost a year passed with no sign of pregnancy, Edith begun to fear something was amiss. Anthony had blamed himself, of course, and as he was more than content to have the wife of his dreams, the small part of him that had retained hope for someday having children slipped away.

But soon thereafter, the news that Edith was indeed expecting came with more force and joy than Anthony would have ever expected. He dared not expect too much - he knew his heart couldn't take another miscarriage, as had been the case many a time with Maud, especially where his beautiful young wife was concerned. That was one of the reasons you wanted to give her up, after all. He thought to himself on the night she went into labor. He knew that sterility increased with age - and he didn't want to be responsible for her to never have children.

But the daughter that was born to them later that night could not have made him happier.

Willa Elisabeth Strallan looked much more like Anthony than she did her mother, but in Edith's mind, it was probably best. Her blonde hair curled in the most adorable ringlets, framing her face like many an artistic rendering of cherubic angels in flight, offset by the bright blue of her eyes that would only ever make Edith proud of the fact that she had helped create such a perfect little being.

At nearly three years old, she was also quite a bit more intelligent than one would have expected.

Her voracious mind had her comprehending books meant for children twice her age, and she delighted in both the images attached to the words, and hearing the language read aloud by whoever had the time to humor her. Usually, it was Ms Lyall who sat curled up with the small girl in one of the library chairs, but Edith did partake in the raising of her daughter - far more than Cora had ever done for her.

The love of books was something Edith and her daughter had in common, and when the days were rainy and no work could be done, nothing delighted the two more than sitting in the parlour with a book.

It was on such a day, that Edith's voice rang clear in the room, the familiar story of a simplified version of Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland filling young Willa's mind with incredibly detailed pictures of a young blonde girl, only a few years her senior, diving into a world of exciting impossibility.

Sir Anthony stood in the doorway for some time, watching his wife and daughter with the utmost admiration in his eyes.

When Edith had come to him again less than a year before, announcing a second pregnancy, he couldn't comprehend his fortune.

While he was very pleased to have had a daughter, the birth of his son - whom they named Patrick, for the dear cousin Edith had lost in the tragedy of Titanic - delighted him to no end.

Anthony had been so very active in Willa's upbringing, giving him ample time to find out exactly how was best to hold a newborn with one arm, and how to interact again with young children. It had been so long, after all.

And there he stood, alone for the moment while Patrick slept in the nursery upstairs, admiring the picture of absolute serenity before him.

Upon noticing his presence, Willa turned to him with an immense smile, squirming in her her mother's lap and trying to lower herself down onto the floor.

Edith's head turned, a mirror image of that smile reaching Anthony's eyes with the effect of a sudden ray of light during a storm. He sighed, and a look passed between them that they had become used to - one that meant nothing but love.

Edith Strallan found that her husband was often a man of few words. It never bothered her, nor seemed uncomfortable. In fact, she often thanked him silently for teaching her the beauty of using one's eyes to express what words often lacked the ability to communicate.

And such a moment was broken by the small girl at Anthony's side, pulling gently on his pant leg and calling "Papa!" He smiled apologetically at his wife, and knelt down to the level of the blonde-haired child who immediately threw her arms around his neck.

"Hello, my darling." He whispered into her hair, wrapping his left arm around her.

"Papa!" She repeated with enthusiasm, burying her face in his neck.

"How are my girls?" He asked, looking up at Edith, who had smoothed out her long skirt and walked silently toward them.

"Quite well. Although I think we may be in danger of losing our daughter to Wonderland."

"Then I'll only have you to blame for filling her mind with such things." He joked, standing up as his back began to hover the line between discomfort and pain. Willa pouted, but stayed close to his legs.

The middle daughter of the Earl of Grantham put a hand on his chest, and turned her face up to kiss him softly on the lips.

Anthony sighed, squeezing her right hand tenderly. "It's time we put Willa down for her nap." He said quietly, looking down at the blue-eyed girl staring intently up at her parents. "Elisabeth was just about to come find you."

"Very well. Although I might need one as well!" Edith sighed, looking outside at the grey sky that was bright, and yet dark at the same time. "All this rain we've been having is casting such a gloom."

"Why don't we have Elisabeth put Willa to bed." Anthony began, a smirk twisting one side of his mouth upward. He leaned in closer, his lips hovering by her ear. "And I'll see what I can do about that gloom."

Edith's mouth dropped open slightly, a blush instantly tinting her cheeks that adorable shade of rose that still set Anthony's mind astray.

He had finally realized the effect he had on her as a man - and much to her delight, he began making use of it when the occasion called for it.

And on days as overcast or drear as this, he made such occasions appear.

"Shame on you, for making a lady blush." Edith giggled, just as the dark-haired housekeeper walked by behind Anthony.

He looked down on her with a unique look of tender affection and lust, before turning to Elisabeth and ushering his daughter in her direction. "She's all yours." Said he.

Ms Lyall smiled at the young girl. "Lady Willa, I believe its time we get you upstairs."

The small blonde nodded slowly, with a slight look of confusion on her sweet face. "Elis'beth." She said, the slightest hint of a yawn audible in her tone.

"Sleep well darling." Edith said to her daughter, giving her a quick kiss.

Willa then held out a hand, which the housekeeper took. The two of them walked off together, but not before Elisabeth offered her employers a smile and a slight curtsy.

"We're so fortunate to have her here." Edith announced once the pair were out of earshot.

"Don't I know it." He said, stepping closer to his wife.

She looked up at him with a sly smile, immediately remarking his proximity.

"I'm fortunate to have you, you know." She said, her eyes meeting his with confidence.

Anthony shushed her with a finger to her lips. "Let's remind ourselves of how fortunate we are."

"But shouldn't we be preparing to leave?" She said seriously, wishing with all her heart she weren't about to remind him of an engagement. "Mary asked us to Downton for tea - and I said yes days ago, this time. We can't avoid it now."

Anthony sighed, and bowed his head, forehead resting against her own.

"I suppose not." He said after a moment, letting his eyes wander the details of Edith's face and neck, collarbone, and the way the light from the room behind her lit her shoulder just so. It was all so alluring. She had that on her side one hundred percent of the time, he noted.

Edith's eyes however, had been focused on his lips. And she was beginning to remember why she had missed so many tea dates with her family at Downton. Her new estate was like a separate universe from where she grew up.

With Anthony, there was no pretense of grandeur, no trivial formality that had always seemed so crucial to Mary and her dear granny. There was only what was necessary, and good. The honesty that passed between her and Anthony slowly made her realize that she had always been loved - but she had never felt like she deserved it until becoming wife to that dear, older man.

The title of Lady had always been used to summon her, but she had never been more of a woman since being allowed to grow and develop with her new family.

Finally, she turned her face to his, and kissed him deeply. He held her face gently in one hand, stroking her cheek absentmindedly with his thumb.

"Perhaps, if you'd just give me the slightest hint of how fortunate I am, I might be inclined to do the same for you later." She mumbled against his lips.

Suppressing a groan, he chuckled. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to wait until we can take our time?"

"Time is of the essence, my love."

"I'll take that as a no." He said, smiling against her lips as she kissed him tantalizingly slowly.

She hummed her concurrence, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're so obliging. I really am rather lucky." There was humor in her voice, but she made no attempt to hide the truth of the statement.

Anthony walked her backwards further into the room, and pushed the door shut behind him before wrapping his good arm around her slim waist. "You told me once that you felt like overshadowed by your sisters." He whispered,

She smiled up at him, pulling back to look him squarely in the eyes. "And then I met you. And I couldn't have cared less if either of them had been given all the gold in the world."

"But we're not talking about money."

"No, we're talking about the fact that I married the man I love. After some trials and tribulations, no doubt. But unlike poor Mary, there has thankfully been no trouble with having children. I have children. Our children." She paused to caress his face with a delicate hand. "And I'm so, so terribly happy. All of it made possible thanks to you."

He smiled down at her, watching her eyes fill with emotion and love.

I've loved her for my whole life. He realized. As impossible as he knew it was, the love he felt was what he knew would be equivalent to a lifetime.

"Thank you, my dearest, darling Edith." He said. "For allowing me to love you."

And then he kissed her, before there could be any more words exchanged.

Words had always meant a great deal to Lady Edith Strallan. They could transport her to another plain of existence, distract her from her own world, or plunge her into the life of another. They had made her laugh, cry, and feel anger burn through her like a crackling flame - usually when a favourite character was being treated unfairly. Words had married her to this man, this man that now kissed her, touched her, and caused her head to spin with every little graze of his teeth.

But it was all feelings that made her realize how truly fortunate she had been in her life. Miserable, for much of it, despite her wealthy family and relative ease of upbringing. It was feelings that reminded her that had she not experienced those ills, she never would have been able to appreciate the exact bliss that had settled on her in those last few years.

With the understanding of how lucky she was, came the understanding that as long as Anthony, Willa, and Patrick were in her life - she would never be overshadowed by a single soul, in any respect.

And, she thought vaguely as her dress was slid from her shoulder. I will be loved as long as I live.