"I've told you, Cora, I've tried her mobile countless times and it's dead." The Earl sounded more irritated than he felt, his frustration finding expression in the usual ways.
"Better the phone than her." Matthew was just as relieved at the news as anyone. Sybil and Tom had called from Ireland the previous night to hear all the news.
"She probably lost it when she was abducted by the insurgents" added Mary. "Most likely, Papa, you've been phoning gunmen in the Middle East all this time!"
"Mary, darling, that isn't helpful just at the moment." Cora's habitual patience with her family was unusually strained. "What's the latest from the Foreign Office, Robert?"
"I can't get hold of the Foreign Secretary, and all the civil servants will tell me is that she is unharmed, that she is back in Britain..."
"...with Sir Anthony..." Mary chipped in.
"...yes...quite...and that she's helping them with an extensive debriefing of events" finished Robert.
"All of which we could have worked out for ourselves from this morning's Sketch!" said Cora, exasperated.
"I may be an old relic of a bygone age, knowing nothing about the modern world, but it seems to me your best chance is to call The Sketch directly. They don't seem too worried about keeping secrets." Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, went straight to the point, as usual. As Robert, Cora, Mary, and Matthew (who was trying to keep out of the ongoing argument) gaped at her, she sipped her coffee and went back to reading The Sketch's report of her granddaughter's adventures. "Did anyone know he'd been awarded a Military Cross for what he did during the ambush when he lost the use of his arm...when he was in the Territorials? Before today, I mean? No? It would seem Sir Anthony is a man of hidden depths" she said thoughtfully.
"Very hidden depths" Mary murmured into her tea.
"Mary! I'm sorry, but...he's very modest, like most brave men...I mean...do you have any idea how much courage it takes to do what he did?" Matthew had reached his limit. He himself had served a three-year tour of duty in the Grenadier Guards after university. Mary, immediately contrite, apologised to him.
"Ringing the paper does seem like the best course of action. Thank you for the suggestion" said Cora, trying to get back to the point and away from her family's disrespect of Anthony. She had looked up the number while Mary and her husband were having that little spat, and dialled it before anyone could say anything more.
...
"I can't get through. It's engaged all the time, as is Mama's mobile." Edith disconnected Anthony's phone and handed it back to him.
They were in a first class carriage somewhere between Peterborough and Grantham. Edith had phoned six times since they had left King's Cross.
"We can call in on our way to Locksley if you want to, if you feel up to it." The panicked look in Edith's eyes told him otherwise. "Or we can keep trying to phone? I'll try sending a text as well. They might not be answering because they don't recognise the number. The Press must have deluged them over the last few weeks."
"Poor Barrow!" said Edith with real sympathy for the butler.
"Yes, although I'm sure he's more than a match for them. In fact, once he got used to it, I have a sneaking suspicion he would have enjoyed letting his hauteur have free rein."
She chuckled, Anthony was pleased that he could make her laugh. She really needed to relax if she was going to get through the meeting with her family. So did he. The last time he had seen Robert was outside the church. He didn't want to think about his last conversation with the Dowager Countess.
He put his arm around Edith's shoulders. He needed her closeness and thought she might like his affection too.
This gift is yours and yours alone, Sir Anthony, no one else can be these things for her.
Elsie's confident voice echoed in his head. Sometimes, as now, it was louder than his old fears which had resurfaced in the foyer of Claridges. He hadn't asked what she had meant then by saying that her faint had been caused by seeing him. He had been afraid to, proving that, at other times, that fear settled on his heart weighing it down.
He pushed all those thoughts away and concentrated on tapping out the text message.
...
Cora was still arguing with someone at The Sketch. Mary and Robert were listening and trying to give her support and advice, occasionally raising their voices at the unseen newsman on the other end who was more interested in asking Cora questions than answering any of hers. The Dowager Countess was still reading the paper.
Matthew's phone buzzed. He read the message, gasped, and passed the phone to Mary. Unintentionally she showed how worried she had been for her little sister by visibly sighing with relief, and quickly laid a hand on her mother's shoulder.
"I am going to complain to the owner of this paper!" was her parting shot before she dropped the phone down.
"She's on her way here, Mama" she said quietly.
Matthew tried to say "That isn't quite..." but he was drowned out in the cacophony of excitement.
...
Anthony's phone rang. Edith giggled. His ringtone was the theme to The Magic Roundabout. It was so terribly him: innocent and sweet on the surface and quite determinedly subversive underneath.
"Hello."
Cora knew from the papers that Edith had been with Anthony when she had arrived in Britain the previous day, although none of them knew why, although The Sketch had put forward some erroneous theories. For some reason it hadn't occurred to her that she might still be with him. Hearing his voice took her aback for a moment, but she rose to the challenge very quickly.
"Sir Anthony, is...is my daughter with you?"
Anthony glanced at Edith. "Yes, she is, Lady Grantham." Edith's expression changed.
"Let me speak to her..." then remembering she wasn't talking to an obstructive reporter "...please."
Anthony put his hand over the phone.
"Your mother..."
Setting her jaw, Edith took the phone and answered.
"Mama."
"Edith? Edith, where are you? Are you alright? When will you be here?"
"I'm...I'm fine, Mama. A bit shaken still. We're about an hour from Downton station. Did you see the newspaper reports?"
"Yes, we did. Edith, my darling, I am so glad you're okay, but why...why is Sir Anthony with you? Don't you think you are too vulnerable at the moment to be hanging around with him?"
Edith tried, and failed, to keep her voice from conveying how offended she was.
"I am with him because he saved my life." Cora tried to reply but Edith talked over her. "Look, I'll need a couple of hours to sort myself out. Why don't you come by around four? We might even be able to give you some tea."
"But you're coming home, aren't you?"
"No, Mama. I'm going to Locksley, with Anthony. I'll explain everything then. The Sketch didn't get all its facts right, and I know you will understand once you know the truth."
"But Edith! This is madness..."
"Sorry, Mama, I'm losing you...you're breaking up..." Edith cut the call, fed up with trying to describe just how important Anthony was, and always had been, to her.
She sighed deeply, then turned to Anthony.
"Tea at four o'clock with my family."
"I had better buy some fresh milk."
...
Locksley looked as lovely as she remembered it. Anthony unlocked the front door and stood to one side allowing her to enter first. She stepped into the hall with its curling staircase and the portraits of previous baronets, feeling at peace with her surroundings for the first time in what felt like years.
"I'm just going to put the milk in the fridge, and the biscuits on a proper plate. I'll be back in a tick."
Edith walked through into the Library, their haven. But she hadn't even had a chance to sit down when there was the crunch of wheels on the gravel outside.
"Oh no" she breathed, and hurried to the door.
Cora could not have stopped herself if she had tried. She just said "Edith" as the opening door revealed her middle daughter, rushed forward and hugged her, all the worry and heartache of the last few weeks falling from her with her tears. It was not the greeting of disapproval Edith had expected. She discovered that weeping can be contagious. That was until her father spoke.
"Come along. Let's get back. Everything's alright now, we'll soon have you home, safe and comfortable." He turned to the car, and her mother was leading her away by the shoulders. She felt the hyperventilation begin, struggling to speak.
"Did you have any luggage, my darling?" Cora asked.
"No! I mean, please, just listen to me..."
"Of course, my darling girl, once we've got you home" Robert assured her.
"Lady Grantham, Lord Grantham, thank you for coming. Do come in. Edith, could you show your parents through to the Library please, and I'll get the tea. I'm sure we could all do with a cup of something."
Anthony's voice was both charming and commanding. Edith felt that familiar surge of relief caused merely by Anthony's presence, his protection. She stepped gently out of her mother's embrace, in process leading her once more into the house. But Robert wasn't as easily persuaded.
"Sir Anthony. We have come to collect our daughter. She has had a traumatic experience, I believe, and needs peace and quiet, to be with people she can trust."
"I agree" Anthony replied patiently, "but I think we need to let Edith decide for herself where her needs will be best met."
"Oh no, I'm not having that" Robert scoffed. "You've very likely brainwashed her like you did before. We are her next of kin. Please respect our wishes." Robert made as if to take Edith's arm, but she shied away to Anthony.
"I will respect Edith's wishes" Anthony said to the Earl, but looking at Edith.
"Papa, please, just sit down for a few minutes. Let me tell you exactly what happened" pleaded Edith.
"There's no need to be intolerant, Robert. Let's just do as Edith asks" Cora said in her quietly forceful way.
"We know what happened. It was reported in the paper this morning, along with several photographs of him steering you to his own ends. The man tried to trap you before. He's trying again, can't you see?"
Edith lost patience and shouted.
"He saved my life! Three times in as many days, Papa! He was almost killed rescuing me! You don't know what really happened because the paper didn't know. They reported what facts they did know and made conjectures about the rest. Let me tell you the truth. Grant me that much respect. Please."
Cora took Robert's arm, delicately urging him towards the Library.
"Please, dear. It's only delaying our return home by a few minutes."
Robert said nothing, but glared at Anthony as he let his wife lead him.
"I will make the tea and give you all some privacy." Anthony casually let his hand caress Edith's arm as he let her go. He lent near and whispered low, so only Edith could hear "I love you. No matter what happens or what you decide, I love you. I'll just be in the kitchen if you need me."
...
He made the tea. He took it through to the Library. He ignored the thunderous looks Robert Crawley gave him. He smiled and nodded at Edith in what he hoped was a supportive way. Then he did as he had promised. He left them to it. He went back to the kitchen. Briefly he wondered whether Robert might actually try to take Edith to Downton forcibly, but he quickly dismissed that idea. It was as ludicrous as Robert's own accusations against himself.
Yet he couldn't silence the worries in his head as easily. What if Edith did prefer to go back to Downton? Would that decision make any difference to their relationship? Was he being protective of her, or possessive as Robert feared? Could he tell the difference anymore? They were her parents after all, no matter how odd their family dynamic. Would she still feel the same about him, now that they had returned to normal life? Or what passed for normal life? And if she didn't, how would he cope with losing her a second time?
He slammed his fist onto the kitchen table rattling his mug.
"Stop!"
He stood, paced the room, talked loudly to himself.
"Just stop it. Remember what Anna told you. These are only thoughts, they are your fears. They are not fact. What is incontrovertibly true is that Edith asked to come here with me. She is talking to her parents only to convince them that she feels safe with me. There is no need for me to act like an Intelligence Officer in my private life, always weighing up options and looking for ways out of worst-case scenarios. Breathe."
The breathing exercises Anna had given him were very useful, he'd found. For the next few minutes he concentrated on counting in and out and nipping any unhelpful thoughts in the bud before they could take hold. He remembered what Elsie and Charlie had told him, and all the good things Edith had said to him in the past few days.
"Would you join us please, Sir Anthony?" Cora stood in the doorway, elegant and yet approachable.
"Of course, Lady Grantham." This was it, this was when he found out whether his time with Edith had been a strange and dangerous blessing coming to an end, or the beginning of the rest of their life together. He paused to let Cora lead. She surprised him by putting her arms carefully around his neck and kissing his cheek.
"Thank you. Thank you for looking after my baby." Her voice cracked with tears. Then just as suddenly she let go and was pacing back to the Library ahead of him.
Robert was sitting on the chaise when he entered, but he got to his feet when he saw Anthony.
"Anthony." He coughed. "Sir Anthony. I owe you an apology. Edith has told us the full story of her abduction and your courageous and daring rescue, and all that you sacrificed for her then and since. I...I am not sure I know how we can thank you."
"By giving us your blessing to marry, without hindrance this time, Papa" Edith interjected.
They both saw it, the hesitation in Robert's eyes, then it was firmly replaced by thoughts of what he had just heard, of what Anthony was capable if Edith was threatened.
"With all my heart." It was said with certainty and with joy. Cora gave a little sob, smiled, and nodded her approval at her husband. Edith leapt up from Anthony's armchair and hugged her father, who in turn offered his hand to his daughter's rescuer. Anthony remembered Robert's words from before the jilting, knowing, as he gratefully shook his hand, that they would never haunt him again.
"I'm still not entirely sure about leaving you here, Edith, only because here Anthony bears the responsibility of keeping the Press at bay all by himself. I don't want to have to bail him out of jail for gunning down some hapless reporter" Robert said only partly in jest. "And there's your reputation to think of."
"I can reassure you on both counts, Lord Grantham. I have no weapons here at Locksley, and I am still healing from two bullet holes which prevent me being anything more than a boring nuisance to your daughter."
"If we are, finally, to be related, and I do hope we are, I think you can go back to calling me Robert."
Cora made a decision.
"If you aren't one hundred percent, Anthony, I really think you should both come back to Downton for the time being. I'll make sure you have as much peace and quiet as you like. At least you won't have to do the cooking."
Anthony looked to Edith who nodded happily.
"I would be delighted" he answered.