‘Dearest, it is so incredibly beautiful here. I wish you were here, unfortunately, I am here with John and not you. But John suggested to spend another night here. He says it is for the beautiful nature, but yesterday we were at our client’s house and a beautiful young woman was working there. I saw how he was looking at her and I am sure he wants to stay to get to know her. I will call you later this morning, but we have booked another night. I will be home tomorrow around midday. Love you, lots of kisses your Donk.’
Cora read the message twice, she was not sure if she was relieved or disappointed. It was only seven in the morning and Robert had suspected her to be asleep still. But she could not sleep, every time she closed her eyes she smelled him. She felt his hand going inwards and pressing into her intimate spot, she heard his voice. Robert was still oblivious to what had happened, and Cora agreed with Patrick that they should not tell him. She would wait for him to come home, but now he was staying another night away from her.
It was very tempting to dial Robert’s number, she needed to hear his voice. At least his voice would help her calm down, she knew. She also knew he would hear in her voice that something was wrong. She put the phone back on the nightstand and turned on her other side. She stretched and pulled Robert’s pillow close. She pressed her face in it and sniffed Robert’s scent. Rosamund had offered to stay with her, but Cora sent her away. Rosamund had enough on her mind, and she needed her rest. Baxter and Molesley had also finally left for their own weekend away.
With a deep sigh Cora turned back on her other side, she was not going to get more sleep she figured. Wrapping her robe around her, she walked towards the kitchen. She was going to make a light breakfast, so she could go for a long swim. Maybe it would help if she made herself tired and swimming normally helped calming her mind down.
+++
Cora walked back up to her appartement, it was a luxury to have a swimming pool inside the building. It made it a lot easier to go for a swim and she should make it a daily activity. Maybe she could get Robert to go for a swim too. They should add a pool somewhere on the grounds of Downton, she would discuss that with Robert as soon as he was back home. Still in her thoughts, she almost bumped into Rosamund.
“Where have you been?” Rosamund snapped.
Cora stepped back, there was anger in Rosamund’s voice that she had not heard before.
“You were gone without a notice, why did you leave your phone? Robert has been calling you and then he called me. Do you want him to be worried and going crazy?”
“Ros, what do you mean? I was just down for a swim; I needed the distraction.”
“You knew Robert would call you. I now lied to him that you were busy and would call him soon, but you know how he is. Please give him a call now.”
Cora was not sure why Rosamund was behaving this way. She figured it was her hurt over losing Marmaduke that she now projected on her. “I will give him a call. I am sorry.”
Rosamund huffed and handed Cora her phone.
The phone only rang once, as if Robert was looking at the phone, waiting for Cora to call. “Cora?”
“Yes darling, it is me. I went down for a swim and left my phone in the apartment. Are you having fun?”
“I was, but when you did not answer your phone, I got worried.”
“Is that why Rosamund is at my place?” Cora asked looking sideways to Rosamund, who was pacing in front of the sliding doors to the balcony.
“You always answer your phone and when you did not, I got worried. You did not reply to my text message either. I asked Rosamund to go and check on you.”
Cora swallowed; she had indeed forgotten to answer him.
“Are you angry, that I am staying another night?” Robert asked.
“Oh sweetheart, why would I be angry about that? You and John are having fun and you do not need my permission to stay another night.” Cora tried to keep her voice steady. The moment she heard his voice, what she feared happened, she almost started crying.
“John met somebody and he wants to get to know her a bit better. She is called Anna; she works as a lady’s maid.”
“A lady’s maid?” Cora said surprised. “Is that still a thing?”
Robert chuckled. “It does sound like something from the 1920s. A lady’s maid is more of a personal assistant these days.” Robert paused. “Cora?” Another pause. “You would tell me if you wanted me to come home, would you not?”
“I always want you home, but I love that you are enjoying yourself there and I sincerely wish John and Anna will get to know each other better.”
“When, you are sure?” Robert sounded insecure.
“I am sure, I will see you tomorrow evening.”
“You and Rosamund could go do something fun together? It will cheer you up.”
Cora swallowed again; Robert was not as clueless as she had hoped. He picked up that something happened to her. “Darling, go and enjoy your extra time there.”
“You would tell me if something was wrong, and you needed me to come home?”
“You have already asked that. I love you, Robert, with all that I am. Do not worry about me, alright.” She waited for Robert to hang up the phone.
Rosamund turned towards her. “Do you like it when my brother is worried?”
“Rosamund, what do you mean?” Cora sat down on the sofa and looked at Rosamund with raised eyebrows, while Rosamund kept pacing in front of the sliding doors. “Can you please sit down?”
Rosamund shook her head. “No, I cannot.”
Cora heard the crack in her voice. She was not sure what to do, Rosamund was upset, and it was not just because of her. After a couple of minutes of silence, she stepped towards Rosamund.
“You miss him, do you not?”
With big red eyes Rosamund look at Cora.
Cora pulled her close without any words and gave Rosamund the comfort she needed.
“It still feels like he can come back any time now. After your incident yesterday, I drove home preparing to tell him what happened. But when I opened the door, the realisation hit me, that he will never be there to listen to me anymore. He will never be able to comfort me, he will never laugh with me again. He will never pull me close in the middle of the night, just because he wanted to cuddle. Oh Cora.” with a sob Rosamund looked at her. “I miss him, and I do not know how to go on with life without him.”
Not sure what to answer, Cora just kept silent and brushed with her hand over Rosamund back.
“And here you are in love with my brother and not even realising how blessed you are that the man you love is alive.”
Cora pulled her hand back. “I do realise that I am lucky with Robert in my life.”
“Do you? Do you really?”
“Yes, I do. I honestly do. Rosamund? Why do you think I do not?”
“Why did you not text him back this morning? Why did you make him worry about you? While my father and I tried to protect him and not give any indication something was wrong?”
“I do not know, I forgot. I did not sleep last night and was not really in the right state to think logically. I just forgot to answer him, how could I know that Robert would worry just because I was not answering my phone?”
“If you had any real interest in my brother, you would have known that he quickly worries about his loved ones.”
“Now wait a minute.” Cora was getting angry; she did not deserve this treatment of Rosamund. Yes, Rosamund was hurt by the loss of Marmaduke, but it was not fair what she said to her. “I am getting to know Robert better each day. But he is not very open about his emotions, and I did not know he worried about his loved ones, like he does. Your family is not really a family where I would expect that from.”
“What does that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing bad, only that what I have witnessed until now is not always full of love towards each other. Yes, Robert is the first one to protect you against anything that would hurt you. But your mother is not the example of a loving mother, is she?”
“And yours is?” Rosamund huffed. “Your mother who had send you here to marry just for a title. That is the example of a loving mother?”
“Rosamund.” Cora sighed. “I never said my mother was a good example, but why are we fighting about this. I made a judgment error, by not texting Robert. I am sorry. Please can we not fight. I am sorry. You should not have been pulled into this. You have other things on your mind and do not need to worry about the relationship between your brother and me. I care for your brother very, very much and I would never deliberately hurt him. I am sorry if you got that idea, I did not mean to do that. I am grateful that I am a part of your family, like every family there are ups and downs. Your father has welcomed me with open arms from the beginning and I am very grateful for the friendship you gave me from the moment we met.”
“Are you going to tell Robert about Mr. Bricker?”
Cora shrugged her shoulders. “I have to, he will be mad when I keep it from him.”
“He will be mad at all of us, that we did not tell him immediately. But I think you are right; he needs to know.”
“Mr. Bricker did not really do me harm. It was only touching; it will be early enough to tell him as soon as he comes back home.”
“It was more than just touching. If Miss Baxter had not warned us, Mr Bricker would have gone much further.”
Cora was a bit surprised by the change of tone in Rosamund’s voice. “But he did not, thanks to Miss Baxter, Mr. Molesley and your father.”
“We need to make a report about this.”
“I rather just let it rest. I cannot imagine he will try something else again.”
Rosamund finally sat down; Cora followed. “You never know, a desperate man can make weird jumps.”
Cora felt a shiver run down her spine; she did not want to think about what else he could come up with. “Can we let it rest for now?” Cora leaned forward and took Rosamund’s hands in hers. “Can I please say again that I am sorry for this morning. You do know that I am always here if you want to talk, about anything.”
Rosamund nodded and said a very soft. “Thank you”
Verhalen van Traan 