The welcome to Downton was done in the old-fashioned style. Barrow headed the line of servants to one side of the massive, oaken front door, while on the other waited Matthew, Mary, their son George, and, unusually, the Dowager Countess.

Anthony got out of the car and then gave his good hand to Edith to assist her. Cora had rung ahead to supervise arrangements for the couple's stay, and, incidentally, to tell them the true facts of Edith's experiences. The news had overtaken upstairs and downstairs like wildfire.

"Sir Anthony? Sir Anthony Strallan? Not...the one who jilted her?"

"Evidently he infiltrated the group and passed himself off as one of them!"

"He had a gun battle, just him, with six of them and he won!"

"He did all that even though his right arm was paralysed from when he was out there before."

The Earl and Countess emerged from the vehicle and, as etiquette dictated, the four of them walked slowly towards the highest ranking member of the party. To his shock, Violet Crawley, with infinite grace and only a little wobbliness, curtsied to Anthony as he approached her.

"Lady Grantham! Please...there's no...you don't have to..."

The staff burst into a spontaneous round of applause, Matthew, Robert, and Cora joining in heartily and even Mary clapped.

Anthony had to turn his head to hide his emotion, but when Edith caught him in her arms and hugged him tight he couldn't help the tears.

The clapping died down, Anthony mastered himself, and he turned to Violet. Echoing the honour she had paid him, he bowed low over her hand and kissed it.

"Thank you, Lady Grantham."

"We must thank you, Sir Anthony. Only a very brave man could do the things you have done, the bravest of which is to have returned here knowing you would have to meet me."

Edith and Mary laughed, but Anthony was less used to Violet's deadpan sense of humour and looked somewhere between bemused and scared stiff.

...

After milling around, cooing over George, and merely being polite, Anthony was ushered inside for a drink and his small case was taken up to his bedroom. After that, Barrow showed Anthony up there to freshen up. They took the South Staircase, which Anthony thought was a bit odd, but it became clear that this was all part of a scheme. It turned out that Cora had put him in a suite of rooms next to Edith's room and that was usually accessed via the Main Staircase, thereby giving the impression that Edith and he were separated. Barrow was professionally inscrutable. Nevertheless, Anthony had the definite understanding that the butler knew what the Countess had planned.

Dinner was awkward, as ever in the Crawley household. But not for the usual reasons of disapproval and petty squabbling. No one quite knew what to say to Anthony. He wasn't the man they thought they knew any more. Until that day, Sir Anthony Strallan had been, in their minds, an affable neighbour who went on manoeuvres on the Yorkshire moors for fun at the weekends, a bit dull but kind and pleasant. Now, however, they knew that his mild character in society was not the entire story. In fact, he was a very brave, intelligent, selfless man who was so deeply in love with Edith that he had put his life on the line to save her without a second thought. Against that any small talk would appear crass.

No one knew how to start a conversation with this new phenomenon...except Violet.

"Will you miss the military life, Sir Anthony?"

"I don't think so, Lady Grantham" he replied, thinking briefly of Dennison and his offer.

"What will you do with your time now? Surely after such adventures a quiet existence at Locksley would be unbearable?"

Anthony looked to his fiancée.

"I think a quiet existence at Locksley sounds absolutely marvellous, at least until we both recover. After that I am happy to fall in with Edith's plans."

Mary rolled her eyes at this display of lovey-dovey-ness. Violet and Cora looked very satisfied with Anthony's answer. But Anthony didn't see any reaction except Edith's shining eyes gazing gratefully at him.

...

After dinner, Anthony and Edith said goodnight very decorously in full view of all the family, especially Violet, and went up different staircases to their respective rooms. Five minutes later Anthony heard a tiny rap at the connecting door.

"May I come in?"

"I thought you'd never ask" he sighed. "Your mother is a very broad-minded woman, and devious to boot. She would have done well in the Corps."

"I might tell her you said so. I believe she would be flattered."

"I...I meant what I said to your father. I am not a threat to your virtue still, my darling. I'm sorry."

"I just want to be with you. Is that acceptable? Or would you prefer me to leave you alone?"

Anthony was beginning to recognise the signs of Edith's lack of confidence. He hadn't seen it when they were engaged before, perhaps because she was so happy it didn't really arise.

"Of course I want you, my dearest. I can't imagine sleeping without you, and I love having you close."

"Really? You're sure?"

"Adamant. The only question is whether we sleep here or in your bedroom."

In reply Edith slid into the bed behind him, leaving the sheets invitingly open, smiling at him. It wasn't a determinedly seductive smile but Anthony's body reacted to her with more vigour than he considered safe. Still, he got into the bed allowing her to tuck herself under his arm. He kissed her hair, said goodnight once again, and tried to think of cold showers.

...

So the days passed. Cora, as she had promised, kept Robert, Violet, and Mary away from them, so that they had privacy and solitude during the day, and in turn Anthony and Edith joined the family for dinner. Relations gradually thawed as Anthony and the Crawleys got used to each other once more.

And every evening Edith slinked into Anthony's bedroom to sleep. And each night he felt his body healing further and demanding more comfort from Edith than he was willing to ask of her in her fragile state.

One morning he woke around dawn longing for her so much that he couldn't wait for her to wake as he usually did, but eased out of bed without disturbing her and sought relief in the shower.

Over breakfast he raised what he hoped would be the way forward for them both.

"If I were to make all the arrangements, would you feel up to seeing Anna Bates sometime this week?"

"I'm not sure I'm going to need her help. You've looked after me so well, I haven't had any nightmares or other problems since we came back to Yorkshire."

"That's wonderful and I am relieved, but I still think it would be useful to talk to her, just to make sure. Sometimes these things take time to surface."

"Alright, I agree, if it will make you feel better!"

Anthony's responding smile didn't reach his eyes.

...

"Major Strallan was, I think, the kindest and bravest man I ever treated" said Anna after introducing herself. "I am so glad to meet you at last, Lady Edith. He spoke of you often."

"Really? Did he really? What did he say?"

"I don't think I'm breaking patient confidentiality if I tell you what he must have told you himself: he said how much he loved you, how much he hated himself for leaving you, especially in that manner, and for being weak enough to start a relationship with you in the first place. He was sure he would have ruined your life if he'd married you. It's wonderful that he has been convinced that he's worthy of you."

"But...but he was almost killed when he rescued me. I put him in danger. I'm not sure I am worthy of him."

"Do you feel that he puts you on a pedestal?" Anna began making a few notes.

"I'm sure he does. I'm afraid that he will persuade himself he doesn't deserve me again at some point in the future...or discover that I'm mortal, and not the goddess he believes me to be...and he'll walk away from me once more, for good this time."

Edith began to weep. At Anna's caring and careful probing, she talked about the abduction and the rescue, and about how she feared Anthony might be coerced into leaving her a second time, or believe he was even less worthy of her now he had a war wound.

At the end of the hour she had sifted through a lot of emotions, laying some to rest, but stirring up some that she was trying hard to ignore and suppress.

...

That evening she knocked on Anthony's door feeling less than happy about joining him for the first time. She watched him in minute detail on the lookout for any sign that he was getting cold feet. Anthony noticed the difference in her, and tried hard to put it down to the psychological upheaval of therapy.

"How was it? Did you find it helpful?" Anthony was anxious to know that Edith had found Anna's therapy as useful as he had done, but he was careful not to sound as though he wanted to pry into details.

"Yes, she's very nice. It was quite painful in parts."

"It is at the start. It gets better, I promise."

"That's reassuring. I made another appointment to see her again, but I feel totally exhausted by today's session. I really need to get some sleep. Good night, Anthony."

"Good night, my sweet one."

He kissed her on the top of her head as usual, but they didn't cuddle and settled down without touching, although it took him a long time to get to sleep because of the constricting of his heart.

...

The day after was worse still. Edith was sure she could see telltale hints that Anthony was getting ready to bolt again, and Anthony was sure he saw in Edith's pensive expression the realisation of what marriage to an older man with a paralysed arm would really mean. As these things often do, their emotions came to a head over an unrelated, and insignificant disagreement.

They were preparing to take Isis out for a walk. Anthony couldn't fix her collar and leash with one hand, try as he might. Edith took over, pushing past him more roughly than she intended.

"I could have done it, you know, I just needed a bit more time."

"There's no need to be touchy. We all need help now and then."

"Meaning that I need help more often than not? Yes?" He looked annoyed, but sounded hurt.

"Don't read things into my words that aren't there. You are beginning to sound like Mary."

"That's...that's not kind...to either me or Mary."

"So now you're taking her side?! Everyone does sooner or later" she wept.

"You know that's not..."

"Why did you go out to that god-forsaken desert to save me? Why didn't you let 'boring, plain Edith' have her head chopped off, and solve everyone's problems?"

"The same reason I was willing to get shot again to make sure..."

"Oh, yes, bring that up again. Major Sir Anthony Strallan MC, GC...what a hero! I don't think it mattered that it was me you saved. It could have been anybody."

"Edith, you know that isn't true. I know you're suffering, but don't..."

"Don't take it out on you?! Why not?! It was your fault I ended up there in the first place. If you hadn't walked away..."

"That's not fair..."

"And what's stopping you walking away again?"

"Edith, I don't think this is helpful. Perhaps you need a bit of space..."

"So you are leaving me?"

"Of course not! Unless you want me to."

"Yes. Yes I do. I want you to leave Downton."

He stared at her, then bowed his head.

"As you wish."