n"N

Lord of the Manor: Spotlight on Edmund Grey
by Leigh Russell

             Dashing, handsome, proud, yet kind, and best of all, he's rich, and he lives in a castle.  Edmund Grey is definitely the stuff that dreams are made of.  But the life he lives now wasn't always a charmed one.  The product of an affair, Edmund lived his early childhood in obscurity and abuse, and constantly in the shadow of older brother, Dimitri.  Edmund was denied his birthright for most of his life, but earned his castle, Wildwind, when his father died, wracked with guilt.  But would he take what was rightfully his, and turn into the man that abused him? Never.

             Edmund opened his home and his heart to Dimitri, but not without a lifetime of struggles.  Edmund and Brooke English run Tempo Magazine, and it keeps them both busy, but it wasn't until Edmund met Doctor Maria Santos that his heart truly became full.  Their romance was one of epic proportions, of soap opera legend.  When they were married in a lavish ceremony, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.  Edmund couldn't have been happier with Maria and their marriage, until they decided to have children, and ran into their first road block--adoption.

             Kelsey, Ruth and Joe Martin's wildchild granddaughter, was pregnant, but not ready to be a mother.  She opted to give her son, Sam, up for adoption, to a grateful Maria and Edmund, who loved the boy as though he were their own. But as usual, happiness was not to be had for long.  Kelsey was a manipulator, and saw that Edmund's heart was with his child. She developed a crush on him, and used her connection with the baby to insinuate herself on Edmund and Maria's life together.  When her schemes didn't work, she cruelly ripped the child from Edmund and Maria.  Maria planned to leave the country with the baby, and in some of the most emotional scenes ever witnessed on daytime television, Edmund went to the airport, and though Maria tearfully begged him to go with her, he took the baby from her arms, and did what the law had said, giving the child back to Kelsey.

             The action Edmund took ruined his marriage with Maria, and in a fit of anger and passion, Dimitri and Maria made love.  Feeling guilty, both Dimitri and Maria vowed to never speak of the event again, and Edmund and Maria finally reconciled.  Soon after, Edmund and Maria had lots of good news to celebrate.  Kelsey came to her senses, gave the boy back, and they legally adopted Sam when she left town.  They then had even more happy news, Maria was FINALLY pregnant.  But who was the father, Dimitri or Edmund?  Dimitri backed off, feeling he had done enough damage to his brother's life.  Plus, his own relationship with Erica Kane was a bit rocky.  Maria gave birth to a daughter in a cabin during a storm with Erica in attendance.  Erica, however, had recently suffered a miscarriage of her own, so after an accident, baby Madeline found her way into Erica's care.  She kept the truth from everyone, and started to raise the baby as her own daughter.  After weeks of silence, however, the truth did come out, and Erica returned the baby.

             Soon, a tragic turn of events would change Edmund's life forever, and send him into a downward spiral, the likes of which he would never recover from.  Edmund, Maria and Brooke all took a flight to New York, and Maria and Brooke switched seats for a while, so Edmund and Brooke could get some work done for Tempo magazine.  The plane suffered engine trouble, and crashed.  Many passengers died, but Maria managed to survive. She was pinned in a dangerous area of the plane, however, that was about to fall off into the ocean.  Depsite their desperate efforts, the plane did fall, taking Maria's body with it.  Brooke felt tremendous guilt, Edmund was devastated, and sank into a deep depression.  Dimitri, meanwhile, had started a relationship with Gloria, on the rebound from Tad, and desperately wanting a child.  Perhaps in effort to save his relationship with her, and perhaps because he wanted to have a second chance at fatherhood, Dimitri stepped up to make a claim on Madeline, whom he believed to be his daughter.  Dimitri took custody of Madeline while Edmund was trying to deal with Maria's death, and see if there had been foul play involved in the crash.

             Eventually Edmund returned home, and instituted a Crystal Ball each New Year's in honor of Maria. It was at the first annual Crystal Ball that the truth came out to Gloria about Dimitri's manipulations.  Gloria left Dimitri and Edmund was reunited with his two children. A blood test proved that Edmund was the biological father, but his problems did not stop there.  Edmund managed to go on without his one true love, because of his children, but his own life remained stagnant, until he met Kit, a rape victim who needed a hero. Edmund was all too willing to step up to the plate.  The only catch was, the man who Kit accused of raping her was none other than the man living in Edmund's home, Ryan Lavery.  Edmund championed Kit's cause, and it cost him many relationships, and friendships.  He struggled to love again, but the budding romance he shared with her ultimately fizzled when the real rapist was discovered.  Kit left town, and Edmund moved on, content that he would never love again.

             Just when Edmund thought he was finished losing the people he loved, his brother Dimitri, left town suddenly.  After months gone, Dimitri returned to Pine Valley, but not the way that was expected--he was on a gurney, headed straight for the hospital, with a brand new wife in tow.  Because of Dimitri's illness, Edmund wanted to take care of his brother, but Alexandra wouldn't have it.  Amongst many secrets and lies, Dimitri was thought dead.  Dimitri had begged Edmund to take care of Alex for him, and Edmund promised that he would, but Alex and Edmund's relationship was tolerant, at best.  One night, however, Edmund witnessed how strong Alex's love for Dimitri had been, so he warmed his heart to her, and accepted her into the family.  Not long after this, some questions about Alex's past began to come up.  Edmund helped her discover the truth about herself, and fell in love with her in the process, asking for her hand in marriage.  But then Dimitri returned to their lives, not dead after all.  Alex went right back to Dimitri, leaving Edmund all alone, and feeling as though his brother had won again. 

             This time, Edmund would not take the news lightly.  His rage is smoldering beneath a barely contained surface, as he struggles to come to terms with his feelings for Alex, and the notion that she chose Dimitri over him, in a matter of moments.  Edmund grew up around abuse, it is a learned behavior for him.  Yet, all his life, he's managed to turn that around, and be a better man, because of it.  His reaction to Dimitri's return, however, when he flew into a rage, shows that Edmund's not as in control of himself as he thought, for all these years.  Can he control it, or will it finally get the better of him, as loving and losing all over again, is just too much?  That remains to be seen, but it is obvious that Edmund is a creature of passion, his heart controls him, he is a writer, and a lover of words.  He is a father, and a brother, and a protector.  It is easy to say he will get over losing Alex, and it's likely that he will, but one thing is for sure, Edmund Grey will never be the same.