Mary looked sideways at her sister fidgeting nervously ever so slightly next to her as the entire family was lined up outside of Downton waiting for the arrival of Bertie and his mother
"Edith?"
"Yes?"
"Do you need to go inside to visit the facilities?" Mary whispered
"What? No, don't be silly." Edith answered becoming aware of the way she couldn't keep still
"You keep squirming. You either sat in a pile of ants or you're nervous about our visitor. You said you got on well with Lord Hexam, why on earth would you be nervous about him coming here and being our guest?" Mary asked her with a suspicious yet amused look taking over her face
"Don't start." Edith warned
"I did have an idea, he was simply glued to you at Brancaster."
"That was work and you know it, don't you have Mr. Talbot to focus all your intrigue on?" Edith asked her hoping Mary wouldn't spend the weekend entertaining her self by trying to make either her or Bertie blush
"Possibly, but you and the Marquess of Hexam are far more interesting."
"I think you'll be disappointed, we nothing more than friends."
"Friends? Well that's a start at least."
Bertie walked down one of Downton's hallways on his way to dinner and slowed down as he heard Edith's voice coming from one of the open doorways, he peeked around the doorway to see her reading a book to a little girl and boy sitting on the floor with another little girl sitting on her lap.
He softly cleared his throat and said "I hope I'm not interrupting. I just got a bit turned around."
The children at looked at him with a slight annoyance for interrupting their story and Edith looked up with a surprised smile
"Not at all, in fact come in and take a seat, we're almost done."
Edith's statement caused the little girl on the floor to speak up "No, read another one Aunt Edie."
"Sybbie I've already done two, once we finish this you're all going to bed." Edith firmly but kindly told her as Bertie took his spot in a rocker by the door.
Bertie watched as Edith used a soft and soothing voice to read the rest of the story as the girl on her lap cuddled further into her chest and he thought how lucky all the children were to grow up so close to each other and how they had so many people that cared about them under one roof. He hadn't been at Downton or known the Crawleys for very long but he could tell that the children were at the center of universe for everyone in the family.
"Right then, I'll introduce you to our guest then it's off to bed for everyone." Edith said as she closed the book and rose from her seat with the little girl in her arms. The other children got up from the floor and turned to Bertie
"I'm sorry we didn't do this sooner but things turned out to be a bit hectic today with them. Sybbie, this is Lord Hexam." Edith started with what looked like the oldest one and Bertie jumped in
"Just Bertie is fine, pleasure to meet you Miss Sybbie." Bertie bent down to take her small hand in his and Edith introduced George who Bertie complimented on his very strong handshake
Finally Edith turned to the girl in her arms and said "And this is Marigold, say 'hello' to Bertie, dear." Edith encouraged her and tucked one of her blonde curls behind her ear and the shy girl managed to squeak out a greeting.
"Hello Marigold, your mother has told me a great deal about you and it's so nice to finally meet you." Bertie kindly told her
Marigold let out a small smile and wrapped her arms around Edith's neck and Bertie could hear her whisper "Mama I'm tired."
"Yes it's bed time for everyone…"Edith announced then said to Bertie "…this will only take a minute then we'll go down."
Edith ushered the children to bed and tucked them all in, gave them all a kiss on the head and assured Sybbie and George that their parents would be in shortly
Bertie and Edith finally left the nursery and made their way down the staircase
"They're all wonderful children, and it looks like Marigold has your eyes."
Edith smiled at the compliment "Yes, and her father's hair thankfully and his temperament I have to say, she can be a bit shy at first but very sweet and caring."
"Then you have a lot to be proud of."
"I certainly do, and how are you getting on? I hope Downton has proved to be comfortable enough."
"It has, I'm enjoying myself very much and my mother is too I think, she and your Grandmother seem to be getting on." Bertie stopped in the front hall hoping to steal a few more moments with Edith
A look of relief appeared on Edith's a face as she said "Yes and it's a minor blessing, Granny tends to not pull any punches, and I hope Mary's been kind to you she can be…a bit prickly at times."
"She's been very nice in fact, we've been talking about, well, estate things really. She's very keen to do a good job here."
"Yes, and don't we all know it. But I'm sure you could help her with a few things, Brancaster seems to be doing well."
"Luckily yes, but Lady Mary knows what she's doing, she might be able to give me some new ideas actually. I'll have to invite you all up again soon." Bertie suggested
"We'd all enjoy another trip to Brancaster, but if we keep going back and forth people will start to talk." Edith warned
"People will always find a reason to talk, that doesn't mean we shouldn't spend time with people we like."
Edith listened to Bertie's reasoning and found that she agreed then saw Mary and Tom coming down the stairs
"Wise as always, let's get going we wouldn't want to be the last ones in."