Chapter 2

Two hours later Henry returned with a bag of food for them, as well as a fresh change of clothes.

"My maid, Clara will be by later with some more things, she is just going to put them on the top step and leave"

"Thank you Henry, you've always been a good friend to me"

"Do you remember when we were little and you decided it was a good idea to climb that big oak tree?"

"Yes, I was chasing after Alice, and when I couldn't find her, I thought I should get up higher, to see if I could spot her, what I failed to realise was that it would be hard to climb back down, and so, there you were, to help me, you even covered for me when mama asked why my dress was dirty. If memory serves me you said that you had pushed me over when we were playing"

"I remember, mother was so angry with me, she banished me to my room for three days"

"Thank you for all this, before you go, would you like to come and meet Marigold?"

"I thought she was having a nap?"

"She was, but she woke up 20 minutes ago"

"Then yes, I would be delighted"

"Follow me"

Edith then led Henry up the stairs and along the corridor where they saw Marigold playing with her teddy.

"Hello darling" said Edith, picking the child up, "This is a very old friend of mine, his name is Henry, Henry, this is my daughter Marigold"

"Hello Marigold, it is a pleasure to meet you"

"Are you going to say hello to the kind man?"

Instead of saying anything Marigold just buried her head in the mother's shoulder.

"She's not this shy usually"

"It's fine, truly, well, I should be going"

"Okay, come on Marigold, let's go show Henry out, and then we can get something to eat"

A few minutes later, after they had shown Henry out, Marigold was drinking some juice while watching Edith prepare some sandwiches.

"It's just going to be the two of us Marigold, we are finally together and we are going to enjoy it, maybe one day we will return to Downton, but for now, I should like it very much if the two of us could get to know each other first"

Hours later, Edith put Marigold to bed and then returned to the sitting room where she sat on the sofa, reading a book. After a few moments she put the book down and stared off into space, thinking. She thought about many things, but mainly, she wished that she had told Tom about Marigold before she left, so she got up from her seat and went over to the desk in the corner of the room and composed a letter, addressed to him, it read:

Dear Tom,

I am writing to tell you that I am perfectly well and also to tell you what I could not when you asked me. I have decided to send you this in depth letter because I know you will not judge me outright, that you will listen and think before passing judgement, unlike other members of our family.

So here I go, when I left Downton, I did not leave alone, no, I have Marigold with me. She is the girl I had taken an interest in, and I had said interest in her because she is my daughter. I gave birth to her in Geneva on 3rd February 1923 and had her adopted in Switzerland, but I couldn't live knowing that my child was so far away. That is when Mr Drewe stepped in and offered to look after her, an offer which I took wholeheartedly.

I am sure that you can guess who her father is, and when I learned that my worst fears were true and that Michael was indeed dead, I knew that I wanted my child back, but I did not want to cause a scandal, so I took her and we left. I shan't tell you where we are, because I do not wish to be found, but know that we are happy, healthy and safe.

Give my love to everyone, especially to Sybbie and George, let them know that their Aunty Edith loves them very much.

Kind Regards

Edith and Marigold Crawley

Then Edith put the letter into an envelope, wrote on the address of the Abbey and attached a stamp to it, posting it first thing the next morning.

A few days later at breakfast in the Abbey, everyone was sat around the table and were eating, though they weren't at all talkative, each worried about Edith. Suddenly, Carson entered the room with Edith's letter for Tom. gave it to him and then promptly left.

After he had read the letter, Mary asked him "Who is it from?"

"It's from Edith"

"What! Is she alright? Is she safe?"

"Let him speak Cora, what does she say?" asks Lord Grantham.

"She says that she is happy and safe, but won't say where"

"I don't suppose she left a forwarding address did she?"

"No, she says that she doesn't want to be found, now if you excuse me, I must go make sure that Mrs Patmore has prepared the basket for my picnic with Sybbie"

Tom then left the room, and hours later, in mid afternoon, after he had returned with Sybbie, he was in the nursery watching her and George sleep while nanny herself had a rest when Mary walked in.

"How was the picnic?"

"Good, she enjoyed herself I think, we went down to the river and fed the ducks, it was good to spend some time alone with her"

"I'm glad, now, are you going to tell me what was really in Edith's letter?"

"I don't know what you mean?"

"Yes you do, now tell me"

"Fine, do you remember the little girl that she took an interest in?"

"The one the Drewe's took in, yes, but what has she got to do with this?" asked Mary.

"She is Edith's daughter, her name is Marigold"

"Goodness gracious!"

"She gave birth to her in Geneva, early last year and had the Drewe's take care of her"

"I'm guessing that the father is Michael Gregson"

"Yes, and she says that when she learned that he was indeed dead, she did the only thing she thought she could do, she took the child and ran"

"And she really didn't say where they are?"

"No, do you have any ideas about where they could be?"

"I have a few, she could be staying somewhere fairly close, until she comes up with an idea, she could be in London, she might've even gone to Europe or be on a boat to America by now"

"Then what do we do?"

"I don't know Tom, I just don't know"

End of Chapter