The following morning, Edith found herself taking greater care than usual on her toilette. She asked Anna to arrange her hair in a more becoming style and took great pains on choosing her morning dress. That said, she thought herself looking rather well. Her skin was clear and her eyes had somewhat of a sparkle about them. Upon reaching the breakfast table she found Lord Hexham seated between Mary and Papa, and so sat herself between Cousin Matthew and Sybil, who both smiled at her and wished her a pleasant morning.

It was during breakfast that Lord Hexham requested a tour of the grounds, noting the beauty of the gardens and his eagerness to properly explore them. At this Lord Grantham suggested Mary be his guide. Mary, having realised that in order to fully catch Lord Hexham's attention she must deprive him of her own, refused. Perhaps too quickly, Edith offered her assistance. And though Robert smiled pityingly and Mary rolled her eyes, Edith did not care. For Lord Hexham's acceptance was just as eager as Edith's offer.

After breakfast was cleared, Edith dressed for the outing. Sybil joined them for propriety's sake, but she dawdled along behind the two. Edith could not help a large smile spreading over her face at finding herself in his company. After some polite exchanges about the weather, during which both of them sneaked sheepish smiles at the other when the other was not looking, Sybil rushed forward to beg their leave. She had just remembered that she had urgent matters to attend to at the stables.

And so the two were left quite alone. Edith smiled as they reached the spring that ran through the grounds and Lord Hexham charmingly offered her his hand to help her cross the bridge. They strolled along companionably, taking in the fresh morning air. The pair passed the forest and entered the orchard, whereupon Edith reached out and placed her gloved hand upon the base of a rather fine apple trees. The old branches were bent out in many directions and weighed down from years of bearing heavy fruit. Edith flashed Lord Hexham a rueful grin.

"I have always wanted to climb this tree. Sybil did, as did Mary. But I was always too timid. And I was frightened of what Mama or Papa would say,"

Lord Hexham quickly checked over shoulders, before turning back to give Edith a conspirital wink.

"Well, no one is here now. And I see no need of informing Lord and Lady Grantham of any illegal tree climbing if you do not,"

Edith blushed and peeked up at Lord Hexham from under her bonnet.

"Well, if you insist my Lord," she said.

For some unknown reason, Edith rather felt that climbing the tree would impress Lord Hexham. And for a slightly more well known reason, this was a very appealing prospect. And so, Edith gathered her skirts in one hand and walked to the other side of the tree. In doing so, Lord Hexham would only see her from between the branches and in the event of a wardrobe mishap, her modesty would be preserved.

Lord Hexham watched through the leaves as Edith heaved herself up onto one of the lower branches and clung onto the one above her. Slowly she made her way upward, using the same route her sisters used when they were young. Although she had never climbed the tree before, she had thought about doing so many a times and so was quite efficient in reaching the top. However, as she did so she placed her foot on a weaker branch and felt herself slipping down. The branches whipped against her cheeks and she landed awkwardly on her right foot.

Lord Hexham hurried over and saw to his concern Edith leaning against the tree, seemingly unable to stand without assistance. On trying to take a step she gasped with pain and collapsed to the ground.

"Lady Edith, are you quite alright?" he inquired anxiously, "That was quite a tumble,"

Edith grimaced in pain. "Do not concern yourself. I merely jarred my foot somewhat. I am sure it will soon be quite well,"

However, it quickly transpired that her foot was quite badly damaged. And so Lord Hexham insisted on assisting Edith back to the house. Edith leaned on his arm and hobbled along, the pain in her foot only growing greater as more she walked, until eventually tears began to well in her eyes. At this, Lord Hexham swept her into his arms and carried her the rest of the distance.

"I cannot thank you enough, Lord Hexham," Edith said after a while, "I am sure it is nothing but your help is most appreciated. I am afraid that my greatest wound is to my pride, as I am most mortified at having fallen from the tree on my very first attempt at climbing it,"

"No doubt climbing trees is like riding a horse," Lord Hexham assured her, "You must fall off at least seven times before you may call yourself a true proficient," Edith smiled wanly as Lord Hexham continued, "Indeed, when Peter and I first began to learn to ride, we would purposefully throw ourselves off our horses in order to reach the minimum required falls. However, in hindsight I see that we were in most probability cheating as we were throwing ourselves onto a haystack while the horses were standing still. My mother made a great to do over the state of my clothes,"

Lord Hexham rambled on in this manner until they reached the house in order to take Edith's mind off the throbbing pain in her ankle. Upon reaching the house he gently lowered her to the ground and waited until she had brushed out her skirts in order to appear more respectable, before knocking on the door. They were greeted by Mr Carson, who seemed rather abashed at Edith dishevelled appearance.

On being told of Edith's injury, Mr Carson and Lord Hexham both assisted her to a chair so that she may rest, and Lady Grantham was called for. Due to their slow departure back to the house, they were slightly late for lunch and there had been a slight concern as to their whereabouts. Lord Hexham was sent to join the others for lunch, having been thanked effusively by Cora for his assistance, whilst Cora sat with her daughter until the Doctor had arrived. He suggested Edith rest her foot for a day or two, before being encouraged to put weight on it again.

And so Edith was escorted to her bedroom and assisted into her nightgown, before being tucked into bed. She found herself unable to read one of her novels or write anything due to the persistent pain in her foot. With very little to do, she sought to distract herself from the dull throb by remembering how she felt when Lord Hexham held her close to his chest. She thought of how tender his hold had been and the safety she had felt from having his arms wrapped protectively around her.

This turned out to be a rather effective pain relief method.