Sir Anthony didn't utter many words during the trip back to Locksley in the lorry. His happy and jokey mood from the day before, when he had been reading the pig standards aloud to Argyll, had all vanished.
Argyll understood why Sir Anthony was so quiet, but he pretended not to. So he didn't say anything about the young woman or the interview. Instead he was talking about how good he thought it would be for Locksley's pig breeding that pigs from the estate had once more won prizes at the Pig-of-the-year show.
Sir Anthony only muttered in response. He was feeling totally exhausted after the day, and only longed to get back into bed again. The meeting with Edith had been a shook for him, and the thought that she would come to Locksley in a few days was so frightening it almost made him tremble.
He still loved her, just as much as he had done when he proposed to her all those years ago. He was a fool to have thought he was over her. He was a fool if he thought he would ever get over her.
So perhaps he should be happy about meeting her, and joyful about meeting her again. But he most definitely wasn't. Because he knew he had no right to love her any longer. There were more than one reason for that. He had abandoned her. She was married.
She was most definitely over him.
He wondered how he would be able to see her again without making a fool of himself. A very undesirable and embarrassing fool to meet for a happily married woman.
...
When Edith got back to the car after the interview, Drewe noticed that she looked sad and worried.
"Did you get your interview?" he asked as he handed the sleeping Alice back to her and started the car.
"Yes I did", was all that Edith answered.
They were driving in silence for some minutes, then Edith decided to tell what had happened to this kind man, who knew about her illegitimate child and still didn't look down on her. After all, he had been present at her wedding.
The only wedding she was ever going to have, she thought with a sigh.
And there was no one else in this world she could confide in. She wished her sister was still alive, she missed Sybil so terribly at times.
"It was very strange really", Edith started tentatively. "The owner was a man from Yorkshire. Someone I know. Or rather someone I used to know. Someone I used to know very well, if you understand what I mean. It was a real shock to meet him like that. A real shook to him also I think."
"Oh!" Drewe said. That was the last word he uttered on the subject. He understood that Edith had no wish to discuss it any further.
...
The two pigs were sleeping peacefully in their respective cage during the whole trip, tired after their long day. They were even sleeping during the half-hour or so when Argyll and Sir Anthony were having a snack at a pub beside the road.
They were both dreaming about what pigs usually dream about. Food.
...
During the whole trip back to Downton Abbey Edith wondered what had got into her. The interview had gone smoothly, nothing too personal had been said, they had talked about pigs and he had been the pleasant man he had been before he decided that she was a pain in the ass that was best left crying in church. During all their time together today they had said nothing about the past and she had managed to keep a straight face and hide the fact that she still loved him.
At least she had managed to hide it from him. But her heart had been beating more and more violently every minute they were together.
If she had only asked to come to Locksley 'some time', she could just have left it like that. But 'the day after tomorrow' was so definite, so exact. She just had to go.
But she had no illusions that it would lead to anything more. He had proved to her that day that he didn't want her - and it was obvious that nothing of that had changed.
Nothing had changed in her own love for him either, no matter what she had done those few years to get over him. Writing in the papers, falling in love with Michael Gregson, going to bed with him, having his child. Well, she didn't regret it - not any of it - how could one regret a warm little baby sleeping in one's arms?
But it hadn't helped a bit, none of it had helped her get over Anthony. She had thought it had, but now she knew that it hadn't. And it had made it still more difficult - if that was at all possible - for her and Anthony to ever get back together again.
But although she was scared almost to death of going back to Locksley and meeting Anthony again, there were parts of her that didn't regret a bit what she had said. She loved him, she wanted to spend time with him, she was looking forward to seeing him, no matter what.
She was oh so willing to go to him and make a fool of herself again.
...
Alice was sleeping peacefully through the whole trip. It was now way past her usual bedtime.
When they returned to the Drewe farm Edith knew better than to wake Alice up and cause Drewe and his family trouble if the girl wouldn't fall asleep again. So she had no chance to say goodbye to her little girl that night.
...
Late that evening, when White Beauty and Sir Brumble were returned to their respective sties, there was a stir among the other pigs at Locksley. The pigs had seen many of their kind leaving Locksley on that lorry, but this was the very first time they had seen any of them coming back.
This was so strange. Those two pigs must be very special. They had seen what life was like on the other side. And managed to come back from there.
AN: Thank you for reading! Thank you even more for commenting!
...
Are the pigs mirroring the humans? Well, if they are, it's nothing that I have planned.
The pigs in my story are pigs and the human beings are human beings. I have put a lot of effort into learning more about pigs, trying to make them real pigs and not human beings in another kind of body. It has actually been much more interesting than I had expected it to be, pigs are fascinating animals.
But, to put it bluntly, to Sir Brumble all sows are more or less the same. White Beauty is lovely, but only one of many lovely sows. But to Sir Anthony Edith is Edith and there is nobody else like her. (Which is perhaps a difference between those two characters in my story more than a difference between pigs and human beings in general?)
...
So happy to see that the Edith/Anthony stories are getting more numerous again after a few weeks when I felt like almost the only one posting. Please keep writing, all of you!