A/N Thank you for all the reviews, you really are the best. Classicist, Edith asked if she could borrow a line from your review? I didn't think you would mind.

XXX

Shortly after 6am, Anthony awoke and took in his surroundings. No, it wasn't a weird dream, he was in fact in his car, with Edith Crawley, who had slept through the night and was indeed still asleep, cradled in his arms. How extraordinary, he thought. Again.

"Edith, Edith sweetheart' he whispered softly, hoping to wake her but not to shock her as she came round.

Slowly Edith opened her eyes. For a split second, she had absolutely no idea where she was but then she remembered the drive, the storm and falling asleep in Anthony's arms…

Edith moved her head from his chest and looked up at him, a sleepy smile on her face.

Taking in Edith's sleepy expression, Anthony's heart fell to his stomach and somersaulted into his throat. He was in trouble.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well? I'm sorry if I hogged too much of the sleeping bag last night!" said Edith.

Anthony wasn't about to tell her that he would have slept out in the snow if she wanted him to.

"Good morning. Yes, I slept very well and don't worry yourself, I had plenty of sleeping bag. Now, would my lady like a cup of tea?"

"Oh that would be lovely. Thank you, kind sir!" Edith replied playfully.

Anthony extracted himself from the sleeping bag, got bundled up and wandered off to avail himself of the facilities and replenish their water supplies at the police hydration station.

While Anthony was gone, Edith got herself 'right side up again' and was sitting comfortably in the passenger seat with the heater on by the time he returned.

A few minutes later, Anthony joined her, mugs of tea in hand.

"Are you hungry? I have some Kendal Mint Cake we can have for breakfast."

God, competency is so very attractive, Edith thought. He really has thought of everything.

"That would be lovely, thank you!"

"I spoke to the officer at the hydration station and the road will be reopening at 7am. Unfortunately for us, that means we'll be driving right into a London rush hour but we should get you home around 9am."

"In that case, you must allow me to cook you a proper breakfast. It's the least I can do to repay you for looking after me so well last night." said Edith.

"If you're sure its not too much trouble? You must be exhausted! I know the Landie is reasonably comfortable but its no substitute for being at home in your own bed!" replied Anthony.

Edith couldn't tell him that curled up next to him, warm and cozy in his sleeping bag, was the best night sleep she'd had in years.

"Absolutely! I insist. I'll be making some for myself so you're more than welcome to join me." She replied

"In that case, I'd love to. Thank you"

As predicted, the traffic started moving just after 7am and Edith and Anthony were soon on their way. Having the road closed during the night meant that, as well as clearing away the accident; road crews had a clear run at removing all of the snow and so the rest of the journey progressed uneventfully and Anthony pulled the car into the visitor parking at Edith's building, just before 9am.

'Home sweet home!" Anthony said.
"I must confess to being more than a little relieved to find that your building has its own parking. I didn't much fancy trying to find an on street space at this time of the morning!" he chuckled.

"Yes, its one of the things that attracted me to the place, one of the benefits of having been a hospital or some such – resident and visitor parking!"

"Come on then, I see a huge stack of pancakes on our future!" Edith giggled.

They hadn't reached Edith's door when they heard a plaintive "meeooww!" coming from further along the corridor and, sure enough, outside Edith's door, was Geoff, her neighbor's giant ginger tabby cat, looking more than a little aggrieved at being abandoned for THREE WHOLE DAYS.

"Oh Geoff! Did you think I wasn't coming back? You do know that you live next door, don't you?" Edith cooed.

"Come on then, you silly billy, lets see what we can find for your breakfast, too!" said Edith.

A few minutes later, Geoff was tucking into a bowl of kibble with a side of tuna, Anthony was sitting on Edith's sofa with a mug of coffee in his hand and Edith was in the kitchen whipping up pancakes with such speed, you would think she was trying to break some kind of record!

"Ready!" She called, bringing a huge stack of pancakes to the small table in the corner of her living room.

"These look and smell wonderful, Edith. Thank you so much." said Anthony.

"Oh, its my pleasure! Please, don't stand on ceremony, tuck in!"

Having eaten their body weight in pancakes, Edith and Anthony returned to the sofa, coffees in hand, whereupon the discussion soon returned to her Christmas card mystery.

"I'm happy to do some digging for you today, Edith. I always close my practice over Christmas and New Year so I have plenty of down time.
Then perhaps, since you've fed me so well this morning, I can tell you my findings over dinner later on?"

His big blue eyes looked at her uncertainly from underneath his floppy grey-blonde fringe and Edith was powerless to resist.

"I'd love that. Thank you."

"Perfect, well in that case, I shall take my leave of you for now but shall I pick you up at say, 7pm?"

"Lovely! I'll see you then."

Edith walked Anthony to the door to see him out. Just as he was stepping over the threshold, he turned and took her gently by the elbows and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"See you later" he whispered.

Despite having had the best night's sleep she'd had in years, now that Edith had a belly full of pancakes, she thought that a small nap might be in order.

Geoff, never one to miss an opportunity for a snooze on the 'big bed' followed Edith into her bedroom and the two of them curled up and fell asleep.

Anthony was as good as his word and shortly before 7pm, Edith's buzzer rang. Having finally persuaded Geoff that he really should go home, she made her way to the front of the building where Anthony was waiting.

"Hello you, I hope you had a restful afternoon. I remembered your fondness for Indian food so I've booked us a table at Booma. Is that okay?"

"Hello, yes, Booma is perfect! I thought after those pancakes this morning that I'd never want to eat again but what do you know, I'm starving!" laughed Edith.

A short while later, they were seated at a cozy corner table in the restaurant where the first of their dishes had just arrived.

"This all looks wonderful, please dig in." said Anthony.

"Well, I've done some digging on the history of your building and I now have some answers for you. It's a former psychiatric hospital, with mostly long term patients. It opened in 1900 and it closed its doors for the last time in 1996. It lay dormant for over 10 years before being converted into the lovely flats where you now live.

So given that your card was from 1974, we can say with some certainty that it was meant for a long term resident of the facility."

"That is fascinating. Thank you. I'm assuming that there must be patient records for the facility? If 'Eliza' was still living there when it was closed, then we should be able to find out where she was transferred to, yes?"

"I would think so, yes." Replied Anthony.

"Do you have the card with you, Edith? For all we've talked about it, I've never actually seen it!" he chuckled.

"Oh, good heavens! Yes, of course, I have it here". Edith pulled the card out of her bag and passed it across to Anthony.

He looked at the envelope and then removed the card and read the inscription. Edith couldn't quite read the expression on his face. Surprise? Puzzlement? Maybe even a touch of anger?

"Anthony, what is it?" asked Edith, with more than a note of concern in her voice.

"I'd have to check to be sure, but I don't think we'll need to look at any patient records, Edith. I think I recognize that handwriting. I think I know who sent this."

A/N A cliffhanger! Who does the handwriting belong to? As soon as Anthony tells me, I'll let you know!