Sitting on a bench by the edge of the Thames, Elizabeth was silent as she folded one leg over the other, waiting for her father to say something to her. He removed his hat from his head and left it to the side, adjusting his tie considering it was askew from where Deborah had tugged on it. Looking to his daughter, Edmund's gaze remained settled on her as she looked straight ahead, her eyes watching a ship moving along the water's edge, bobbing up and down. She waited patiently for her father to say something to her. She had no intention of making the first move. She didn't even know what to say to him.

She thought about how their family had been ripped apart so much. Mathilda had gone and Elizabeth didn't think that things could get much worse as the months went by and her parents barely spoke to each other. She didn't think it possible for things to become any worse, but clearly she was wrong. Clearly things were about to get much worse.

"Your mother and I have not been the same since Mathilda went missing," Edmund began to talk to his daughter as she remained mute, hands in her skirts and looking down onto her lap. She had promised that he could talk to her. "You have to have seen that, Elizabeth. You have to have seen how we can barely stand to be in each other's company, no matter how much I have tried to make things right and persuade her that we can try and move on…try and act normal…"

"I'm not blind," Elizabeth said in a whisper. "I know that things have not been fine for a long time."

"Then you know that I am lost," Edmund said to her. "I…I miss her, Elizabeth. I miss your mother and the woman she used to be…the smiling, happy Emily who I fell in love with…the woman I remember giving birth to you and Mathilda…your mother…"

"I miss her too," Elizabeth said to her father, turning to look to him. "I miss him so much and I know that she hasn't been the same since what happened that day. I know that she tries. I know that she tries to make things seem normal…that she loves me…and I know that she loves you, father. She loves you, despite all of this, and we're her family. We're supposed to be by her side to help her."

"I know," Edmund agreed with her on that point. "I know that we're supposed to help her and I have tried. I have tried to talk to her, but she doesn't want to talk to me. She is too busy with her church and her shelter, despite begrudging me spending time at work."

"And I know that I have not been perfect," Elizabeth said to her father. "I know that I have avoided going home…avoided seeing her…because I don't know what to do, father. I don't know how to help her because she claims to see Mathilda when she goes to church…that she is closer to her there…and I don't know what to say to her."

"I understand, Elizabeth," Edmund promised her. "And this is too much to lay at your door. You are only sixteen going on seventeen. You are still so young that it shouldn't be you who has to look after or worry about your mother."

"But she is my mother," Elizabeth retorted to her father.

"I know," he said to her. "And she is my wife. I have failed her and I know that I have failed her. I should have done better. I should have stood by her…"

"Then why?" Elizabeth asked him.

Edmund grunted once and nodded, knowing that he had to say something. "Can you imagine, for a whole year, being with Edward and knowing that he wants to be nowhere near you? That he does not hold you…tell you he loves you…shows you any sign of affection?" Edmund questioned from his daughter, despite the fact that she was still so young. She was sixteen, but she was already in love with the young trainee solicitor living in their house. Then again, Reid had been young when he had met Emily.

"No," Elizabeth admitted. And she couldn't imagine it. She didn't want to imagine it because she loved Edward. She adored him more than anything and had known him for over three years now, both of tem having gone to the same school and meeting there. He was but a year older than she was.

"I am a husband and a father, I know that, and looking after my family is my number one priority," Edmund promised his daughter. "But I am still a man, Elizabeth. I try to be strong for both you and Emily. I do my best to keep a brave face and be the man who you need me to be. You're my daughter, for heaven's sake, I have to look out for you…but there are times…there are times when I need someone, Elizabeth. I sometimes need love. I need someone to hold me…to love me as your mother once did."

"And you think Deborah can be the woman who does that for you?" Elizabeth asked.

"No," Edmund shook his head and then shrugged. "I don't know. I honestly have no clue. All I knew was that in that moment when she was listening to me and comforting me…showing me affection that I haven't known in months…I was weak. It was a weakness."

Elizabeth said nothing. She remained completely mute because, in some sense, she understood exactly what her father was saying. She understood how difficult it must have been for him. She remained silent and moved to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear as Edmund watched her, wondering what was going through her mind as he laced his hands together on his lap, letting them sit there. Sniffing to himself, he turned to look to the side and watched people walk by them before wiping his sweating palms on his trouser leg.

"Are you going to tell mother?" Elizabeth asked.

He was silent. Elizabeth looked over to him and watched him. She could see the guilt etched on his face clear as day.

"Will it happen again?" Elizabeth asked the other question.

"No," Edmund said to her, shaking his head firmly. He wasn't going to let it happen again. He couldn't let it happen again because his family needed him. His family needed him and he didn't know if he could cope with the guilt.

Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully.

"But I should tell Emily."

"No," Elizabeth answered quickly, shaking her head back and forth before looking to him. She moved a hand to her forehead and pinched the crown of it, feeling a headache coming on as she longed to get back home and be able to rest. She found herself exhausted, longing for a good night's sleep after Edward had snuck into her room the night before while her father worked late and her mother slept. She knew that they played a risky game sometimes, but she enjoyed it.

"If you tell mother then it will make things worse," Elizabeth said to him. "You know how mother is, father. She has too much on her plate right now and adding this…I worry what it might do to her."

"You want me to keep it from her?" he checked with her.

"No, of course not," Elizabeth said with a soft scoff. "I wish that this had never happened and I know that you should tell her, but don't you worry what it might do to her?"

"Of course," Edmund said.

"And I cannot tell you what to do. You can decide yourself whether or not you intend to tell her, father, but I will say nothing. It is your secret and it is yours to tell…but right now…knowing how my mother is…I worry what this news will do to her."

"As do I," Edmund said to his daughter and she stood up, hands holding onto her skirts. "Thank you, Elizabeth."

"Don't thank me," Elizabeth said to her father. "Just…I don't know…" Elizabeth trailed off because she didn't know. She began to walk away, Edmund following after her and placing his hat onto his head as he wondered just what it was he should do for the best.

…

Walking into the house, Elizabeth had seen her mother in the parlour as she pulled the pins from her hair and noted that she was wearing her mourning weeds. She tossed the pins down onto the sideboard in the parlour and looked to her, taking in the intricate blue dress she wore as she tugged on her white gloves.

"Mother," Elizabeth said, but made no comment of her attire.

"Elizabeth, where have you been?" Emily questioned.

"I went to help Deborah at the shelter and found father on my way home. He's just outside talking to the neighbours," she said to her. "Anyway, I was thinking that I was going to spend the rest of the day cooking dinner."

"I won't be back until late," Emily said. "I need to go to the shelter."

"Can you not try?" Elizabeth asked, her hair falling in loose curls down her back, bouncing around. "I thought that it might be a good idea for us all to dine together tonight. Edward should be back soon enough and-"

"-I'm afraid I can't," Emily said and shook her head, smiling sadly at her daughter. "But I am certain you and your father will be fine without my company."

"And if we're not?" Elizabeth asked her. "Mother, please, just stay with us."

"I can't," Emily said as Elizabeth sighed before leaving the parlour. She went to the staircase as her father walked in, hanging up the hat he was wearing onto the coat rack. He saw Elizabeth move to the staircase and he wondered what had happened before he went to the parlour.

Sitting on the top of the stairs, Elizabeth heard her mother and father begin to argue between each other. Edmund begged Emily to stay with them that night and have dinner with them. He asked her if she could simply forgo her shelter and put her family first, but she told him that she couldn't do that. She told him that she had to go. She had to leave. And then Edmund asked about himself. He asked her what if he needed her more than the shelter. It was silent then and the next thing Elizabeth saw was her mother moving to the door and leaving them.

Sighing loudly, Elizabeth buried her face into her hands and closed her eyes, unsure of what was going to happen.

…

Edmund didn't know time went by so quickly. He had solved the case involving the Russians, bringing the bomber to justice, and had moved onto his next case. He was working on another case, but worse than that, he had broken his word to his daughter. He had promised her that he wouldn't see Deborah again, but he had been unable to keep his word. He had gone back to apologise to Ms Goren, but instead had found himself trapped in her embrace once more, wrapped up in her arms and cheating on his wife.

He felt guilt whenever he would return home and see Elizabeth there. She had even spoken to him about becoming a nurse. He had been surprised, but he had encouraged her, telling her that she could be anything she wished to be and he would support her. Even Emily had told her that she was proud of her.

"Have you seen this news?" Elizabeth asked her father, carrying the newspaper into his office. "There's a new shipping magnate in town at the same time one of the engineers of an ailing company is found dead and whose body is still in your morgue, I presume."

"You have such a way with words," Edmund said to his daughter as she sank down into the chair across from him. "But yes, it does seem odd that Mr Fanthorpe was working on an engine for an Argentine steamer to rival White Star and all the others…it would cut the journey times…but Mr Fanthorpe was found dead and, as you put it, is in our morgue. His widow has come to see him and has just left."

"What did she have to say?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not much. She said that her husband lived at work, but from what I could gather, their marriage was not entirely perfect," Edmund said to her. "She knew about the work he was doing."

"So no leads?"

"Not as of yet," Edmund said. "There is someone who wishes to purchases their company, however."

"Please tell me it is Swift," Elizabeth said, pointing at the newspaper. "The man who has come in today. Swift Intercontinental is said to be a growing and booming business."

"He did say that."

"Interesting," Elizabeth said.

"But that is as much as we are going to discuss tonight," Edmund said. "Besides, we have other things to talk about, such as how your day was? How was looking around the hospital?"

"It was good," Elizabeth said to her father. She had spent the day looking around a local hospital after signing up to become a nurse there. She had finally taken the plunge and had been accepted onto a training course. The sister had been a stern and strong woman with the three new recruits, warning them that the job was not for the faint hearted.

"Didn't put you off?"

Not in the slightest," Elizabeth said. "If anything, it only cemented the fact that this is what I want to do, I'm certain of it…but I think it might be long hours and difficult. There's a lot to learn."

"You're persistent, I have no doubt you will be successful," Edmund said. "And anyway, it is late. Should you not be returning back home?"

"I went," Elizabeth said. "Mother had left a note to say that she was working late at the shelter and so I thought that I would come here and see you instead."

"And what a lovely surprise," Edmund said, knowing that things had not been pleasant at home. The atmosphere had been tense ever since he had argued with Emily and he had even spent some nights sleeping on the bed in his office, despite the fact it was rather uncomfortable. "But you should go home. Come, I'll have Hobbs escort you back."

"Will you not come home?"

"I have something that I need to do tonight," Edmund said.

He felt bad for lying to his daughter as he walked her out of the station. But she didn't need to know. He didn't have to tell her what was happening. But he should have known that things would not stay quiet. And when the news came to light, his world would implode.

...

A/N: Things are going to become much more intense in the coming chapters. Let me know what you think in the meantime!