A/N: Thanks for all the lovely comments and for following the story! As an author, it's nice to see that others get as much enjoyment from reading my stories as I do from writing them. As always, these characters are not mine, they belong to Uncle Julian and his entourage. I know we don't know Robert's father's name so in this fic, I've opted to use the very English name of Edward.

OOO

Robert and Edith returned to the house with her holding on to her father's arm. Cora was coming down the stairs and she smiled at the sight. She knew Edith often felt like she wasn't as loved as her sisters but it simply wasn't true. Sybil had been the baby and needed so much of Cora, especially when she was small and Robert was away in South Africa. Mary's temperament necessitated a lot; high strung and high maintenance were two terms that could be readily applied to the oldest child of Earl and Countess of Grantham. But Edith, Cora reflected, was oddly enough, a blend of her grandfathers. She had Edward Crawley's knack for truly wanting to help others and Isadore Levinson's passion and kindness. She wasn't as pragmatic as Mary and not as much as a free spirit as Sybil had been. But, Edith was carving her own path and making her own way in the world. She was determined to be successful. In some ways, Edith was the most American of her three children and Cora often wondered if she wouldn't have fared better on the other side of the Atlantic.

"Have you two been out walking?" Cora asked as she kissed her husband.

"We have. We also had a lovely chat," Edith smiled. "Thank you Papa." She leaned in and kissed his cheek as well. "I have an article I need to finish and I've been sent some documents to review. I'll see you both at luncheon." She took off her hat and made her way upstairs.

"I wonder if we shouldn't find a space for Edith to write, an office of some sort?" Robert asked his wife. "With running the magazine, she'll need a work area. Something big enough that little Marigold could play in there as well from time to time."

"I'm sure Edith would appreciate that. Why don't you ask her at luncheon?"

"I think I will. Now you, my darling bride, what are you about today?"

OOO

That afternoon, when the children were brought into the library, Robert gave his customary kisses to Sybbie and George but also included Marigold this time.

"Hello Darlings," he smiled at children.

"Hello Donk," Sybbie smiled.

"Hello Donk," George grinned.

Little Marigold simply waved at him.

"I'll take a wave over Donk any day," he grinned as he picked up the smallest of the three children. "How are you today, Miss Marigold?" he asked as he sat down with her on his lap. Robert proceeded to tickle and chat with the toddler until Sybbie and George requested a game of Snakes and Ladders. Robert dutifully sat on the floor opposite Sybbie and George with Marigold looking on from his lap.

"You know, I don't have any meetings tomorrow, perhaps, if you three agree, I'll take the children on an outing tomorrow."

"An outing?" Tom asked incredulously.

"I'll have you know I took the girls on outings once a week when they were small," Robert defended.

"1st week of the month was the sweet shop in village, 2nd was the tea shop in Ripon, 3rd was the toy shop in Thirsk and the 4th a trip to the book seller in Ripon," Cora listed. "And heaven help him if he had to postpone a week," she grinned. "He had to go to London once and missed taking the girls for ice cream. Sybil and Edith wouldn't speak to him for a week."

"He is quite capable, Tom," Mary grinned. "He only lost Sybil once."

Edith chuckled at the memory. "What was it that caught her eye? A dog?"

"No, it was a doll in a shop window. How she managed to get across the street without getting run down, all never know," Robert smiled sadly. Sybil's loss was something he still felt keenly.

"What do you think, children? Should Grandpapa take you for ice cream tomorrow?" Robert asked the children.

"That would be lovely, Donk," Sybbie smiled.

OOO

True to his word, Robert did take all three children for ice cream. More than one of the villagers smiled at the grandfather as he wrangled three small children. They quartet went into Mr. Peters' shop and were soon standing in front of the case, eye the jars and jars of brightly colored candy.

"A chocolate ice cream for George and Sybbie and Marigold, would you like chocolate or vanilla?" Robert asked the child.

"Vanilla, please," she whispered.

"And a vanilla for Marigold and myself," he ordered.

This was where he made his fatal mistake. Instead of occupying the small table, he let the children take their ice creams outside. Between trying to navigate three children with three ice creams, his own penny lick and the door, it was not surprising that something got dropped and the something was his ice cream all down the front of his suite. He bit back the curse words and satisfied himself with a firm, "Blasted!"

Sybbie and George looked at their grandfather and started to laugh. Robert sheparded them to a bench and tried to tidy himself. He managed to get most off with his handkerchief but Bates was going to have some extra work on his hands.

"Well at least you three got ice cream," he huffed playfully.

Sybbie and George continued to chuckle but the joking tone was lost on little Marigold.

"Share?" she said softly as she extended the cone to Robert.

"Thank you Lady Marigold, that's most kind." He obliged the little girl and gave the cone a lick. And it was in that single gesture that Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, started to fall in love with a little girl.