AN: To all you Edith fans out there: I am not surprised by the fact that you don't like the way this story is going but it is the way I chose it to go. Keep in mind that this is just a fanfiction story and has no relevance whatsoever for the actual plot of Downton Abbey.

I know that Edith is OOC in this, especially compared to last season. But one of the purposes of fanfiction is to play with the characters and that is all that I have done here. Also, please keep in mind that me writing this story doesn't mean that I personally don't like Edith' character. Moreover, I like to end stories with an epilogue set several years in the future and this story will have such an epilogue as well, so you don't really know the Edith will end up as a childless widow at Downton.

Kat

Matthew

"Mary, wake up. Mary, wake up."

"What is it Matthew? Is it George?"

"No. But something terrible has happened."

When he tells her he can see all the color drain from her face.

"What about Edith? And Patrick and his father?" she asks and she is trembling.

"I don't know."

"Matthew you have to go. You have to find out. And once you find something out, give me a telephone call. And send a telegram to my parents."

"Yes. Try to stay calm. I know it is almost impossible."

Robert

"Your lordship, you have to wake up." He dimly realizes that he is being shaken at his shoulder. He thinks that he has recognized his butler's voice. In that moment he becomes aware of the fact that he is wrapped around his wife. But if Carson is in his wife's room so early in the morning and has not left at the sight that has greeted him, something terrible must have happened.

"What is it?" he asks.

"The Titanic has sunk."

"What?"

"There was a telegram and I opened it because I wasn't sure whether it really was as urgent as the boy who delivered it said. I am sorry if I"

"Don't apologize. Give it to me." He reads the telegram and sends the butler away. He has to tell to Cora and he has to tell her alone.

"Cora, wake up. Cora, wake up."

"What is it?"

"Something terrible has happened."

"What is it?" she asks again and she is clearly afraid.

"The Titanic has sunk."

"I thought it was supposed to be unsinkable."

"Every mountain is said to be unclimbable until somebody climbs it. So every ship is unsinkable until it sinks."

"What about Edith? And Patrick and James?"

"We don't know. It doesn't say."

"You have to contact Matthew."

"I am sure both him and Mary already know. It happened much closer to America than to here. Matthew will let us know if there is news without me telling him to do so."

They sit at the breakfast table in silence. They told Sybil what happened together and the girl hasn't spoken a word since then. Cora is staring into space most of the time and he is so afraid of the news that might come that he doesn't know how to comfort either his wife or his youngest daughter.

"There is another telegram for you my lord." His hands tremble so much that he can hardly hold the paper steady enough to read it.

"It's from Matthew. It says: According to authorities: Edith on Carpathia, James and Patrick missing. Will contact as soon as more news."

"What does that mean?" It's the first time that Sybil has spoken since they have told her news.

"It probably means that Edith is save and that Patrick and James did not make it."

Matthew

He didn't telephone her. He couldn't tell her this on the telephone. So he takes a taxi home to tell her in person. He finds her in the nursery, sitting in a rocking chair, their son asleep on her chest.

"I couldn't be by myself", she says to him. "I couldn't stand it."

He gives her a kiss on the forehead. "It seems as if Edith is among those lucky few who were picked up by the Carpathia. But Patrick and James are missing, which in all likelihood means that they are dead."

Mary

She can feel the tears running down her face. She is so relieved that her sister is alive. But her cousins, one of them her brother-in-law, are dead. "It must have been horrible for Edith. Is the Carpathia coming back to New York?"

"Yes. But they said they had no idea when the ship might arrive here. Probably tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Or maybe even a day later. They are probably very careful now. All we can do is wait. I sent a telegram to your parents. And I've taken a leave of absence from work."

"Why? Now that I know that Edith is alive, I can be here on my own. And Anna is here as well. Don't worry."

"No Mary. We have to wait for Edith, she'll probably need help. And then we have to go to England. All of us."

"Matthew, if Edith can't go by herself, I'll send Anna with her. I'm sure she'd like to go back to Downton for a few weeks. And if that is not enough, I can go with her and then come straight back. It would be exhausting but you don't have to stop working for that."

The look he gives her is one of pity and remorse.

"Mary, James and Patrick are dead. And if Edith isn't pregnant, which somehow I doubt, then I am your father's heir. We have to go back to Downton."

"I hadn't thought about that. Not for a single second." It shocks her. The deaths of her brother-in-law and his father mean that she will be Countess of Grantham after all. The price is not worth it, especially not now anymore. They will have to burden their son with the knowledge that he will eventually be the earl. She had hoped she could spare him that. Their life in New York is so carefree, so free of the rules and regulations of the English aristocracy. But there is no denying it. If her sister isn't pregnant, Matthew, George and she will have to do their duty to Downton.

"Let's not start to pack up our life here before we know for certain that Edith isn't expecting." It is her last hope. Maybe, by some miracle, Edith is pregnant and the baby will be a boy.

"You don't want to go back to England."

"Matthew, I never thought I'd say this but no, I don't. Not under these circumstances. But we will do our duty."

Edith

There are too many people on this ship but she supposes that can't be helped. It's all her fault. She bullied Patrick into going on that stupid ship with her. He didn't want to. He only bought the tickets to do her a favor. And now he is dead. The images of the ship breaking apart and the people in the water will always stay with her. As will the screams of the dying people. The water was ice cold. It hurt those people in the water. And why hadn't there been enough life boats? How was this possible? Other's around her have already decided to start a campaign for stricter safety regulations. But she can't be part of that. She lost her husband and his father and with them she lost her future. She is no longer the Countess to be. That is her sister Mary now. Perfect Mary, who married another one of their father's heirs, one further down the line, but the one who will eventually be the Earl. And there is no pressure on her to produce an heir because perfect Mary has already done that. The morning she saw her parents in bed together was the morning she found out that Mary had become the mother of a healthy boy. And she herself isn't pregnant. So there is no hope left for her at all. She hates Mary for getting what she wanted after all; she hates Patrick for dying but most of all she hates herself for killing Patrick. Because that is what she has done. Without her constant nagging, they'd be save at Downton now. In mourning for James, but safe and alive. They told her that the ship will be in New York on the 18th. She supposes that Mary and Matthew will pick her up. She doesn't want to see them. She doesn't want to see anyone. But least of all that healthy baby boy.

Cora

"Your ladyship, there is a telegram for you."

"Thank you, Carson." She can feel her husband's eyes bore into her as she opens the telegram. Without scanning it first she reads it out to him.

"Mama, Papa, Edith safe with us. Physically fine but otherwise not doing well. James and Patrick certainly dead. Arranging return to England for all of us. Sending letter later today as well. Mary."

"They've realized it then."

"What?" She has no idea what her husband is talking about.

"That they have to come back. Matthew's my heir now. They can't stay in New York."