Thank you for coming.” Robert kissed Rosamund on her cheek.
“Of course, I will always be here when needed. Where is Cora?” Rosamund looked around.
“She is upstairs, packing her bag. I think she is ready. I will go and get her.” Robert left Rosamund in the drawing room and walked upstairs. He knocked on Cora’s door and stepped inside.
Cora had expected Rosamund to step inside, but it was Robert. She had not seen him after their conversation yesterday. She refused to go down for lunch or dinner. Being in his presence did not help ordering her thoughts. She felt it directly when he came in, she wanted to give in and forget about everything, she regretted kissing his cheek yesterday. She did not even know why she did that, it was a habit.
Robert stepped closer. “Rosamund is here to pick you up. Are you sure this is the best way?”
The expression on Robert’s face made her look away. ‘Do not give in, be strong.’ She said to herself. “I am sure.” Cora bent down to pick up her bags.
“Let me carry them.”
Without a word, Cora handed him the bags and headed to the stairs.
“Girls, you can ring me when you need me alright?”
“When will you be back?” Sybil asked.
Cora’s heart broke, her innocent little girl, who wanted to be with the boy she loved. She could only hope Robert would not pester her to much these coming days. “I do not know yet.” Cora wished she could be honest with her girls. How much would they guess; she did not know.
Robert walked back inside, after putting her stuff in the car. Briefly he touched her hip. “The car is ready when you two are.” He said.
“Thank you.” Cora looked up to Robert. What was he feeling? Did he regret what he did, or did he regret it coming out? She could not tell. Without kissing him, she walked towards the car.
“I will take good care of her.” Rosamund said, she kissed Robert’s cheek. They did not tell her the real reason, why Cora was coming to her place. She knew, there was something off between them, Cora would tell her later.
“Did you see that?” Sybil asked Edith.
Edith looked up from her magazine. They went into the drawing room after Rosamund and their mother had left. Robert had gone out for a walk. “What should I have seen?”
“Mama did not kiss Papa goodbye.” Sybil said with a worried expression on her face.
“That whole exchange was weird.” Mary chimed in.
“Do you think there is something wrong?” Edith put her magazine down.
“I think they are fighting.” Sybil said.
“But whatever would be so bad that Mama is leaving this house?” Mary contemplated.
“What if the fight is about me and Tom?”
“Do not be silly, of course not.” Mary said brisk.
“You do not know that, Mary.” Edith said. “Papa is very upset about it. It could be definitely a reason for them to fight.”
“I am feeling rather guilty, did you guys hear Mama cough when she got in the car? I do not know how wise it is for her to travel already.” Sybil remarked.
Mary got up and walked over to Sybil, she sat down next to her and wrapped her arm over her shoulder. “Aunt Rosamund will take care of Mama when needed, there are wonderful doctors in London if something is wrong. And stop worrying about Papa’s feelings regarding Tom. You are in love with him, and Papa will need to accept it. And I honestly thing something else is wrong. I hear the staff talking about a letter and do you remember Papa yelling at Daisy?”
“Can you ask Anna about that letter?” Edith asked, looking at Mary.
“Do not be daft, I am not going to ask her, she will tell me when she thinks we need to know. I am not going to brake the trust bond we have over a stupid letter.”
The door opened and Robert stepped inside. He looked awful, Mary thought. “I think you can use a whiskey.” She said.
Robert nodded and walked over to the table to poor himself a drink. He hoped the girls would not start asking questions.
Cora was caught off guard, when a coughing fit had hit here, while getting into the car. It had lead Rosamund to reassure the driver it was not contagious, and they could drive on. She had padded Cora on her back to help loosen the mucus.
“It does not seem that you are improving, does it?” Rosamund stated.
While trying to get her breathing under control she muttered. “It was worse.”
“Well, I will make sure you will take your rest as soon as we are back in London.” Rosamund looked at Cora. “Can you tell me what is wrong between you and Robert?” Before Cora could answer, Rosamund continued. “Do not tell me everything is alright, there must be a reason why you are not convalescing in Downton, where Robert can take care of you, but mostly, there must be a reason why you did not give Robert a goodbye kiss.”
Cora looked down at her hands, she knew she needed to tell Rosamund the truth, but she had hoped it would take a little bit longer before the question popped up. She felt tears burning behind her eyes.
Rosamund put her hand on Cora’s. “You can tell me when you are ready for it.”
Rosamund’s words opened the floodgates, Rosamund pulled here close, and Cora let the tears stream down her cheeks. She could not even stop it, her body shaking with every sob. “He cheated, oh Rosamund, Robert cheated on me.”
Cora felt Rosamund stiffen up. “My brother? Robert? He cheated on you?”
Cora sat back up. “You think I am overreacting?” Cora was surprised by Rosamund’s reaction; how could she think she was making this up.”
“Cora, you are misunderstanding me. I am baffled that Robert did that. He is over his ears in love with you, I never expected him to be this weak and stray away from you. When did this happen?”
During the rest of the car ride Cora told her everything what Robert had told her.
Verhalen van Traan 