Told a tale showing origins of love in 'Edwin Drood' (4)
I believe the answer is:
lied
'told a tale' is the definition.
(to tell tales is to lie)
'origins of love in edwin drood' is the wordplay.
'origins of' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'love in edwin drood' is 'LIED'.
'showing' is the link.
(Other definitions for lied that I've seen before include "German air" , "Romantic song told a story" , "Did not speak the truth" , "Was untruthful; song" , "was responsible for terminological inexactitude" .)