Cora waited until Robert finally left the library. She had pretended to read her book, but she had not read a word.
“I need to go and see if Tom is ready.” Robert said while getting up from his desk. He had a guilty look on his face.
“That is alright. I will be here when you come back.” Cora answered, pretending to be disturbed in her reading.
“I am not sure how long it will take,” Robert said while stepping closer to her spot on the sofa.
Cora stretched out her hand to take Robert’s. “I am feeling well today, so I will not go up before it is time to change for dinner.”
Robert kissed the back of her hand. “You know that you do not have to change. There is only family and you do look wonderful already.”
Cora gave him a soft smile. “I know. But we should do things the proper way. Was that not what your mother always said?”
Now Robert pressed his lips even longer on her hand. “I love you, my darling.”
Cora stayed behind, she waited a bit before she rang the bell to call for Mrs Hughes.
“You rang Milady?”
Cora looked up. The head housekeeper always had a sweet look on her face. But since Cora’s illness, there was a layer of worry visible. “Thank you. Can you find Lady Mary and tell her I need her in here?”
“I am afraid that she has left together with his Lordship.”
“Oh,” Cora cowered a bit. She needed to speak with Mary in private without Robert being present.
“I can tell her to come to you once they are back? Anything else I can do for you?”
“No thank you.” Cora smiled at Mrs. Hughes. “That will be all.”
With a little bow, Mrs. Hughes left the room. Leaving Cora on her own again. She tried reading again, but where she had not been able to focus before, now it was even harder. How was she going to catch Mary alone? Once Robert was back in the house, he would be hovering over her. It amazed her that he left her alone just now.
Suddenly she heard music coming from the room next door. Slowly she got up, she still got dizzy spells and since she was alone she needed to make sure not to fall. Once she felt stable enough she walked towards the dividing door and opened it.
She saw Sybbie at the piano, Lucy was standing next to her watching her play. The sound was soothing, Sybil had never played herself. It was her older sister Edith who could play very well. Sybil had never been interested, but now her daughter was. Cora swallowed her upcoming tears away. Thinking of her darling Sybil still hurt from time to time. She leaned against the doorpost to steady herself. She did not want to make her presence known, not yet.
Once the song was finished, she saw how Sybbie looked up at Lucy. Lucy brushed over her head and said something that encouraged Sybbie because she had a wide smile on her face. It was an endearing sight, seeing them together. Lucy did take on the role of stepmother very well. And it did not change one bit when little Robert was born. Now a smile appeared on Cora’s face. The look on Robert’s face, when Tom and Lucy told them that the baby was named after him, was something she would never forget.
Cora stepped inside the room, she needed to sit down. “Hello darling, that sounded wonderful.” She said to make her presence known.
Lucy quickly walked over and offered her an arm. She must have seen that Cora was unstable on her legs. She put her hand on Lucy’s and padded it softly. “Thank you.”
“Grandmama, I did not know you were listening. I hope I did not disturb you.”
With the help of Lucy Cora sat down, smiling at Sybbie. “Not at all, darling. I enjoyed listening to you. You play very well.”
Lucy sat down next to Cora, but almost immediately stood up again. “Do you need something?” She asked Cora.
Cora shook her head. “I am perfectly alright. Please sit down and relax.”
“Grandmama?” Sybbie’s voice sounded and Cora turned towards her. “Did mama play?”
“Your Mama had many talents, but she never learned how to play the piano.”
“Oh”
Cora saw a frown on her face and quickly added. “It is extra special that you have the talent, I think you have it from your aunt Edith. She played at our house parties when she was younger. Can you play some more? There is still time left before I need to go up and change.”
Sybbie did as asked, and Cora settled in the chair she was sitting in.
+++
“Mama? You asked for me?”
Mary knocked on her bedroom door and stepped inside.
Cora quickly looked at the dividing door to Robert’s dressing room, it was still closed.
“I indeed did.” She now looked at Baxter, but she was still busy putting up her hair. She had asked Baxter to make her hairstyle a bit loser tonight. She knew how much Robert liked seeing her curls and in recent years, she had not shown them that much. The hairstyles had changed a lot and it was more common to wear the hair more tightly against the head. She missed her big hairstyles some days, O’Brien had been a master in making her updo’s where her curls stole the show.
“I need your help, but we need to make sure your father will not find out.”
“What can I not find out?” Robert’s amused voice sounded and Cora felt her cheeks colour.
“I broke a vase this afternoon and was hoping Mary could help find a replacement for it.”
“And why would I care about a broken vase?”
“It was one of your mother’s vases.”
Robert stepped closer to her and brushed over her cheek. “Nine out of ten vases were my mother’s. Things break sometimes. Do not worry about it.” He looked at Mary. “You do not need to find a replacement, I am sure we have enough other options.
Mary looked at her and Cora saw that Mary understood that this conversation needed to take place another time. “I will go downstairs, are you coming too?”
“Baxter needs a bit more time, but once she is finished we are coming down too,” Cora answered.
Robert sat down in his chair and watched Baxter putting up more curls. “It is a long time ago, that I saw you with your curls like this.” He smiled and added. “Besides our private time.”
Cora’s cheeks colored again and she whispered. “Robert.” In a correcting tone, even though she loved comments like that. It showed how much he cared about her. He knew when she was wearing a new dress or when she changed something with her hair.
“Sybbie has a surprise for you. But I am afraid it is already too late to show you tonight.”
“She is becoming a big girl, she can stay up longer now, can she not?”
Cora loved the look that was on Robert’s face just now. He adored his oldest grandchild so much. “She is too young to join us at the dinner table and we cannot ask Nanny to bring her down afterwards. It would be too late and little Robert would be alone in the nursery.”
Robert sighed. “So I guess I have to wait until tomorrow to find out what her surprise is?
Cora scolded herself for mentioning the surprise. She should not have said a thing about it. Robert would not get it out of his mind and he would try to get it out of her tonight when they went to bed.
+++
“Robert, can you come with me?” Cora walked into the dining room, where breakfast had just been cleared.
“Are you finally going to tell me what the surprise is?”
Cora smiled and waited for Robert to step next to her. She took his hand and softly squeezed. “Last night you did not manage to get it out of me, and so you will not this morning. You will know soon enough.” She chuckled thinking back to his attempts to lure her into spilling the secret. She still felt her stomach muscles from the laughter he caused with his tickles.
“But I had fun trying.” Robert pressed a quick kiss on her temple.
Softly she heard the sounds of the piano.
“Did Edith come home? I did not know she would come?” Robert looked sideways at Cora, who did not respond.
When the doors to the music room opened, Robert stopped walking. He stared at the grand piano and Cora saw a tear in the corner of his eye. She squeezed his hand and leaned with her shoulder against him.
“I did not know you could play my darling. What a wonderful sound and you are doing it so well.” He said when Sybbie finished her piece. They had sat down to listen, but now he got up. Freeing his hand from Cora’s and quickly walked towards Sybbie. Cora watched how he showered the not-so-little girl with praises. She noticed that Mary was walking towards her.
“Is this a good time to talk?” She asked while sitting down next to her mother.
Cora glanced at Robert whose attention was only on Sybbie. “Can we go for a walk?”
Mary stood and offered Cora her arm, which she took gladly. She was getting stronger by the day, but some days she felt unsure.
+++
“So, I need your help organising this. We need an excuse to stay at Rosamund’s and travel the day after that. I want to keep this a secret as long as possible. Do we have family or friends in that area that may be used as an alibi?”
“I have a friend there, I do hope Papa will believe us”
“We will come up with a good story. Thank you for helping organising this. I truly hope I can surprise your Papa with it.”
“I think the getaway in itself is a surprise.” Mary touched her mother’s hand that was resting on her arm. Midway Cora had taken her arm for stability. She did not like being this dependent still, but fighting it did not help one bit.
“You Papa will not expect it I think, although he knows I am feeling a lot better.”
Mary now squeezed Cora’s hand. “I cannot tell you how relieved I am that there was a treatment and that it worked. I do now know what I would have done without you.”
Cora brushed with her fingers over Mary’s arm. “I know darling, I know. And I feel the same way. It is to soon to leave you all. We already have to miss Grandmama.”
“Well, enough about that. We should go back.” Mary said resolutely. I will arrange everything with Aunt Rosamund and the travelling. Just let me know what accommodation you will choose.”
+++
A couple of weeks later, Cora had arranged for Robert’s cases to be packed. She made sure there were enough clothes for warmer weather and a possible swim. Baxter had packed her suitcases without Robert noticing the amount. He thought they were going to Rosamund for a couple of nights.
Cora could not wait to see his face once she revealed where they were going. She hoped he would love it as much as she expected.
“Where is Tiaa?” Robert asked while they walked towards the car.
“I think she is still inside.” Cora turned towards Mrs. Hughes who had heard the question.
“I will get her Milord.”
Cora got in the car already, she had a bad day pain-wise. She was surprised she could still have these pain attacks. She should ask Dr. Clarkson about it. Probably it was just a side effect of her treatment.
She waited for Robert to say goodbye to his beloved dog. She loved how he loved his animals. He truly adored them and he made sure they had a wonderful life. Full of cuddles, good food and exercise.
“I hope Rosamund does not have a full evening planned.” He said while getting in the car.
“Oh?” Cora looked at him with raised eyebrows.
Robert’s hand moved to her knee. “You can use a quite evening, especially after a day of traveling.”
Cora was touched, Robert had noticed that she was not feeling well.
“If necessary we can go to a doctor in London?” He continued.
Cora felt Robert’s intense gaze on her. He had not noticed her being ill until she told him, but since he knew, he paid closer attention to her. And some days he knew better how she felt than she did herself. She wriggled her hand under his and interlaced their fingers. “I will be alright, I promise.” She saw his gaze still fixated on her eyes. “I also promise that we will go to a doctor if I do not improve tonight.”
She felt guilty for making that promise because tomorrow morning they would go to Torquay’s. That area was called the French Riviera and she had picked that location with special intention. She wanted to do something back for Robert. He had made their anniversary so special, and the way he took care of her since they came back from France deserved some recognition and thanks. She booked a suite at the Cary Arms, she heard that it was a good hotel with high standards. Nothing less than the best for her darling husband.
Rosamund had indeed not planned much for that evening, soon after dinner Robert announced that they would go up and Cora was relieved he suggested that this early. They had to wake up early tomorrow and had another couple of hours travelling ahead of them.
+++
“Baxter, can you wake us early in the morning?” Cora asked before Robert entered her bedroom.
“I will do that Milady, and I will make sure that your suitcase are waiting in the car before you leave.”
“Thank you.” At that moment her door opened and Robert stepped inside.
He greeted Baxter, who just left the room. He walked towards her, and before she could get up, he lifted her to her feet. “You are finally gaining weight again.” He said while placing his hands on her hips. “But why did you not tell me you have those pains again.
Cora brushed her nose over Robert’s and kissed his lips. “They are different, vastly different. I am not sure that they are related to the treatment.”
“What kind of pain is it? And where?”
Cora moved her hands to Robert’s upper arms. “Are you sure you want to know?” She paused and waited for his response. “I think they are related to me getting older and going through the change.”
“Did you not go through that earlier? And I did not know pains were involved.”
“It can take a long time before it is over. And these pains are more muscle pains. Please sweetheart do not worry, I feel better than I did this morning. I am just very tired after this travel day.”
Robert did not need another word, he took her in his arms and carried her towards the bed. Carefully he laid her down. Without walking to his side first, he got in bed to. Cora’s giggles filled the room, while he tried to tickle her as much as he could before settling on his side. “I cannot wait for the day you have your full energy back.”
Cora pulled herself close to his body and pressed a long heated kiss on his lips. “Me neither.” She felt how Robert pulled up the duvet and tucked her in.
+++
“Why do we need to get up this early?” Robert moaned when Cora tried to wake him.
“I promised Mary’s friend we would pay them a visit and we have a long drive ahead of us.”
This made Robert sit straight up, pushing Cora back on her side. “Another travel day? Why did you not tell me this, and are you sure you are ready for that?”
“Darling, I feel fine.” It was not a lie she noticed, she indeed felt better. Last night Baxter had given her some powder and it did wonders for how she felt. She even had more energy it felt like.
“Why is Mary not here? It concerns a friend of hers?”
“Darling, I do not know. She asked me to pay them a visit and talk with them about the estate.”
“Well, if you promised, we do not have a choice and he stepped out of bed.” Before he walked off he bent down and pressed a kiss on her lips. “As long as we go together, I am fine with what ever we will do today.”
+++
“This is a hotel? Is it not?” Robert said surprised when the car stopped in front of a big building at the coast.
Cora felt her cheeks colour. “It is indeed.”
“You never told me that friend of Mary runs a hotel?”
“They do not.” Cora answered.
“What do you mean? Why did we travel to this hotel if it is not for Mary?”
Cora leaned against his shoulder. “Because Mary does not have a friend here. We told that story so you would not suspect anything.”
“Suspect what? Cora? What are we doing here?”
“I booked a suite for the next two weeks. Just for the two of us. We are in Torquay’s, the French Riviera in England. I wanted to do something special for you. You have taken such good care of me and since I ruined the trip to the South of France, I wanted to make up for it.”
“Oh Cora, you did not ruin that trip. Not at all.”
“Well, the way home was not the happiest one. We were both scared to lose each other.”
Robert wrapped his arm around her. “That is true, but you still did not ruin that trip for me. I have very fond memories about that trip and I hope to relive some of those moments here.” He pulled her even closer and pressed his lips on hers.
“Lets start with going inside and enjoy a glass if champagne.”
“Or two.” Robert added with a cheeky smile.
“Or two.” Cora answered.
“Are we truly staying here for two weeks?” He said while they walked towards the entrance.
“We are. We have enough time to enjoy the hotel, and the surroundings, but mostly each other.
Cora felt Robert’s hand lower and stop at her bum, and she could not wait to be in their room. Back in their privacy, she wanted to thank Robert even more. In a way, she could not do for several months. On their anniversary they had tried, but Cora had been too tired to finish. Robert had stopped her and made sure she was comfortable. But tonight, she would not let any tiredness or exhaustion stop her. This was their evening, their weeks together, that she was going to enjoy to the fullest.
Verhalen van Traan 