Robert had made an appointment with the contractor to start the process of the rebuilding the insides of the Abbey. He had said, it was a good distraction from the Simon business. Simon had written several emails to Harold and although Harold had told him, they were not going to work together, and that Cora was not interested in going out on a date with him. Simon kept insisting to meet Cora again. Cora was convinced he had known that she was working for ‘Crawley Advertisements’ and the fact he did not give up on contacting her, convinced her even more.
Cora’s hand slid into Robert’s, while they stood in front of the Abbey. With a deep sigh, she said. “The building keeps astonishing me.”
Robert squeezed her hand. “Even after all these years of seeing the building, I still feel the same.”
“Once Harold wrote that Mama agreed with the early rebuilding, I could not feel happier.”
Robert stepped back from her, still holding her hand, but he gave her a puzzled look. “Rebuilding Downton makes you happier than the prospect of marrying me?”
Cora saw the playful twinkling in his eyes, she decided to play with him. “Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.” Cora batted her eyelashes, something she knew made Robert weak inside. And what she had hoped for happened. Robert’s cheeks coloured slightly, and he let out a low rumble.
He pulled her close and pressed his lips on hers. “You are teasing me.” He growled and intensified the kiss.
Cora’s wiggled her hand out of Robert’s and moved it up to his neck. “I do love you so much.” She said, while kissing him again.
A low ‘Ahumm’ made them almost jump. A tall man with dark big eyebrows was standing in front of the big doors and was looking at them.
“Carson, I am sorry for that.” Robert apologised to the man. I do not think you have met Miss. Levinson, did you?”
“That is alright Milord. I will get used to it; it is a long time ago a young couple that was in love lived here. And now we have not yet met.” The man, apparently called Carson, extended his hand towards Cora.
Cora felt her cheeks blush. “Lovely to meet you, Mr. Carson. I am Cora. Cora Levinson.”
“Soon to be Mrs. Crawley.” Robert laid his hand on Cora’s lower back.
“Milady” Carson said when Cora took his hand. “Welcome to Downton. It is exciting to finally see this building being rebuilt. Back to its old glory.” Cora saw a glow in his eyes, that she also saw in Robert’s eyes when they talked about Downton.
“Carson is the Butler of the house.” Robert explained.
Butler? Cora thought. For what, nobody has lived her for years. What was he doing? She must have looked puzzled because Robert explained.
“He did not work in the house since the fire. Of course not, because it was not safe to be in the house.” His eyes got sad for a short second. “But we have always found things for you to do, haven’t we?” He now looked at Carson with a childlike expression on his face. “Carson has always been our butler, at least as long as I can remember.
“I welcomed the contractor and offered tea. He is waiting in the Secretary’s room.”
Robert looked at Cora and laughed when he saw her face. “The backside of the house is perfectly intact. The fire raged mostly in the frontside of the building. It is still a mystery to me that the library survived. The Secretary’s room is in the back, and we can enter via the backdoor. The last time we were up here, I meant to show you more, then just that look through the front windows.”
“I never registered that we been to the back at all. All I remember is seeing you fall of that horse and disappear.” She took his hand again. “So let us just walk calmly to the back this time.”
Robert checked if Carson was looking, he was, as he should, he was going to let Robert and Cora walk in front of him. He ignored his watchful eye and took Cora’s face in his hands. “I will not do any stupid things this time.” He kissed her tenderly.
Cora felt her cheeks colour, she had seen that Carson was looking at them and she did not feel comfortable to kiss Robert in front of his butler.
+++
“These are the plans we have for now.” Jacob slid the papers over the table towards Robert and Cora.
Jacob was their contractor, who was responsible for the rebuilding. Cora looked at it and was shocked by how modern the images looked. She did not know how to respond; she was not sure what Robert had told them. They had not even talked about those details themselves, and she was not expecting to see sketches already. From the corner of her eye, she looked at Robert and she saw that he was searching for the right words to voice what he was thinking. She suppressed a chuckle; he was so predictable.
“Thank you for making sketches already. It is something I was not expecting to see today.”
“I thought that it would help and speed up the process.” Jacob interrupted.
Cora saw that Robert was clenching his jaw.
“As I said.” He continued. “I was not expecting to see sketches today already. We did not talk about any details yet, and I appreciate how much work you have already spend on these.” He quickly looked at Cora, seeking her confirmation. She nodded, that he could go on. “We want the building back in his old glory.”
“That would be such a shame.” Jacob countered. “What you need is a new and modern look. This fire was the perfect timing to modernise the house. Who wants to be surrounded by all that old wood and stone?”
Cora moved her hand under the table towards Robert’s leg, she saw a twitched under his eye and she knew he was getting mad. Softly she squeezed his knee. When she saw him take a deep breath, she was relieved he tried calming himself down.
“I was in the understanding, that a contractor worked for his clients. Am I wrong in that understanding?”
Jacob smiled. “Of course not, I indeed work for you. But I also know the market and I know what will sell and what will not.”
Now it was Cora who spoke. “To be very clear. This meeting is to discuss our wishes, what WE.” She emphasised the word ‘we’. “Want, and not what you think will be best for the market. This house will not be up for sale, and I can guarantee you that if the day comes, we are going to sell, it will sell better if it is in the original style and not some modern hideous coffin.”
Robert was drinking his tea when Cora said that last part and he started to choke. Cora padded his back, but she did not take her eyes off Jacob.
“I think this meeting is over. Thank you for your time and idea’s. We will be in contact.” She rose from the chair and extended her hand towards Jacob.
Robert followed her example. “Indeed, thank you, but Miss. Levinson is correct. This meeting is over, and do not expect us to call you again. We will find somebody else to complete this job for us.”
Carson appeared and let Jacob out of the building. As soon as the door closed behind Carson, Robert and Cora started laughing.
Robert pulled Cora in his arms. “What went in to you?” He said smiling. “I have never seen you this fierce before.”
“A young chap as Jacob will not ruin this beautiful building. Never in my life, and the fact he wanted to modernise the building tells me, that he does not know how this market works. It would be mental if we would modernise this building. The only modernising we will do is making sure we will have proper heating.”
“You are always cold; no heating will help with that.”
“You will need to make sure I will not get cold here.”
Robert kissed Cora’s neck. “You are sexy when you talk like that.”
Cora rolled her head back, so Robert had better access. “You are so happy by just being in this house, that I will let nobody ruin that for you.” She felt his hands roaming over her backside and she could only hope Carson would not step back inside this room. Because she was not sure how long she would be standing here in her blouse. Robert’s fingers were pulling at her blouse already. Gently she put her hands on Robert’s upper arms, she felt heat shoot through her body when she felt his muscles. “We cannot do this here. Carson will be back soon.”
“All the more exciting.” Robert growled, but he cowered as soon as he heard footsteps coming closer. He quickly pulled Cora’s blouse straight, kissed her on the lips and stepped back. Right before Carson came back in.
Cora knew he could see on her face, what just happened, but she tried to keep a straight face.
“Thank you, Milord, for standing up for Downton. I know you will be an amazing Lord one day.”
Robert nodded, and Cora saw he was proud to hear this from Carson’s mouth.
Verhalen van Traan 