The Crawley family made their way up the drive and stopped in front of Brancaster's large doorway, Lord Hexam and his mother were patiently waiting for their guests and looked pleased to see them finally arriving.
Edith was the first one out of the car and made her way up the steps
"Lord Hexam, thank you for having us. I'm Lady Strallan, I'll be the one writing about you."
"Very pleased to have you all here, let me introduce my mother…" He responded with an easy smile that quickly tempered Edith's nerves
Edith went on to introduce her family and let her parents, Tom, and Mary follow Mrs. Pelham into the house as she was eager to have another word with Bertie
"Lady Strallan, I've never had anyone write about me before so just give me orders and I'll try my best."
"I have to admit this is my first time writing about anyone, but my editor was very confident in my abilities if that means anything." Edith offered with a smile
"I'm sure you're very capable, just let me know what you need from me. I'm at your service." He offered as his mother was speaking to the rest of the party.
"Thank you, I think if I could just have some time with you to chat that should be a good start."
"There'll be tea set out for everyone in the library after you all had a chance to freshen up, how about you join me in my study whenever you're ready so we can get most of it the way early?"
Typically Edith would be a bit wary of a man she just met asking to meet her in his private study, but as soon as she met him she had a gut feeling that he was a kind person, and was looking forward to finding out more about him
"I think that's a fine plan…" Edith confirmed "…I'll see you in a bit."
Edith caught up to Mary as the party made their way up the large staircase
"I suppose he doesn't look like a turnip, not my type but not unhandsome either." Mary whispered as they were led to their rooms
Edith suppressed a laugh and replied
"Yes, we've both seen worse and he seems nice but I've only talked to him for a moment so who knows."
"When are you due to start following him around and taking notes?"
"Right away actually, I'm going to meet him in his study and chat a bit to get started."
"Well, don't do anything I wouldn't do." Mary teased as she slipped into her room.
Edith waited as the footman lightly knocked and opened the door to announce her, Lord Hexam rose from his desk to welcome her in
"Lady Strallan, I hope you're finding everything comfortable." He said with another welcoming smile
"Yes, of course. Everything is wonderful, and I do have to thank you for inviting my family as well, it was very kind." Edith replied as he invited her to take a seat across from him
"Not at all, we certainly have the room for it and I wanted to make sure you were comfortable, I mean that I imagine it to be somewhat strange to write about someone in this way, but I do hope that you'll try and enjoy yourself this weekend, not to say that-"
Edith could tell he was talking himself in a circle and jumped in
"I intend for this to be a rather painless experience for the both of us, don't mind me, just be yourself and it will be over before you know it."
Bertie smiled his thanks and went on to say
"I'm sure you're wondering why you had to come all the way up here and attempt to paint me in a positive light? It is a bit odd isn't it? I'm sure you're probably thinking I'm some sort of ego maniac."
Edith wasn't sure quite what to say and wanted to avoid offending him but managed to reply
"I don't, honestly in fact you seem very nice. My editor thinks of it as a chance for people to find out how people like, well, us live. That it's not all debutant balls and breakfast in bed and I agree."
"That's good to hear, but I do feel the need to say that this was all my mother's idea. I'm happy to do anything you need me to and she won't say it but she is quite determined that I become, popular." Bertie admitted shyly
"Why is that?" Edith asked without thinking and then saw the worried look on his face and tried to clarify
"Lord Hexam I promise I won't write anything uncomplimentary about you or your mother, unless you both turn out to be horrible which I don't think is likely to happen, so I hope you can feel at ease with me."
A wave of relief washed over his face as a smile spread across his face again
"Of course, I do already actually. To answer your question, just so you know what you're dealing with she's anxious that I make a splash in society."
"I see, to be fair Lord Hexam in this world I wouldn't think a young healthy man with a large estate and title would need much help in that regard."
Bertie gave her a bit of an embarrassed smile, clearly still not used to being thought of as an eligible bachelor
"Well, it seems my mother is a bit anxious and truthfully I wasn't raised to be a Marquess so it's a bit unfamiliar territory for me."
"So how did you end up becoming Lord Hexam?"
"My cousin passed away, he was rather young when he went so I was never really expected to come into anything." Bertie replied as his mood sobered a bit speaking about his cousin
"I'm very sorry to hear that, a death is hard enough but when the person has all their life ahead of them it's even more tragic." Edith managed to say with a contemplative look on her face
"Yes, of course I remember hearing what your family went through so unfortunately you know much more than I do."
"Sadly yes. Thankfully my editor Mr. Gregson managed to pull some strings to keep most of the terrible gossip about a 'cursed family' out of the papers, but people still talk. Either way our family is doing well all things considered." Edith happily finished as Bertie listened intently
"So it seems, I think people that we were close to that passed on would like to see us move on and be happy."
"I agree, and carry on their work if needed, have you found that hard to do here?" Edith asked wanting to get further insight into the role Bertie had been thrust into
"Honestly Peter was never much interested in the day to day work on the estate, not that he didn't care but his passion was somewhere else. I try to be a good landlord, to make sure all my tenants are all able to make a living and the pressure can be intense at times, but there are worse problems in the world."
"Do you ever wish that you weren't the one to inherit?"
Bertie became thoughtful then and Edith was becoming more interested in him as a person and how he was handling the transition to one of the most powerful men in the county
"I might have preferred to just stay the land agent, find a normal girl to settle down with and have a family but it really isn't my choice. This is the hand that was dealt to me and I'm trying to do my best."
Edith was impressed by his candor and willingness to get on with the job and gave him an approving smile
"I think with that attitude you'll do very well, now I've badgered you enough should we join the others?"
"It didn't feel like badgering but that might be a good idea, I'd hate for your family to think I'm inattentive." Bertie said as he rose from his seat and waited for Edith to gather her things
"You're doing very well so far, if it counts for anything."
"Thank you, it does. Tomorrow we have a shoot planned with our other guests and I thought you could partner me? So we could work on the article more."
"That would be wonderful, I'm looking forward to it." Edith said as Bertie opened the door for her and lead her toward the library
AN; Thanks for the reviews, I love them! Glad to see people are enjoying my little scribbles :)