But Papa! Why? Chapter 27

“Rosamund? I did not know you were coming.” Cora exclaimed when she opened the door. She was wearing jeans and a basic T-shirt and felt underdressed when she saw the nice clothes Rosamund was wearing. Although Rosamund was always neatly dressed, she thought.

“I told Robert. Did he not tell you?”

Cora sighed, Robert was the worst at telling her things, people told him, and he had to tell her. He never did. “It doesn’t matter. Come in. Please come in.” Cora stepped away from the door, to make space for Rosamund. Behind her, an unknown man stepped inside too.

With a surprised look on her face, Cora looked from the man to Rosamund and back. “We have not met before, I think.” She extended her hand. “I am Cora, nice to meet you.”

The man took her hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you too. I am Marmaduke.”

“You are?” Cora said surprised. She realised her mistake. “Of course, you are. I am sorry.” She felt her cheeks colour slightly.

Rosamund wrapped her arm around Cora and kissed her cheek. “It is alright dear sis.” Cora loved how familiar Rosamund was with her. “I thought it was high time you would meet my Marmaduke. Especially since we are engaged.” With a proud smile she showed Cora her hand.

Cora’s eyes grew. “That is amazing news” she wrapped both arms around Rosamund. “Congratulations.” She then took Marmaduke his hand. “And also, congratulations to you.”

“What are we celebrating?” Robert’s head popped around the corner. “And why are we celebrating it in the hallway?”

“Good to see you standing up on your own again.” Rosamund walked towards Robert, Marmaduke and Cora followed.

Robert had already walked back to the sofa. He was getting stronger every day. This morning he had walked around the garden with Cora. Which had cost him a lot of energy, but he had loved every minute of it. Cora had slid her arm around his back when they started and had not let go of him. He knew it was because she was scared, he would fall, but he had mostly enjoyed having her so close to him.

“How are you feeling?” Marmaduke asked.

“Fine. Very glad to be able to move again. I think I will be back in London very soon.” He saw Cora’s worried face. “I have to go back to work one day. And at the office, I can sit all day.” He gave Cora a stern look. “But I do not think you two are here to talk about work?”

Cora saw Rosamund’s cheeks colour; it was the first time she saw that. “Marmaduke asked me to marry him and I said yes.”

“My little sisters is going to be married.” Robert said. “I am very happy for you.” He looked at Marmaduke. “I trust you will protect her the best you can and cherish her the way she deserves to be cherished.”

“Robert!” Rosamund hissed. “You are not my father, he got approval of him to ask my hand and that is enough. You do not have to protect me.”

Cora looked at the two, she loved their brother, sister bond. They were a perfect match for each other, although Robert did indeed sometimes act like he needed to protect her. He was the kind of man; any woman would want. She knew she was lucky he wanted to date her. He was very caring towards her and made sure she had everything she needed. Why he wanted to be with her was still a mystery. Besides the money for Downton, she was not sure what she was offering him. Was he going to marry her, just for the money? He did flirt with her, but she was all of a sudden not sure, he was doing it, because he truly liked her.

“Cora?” Robert’s voice sounded, slightly annoyed.

Cora shook up. “I am sorry, I must have drifted off. What was the question?” She felt her cheek blush, she should not think that way. Robert did like her for who she was.

“Rosamund suggested to get some lunch in the pub. If we leave now, we could walk there.” Robert said.

“Walk? Are you sure. We have a walk already this morning, I do not want you to overdo it.”

“Cora, I am perfectly capable to make those decisions myself.” Robert sounded angry.

Cora shrunk a little, she had not heard this angry tone before. “I am sorry.” She said very timid.

“You treat me like I am a little child, who cannot make decisions on its own. We are going to walk to the pub and that is final.”

“What if we walk there and take a cab back to the house?” Marmaduke chimed in.

Cora gave him a thankful look. “I will need to change my clothes, if that is alright?”

“Robert and I will start walking, you girls can catch up once you are ready.” Marmaduke said, he smiled at Rosamund, who nodded in agreement.

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Cora closed the buttons on her blouse when Rosamund walked inside her room. “Is everything alright between you and Robert?”

“I thought it was. I do not know where his anger is coming from. We had a lovely walk this morning together. That was quite romantic even.” She felt herself blushing thinking about the passionate kiss he gave her, when they reached the small pond.

“Robert is never good in accepting things that are not going the way he wants them to go. He feels restricted and I think that makes him more irritable. And there is one other thing, that I only now realise. Marmaduke beat him and he does not like to be defeated.”

Cora looked up; she had bent down to put on her shoes. “What do you mean by that?”

Rosamund smiled. “Robert always said that he will be the first to marry. And now he is not, Marmaduke was faster by asking my hand. And on top of that he was hoping to be back to his normal form already. He has to accept that his recovery will take more time than he likes. And usually, he takes it out on the people he loves.” Rosamund paused when she saw Cora’s eyebrows raise. “Yes darling, he loves you. He truly does.”

“I do not understand why, but I believe it when you say so.”

“Soon we will be proper sister-in-law’s. I cannot wait to gossip with you about our silly husbands.”

“He has not asked me and according to his actions just now, I am not sure he will ever do. And if he does, will he ask me for the right reasons?”

“You think he will only marry you, because of Downton?”

“What else is there? What do I offer him?”

Rosamund sat down on the chaise lounge and padded her hand next to her. “Come sit down.” Cora did as she asked. “You are a smart woman. You are offering him a safe space. A place where he will be loved for who he is and not for what he has. Look at what you are bringing to our company, since you are doing the adverts, we are having bigger sales numbers. Your creativity and courage are something that is attractive. And then you have your looks, did you ever look at yourself? You are a very, very attractive woman if I was not with Marmaduke……” Rosamund stopped. “Now the guys must be very close to the pub now, we should follow them.”

Cora took Rosamund’s hand. “Thank you for this.” She gave her a cuddle.

But Papa! Why? Chapter 26

I learned that my own book writing did not improve by stopping with my Fanfiction. And life is just boring without Cora and Robert in my head. So well, here I am, back to writing Fanfiction again.

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“Baxter did you bring the folder for this advertisement?” Cora asked looking up from her screen. Baxter had come up to Downton with Cora’s laptop and some other things they needed for work. They had set up an office in one of the upstairs rooms of Dower House. There was enough space, they offered Baxter a room where she could stay as long as they would work here.

Robert’s recovery would take at least a couple of weeks, and Cora had decided it would be better not to travel until his casts were removed. Robert had agreed, and when Baxter said she could drive up to them and stay as long as needed, it was settled. Violet had protested a bit, but Rosamund said that Patrick was happy with Cora’s decision. Six weeks had now passed.

“I am not sure, I have brought some new folders this weekend, but will have to look if that one is in the box.” Baxter got up to check.

“Thank you for being this flexible. It means a lot that you are here.” Cora said, smiling at Baxter.

“There is nobody in London waiting for me, so it does not matter if I work here or there. And besides that, the surroundings here are amazing.”

“You know that you can declare the petrol costs, right?” Cora had seen that every weekend Baxter drove back to London, and she wanted to be sure she was indeed getting her money back. The front door opened and closed. “Oh, that must be Robert coming back from his hospital visit.” Cora said.

“You should go down; I will finish this up for today.” Baxter said, while she found the folder they needed.

“I will only say hello and come back up. We have the deadline in three days, and I do not want to leave everything in your hands.”

Cora walked as fast as she could downstairs. Robert had insisted that she should stay home and work. He said he was claiming to much of her time already. Something that annoyed Cora, if they were serious, she would spend much more time with him in the future.

Molesley was helping Robert to move to the sofa. That surprised Cora, with the cast on his leg, it was more comfortable to be in his bed. “Are we expecting guests?” She asked, walking into the room.

“Why would you say that?” Robert asked, turning his head towards the door.

“I cannot think of any other reason why you would want to sit on the sofa. You said it was uncomfortable with your cast.”

“I indeed said that. And with the cast it was uncomfortable yes.”

Cora was surprised and did not understand what he meant, until she walked around the sofa and saw that his cast was removed. “I did not know they were going to remove your casts today?” The cast on his arm was also removed, she now noticed.

Robert smiled up to her. “I did not know they would. But Dr Clarkson made some x-rays and it all looked good. It will take months before my arm and leg will be back to their old form. But from now on, I can practice with standing and walking again.” To prove this, he was getting up. Molesley was still standing next to him and immediately helped him. Cora also stepped forward and handed him her hand, that he took with his good hand.

“Please be careful.” Cora said with a worried voice.

Robert moved his hand to Cora’s shoulder, she felt him lean heavy on her. She was not sure if she could put her hands on his sides, he did not complain about his ribs anymore, but she did not want to hurt him, so she rested her hands on his hip. This way she could try and catch him if he lost his balance.

Robert now leaned in and pressed a kiss on Cora’s cheek. “Stop worrying, Dr Clarkson said that I am allowed to stand on it. And as long as it does not hurt, I can practice as much as I want.” He almost lost his balance, when he tried to turn more towards Cora and now leaned even heavier on her.

Cora wrapped her arms a bit tighter around his waist. “You better sit down.”

Robert pulled Cora down with him when he sat back on the sofa. She hardly managed not to fall on him. “Robert.” Cora hissed. Molesley was still in the room, and she felt ashamed that Robert was being this flirty in front of him.

“What, can I not flirt with my girlfriend?” He said playful.

Cora saw Molesley leave the room and close the door behind him. “You can flirt with me as much as you want, but not when we are not alone.” She was still half on top of Robert, who held her close with his arm around her waist.

“We are not back in the old days; were we are not allowed to show affection towards each other.”

“It is still a form of decency to not be openly loving towards each other.” Cora replied. Sliding next to Robert on the sofa.

Robert moved his hand towards Cora’s face and brushed over her cheek bone. “It has been six long weeks before I could move this freely and touch you. I could not help myself.” HIs thumb followed the lines of her cheek, down her neck.

Cora smiled. “We have a lifetime together in front of us. Those six weeks were nothing.”

“Did you not miss touching me?” Robert said disappointed.

“But I could touch you.” Cora’s cheeks coloured. The first day she had to help him to wash himself had been awkward. They were sleeping in the same bed together, but he had not seen her without clothes, and she had not seen him.

Robert’s cheeks were also colouring. “That was different.”

Cora kissed Robert’s cheek; her hand rested slightly on his chest. “I know, I was only teasing you.”

Robert put his hand on top of Cora’s and brushed with his thumb over her hand. “I am so thankful you stayed here with me all these weeks.”

“You were there for me when my father died, and I promised myself I would never let you go.”

“Not even when I do stupid things like this?”

“Not even then.” Cora chuckled. “And now I have seen the Abbey, I cannot wait to start planning the renovation of it.”

Robert raised his eyebrows. “Are you serious. Do you really want that?” His arm wrapped around her back.

“Robert.” Cora said in a serious tone. “As I said, I cannot wait to grow old with you. And with that comes the renovation of the Abbey.”

“Before we can do that, some other things need to be done, but I do not want to rush things.” Robert paused, not sure how to continue.

Cora now kissed him on his lips. “We are not in a rush.” She kissed him again. “Now, it is still the middle of the workday. I need to go back to work, Baxter is waiting for me.”

Drabble – snuff box

I wrote this drabble as a birthday gift for a friend. Hope you will like it.

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Cora looked up at the house, all the windows where dark. She was late, she had debated to stay in London with Rosamund, but she had wanted to go home. She missed Robert, even though she had only been away for three days, it felt longer.

The last time she had been away overnight was when Mr Bricker was around. He had put a damper on her trips to London, but she forced herself to step over that feeling. Robert had pampered her with beautiful new pearls. Now it was her turn to give something back to Robert.

She had found a woodworker, who could make a special snuff box. She contacted him and he had made her special request. She used a dress-fitting appointment as an excuse to go to London on her own. Rosamund had suggested she would buy a dress in case Robert would ask. Cora had chuckled, Robert never was interested in what she bought. He liked everything on her body, he always said.

Carson opened the front door when Cora approached. “Good evening, Milady.”

“Good evening, Carson. I am sorry for keeping you up this late.”

“That is alright, Milady. His Lordship has gone up some time ago.”

“I will go up quickly too. So you can go to bed.”

Carson nodded, and Cora walked towards the stairs. She hoped Robert would still be awake. But there had not been any light on when she arrived. There was also no light coming under the door, she noticed when she came closer. As soft as possible she opened the door to her room and immediately, she heard Robert’s snoring. She let the door ajar, so Baxter could come in without waking Robert. A sad feeling came over her, she had hoped for him to be awake, so she could surprise him with her gift, but now it had to wait for the morning.

Baxter helped her out of her dress and into her nightdress. With a nod she said goodnight. It was cold in the room; the fire had gone out. Quickly she moved to the bed. She took of her jewellery, wound up her watch and put them in the small box on her nightstand. Then she scooted under the covers. A slight shiver went through her body, it was really cold tonight. She scooted closer to Robert and turned on her side, so she was facing him. There was not much light in the room, but she could see his face. It was mostly her memory that filled in the gaps. She shivered again and scooting even closer to Robert, hoping his body warmth would warm her. He moved his arm and Cora snuggled against his chest.

“Welcome home” a very sleepy Robert.

“Thank you dear. Now sleep.” Cora pressed a kiss on his chest. She felt his breathing slowing down again as a sign he was fast asleep. His arm wrapped tight around her. This was her safe space, next to Robert was where she belonged. With this last thought she felt in a very deep sleep herself.

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The smell of coffee woke Cora up. Lazily she stretched and opened her eyes. Robert was sitting on his side of the bed with a cup in his hands. That was something he never did. When he woke up, he got up and went downstairs to get his breakfast. With a yawn she stretched again and got up a little so she could lay against Robert again. “Good morning, my love.” was his greeting, while she rested her head on his stomach.

A big smile appeared on Cora’s face. “Good morning, dear. I missed you.”

Roberts hand now rested on her upper arm and was softly moving up and down. “I am glad you are home again. I must admit, that sleeping without you next to me, is not easy.”

“I share that sentiment.” She looked up at him and smiled. “Since when do you drink coffee in the morning?”

Robert lifted his cup. “I am not, this is tea.”

Cora raised her eyebrows. “But I smell coffee?” she said surprised.

“There is coffee waiting for you, that is what you are smelling.”

Cora wrapped her arm a bit tighter over Robert’s stomach. “I love you.”

“Good.” Was Robert’s hummed answer.

Cora pushed herself back a bit. “Good? That is your reaction on me saying that I love you?”

Robert smiled down at her, he then bent down and kissed her lips. “I cannot wait to see the new dress on you.”

This made Cora get up. She threw the duvet off of her and got in her slippers. She walked towards her dressing table. She had put the box underneath it when she got home last night. With the small box in her hand, she walked back to Robert’s side of the bed.

“That is a small dress, are you sure it is appropriate to wear when we have guest, or to be seen in at all?” Robert’s cheeks coloured while he said that.

“Open it.” Cora said, with the same rosy cheeks as Robert had, she sat down on the matrass. Her hands resting her in her lap, she was insecure all of a sudden. What if he did not like it.

Before opening the box, Robert put his hand on Cora’s hands. “Are you worried I will not like the gift?”

Cora did not look up, she only nodded.

“Cora, whatever is inside this box, I know I will love it. I would love any gift from you, because it is coming from you.” He kissed her temple, before proceeding opening the box.

Cora now looked at him, to see his face, while seeing what was inside. She saw his eyebrows rise and lower again. He looked again and a smile appeared around his mouth. He then looked up at Cora. “Where did you find this?”

“It is specially made for you.” Cora said, still blushing. “Do you recognize it?”

Robert took the wooden snuff box out of the gift box. He looked at it from every side, then he discovered it was a snuff box. “It is a snuff box. A very special one, in the form of a hand.”

“Do you recognize anything else?” Cora got anxious he did not see what it truly was.

Robert looked again, a bit closer now. When he let his fingers go over the fingers of the wooden hand, his eyes lit up. His head shot up to look at Cora, and then back to the snuff box. “How did you manage this? This is your hand, is it not?”

Cora’s cheeks were now burning. “It is my hand. I have sat down as a model a couple of weeks ago. The wood worker made a mould of my hand and from that mould, he made you this snuff box.” She took Robert’s hand in hers. “I gave you my hand thirty-four years ago, but I am giving it again today. To make sure you know that I will always be yours. Nothing can come in between us, nothing can separate us, besides death. I am yours and always will be.”

“Oh Cora.” Robert said with a voice full of emotion. “I love you. You cannot know how much I love you.” He put the snuff box down on the matrass and pulled Cora closer. He pressed a long and passionate kiss on her lips.

Cora rested her hands on his stomach, so she would not fall on to him. She enjoyed the feeling of this kiss. There was more in this kiss, then words could describe. The love between them was strong as ever.

A slight knock on the door, made Cora sit up straight again. She quickly wiped her mouth with her hand, Robert had bitten her lip, and she knew it would be visible. “Who is it.” Robert said, he was the first able to speak.

“Baxter, Milord, I wanted to know if her ladyship is awake. She has an early appointment this morning.”

“Come back in five minutes, she will be awake.” Was his answer.

Cora chuckled, while leaning back against him. “What did you think we could do in those five minutes?”

“For what I really, really want to do with you, we need more time. But I think you need the time to be presentable.” He had a cheeky smile on his face.

Cora swatted at his chest, but at the same time leaned in for another kiss. Just before her lips touched his she said: “If you bite, I will make sure you will have a bite mark visible the whole day too.”

Robert now laughed aloud and pulled her on his lap. “I will thank you properly tonight. Now, we have to face the real world again.” He pressed a tender kiss on her lips before he let her go.