Edith was about to leave for an afternoon walk when Bertie appeared from the library.
"Oh good, I thought I missed you. Do you mind if I join?" Bertie asked
"Of course not but I thought Tom was going to take you to see our pigs."
"That was the plan but something came up in the village he had to attend to, so I thought I'd bother you a bit more."
Edith finished putting on her coat and earnestly said "You're not a bother, in fact I've been meaning to give you a proper tour of the grounds."
"And I've been looking forward to it." Bertie said as he followed her out the door
"I'll take you to the folly then we can come back through the garden, does that sound alright?" Edith asked as Bertie took his place beside her
"Sounds lovely, although truthfully I'm just happy to spend some time with you."
"Bertie…" Edith trailed off, she had suspected Bertie was interested in her since their dinner in London and a part of her wished that he would move on to someone else. That didn't appear to be happening, almost the whole time he was a Downton he seemed to be focused on Edith and carving out time to be with her, she enjoyed it because she liked him very much and felt a certain ease with him. But she also felt that they were heading toward heartbreak, his mother would never allow him to marry someone like Edith when there were so many young women with out a past just waiting to be asked.
"I don't mean to embarrass you but you have to have some idea on how I feel about you." Bertie quietly told her
"I think I do."
"If I'm being a pest please just tell me, the last thing I want to be is a nuisance." Bertie admitted becoming concerned about Edith's short response
"It's not that at all, I like you very much and I enjoy our time together but…don't you think you are wasting your time with me?"
"Why would getting to know you be a waste of time?"
"Bertie I know you aren't this naïve, don't pretend certain things don't matter for people like us."
"To me, the only things that matter are that I think you are intelligent and kind, I feel like I can be myself around you and I want to truly know you and for you to know me. I don't want to force or rush you into anything but you could never be a waste of my time." Bertie told her as he stepped in front of her so he could look her squarely in the face
"That's very sweet of you to say and I'm flattered but don't you think you are selling yourself short?"
Bertie couldn't help but let out a laugh of disbelief "Edith you are one of the most remarkable women I've ever met, if anything I'm pushing my luck. Why on earth would you think that?"
"I'm a widow with a child, Bertie. And I'm getting older I have a past." Edith said becoming frustrated that Bertie wasn't able to comprehend what was so obvious to her and stepping to the side to continue toward the folly
"To be fair I think you're just a year or two younger than me and I feel quite healthy." Bertie said following right behind her
"Don't try and be funny you know exactly what I mean. And if you haven't gotten the point I'll say it very plainly; whether you want to admit it or not there is not a future for us and I don't want to develop any more feelings for you just to have them dashed in the end."
Bertie had to pick up his pace to get in front of Edith as she angrily stomped her way forward and gently put his hands on her arms to get her to calm down
"Edith, now hold on. Did you say any more feelings for me? Does that mean that-"
"What's the point?!"
"Just answer me, tell me if you could think of me as more than just a friend. Please just be honest with me."
Edith knew she could avoid the whole scene by telling him that although she thought of him as a very nice person she wasn't interested in anything more than a friendship with him, but she couldn't bring herself to lie to him with him looking so honestly at her just asking her to tell the truth
"I do Bertie, I didn't expect to ever have something like this again but it's pointless to dwell on it. I'll always be your friend and wish you the best but we can't keep going back and forth seeing each other."
"Why not? Tell me what is standing in between us that is so important."
"Do you really think your mother would allow you to be involved with someone like me when you could have your pick of any young debutant?"
"I'll handle my mother. And I don't want a young debutant I want you."
Edith wasn't used to such forward declarations, she knew Anthony loved her but at times she felt she had to pry it out of him, he was more inclined to show his affection in gestures and the occasional love notes but the way Bertie was speaking to her left no doubt in how he felt
"Do you really feel that way? Because I have someone else to think about and I can't go running off to London or Brancaster whenever it strikes you, I have a life to get on with." Edith defiantly said
"And what if I wanted to be a part of that life?..." Bertie asked as Edith couldn't find the words to respond "…Edith I'm not trying to upend everything right this moment I'm just asking that you give me a chance, to see if we could be happy together. I know you'll put Marigold first and you should and I'm not trying to replace your husband."
"No of course not, and I wouldn't want you to try. It would be unfair to both of you."
Bertie nodded his understanding and thanks and stepped forward to take Edith's hands in his
"So will you give us a chance?"
Edith looked at him skeptically but couldn't help her hands from squeezing his
"I have a feeling this won't be easy and it does seem a bit foolish but it feels wrong to not try. And I hope you know I'm a bit out of practice."
Bertie smiled at her and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm as he turned to continue on toward the folly
"In case you haven't noticed I'm not exactly Casanova, how about we just start by finishing our walk then we'll go on from there?"