CHAPTER ELEVEN: Match Game
March 26, 1926
Brancaster Castle, Northumberland
The childish chatter of Marigold and Sybbie, playing at tea party with their fathers, tickled Edith's ears, but she was busy glancing out the window to the drive again.
"Are you expecting someone, Edith?" Tom asked, looking comical with a miniature cup grasped between thumb and forefinger. The sight of Bertie made her want to laugh out loud — his tall frame bent over the small table, his large hands dwarfing the tea set.
"Oh, I invited a friend to stay," she replied, airily waving her hand. Bertie rolled his eyes. He knew very well what she was doing, and had asked to leave him out of it.
Edith was matchmaking. She'd invited her editor, Laura Edmunds, to come for the weekend, timed to coincide with Tom's visit. Her brother-in-law was so dear to her, and Laura was a lovely girl. Their easy rapport last month at her cocktail party had put this idea in her brain.
"Is it someone I know?" Tom asked, giving Sybbie a kiss on the forehead as Nanny came in to fetch the children.
"Yes — Laura Edmunds, my editor," Edith said nonchalantly. She busied herself pouring another cup of tea. "She hardly ever gets out of London, and I don't know when I can go up there myself, so I thought I'd ask her for the weekend."
Tom raised an eyebrow. Bertie rolled his eyes again.
The next day, as they walked along a lovely, daffodil-lined path on the grounds, Edith nodded toward Tom and Laura, who were in an animated discussion ahead of them. She'd noticed Tom hadn't been able to tear his eyes away from Laura the evening before. "Do you think matchmaking such a bad idea, now?" she teased Bertie, squeezing his arm.
"Yes," he replied with a good-natured smile, patting her hand with his free one. "I think it's best to stay out of other people's business, especially when it comes to love."
"I'm only providing them an opportunity," Edith replied, then arched an eyebrow at him. "What would've happened had Mary never telephoned you last year? Does that not fall into the realm of matchmaking?"
Bertie scoffed. "I would have written or called, or come to Downton. It was already my plan."
"Oh, do you wish she had never called you then? If her matchmaking made things a little easier, wasn't it worth it?" Edith challenged.
He sighed and grinned affectionately down at her. "I suppose, to preserve the peace, I should say that you are right, as always."
Edith twirled her parasol to shield them from the others' sight. "A good rule to live by, husband." With that, she reached up to kiss him.
Standing on the parapet, Laura closed her eyes, breathing in the fresh, clean air. She would miss it when she returned to London today. She would miss other things, too, but it was best not to think on that too much, though.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone walking toward her — yes, it was Tom. Laura steeled herself, then turned to him with a cheerful smile. "Good morning!"
"I didn't think I'd see anyone before breakfast," he replied, grinning at her. Laura felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach, and cursed them. She must stop behaving like a schoolgirl with a crush.
"I wanted one last walk before I leave for the train later," Laura replied, returning her gaze over the wall. Together, they looked out at the grassy moors, which stretched as far as the eye could see, and only ended where they met with the brilliant blue sky.
"Miss Edmunds … Laura," Tom said. "I'm glad to have the chance to speak to you alone before you go. I've enjoyed our talks here, and before, when we met in London and Downton, and I … I would like to see you again. If you'd like that, too."
The butterflies came back, though they felt more like a flock of geese now. She wasn't sure what she'd wanted more — for him to ask the very thing he was asking, or to not have spoken at all.
"I can take you to dinner, maybe dancing, though I'm not very good," Tom continued. "Or we can see a picture, or an exhibition, if you prefer."
Laura took another deep breath and faced him, willing herself to be strong and composed. The last few nights, she'd been unable to sleep, thinking about what she'd say if he did ask. Unfortunately, she hadn't come up with a brilliant answer.
"Tom, I like you," she said slowly, as her courage began to rise. "I'm not afraid to say it. But as much as I want to see you again, I also know you have a full life. You have a daughter, you own a business, you are agent at Downton Abbey. I don't demand a lot — I have my own career to keep me busy — but I … I've been in love before, and I got my heart broken, because he … he couldn't make time for me."
Laura left out the part where he had been married, or how he'd promised her again and again that he'd divorce his wife. It had all been lies, of course. She was lucky she hadn't been left with nothing more than a broken heart.
She added, "I'd rather be on my own than get involved with someone who doesn't have room for me in his life."
"I want to make room, Laura, I do. Yes, I have my duties at Downton and with the business, and of course, there's Sybbie to think about. But I want more for myself, I want more for my life," Tom said. "Look, I don't know how this will turn out, but I think there's something between us, and I think it worth exploring — away from fancy parties, away from Edith's matchmaking. Just the two of us."
Laura laughed a little and felt the iron grip on her heart relaxing. Looking into his open, artless face, she felt she could, perhaps, trust him. "She was very obvious, wasn't it?"
"Very," Tom replied, with a chuckle of his own. "I like you, Laura, very much. I'd like to see if there's more to this story. Will you give it a chance?"
She took a deep breath and bit her lip. Yes, it would be taking a chance — a chance to have her heart broken. But also a chance at love, which she hadn't thought would come to her again. Laura felt as though she were jumping off the precipice. "Well, by now you should know me well enough to realize that I always want to see how the story ends."
The following week, Bertie and Edith welcomed their neighbors to a lavish spring feast at Brancaster. It had once been tradition for the Hexhams to host a big dinner around Easter, though Peter had not adhered to it in years.
The massive dining room table gleamed with the finest china and silver, roses raided from hothouses far and wide scented the room, and temporary footmen from Newcastle looked smart in the house livery. Bertie's heart swelled with pride at the sight of Edith, splendid in a cerulean and bronze dress and an impressive tiara she'd gotten reset from a very ugly necklace, mingling so easily with their guests.
Bertie gave his wife a little wink as the ladies departed the dining room after dinner. Lord Allendale lit up a cigar and gestured it at him. "Your wife and mine are becoming as thick as thieves," the viscount noted. "All I hear about these days is their school!"
"Oh, yes. I half expect to be conscripted as a teacher," Lord Ravensworth interjected with a grin. "But I learned long ago that I am no match when Emma and Caroline join forces. I remember when they were little girls, ganging up on me to let them ride my pony while I had to act as their groom!"
They chuckled, and the the Earl of Carlisle jumped into the fray. "I had four sisters, and believe me, I never got to ride the pony. I don't think I even knew we had one until after I went to Eton."
Bertie smiled politely and nodded, though he had no such stories to share, being an only child. Of course, he'd played with Peter, when they visited at Brancaster to shoot or fish. He'd gone into the Army because, well, what else was there to do, but he had enjoyed being given a ready set of brothers in arms. Now, in marrying Edith, he'd gotten two brothers-in-law he liked a great deal, and a sister-in-law he …. respected. A smile touched his lips thinking again of how grateful he was to have her as his wife.
As they refilled their port glasses, Carlisle turned to Bertie. "I say, I saw your car in the drive, and she's an absolute beauty. I'm tempted to ask you to take her for a test run."
"Oh yes, wonderful car. It was a gift from my brothers-in-law — they started Talbon and Branson Motors, in York."
Carlisle slapped the table. "What a marvelous coincidence! I've got one of their cars myself. They are your brothers-in-law? I didn't think you had sisters." He looked puzzled.
"They're the husbands of my wife's sisters — Lady Mary Talbot and the late Lady Sibyl Branson."
Murmurs of recognition came as response to this information, and Bertie thought he heard someone whisper, "Crawley ... the ice queen." Carlisle then told them about his adventure taking the car for a drive on one of the winding roads on his estate. "I thought the car might tilt to one side, I took a turn so fast!" he said with a chuckle.
Bertie grinned. "I think the same thing when Edith is behind the wheel. She could probably win a race at Brooklands."
The men exchanged surprised glances, and Carlisle raised his glass in appreciation. "Well, Hexham, tell your wife I'm open to a duel anytime. Automobiles at dawn!" The men were still laughing when they rejoined the ladies in the drawing room.
