Part XXV:
Robert looked at his daughter across from him and shook his head in frustration. "Why Edith?" He asked. Edith didn't look up as she answered him. "I wasn't thinking papa." She answered truthfully. Robert sighed. "When and where did this happen?" He asked. He didn't really want to know but he wanted to know if trusting Rosamund to watch her had been the right thing to do. "The last time I was in London for several days. I had told you and mama how long I would be there while I told Aunt Rosamund I would be there a day later than I had told you and mama. I went with him to his apartment and I spent the night with him." She answered afraid of what his reaction would be.
Robert eyed her sternly. "So you lied to us so you could sleep with a man you were not married to?" He asked. "No! No papa. I lied so I could spend extra time with him. I hadn't planned on actually sleeping with him. I love him papa." She said. Robert snorted. "Clearly he didn't love you Edith. He slept with an unmarried woman and now where is he? Huh? He's gone!" He said getting more and more angry. "It's not like that papa! You don't know the whole story." She said feeling her temper rise. "Well then Edith, tell me the whole story." He responded. Edith pursed her lips trying to calm herself down. "He's married papa. He's married to a lunatic. She lives in an asylum and doesn't know who he is. He admitted this to me before anything started. We love each other and it's not fair that he has to stay tied down to a crazy lady. So we became married in all but the law. He even signed over the magazine to me if anything were to happen to him. He decided to go to Germany to become a citizen so he could file for a divorce from her and come back to marry me. But he's missing now." She said trying not to cry.
Robert sighed and rubbed his temples. "Oh Edith. While I feel sorry for him in his position that does not give him the right to make you his glorified mistress." "But papa I'm not his mistress!" Edith demanded. "Edith Violet Crawley you had a relationship and slept with a married man. That makes you a mistress. He had no right to do that to you." He said looking her in the eyes before Edith looked back down at her lap. "Like I said I feel sorry for the man but no man with honor takes a woman as his mistress for any reason. Is that understood?" He asked sternly. Edith looked up at him and glared through her teary eyes. "No papa. He was an honorable man! He loved me more than any man ever has. And at least he never abandoned me even after you treated him poorly." She said coldly. Robert sighed and shook his head. What have I done? He asked himself. If only he hadn't pushed Strallan away then Edith wouldn't be in this situation. At first he thought maybe he could convince the man to marry her to save her from this scandal but when he looked at her hard face he realized something. He realized his daughter could never love a man like Strallan again. She could never love a good honorable if not boring man again.
Robert decided to change the subject not wanting to get into another argument over Gregson. "Now your mother and I agree you should be allowed to stay here and raise the child as your own. But what do you want to do?" He asked. Edith looked at him in shock. She was certain she would either be kicked out and or her baby would be. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe they still loved her. Even her father. "I want to keep my baby papa. I want to live here raise my own child. But what of society? The social rules? Mary's inheritance? This is her kingdom. I have ruined it for her." She said. Robert looked closely at his daughter. "There will be a scandal and I'd rather you stay here until after the child is born before going into London for anything. But we will deal with all of that as it comes. As for your sister. I would ask her those questions. It will ultimately be her choice if you both stay here and as for how long." He answered her. Edith nodded in understanding.
Robert realized he needed to show his daughter he loved her even though he wasn't ready to show his support yet so he stood up and stood in front of her. "I love you Edith. And I always will. But right now I am not ready for all of this. So just give me some time to get used to the idea. Ok?" He asked. Edith looked up at him gratefully before standing up and hugging him. He stood still for a moment before embracing her in a quick hug before letting go of her and kissing her forehead. "I still am not happy with Gregson and if he shows up he had better be properly divorced with a proposal on his lips." He said. Edith sighed. "He's dead papa. We all know that. Now they simply must find his body." She said before Robert left her in the room alone.
Edith sat back down and thought about what had just happened. She was glad that her parents were letting her keep the baby and letting them both stay at the abbey. But she didn't like how her father dismissed Michael as if he were some common troublemaker. She vowed to prove to her father what a good man Michael was. She simply had to find a way to convince him that he was an honorable man.
Part XXVI:
The maid that had spoken up at the breakfast table was silently fuming on her way into the village to send a letter to her sister. She couldn't believe she had been lectured for calling that woman a whore. Or the child a bastard. That's exactly what they were. And now she had to treat her with respect or face getting fired. As she entered the post office she inwardly smirked at the sight of Spratt picking up some stamps for his mistress. She knew just how gossipy that man could be if the right button was pushed. Her sister had told her stories of the butler. Of how he gossiped with the maids and butlers in London when he visited friends there. Maybe it was time to bring down the mighty Crawleys. At least bring down the whore to the level in which she belongs.
The maid dropped her letter off and followed Spratt for a bit before tapping him on the shoulder. After exchanging pleasantries she went in for the bite. "Have you heard the latest news of the family?" She asked him. Spratt frowned and shook his head. "What news would a common maid have?" He asked curiously. "Let's just say the Dowager's granddaughter is not as pure as people would be made to believe." She answered. His frown deepened. "What do you mean?" "Let's just say she's got something cooking and no ring on her finger." She answered. Spratt looked confused for several minutes before gasping. "Really?" He asked. "Really. Heard it from the whore's very own lips. Her grandmother doesn't treat as she should does she? Always expecting you to serve those lower than your station allows. I bet she'll expect you to serve the whore. Unless of course. Oh never mind." She said. Spratt practically groaned with frustration. "Unless what?" He drawled. "Unless the word were to spread around London of their dirty little secret. If their high society friends knew then you could squeeze your way into a better more distinguished job as that family crumbled." She said before going back to the abbey.
She knew he wouldn't keep quiet for long. And neither would her sister. She wasn't the little sister of Sarah O'Brien for nothing. Now to watch the fireworks. She thought as she went back to her work.
(This is the thirteenth chapter for Breakfast Woes. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to all who have read and reviewed! It means the world to me! Oh and the questions I was asked in the reviews I can't answer right now as although I have an idea of what will happen things could change as I write it. Read and Review. Thanks! This takes place in the 4th season. I do not own Downton Abbey no matter how many stars I wish upon. It belongs to Julian Fellows.)