Edith and Sir Anthony stood at the bow railing in each other's arms, their hair fluttering in the wind, until they heard a steward sound the meal call.
"We should go get dressed for dinner" Edith said, but she did not move an inch. She kept staring into Sir Anthony's eyes - cornflower-blue in the dusk light, bright and warm under his sandy lashes.
"Yes, we should" Sir Anthony whispered, but he didn't move, either. They awkwardly smiled at each other.
She traced the line of his jaw with her fingers. "We really should go."
"Oh, yes, we absolutely must."
But again, neither of them moved: they giggled, stared at each other, giggled again.
Eventually, Sir Anthony pulled his arm back, releasing Edith from his embrace. "Will I see you at dinner?" he asked.
"You'll be sitting right next to me, and if I have to push Mary off her chair to make space for you, I will."
He chuckled lightly. "Are you sure it's all right with your family?"
She raised her eyebrows. "I'll make sure it is."
He smiled again. "I'll see you in the dining room, then."
"Yes." She stepped away from him. "It's hard to stay away from you, even for a short time. Is it very foolish of me to say so?"
He looked down at her, looking rather touched. "It's very sweet." he took her hand in his and kissed it.
"Do we really have to go?"
"I'm afraid we must. It's only for a short time, my darling."
She smiled and shook her head. "I know. It's so silly! I'll see you again in less than an hour and I still don't want to go." She raised a hand to stroke his jaw again. "Indulge me: I've hardly known a day's happiness in my life, and I've never been as happy as I am in this very moment. I just don't want it to end."
He smiled back, and emotion was plain to see on his face. "I promise, from now on, I'll make sure you are happy. I will do everything I can to make you as happy as you deserve to be."
…
Still disheveled and flushed, Edith had gone straight into her mother's room to ask her if Sir Anthony could sit with them at dinner.
"But, my dear, it cannot be done. All the seats are already given!" Cora had said. Her lady's maid was lacing up her corset. "Anyway, you should go dress, darling, dinner is in half an hour. And your hair is all messed up, Anna will have a hard time fixing it in time."
"But Granny is having her meal in her room, so there's going to be an empty chair at the table. I'll switch with Mary to be next to him."
Her mother bowed to allow the maid to slip a silk slip over her head. "But, darling -"
"Oh, Mama, can't you help me out for once? You're always saying I should find myself a beau."
Cora looked baffled. "A beau? But, my dear, are you quite sure?" She turned and put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Sir Anthony is a fine gentleman, but he is a quarter of a century older than you. Now, I know I allowed you to go to dinner with him, but I didn't think you would actually -"
"Oh, Mama, please! You all think he's too old for me, but he's not. He's kind, and charming, and interesting!" There were so many more things Edith wanted to say about him (like the way her heart fluttered every time he smiled, or the fact he made her feel appreciated and understood like never before), but there was not enough time, and her mother would not have comprehended it anyway. "Oh, Mama, I like him very much!"
Cora was still puzzled, but she always felt a bit sorry for Edith: she knew her middle daughter had been unlucky in love, and she was afraid, deep in her heart, she was bound to become a spinster. Sir Anthony was quite mature, but he was a nice, decent man, and he had a good position in the county. Not quite like Lord Grantham's, but appreciable nonetheless. Eventually, she relented.
"Well, so do I, my dear." She smiled. "And your father has a very high opinion of him. I suppose we can arrange for him to sit with us at dinner."
"Oh, thank you, Mama!" Edith sighed happily and kissed her mother on the cheek.
"All right, all right! Now you better skedaddle, or you'll never be ready!"
"I'm on my way!"
…
Edith had let Anna dress her up, barely noticing what frock the maid was putting on her, nor the way she was arranging her hair. She was so impatient she had a hard time sitting still - everything she wanted was to get out of her room and see Sir Anthony again.
"There." Anna said. She was quite amazed by the contradictions of the middle Crawley sister: she had been in half a dozen different moods in the course of a couple of days. She had been sulky and glum at the beginning of the voyage, then increasingly excited and cheerful during the following days. In the morning, for some unknown reason, she had looked heartbroken, but now, after just a few hours, she was lively and joyful again. It made no sense to her at all.
"Do you like your hair this was, M'lady?"
Edith checked her appearance in the mirror; she looked at her face and thought it was no longer plain: there was hope and life in it. For once, she felt as if she was as pretty as her sisters.
"Yes" she said "I like it." She was not talking about the hairdo, Anna could tell.
"I've put your new hair comb in the back, M'lady, the one with the pearls. I thought it went well with the dress."
"Thank you, Anna. We'll see if Sir Anthony notices."
So that was the matter with her! Anna suppressed a smile.
She, too, like Lady Grantham, had always felt a bit sorry for Lady Edith. She knew – everybody knew – that she had been in love with Mr Patrick Crawley, and she had never got her luck in, because he was set up to marry Lady Mary. Then, there had been that awful business with the man claiming to be Patrick… and there had been a rumor about a sordid little romance with a married farmer, though she didn't know if there was any truth in it at all…
Anyway, Anna thought it was about time for Lady Edith to find some nice man to settle down with.
…
Just before dinner, when the sisters had met in the foyer, Edith had told Mary and Sybil, quite straightforwardly, that she had invited Sir Anthony to sit at their table; if looks could kill, Mary's would have incinerated her on the spot. She grabbed her arm, digging her nails into her skin.
"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed. "I thought you'd given him his marching orders!"
Edith stared calmly at her. "I did, actually. This morning. But then I changed my mind. I'm not giving up on him - I like him a lot, you know." She blushed a bit at those last words.
"Oh, for Heaven's sake!" Mary rolled her eyes. "Is that the reason why you sent your apologies via Matthew? To butter me up so I would not skin you alive when I learned about this?"
Edith folded her arms. "No, my apologies were sincere – for once."
"I doubt it."
"Then you're wrong. I'm trying to be a better person, you know."
"You didn't set the bar very high" Mary snorted. "Anyway, wait until Granny hears about this. She's going to lock you up until the ship docks!"
"Granny knows everything about it. She and I have a deal."
Mary's dark, slanted eyebrows went up in disbelief. "A deal?"
"Yes. We agreed I can see Sir Anthony – for now."
She narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you at all."
"Ask Granny, then. She'll tell you."
"I will." Mary let go of her arm and walked away.
"Goodness, you've really made her angry! You must care for him a lot" Edith turned to see Sybil grinning from ear to ear. "I don't know why Mary is so upset, but I knew you carried a torch for Sir Anthony! I told you you were falling for him!"
Edith smiled. At least one of her sisters was on her side. "Well, you might have been right - this one time."
Sybil giggled. "I'm always right when it comes to love!"
Edith slipped her arm through her sister's. "Oh, shut up now, Syb!" she said, but she was still smiling.
…
When the Crawley family entered the dining room, Sir Anthony was already there. Edith's heart leapt.
How handsome he is she thought. She looked at him and she didn't see the crow's feet at the corner of his eyes, the receding hairline or the useless arm hanging from the sling, but only how proudly his head sat upon his neck and how much dignity and grace run in his tall, erect body.
"Good evening, Lady Edith"
"Good evening, Sir Anthony."
Lord Grantham's eyes darted from Edith to Sir Anthony: her daughter was staring at the older gentleman with an expression that could only be described as "adoring", and Sir Anthony, on his part, looked so taken with her that he hardly acknowledged anybody else. Mary glared at them, but Matthew looked quite sympathetic.
"Do you know anything about this?" Lord Grantham whispered to his wife.
"Only that Sir Anthony is joining us for dinner" Cora said with a sly smile.
Lord Grantham looked surprised for a moment, but he recovered gracefully: he promptly stepped forward to shake Sir Anthony's hand. "Sir Anthony, what a pleasure to see you again!" he said. "Lady Grantham just informed me you are joining us!"
"Are you sure it's all right with you? I wouldn't want to impose…" Sir Anthony's voice was hesitant.
"Not at all!" Edith cut in. "We're delighted to have you. Isn't it so, Mama?"
Cora smiled one of her bright, charming smiles. "Indeed, dear Sir Anthony!"
Lord Grantham nodded. "Of course, my dear fellow. To be honest, I feel like we were in dire need of another man at this table: it's ever only me and Matthew against this Amazonian horde!" he laughed.
Sir Anthony smiled back, relieved. "Oh, well, if that's the case, I'm ever so glad to be here."
During the dinner, Edith and Sir Anthony had exchanged glances, smiles, every small token of affection the strict formality of Edwardian society allowed them to express in public. Lord and Lady Grantham exchanged a few amused looks; Sybil and Matthew looked like they were enjoying the show, but Mary was absolutely livid.
Before dinner had started, Edith had removed her long satin gloves and she had folded them in her lap, as usual; at some point, in turning towards Sir Anthony, one of them slipped on the floor. He quickly bent over to pick it up, held it for a moment in his hand, stroke it lightly with his thumb, then gave it back to Edith; a simple, inconsequential gesture that still managed to fill her with a surge of tenderness.
"Thank you" she said softly. In taking it from his hand, their hands brushed and their eyes met: they both smiled and blushed.
Out of the corner of her eye, Edith saw Mary roll her eyes. She couldn't care less. She was living a magical moment - something out of a fairytale, something she had only ever dreamt could happen to someone like her - and nothing could ruin it.
…
"I'm afraid, at dinner, I might have been a bit overly maudlin" Sir Anthony said, while they were walking on the deck. The air was freezing, but they decided to go for a quick walk so that they could be alone for a few moments, before going to bed.
Edith rested her head against his shoulder with a happy sigh. "Well, me, too. We're put up quite a sappy act" she chuckled "and I loved every minute of it!"
He shook his head. "Your family must have thought I'm rather pathetic. 'Look at that old fool, blushing like a schoolgirl on her first date'." He said, with a self-mocking smile.
Edith looked at him. "As far as I remember, we had agreed you'd stop calling yourself old. My threat of throwing you in the Atlantic still stands, you know."
"Right. I apologize." He chuckled lightly, and Edith laid her head on his shoulder again. "But Lady Mary looked positively outraged at my lack of dignity."
They kept walking. "She did look outraged, but you're wrong if you think it was about you: she was mad at me. You see, there's one thing Mary just can't bear, and it's when I'm happier than she is."
"I see. Sibling rivalry." He smiled. "And - are you? Happier than her?"
She looked up at him. "Happier than I thought I could ever be. Truly."
He smiled at her. "I'm glad." he said in a low voice, and Edith could have sworn she'd detected the faintest trace of tremor in his voice.
"How lucky I am" he continued "Just when I thought my life would never change, I'm going right back to the beginning."
Edith stopped walking so she could stand on her toes and kiss him on the cheek. "We are going to make each other happy, aren't we?" she said, and it was her voice that shook a little this time.
He looked down at her radiantly, and his whole truthful, simple heart was in his eyes. "Yes." He said. "Yes, I think we are."
...
I promise you, not every chapter is going to be as sappy as this one: I got a bit carried away! :D The original outline for this one even included an impromptu proposal, but I decided it was not the right time... yet.
I have the drafts for all of the remaining chapters ready; I just need to figure out how to arrange them so that they make sense in the Titanic timeline; I must warn you - I got a bit emotional in writing the sinking scenes and the aftermath of the event, and I'm afraid there *will be* some more sappiness here and there! I just can't help myself.