Once Gregson and Edward had settled down, they joined the rest of the family and Dr Clarkson and Isabel in the parlour. Edward was still getting used to having so many servants around but with the backing of Tom now, he didn't feel too left out. Dr Clarkson was the first to go over to the two men as Edith left them to get a drink for all of them. Barrow watched on as he tried to get some information about the two men he could maybe use later on.
"So Gregson, how is the newspaper business going these days? Well or are they not selling?" Clarkson probed.
"Depends on which paper you work for but ours is going pretty well these days." Gregson sounded very proud about it.
"What about you Edward? I heard you might be making your own paper." Clarkson stirred things up a bit.
"I haven't made up my mind yet but I think it should go well." Edward tried to keep on Gregson's good side.
Before Clarkson could build any more tension between the three of them, Isabel and Edith joined them. Edith gave out the drinks between them and moved closer to Gregson.
"Isabel, this is Edward Bailey. He's a colleague of mine down in London." Michael introduced everyone.
"Nice to meet you." Isabel said bowing a little whilst Edward kissed her hand.
"Likewise. So are you related to the family or just a friend?" Edward put his foot in it.
"I'm related. I'm their cousin and my son was heir to the house and Mary's husband." Isabel gave out a lot of information.
"Was?" Edward continued to dig a hole.
"Edward!" Gregson hissed kindly.
Isabel could tell Gregson was only trying to not hurt her feelings. She could also tell Edward had no intention of that either.
"Matthew, my son died last year. As did Tom's wife Sybil." Isabel told a shocked Edward.
"I'm so sorry. If I had known…" Edward stuttered.
"It's fine. You're new to all of this and it does take quite a long time to get used to it." Isabel tried to make him at ease.
Edward knew not to ask anymore in case the others turned on him. Gregson smiled at him however, which calmed him a little. Barrow kept staring at the group gathered which didn't go unnoticed by Carson.
"Mr Barrow, could you possibly go downstairs and ask Mrs Patmore for some more wine?" Carson interrupted Barrow's thoughts.
"Can't you send Jimmy?" Barrow didn't even look at Carson when he said this.
"Now Mr Barrow." Carson insisted.
Barrow sighed but did what Carson ordered. He knew he might be put downstairs for the rest of the weekend if he disobeyed him. With all these guests coming, he couldn't risk that. Too much gossip around and things to take his mind off of Miss O'Brien. Carson tutted when Barrow was gone. What was he going to do with that man?!
Tom was watching everyone. It was good to know everything was going right especially as most of the family were so against it! He then saw Mary standing alone, looking a little sad.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Tom asked her, trying to make her feel a bit better.
"I was when there weren't any guests. Now Mr Gregson has arrived, it's becoming a little bit too much." Mary continued to moan about the party.
"He's not that bad!"
"It's not him. Just how Edith has to do everything for him and won't leave him alone!"
"She's not being like that. She just likes him and he likes her. Is there something wrong with that?" Tom chuckled waiting for an answer.
"I think I'll go to bed. I'm tired and I need my rest for when the other guests arrive tomorrow." Mary suddenly said.
"Mary, I didn't mean to make you feel bad." Tom apologised.
"It's not you." Mary patted Tom's arm leaving him for her bed.
Tom still felt bad when Mary left. She was supposed to be enjoying this weekend and now he had just made it worse!
"Mary's going to bed early." Cora saw her daughter leaving.
"And?" Robert shrugged knowing how Mary felt about the party.
Cora rolled her eyes at her husband's response. Of course he'd say something like that! She ignored him though and went back to talking to Clarkson and Isabel who had joined them in conversation.
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Anna, Bates and Albert were sitting down taking a few moments before the family would need them again later on. Albert had made an agreement with Jimmy that if Jimmy served the drinks, Albert would look after them if he was needed during the rest of the night. No one else questioned it, if Barrow was around then it would probably be quite different. Luckily for Albert, Barrow hadn't appeared just yet.
"I saw how eager Miss Edith was to see Mr Gregson earlier. They look so nice together." Anna smiled sewing a button on to a dress.
"I wouldn't be surprised if wedding bells were around the corner." Bates smirked thinking about the two.
"Mr Bates!" Anna gasped jokingly at the notion.
"It would be nice to attend a wedding." Albert interrupted them.
"Yes it would be nice to see another one." Anna agreed.
"What was the last one like? I heard Edith has had one before. Was it nice?"
Anna and Bates looked at each other awkwardly. Not many of the new staff knew about Strallan as the family had mostly kept it under wraps and the staff wanted to keep it like that. True Albert seemed trustworthy.
"Lady Edith's groom didn't go through with the wedding. He left her on the altar alone in shock." Bates retold the story.
"Oh. Why?" Albert had to keep asking questions!
"He felt that he was too old for her. Felt like he was letting her down by marrying her." Bates hoped this was the last question.
"How did Lady Edith feel after that?"
"How do you think she felt?!" Bates snapped, feeling protective over Edith.
The whole room went quiet when Bates did this. Albert sank away from him as Anna went back to her sewing. It was better for Bates and Albert's sake to not take it any further.
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The night was drawing to a close. Gregson escorted Edith back to her room as Edward unpacked their bags. Most of the family were already asleep as the day had been very long. With Gregson and Edward travelling for most of it, Edith felt bad that Gregson had to stay awake longer to take her to her room but wasn't going to turn it down.
"So the rest of the guests are arriving tomorrow morning with granny coming first. She had a few things to do today so couldn't come." Edith told a very tired Gregson.
"Good." Gregson tried to hold back a yawn.
"I'm looking forward to it. It should be nice to get back together again." Edith hadn't noticed the yawn.
"Yes it should."
"I just hope no uninvited guests arrive." Edith suddenly thought.
"Tom's gone through all of the invitations hasn't he?"
"Yes."
"Well then, there shouldn't be any people who shouldn't be here. I think we can rely on Tom for that." Gregson tried to keep Edith spirits up.
"I suppose you're right. I just can't help worrying."
Gregson was about to say more when they came to Edith's room. Even though he was tired, he would love to talk to Edith for the whole night. She kissed him on the cheek and then went in.
"Goodnight." He said quietly before heading back to his own room.
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"Edward seems like an interesting chap." Robert said as he got ready for bed.
"Yes. He did seem a bit withdrawn though. I hope he doesn't feel too left out. Tom did say he felt awkward with so many servants around." Cora agreed.
"I don't see why he would. Anyway Gregson wouldn't invite him up here if he wasn't going to feel welcome would he?"
"I suppose not. Maybe he'll feel a bit more at home after a few days." Cora snuggled more into her duvet chewing everything over.
"Granny will be questioning him non stop tomorrow. Maybe I should warn him about it before she arrives." Robert joked, chuckling.
"I'll tell her that."
Robert turned to his wife and smiled. He knew Cora wouldn't do this but he still needed to be prepared just in case it did happen. He then snuggled down next to Cora ready for sleep.
"Do you really think Strallen will have the nerve to turn up?" Robert brought up the situation that might happen.
"He might do. Will you let him in if he does?" Cora asked, knowing how Robert felt about Strallan.
"It's Tom's party. If he wants him there, then I'm not going to argue with him." Robert shrugged but Cora could tell he was holding something back.
"I'm sure the servants will have a field day about it." Cora tried to change the subject.
"Carson will put a stop to that."
"Let them have some fun. They're going to be working for most of the weekend." Cora spoke up for them.
"Huh." Robert scoffed.
Cora just ignored this response and turned over to her light. Robert stayed awake a little longer. He would have to be gentlemanly if Strallan did come along. If Strallan hurt Edith though, he was going to chuck him out straight away!
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Daisy was packing away the food from the dinner as Mrs Patmore came to check on her. Daisy didn't mind this as she knew how perfect Mrs Patmore wanted things. Mrs Patmore sat down over at the desk however, and ignored what Daisy was doing.
"I've just overheard something and I don't think it's going to be good." Mrs Patmore announced to Daisy seeing her concern.
"What's that then? I thought you had everything in hand, you normally do." Daisy looked up from her work.
"I do. It's not about me!" Mrs Patmore shuddered at the notion.
"Oh. So what could go so wrong that would put your mind uneasy?" Daisy was shocked.
"I've heard Sir Antony Strallan is coming." Mrs Patmore finally revealed.
"The one who left Lady Edith?"
"The very same." Mrs Patmore nodded her head shamefully.
"Well they're not going to stand that! He was horrible to leave Lady Edith." Daisy spoke up for her employer.
"I know. It seems an invite was given to him by Mr Blake without the family knowing."
"Mr Branson doesn't know?"
"No, I doubt any of them do. I only heard it from Barrow so it might not be true at all!"
"Don't say that about Thomas. He's not all bad."
"Whatever. Now come on hurry up. I would like to get to bed tonight." Mrs Patmore waved her hands at the mess.
Daisy quickly got back to work. She would have to talk to Thomas about it later to get more information on it. She wondered how the family would react and longed to be upstairs when it did happen. Not to be rude or anything but it would be interesting.