"So you'll be with Lord Hexam then?"
"Yes, and did I see you being approached by Mr. Talbot?" Edith answered as the two made their way to the wagons outside of Brancaster
Mary gave her a sly look and replied
"I was, he's certainly not bad to look at and he seems fairly interesting, there are worse people to be paired with."
"I feel sorry for Mama, Papa's been so grumpy lately." Edith whispered to make sure her parents wouldn't hear
"I'm sure a round of shooting will clear that up, so how is he? He's been busy playing host I haven't been able to pin him down for any length of time." Mary asked interested in what her sister had to say after her private meeting with him and claiming most of his attention while at dinner
"He's perfectly nice, he wants to do right by everyone here and I think he works very hard. He's bit more funny than he lets on, you'd like him if you ever got the chance." Edith confidently said as Mary gave her an amused look
"You seemed very charmed, going by the impression he's made on you I doubt he'd have any problem finding a wife."
"I am impressed, he's been thrust into this role and he's adapting quite well. I can't say many people myself included would be able to do the same thing."
"You're managing Locksley quite well." Mary reminded her
"That's different, Brancaster is at least three times the size and Anthony organized so well anyone could figure out how to manage it. It seems Lord Hexam has been on his own for a while."
"Well I hope he continues to be impressive for your entertainment at least."
"Lady Edith, we're just over this way." Bertie greeted with a smile as he helped Edith get out of the wagon
"Do you host shooting often here Lord Hexam?" Edith asked as the two walked to their stand
"Please, call me Bertie. At least while we're out here, I enjoy feeling a bit more normal when I have the chance. And yes we do, it's fairly good out here so we're lucky."
"If I can call you Bertie, then I have to insist that you call me Edith, it's only fair." Edith said as Bertie was looking at her over his shoulder
"Alright then, Edith. Did you sleep well last night? The old place can get a bit drafty at times."
"I did, thank you. Did you spend much time here growing up? That's the impression I got yesterday." Edith asked hoping to get a question in before the actual shooting began
"You're a natural journalist, I did actually. My father and Peter's were quite close and I grew up nearby so it was just natural really. Then Peter and I became good friends and I found myself visiting often on my own. I'm an only child and so was Peter so we became like brothers to each other."
"I didn't realize that, how even more terrible your loss was." Edith said as Bertie smiled in thanks
"Are you very close with your sister?" Bertie asked and Edith couldn't help but laugh
"It's a bit complicated, growing up we were awful to each other. But after we both were married there was a bit of a truce. Then our younger sister died we both wanted to be better to each other for her sake, after our husbands passed away we suddenly found that our lives were very similar and I think we realized what we needed each other."
"It's unthinkable that a family could go through so much loss in such a short time." Bertie sincerely said as Edith had a stoic look on her face
"It was shocking, unnerving almost. I think for a while we all held our breath when someone else left the house for something or were slow coming down to breakfast. But we have the children to focus on, if we didn't have them I don't know how we would have coped."
"You have a daughter correct? And Lady Mary has a son?" Bertie asked now fully turned around to Edith
"Yes and Tom and Sybil had a daughter, they're all very close but I suppose it's no surprise they're all still in the same nursery so there really isn't a choice." Edith said with a smile thinking of her daughter, niece, and nephew all growing up together
"It must be so hard to raise a child on your own, it's quite impressive."
"I do have a tremendous amount of help. The most difficult thing is making sure your child has some idea of who their father was. I'm lucky in the fact that Anthony had a chance to know Marigold, so I do have those memories of them being together."
"I'm sure you'll all be up to the task." Bertie managed to say before the shooting had to begin
Edith and Bertie were walking to the next stand as he shyly looked at her and worked up the courage to ask her a question
"Edith, if you don't mind me asking, did you enjoy being married? What I mean is would you recommend it?"
Edith couldn't help but smile at the question and at the bashful way he asked it
"I did. Granted Anthony and I were only married for just under two years, so we never really left the honeymoon stage."
"I suppose that means you both loved each other very much."
"Yes, I think we did. Anthony was a very kind man and an attentive husband; it would have been very hard not to be happy with him. And he encouraged me in my writing, which I think most men wouldn't have done, so that made me love him even more." Edith explained as she remembered her and Anthony's short time at Locksley
"That's very commendable, how did you get into writing?"
"I saw something in the paper about giving women the vote and I just shared my thoughts on it and Michael saw it and offered me a column, Anthony encouraged me to take it and I've been there ever since." Edith answered proudly
"I hope Mr. Gregson isn't too demanding, I've heard rumors about those newspaper men in London." Bertie told her with a slight smile
"He has his quirks but he's a good friend. In fact Michael and his wife are probably my best friends in London, I'm not sure how she puts up with him but they seem happy…" Thinking about Michael and Lizzie's marriage Edith was reminded about the nervous way Bertie asked about marriage before "…I don't think I answered your question before, I would recommend marriage, with the right person obviously."
"That's the trick isn't it? Finding the right person."
"Yes but I don't think you'll have a problem with a lack of options, marriageable men are hard to come by as it is and once word gets out that a young Marquess with a large estate is available you'll have them beating down the door." Edith teased to a slightly embarrassed Bertie
"What did Austen write about a single man in a possession of a good fortune being in want of a wife?"
"I'm afraid it is a universally acknowledged truth, Bertie. Many men would like to be in your shoes I imagine."
"Maybe, but truthfully I understand marriage to be a long business so I hope to find someone I can spend my life with and enjoy it, not just a woman with the highest pedigree or biggest fortune." Bertie admitted
"I think you're a bit of a romantic, Lord Hexam."
"You're teasing me but you're right, I guess I am." Bertie replied as he shared a smile with Edith
"I'm not exactly teasing you, it's refreshing. The reality is someone in your position could have their pick from the oldest families or a woman with a great fortune but it seems you want to get married for the right reasons." Edith explained sincere in her admiration
"Thank you for that, now the challenge is to find the right one." Bertie said as he readied his gun
"I think you'll find her in the end."
AN: Thanks to Lady Strallan for pointing out that I got Edith's title wrong, sorry about that!