So sorry I've been AWOL. I went to a funeral and came home with covid. Since then, I've had a serious case of writer's block. Everything I've attempted had been rubbish. Finally, I was able to get this one to a place I felt I could post it, even though I'm still not quite satisfied with it. But hey, its progress, right?

The sun was just setting behind the trees of the orchards when Edith walked up the drive to Anthony's estate the following afternoon. She veered off and found a reasonable place to hide behind the gardener's shed and waited. Watching the house, she saw the lights come on in the room that she knew was the library. The only other lights that she could see in the house were in a room on the second floor, his bedroom. Knowing something about the operation of his house, she knew that there were still servants active in the back, finishing the work in the kitchen and his valet would be waiting for Anthony to retire. Edith planned to make her way into the house as soon as everyone had a chance to settle into their nightly routines.

Two hours later she waited quietly in the room across from his. She'd snuck in through the front door about a half hour earlier and brought her bag with her, sneaking up the steps and finding a place to wait. It wasn't long before she was rewarded with the sound of Anthony making his way to his room, talking to his valet as he did.

While Anthony and his valet were busy in his room, Edith hurriedly prepared herself for her plan. Soon after she'd finished her task, she heard the sound of Anthony's voice as he told his valet goodnight. Her ear pressed to the door to the room she occupied, she heard his door close softly and the subsequent footsteps fading as the valet walked down the hall.

A few minutes more and she had her ear plastered to Anthony's door. Hearing nothing, she carefully opened the door and slipped into his room. Just enough moonlight shone through the window for her to locate the bed and slowly she crept toward it. Barely able to make out the outline of Anthony under the bed linens, she stood very still for an instant, listening. His even breathing suggested he was asleep. Slowly, carefully, she lifted the covers and eased into Anthony's bed.

Light was just beginning to glow through the window when Edith awoke and her eyes fluttered open to take in blue eyes staring at her. She felt a smile creep over her mouth as she studied the face on the pillows beside her. Anthony was very still, his eyes unblinking, and a small smile of his own on his mouth.

"Good morning," she whispered.

His smile broadened. "Good morning."

His calm demeanor confused her. She wasn't certain what sort of reaction to expect but calm wasn't ever one of her choices. "Did you sleep well?"

"I'm dreaming, so yes, I must be sleeping very well," he replied softly.

"Dreaming? Why do you think you are dreaming?"

"This must be a dream, a variation of one I've had for years now." His eyes flickered. "You are very beautiful in the morning; did you know that?"

She smiled. "Thank you. You look quite nice yourself."

"This is the loveliest dream I've ever had; I wish this were real."

"Why?" She smiled with a mirth she hadn't felt in years. "Why do you believe this isn't real?"

"It can't be, not after what I did to you."

"That was a long time ago. And we're here now… together, in your bed."

A shadow passed over his face, one filled with regret. "If this were real, I would have to send you home." He sighed heavily. "I fear I had too much to drink last night."

Edith's hand moved to his face, tracing his jaw gently. "You have such a strong face," she said quietly. His eyes closed as the corners of his mouth turned upward. Edith thought she'd never seen him look so content. "I've missed your face. And when we were together… before; I always wanted to do this."

"Do what, my sweet?" he breathed.

"Touch you like this. It seemed that we never really touched, other than those few pecks to your cheek you allowed me. Sometimes I've thought that if we had… " she looked away demurely for a moment but then turned her eyes back to his, "if we had touched, kissed even, that you wouldn't have… that I wouldn't have let you… walk away from me that day."

"Edith," he whispered in a way that sounded more like a cry. "Why are you here? Why do you haunt me still? I've tried to make you go away but you come back to me in my dreams…"

"I still love you, Anthony; I've never stopped loving you. And I want you."

His eyes widened, something akin to terror flashing through them. "This isn't… I don't want the dream to end but this…"

"Do you love me?"

His features softened and then twisted into agony. "Always my dearest, which is why I must end this dream."

"Yes, the dream must end. We must make it real. I want you to love me Anthony. I want you to make me yours. And I want to make you mine."

"I am already yours, my sweet." Then he gasped as realization dawned. "Edith, no!" His whisper sounded more like a shout to her ears.

Edith refused to be put off, however. Her hand dropped to his pajama shirt and her fingers began to play at his top button. "Yes," she insisted.

His left hand shot up to cover hers. "Even in my dreams, I would not have you… my shoulder is quite… disturbing," he said frantically.

"Is that why you left me at the altar?" she asked modestly. "Because I have seen much worse….when Downton was a hospital."

"No. Well… yes, in part. You are so young, so fine … I am afraid the sight of my old, well abused body might be too shocking."

"Let's take your shirt away and if I do find your body distasteful, then we will stop."

Anthony fidgeted, anticipating embarrassment. "I don't know why I am reacting so to a dream," he finally said. "Especially since it is a dream, you'll remove my shirt and I will be perfect, twenty years younger, in fact."

"Not that sort of dream," Edith told him as she worked at his buttons. Feeling him tense beneath her hands she decided to reveal his torso slowly. Her hand ran the length of his chest, parting the material and revealing only the center of his torso. Anthony's eyes closed as he took a deep breath. "Oh Edith, I have dreamed this so many times…"

Edith smiled, confidence growing in her plan. Anthony did want her!

She leaned into him, her lips finding his jaw as she trailed small kisses alone the line of it. His arm wrapped around her and he pulled her closer to him. "You feel so very real…"

"So do you," she whispered as her mouth found a spot just below his Adam's apple. She felt him go limp as he took a shallow breath. "So very, very real," she added. She nibbled her way down his torso, sticking to the center line of his chest, amused by his squirming under her tender nips. Her hands worked under the fabric of his shirt, taking delight in the feel of his skin beneath her fingers.

Anthony shifted, his arm holding her tightly to him. "Oh Edith…. Oh my sweet one…" And then his lips sought hers. He had never kissed her before, not like that. A peck on the cheek was all he ever allowed and only a few times. She had tried to imagine a kiss from him, of course, but none of her imaginings could compare to the experience. Anthony might have been out of practice, but he knew how to kiss a woman. And in his kiss, she felt all of his passion, all of the pent up feelings of over a decade of their relationship.

Slowly he pulled away, his eyes drifting open. They were large and round and so very blue as he looked at her. "And now, it is time for this dream to end."

Lifting her hand to the side of his face and letting her fingers drift over his ear and into his hair, she shook her head negatively. "No, this is only the beginning of our dream Anthony."

"No, I've let it go too far already."

"Aren't you enjoying this?" Edith asked shyly.

"Of course I am; probably far more than I ought. But if word of this were to get out, you'd be ruined and your father would quite rightly have my head."

"You'll not be my ruin, Anthony. If anything, you will be my salvation."

"Thank you for that," he said in a deferential tone, "but … I will not abuse you in that manner. Your reputation…"

"You would not abuse me, Anthony. And I…. well, you remember… this wouldn't be the first time for me."

"What? Yes, right. Who? No, no; I don't want to know. I…"

Edith felt the tears that gathered in her eyes as she watched his reaction. He was shocked, of that she had no doubt.