Edith: Episode 8 – Bon Voyage

Back in London, Rosamund invites Edith to join her for tea. In the comfort of Rosamund’s stylish home, Rosamund hands Edith a charred note. Confused, Edith carefully opens the letter. Tears stream down her cheeks as she reads that Michael Gregson is alive and wants to reunite with her in Morocco. Edith alternates between joy and disbelief. Yes, it’s true. Astonishing! Michael IS alive!!

Then Edith remembers with dread that his wife – her dear friend Luna – is alive as well. And Luna is not a lunatic, as Michael believes. What is she to do? Does she reveal that fact to Michael? Does she tell heartbroken, dying Luna that her husband is alive? Or . . . . .

Edith decides that Michael has been through so much, it would be unkind to tell him that his wife is alive, but dying. As for Luna: revealing that Edith, her best friend, is the “other woman” who destroyed her life, would be unkind. It would be too much for anyone to lose a husband and a best friend. Kind-hearted Edith determines to keep the secret locked deep in her heart.

When Marigold arrives home from school, Edith quietly tells her that her father is alive and wants them to join him in Morocco. Marigold is devastated. “Why now?” she cries. “Now that I have fallen in love with the man of my dreams!?! Why, why, why? Oh, Mother, how can you follow your heart to your true love when it means separating me from mine? I’m nearly 18 years old! If I don’t marry soon, I’ll be an old maid!!”

Edith quite agrees. For all of Marigold’s life, Edith had one destiny for Marigold: to marry – the dream that had always eluded Edith. Edith agrees to let Marigold remain in London with dying Luna, so she can marry. Besides, it might be too much of a shock to Michael if Edith shows up in Morroco with his grown daughter. Best to break it to him gently, she reasons.

Edith sends word to Michael that her love for him is eternal and that she will be leaving in the morning for Morroco. Edith explains to Luna that her long lost brother – thought to be dead – is in fact alive. He is in need of care, so Edith must go. (Edith also implores Marigold to stick with this story to spare Luna the angst of knowing that Edith is leaving her for a man. Marigold is confused, but agrees to perpetuate the lie.)

That evening, Edith’s last evening in London, is dark and stormy, but Edith greatest desire is to see the young man her sweet Marigold is destined to marry. So as Marigold attends yet another debutante ball, Edith stands in the cold rain, under a tattered umbrella, peering through the window with pleasure as all the beaus are vying for Marigold’s attention. To any ordinary passerby who watched Barbara Stanwyck in “Stella Dallas” every night, this night would seem like any other. But that ordinary passerby would be wrong. It is no ordinary night. Tears of joy trickle down Edith’s weathered face as she watches Marigold place a red rose in a handsome young man’s lapel. That must be Marigold’s beau, George. The young man clasps Marigold’s hands with adoring affection. But while Edith’s heart is warmed with the joy of seeing her daughter in love, Edith’s feet, head, and hands are far from being warmed, so she heads home in the rain to pack for Casablanca.

Back in her modest apartment, Edith takes the “Best Friends” locket from its hiding place deep in her dresser drawer. She tries to pry-out the picture of Luna, but is unable to, so she just places a picture of herself over her best friend’s portrait and gazes longing at the locket – with her portrait next to Michael’s – reflecting on their destiny.

The next morning, Marigold wishes her mother bon voyage at the port, where Edith hands her a locket that bears the words “Best Friends.” Marigold opens the locket as Edith explains that the man in the picture is Marigold’s father. Edith beseeches Marigold to keep the locket hidden from Luna because, Edith lies, Luna once had a similar locket and seeing Edith’s would just upset her.

Before stepping on the gangway, Edith turns and delicately waives to Marigold, uttering a simple utterance that will forever change Marigold’s life: “Marry.” Then Edith strolls aboard the great ship. As was often the case in the early 20^th century, there were no speech bubbles, text messages, or emoticons, so Marigold misunderstood the meaning of her mother’s request and thought she meant for Marigold to go by her abbreviated name: Mary.