But Papa! Why? Chapter 52

“Did you see Anna last weekend?” Robert looked up when John entered the office. He saw a blush on his face and knew it had been a fun weekend. His own weekend had been magical, Cora had asked to go to Downton and see how far the reconstruction work was.

Molesley had opened Dower House for them and to their surprise, Baxter had been with Molesley. Cora felt guilty. ‘We should stay somewhere else or tell Molesley we can fend for ourselves.’ She said when they were alone for a couple of minutes.

“Why?” Was Robert’s response.

Cora had looked at him and sighed. They obviously planned a fun weekend together and now here we are interrupting them.

“It is part of his job, being at the house when we are here.”

“Darling.” Cora had put her hand on his arm. “I know it is his job, and I also know that you are very used to how things were done in the old days.”

“The old days?” He had exclaimed.

Cora had gotten on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “We can perfectly do without a butler being in the house for a weekend.”

“I can already tell you that Molesley will not leave if we stay in the house. I will eat my hat when he does.”

Cora had chuckled. “Then we will leave and stay somewhere else. Your country is famous for its Bed and Breakfasts, so we will be able to find something. I like you when you are wearing a hat, so let’s not eat it.” She had now kissed him again, long, and passionate.

They ended up in a very cosy Bed and Breakfast a bit up north from the Abbey.

The next morning, they had been into the Abbey together with the contractors.

“As you can see the great hall is almost finished. When you have your wedding day in three month’s time, we will be able to be finished with the dining area. In fact, if everything goes at this pace, the house will be ready to be lived in again just before the wedding” The contractor had smiled at them.

Cora hooked her arm in Robert’s when they walked into the Abbey, this was the first time they walked through the front door together. He heard her gasp when they entered the great hall. Robert was impressed too; it did look like before the fire. The contractor had managed to replicate everything.

“Robert, this is beautiful.” Cora said very softly. “I cannot believe that this will be where I finally will say yes to you.”

Robert stopped in the middle of the great hall and turned towards Cora. Both his hands rested on her sides. “This will not only be where we will become husband and wife, but it will be where we are going to live the rest of our lives.”

Cora took in a deep breath. Officially they did not live together at the moment, but there were not many nights they did not sleep in the same bed. Most of the time, they were in her apartment. But the idea of leaving her own space behind did scare her a bit. What was expected from her when they would move into the Abbey. Was she going to be able to keep working like she did now, or did Robert expect her to be the lady of the house and arrange parties and other posh gatherings?

‘Can you tell me what is happening inside your head.’ Robert softly squeezed her sides.

Another deep sigh. “We will talk about that later, I am sorry. I think I am a bit overwhelmed by everything. Can you show me the library? You shone me through the windows last time, and I am dying to be able to walk into that room.”

Robert turned towards the contractor. “Can we go to the library, or is that area not open yet?”

“The whole building is safe to walk in.”

“Even upstairs?” Robert said surprised.

“Even upstairs. The rooms where the fire reached are still damaged, but we will start with them when the downstairs is finished. If you want, you can walk around on your own. We will meet back here in thirty minutes.”

The contractor had left them on their own, Robert first walked with Cora towards the library. He then went upstairs with her.

“I am still amazed this staircase was not damaged by that fire.” She said while they walked up.

“You remember the first time I showed you Downton?” Robert asked, while leading her to the right when they got upstairs.

“The day you almost killed yourself. I will not easily forget that day.”

Robert managed to have a guilty look on his face. “I promised that one day you would walk down this stairs, and today is that day.”

“Can you first show me a bit more of the rooms?”

Now Robert had a cheeky smile. “I want to show you one room in particular. Follow me.” He took her hand and pulled her with him. In his childlike enthusiasm, he forgot to wait for Cora to start walking and he almost dragged her with him.” He stopped after he had passed a couple of doors. “This.” He said, while opening the door. “This, will be our bedroom.”

Cora stepped inside a large room; the room was untouched by the fire. Inside was a big canapé bed, a comfortable chair, and a chaise lounge. Two big rooms gave them a view of the beautiful garden. Cora turned around towards Robert. “It is a little bit outdated.” She chuckled.

Robert quickly stepped closer to her. “We will make this room our own. The way you like it, is the way it will look like.” He pressed his lips on hers for a quick kiss, but Cora moved her hands towards his neck and pulled him closer. She deepened the kiss; her tongue found his. Robert’s hands roamed over her body. “I cannot wait to spend our first night in this room with you as the lady of the house.”

Cora froze, what made Robert step back and look at her. He put his hand on her cheek. “Darling, what is wrong? Please tell me what is wrong. Something happened downstairs and now again. Are you having doubts? If you do, you should tell me. I do not want you to feel forced to marry me.”

“Oh Robert.” Cora put her hand on top of Robert’s. “Nobody is forcing me to marry you. I want to marry you. Yesterday rather than today. I mean that Robert, marrying you is not the part that is scaring me.”

“Something is scaring you?”

“Yes.” Cora took his hand in hers and walked towards the chaise lounge to sit down. “What is expected from me, when we move into this house? I am not brought up in the British upper class, and I do not know how to be a host or a lady of the house. Your mother will laugh when I fail to perform the duties that come with this house and the title that you will give me when I marry you.”

“Mama, will not laugh.”

Cora huffed. “Please Robert, do not be ignorant. She will, we both know that.”

“Alright, you are correct in that. Mama will indeed not mind seeing you fail. But you do not have to be scared of all these things. I am not going to ask from you to be all that. Living in this house does not mean we have to entertain people.”

“I love you Robert and I love your innocents, but you need to open your eyes for what we are going to do. Reopening the house cannot happen without taking on all the duties that come with a house like this. We will need staff to manage the house and we will need to organise parties and events. You do not want to become the laughingstock.”

“Maybe you are correct. I have not really given that a real thought. I was only thinking about how we could fill up all these rooms with little ones.” He put his hand on her abdomen. “And how beautiful you will look when you are walking down the stairs with a little one on your arms.” He softly kissed her cheek. “I was thinking about how we could go on long walks after dinner to the rose garden. How we could have romantic picnics at the lake.” He brushed his nose over hers. “Papa and I have already discussed how we can move the company up here, so we do not have to travel to London that often. We will keep a dependence in London, Rosamund will probably stay and work in London. You and I will move our office here, John probably too.”

“What about Baxter?” Cora said, a bit overwhelmed by everything he was telling her. “Where is Baxter going, is she not coming with us?”

Robert laughed. “I am sorry, I assumed that made sense, with Molesley she will want to live close to here and not in London.”

Cora laughed too. “I forgot about that. You are right.”

“Cora?” Robert put his hand on Cora’s leg. “We will take everything the way it comes and if Mama is unkind to you, you should tell me right away. Do you promise me that?”

“I promise you.” She smiled. “Well, oké enough worrying, the contractor will wonder where we are.”

“Three more months darling, three more months.” Robert said, while pulling Cora back down when she got up. She stumbled and lost her balance. Robert pulled on her arm again and she sat down on his lap.

“Three more months indeed.” She kissed him, with both her hands on his face. “The day I am allowed to call myself your wife, will be the happiest day in my life.”

Robert moved his hand to Cora’s abdomen again. “I agree, although the day we will have our own little one, will be even happier.”

Cora crashed her mouth on Roberts until she needed air.

But Papa! Why? Chapter 51

Pacing through the hall, Robert put his hands in his pockets, took them out and put them back again. He had gone to the toilet twice in five minutes already. Rosamund took Cora to get something to drink. He had said they could go together and he would wait inside. If they called them back inside earlier he could warn Cora and Rosamund. He also did not want to show Cora how nervous he was, he wanted to be strong for her, but it was not easy. The way Simon’s lawyer defended Simon, was almost scary. He did not understand that people could defend the bad guys. It was obvious that Simon was in the wrong, but his lawyer did everything in his power to plead him free. They team that was representing Cora was better. Robert knew that, but there was a little voice in his head, that was nagging him. Cora had looked so small in that court room and he had seen the looks Simon gave her. He still had not got the message that his avenges were not desired. With every day that passed, Robert felt more and more guilty. They had send Cora into Simon’s arms.

“Where is Cora?”

Violet’s voice shook Robert out of his brooding. “Rosamund took her to get something to drink.”

“And they did not offer you to come with them?”

“I was the one suggesting they should go together. Cora needed that.”

Violet huffed. “When I look at you, you are also at the end of your rope.”

This surprised Robert. “I admit, I will be happy when this is all behind us. We should never had send Cora to his office.”

“Robert.” Violet put her hand on Robert’s arm. “We cannot change what is in the past, but only what is in the future.”

Violet’s gesture surprised Robert, he did show his surprise. He never knew what to do when his mother showed compassion, it was so out of line with her normal behaviour.

“There is a ruling, we should go back inside.” His father came around the corner. “Where are Rosamund and Cora?”

“Here we are, we are ready to go back inside.” Rosamund came walking towards them with Cora directly behind her. Robert saw Cora’s pale face, she looked frail. He waited for his father, mother and Rosamund to go in front of him. When Cora walked past him, he put his hand on her back and pressed a quick kiss on her head. “You can do this. You have withstand all the interrogation, what ever the ruling will be, it will be over after today.”

“I hope so.” Cora said timid.

He squeezed her side in the hope to encourage her. At the door back into the court, he saw Richard and Helen waiting.

+++

“I am glad this is over.” Rosamund said, with a deep sigh when she sat down on the big sofa. After the ruling, they all went to Violet’s and Patrick’s house. It seemed the most logical decision. They did not want to go to Rosamund’s house, because the last time they were there as a whole family, was after Marmaduke’s funeral. Violet had said, that it was easiest to go to their house, since they had a cook and a butler. Both Cora and Robert did not had the energy to protest. They would love to just go home and let everything sink in. But they realised, that the family wanted to celebrate, and that was normal.

Simon had lost, he got a community sentence. The judge said, that there was a combination of Sexual assault and harassment. But as Simon had a clear record, he got a lower punishment. Cora was content with that, even though he had gone way to far, she still felt responsible for everything that had happened. So did Robert, he would never forgive himself that they had let this happen.

“We can now finally let this awful business rest and focus on the fun things in life.” Rosamund said, while taking the cup that she was handed. “Do you have something strong for in this tea?”

“Of course Milady.” The butler said.

“Well, speaking of fun business.” Rosamund looked at Cora. “How is the rebuilding of Downton going?”

This was the first time since day’s that Robert saw a genuine smile on Cora’s face. The days leading up to this trial, she had gotten quieter and quieter. What ever he said, she reacted blank or not at all. The day that she went dress shopping was the last day he had been allowed to touch her. No he should frase that differently, It wasn’t that she didn’t allow it, but she just wasn’t approachable. When he tried to make a move, there had not been any reaction. He had given up and decided to wait for her to come back to him. He had seen her working on new projects at work and heard her talking with the constructors.

“There is a change that they will be finished earlier than expected with the great hall and stairs, and they will try to finish the dining area for the wedding.” Cora now looked at Robert. They were seated next to each other, Cora stretched out her hand. Robert took it eagerly in his hand, he was once again amazed by how perfect her small hand was, with slender fingers and soft skin. “It looks like, we can have the dinner at Downton too.”

Robert raised his eyebrows. “We said we would have the dinner at Downton? Did we not?”

Cora smiled. “We did, but we were talking about putting up a big tent outside. If the contractor is right, we will not need that tent, and our wedding will be a real posh one.”

Again Robert’s eyebrows raised. “You did not want a posh wedding? Did you change your mind?”

Cora squeezed his hand. “I know how much you care about that, and I figured that you deserve to have the wedding you want.”

“But it is also your wedding, my darling. If you do not want a posh wedding, we can go for the simpler style you suggested first.”

“We will talk about that later.” Suddenly aware that they were not alone, Cora blushed.

“A posh wedding, well, well, well.” Rosamund teased.

Violet suddenly said. “I think this is a very good decision. Robert you are from a noble family and your wedding should represent that.”

“A wedding at Downton does already represent that, Mama” Rosamund said.

“You know perfectly well, what I am talking about. A simple wedding at Downton is not the same as a real wedding.”

“You mean that all the people that marry on a Monday morning at the townhall, on a budget, do not have a real wedding?” Rosamund countered.

“You know perfectly well, what I mean.”

“No, I do not know that. Please explain to everybody here, what you mean.”

“That is enough.” Patrick said loudly. “Let us raise a glass on today’s victory.” He stepped aside for the butler to hand out glasses of champagne.

Robert had not even noticed that his father had arranged champagne. They all stood up with a glass in their hands.

“As a family we will stand strong.” He Patrick started. “Before we toast, I want to apologise to you, my dear Cora. We made a big judgement error and you had to suffer from it. I am very relieved that it is all settled now, and Mr. Bricker will never be able to come close to you.”

“He will still be able too.” Robert said under his breath.

Patrick looked at him. “With the restraining order, it will only cause more trouble for him than he already is in. I doubt he will ever try anything again. And if he does, our lawyers will skin him alive. Now.” Patrick raised his glass. “Let us celebrate this victory.”

“Victory.” They all cheered.

Cora turned towards Robert, she got on her tiptoes and kissed him, her hand that was holding the glass went to his back. Her other hand, was put on his cheek. The kiss was long, which surprised Robert, she never kissed him like this in front of his parents. He did not care, not one bit. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his body.

“That is enough.” Violet said resolute. “Dinner will be ready soon and I do not want to lose my appetite.”

Robert felt Cora stepping back directly, but he pulled her close again and pressed another kiss on her lips. “That appetite will come back.” He said smiling, while letting Cora go.

The family walked towards the dining room, Cora stayed a bit behind and stopped Rosamund. “If talking about the wedding day is to confrontation for you, you will let me know?”

“I promise. But you have to know, I also promised Marmaduke something.”

“Oh?” Cora let go of Rosamund’s arm.

“He made me promise to never look back on what was, but only look forward to what has to come. We had a wonderful time together, yes it was short. But you know, I was blessed to know what real love is and I will cherish that always.”

Cora took Rosamund’s hand in hers. “I know you are strong and that you promised Marmaduke to be strong, but if there comes a day that you do not know how to be strong. I will be here, please know that I will always be here if you need someone to listen to you.”

“Thank you, sis.” Rosamund pulled her hand back. “Dinner will be cold if we do not follow them.” And she walked towards the dining room.

Cora looked at her for a minute before she followed. Rosamund amazed her, she looked like such a strong woman and she probably was a strong woman, but everybody struggled with emotions sometimes. There was nothing to be ashamed for, but in this family it looked like emotions were banned. She was happy Robert was not an exact copy and he was more open towards her. She could only hope Rosamund would truly be alright with this upcoming wedding.

But Papa! Why? Chapter 50

A couple of weeks had passed, and they were waiting for a court date. The lawyers were convinced the case was a strong one. Even though Simon did not rape Cora, sexual assault was highly punished. Especially in this case, all the signs were there that if Molesley, Baxter and Patrick had not intervened he would have gun further. Now it had stopped at touching her private part. Cora was annoyed by how much the incident affected her. ‘There were two layers of fabric between his hand and me. He did not really touch me.’ She had said multiple times to Robert after she had another nightmare or got spooked when he touched her. ‘It is time to stop being angry at how this is affecting you, sweetheart.’ Had Robert’s response been last night. And he was right, it did not help her any further. And she had said that she did not want to waste time on Simon and here she was still wasting her time by being affected by him. Cora was anxiously waiting for that court date; it would help with the closer. She shrugged her shoulders and walked inside the pub where Baxter was waiting for her.

“Hi, I have ordered us a glass of wine already.” Baxter greeted her.

“That sounds lovely, thank you.” Cora sat down with a smile. “Rosamund will be here soon too.”

“Good.” Baxter smiled back. “Do you have a vision of what you want?”

Cora shook her head. “I am not sure. There are so many options.”

“Girls, you are already here, and I thought I was early.” Rosamund exclaimed when she sat down at the table.

Cora looked at her watch. “We are right on time?” She gave Rosamund a surprised look. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh? Really? Hmm, oké never mind. Ah wine.” Rosamund said when three glasses were put down on the table. “Let us toast on a successful dress hunt.”

Cora and Baxter lifted their glasses. Cora looked at Rosamund’s face, it looked like she had been crying, but she was not one hundred percent sure about that. Was it too early for Rosamund to go dress shopping? Although Rosamund had suggested it herself to go today. She had said it would be a nice distraction from the lawsuit for all of them and it was high time if she wanted to have something on her body when the wedding day was finally there. But had she only thought about Cora’s happiness instead of her own? She was chaotic, but that was not that weird for Rosamund. It was that chaos brain of her that she liked so much. Rosamund was organised and structured, but also knew how to make fun and enjoy life to the fullest.

“Cora!” Cora shook up from Rosamund voice. “We are going to have a fun day and find you something stunning to wear. Stop the brooding and enjoy your wine.”

“Do you want a dress or something like that jumpsuit you wore to Rosamund’s and Marmaduke’s wedding day?” Baxter asked, quickly covering her face with her hands, when she realised what she had asked.

“Do not worry, Phyllis. I can call you Phyllis, can I? I only have good memories from that day and the days I got to spend with my wonderful Marmaduke. He lives on inside my heart, but live goes on.”

Cora was not sure if she was putting up an act, or that she truly was feeling this way. But it was not important for now. Rosamund was in good spirits, and they were going to find a beautiful dress. “I hope to find a dress, I loved the jumpsuit at Rosamund’s wedding, but I know that Robert would love to see me in a dress.”

“But what if you do not want to wear a dress?” Rosamund said.

“Oh, but I do.” Cora got a foolish smile on her face. “I am going to marry in a castle, so I need to look like a real princess.”

“You know that Downton is not really a castle. It is called Downton Abbey, not Downton Castle.”

“The building classifies as a castle.” Phyllis added.

“See.” Cora winked at Rosamund. “And even if it did not be classified as a castle, I want to be a princess, because I have found a real prince.” Cora blushed.

+++

“Welcome Miss Levinson, Mrs. Painswick and Miss Baxter. Delighted to have you here.” Phillipa welcomed them. Cora managed to get an appointment with the best wedding dress designer in London, Phillipa Lepley’s. “You have already told me a little bit about your wishes, but can you please tell them again. Then we will try on some corsets to see what fits you best and will start designing your dream dress. But first, can I offer you a glass of champagne?”

One of her assistant went to get the champagne, when they nodded in agreement.

“I have some fabrics pulled out already. You said you wanted a white dress with a yellow undertone. I think I have a perfect idea for it. And if I may say so, you have a perfect figure for a beautiful princes dress.”

Cora felt her cheeks colour. She never looked at herself as having a perfect figure. She did not have much rounding’s. She was very slender, with small breast and did not see herself as a beautiful woman. But Robert told her every day she was, he loved playing with her breast, he said they were a perfect size.

Very quickly after, Cora was standing in her underwear trying on different type of skirts and corsets. It took a couple of hours, but then she was put on a torso with a sweetheart neckline, and she knew this was the shape she wanted, the skirt would be a bell form with a half long train. The skirt would be moulded over her body with four layers of tulle overlays and two layers of tulle over the bodice. In the front it would follow the sweetheart neckline and it would transcend into a low V at the back. The overlay would be gathered around her waist, creating a flattering centre point where all eyes would be drawn too. The top layer of the tulle would be decorated with embroidered flowers.

Cora looked at the first sketch that Phillipa made, and she got tears in her eyes. Baxter stood next to her, “This is the one. It makes you cry, so I think it is settled. This is your dress.”

Cora looked up. “It is, thank you for helping me choose.” She looked at Phillipa. “Thank you for booking me in and designing my dress.” She looked around. “Where is Rosamund?”

“I am here, just a second.” She yelled from the other side of the store. Cora had seen her go to the back, she thought she needed to use the toilet.

The shop assistant came back, and Rosamund followed behind her. She had a smile on her face, that Cora could not place. “Rosamund? Are you alright?”

“Why would I not be. I just have seen your perfect dress being created and I now also have found the perfect gift to give you.”

“A gift? Why would you need to give me a gift?”

“I maybe do not have too, but I want too. You are my favourite sister-in-law.”

Cora laughed. “I am your only sister-in-law.”

Rosamund chuckled. “Well, you will be seen in this beautiful dress during your wedding day, but you will be alone with Robert on your honeymoon, and he deserves something that is only for his eyes.”

Cora started to blush, where was Rosamund going with this?

“I know you will be wearing beautiful lingerie, but there is something much better, that Robert will like a lot more.” She was holding up a beautiful chemise made from satin and lace. Cora’s upper body would be exposed due to the lace trim on the cups and across the waist of the chemise. Rosamund also had an open front peignoir in the same satin and lace in her hands, Cora could wear that over the chemise.

“Rosamund.” Cora exclaimed ashamed.

“It is not something you would expect to get form me, but I see how you two look at each other, and this would be perfect on you. You have a beautiful body, and you deserve to shine for Robert.”

“Thank you. Thank you, so much dear Rosamund. I am grateful that you will be my sister-in-law and I cannot wait for Robert to unwrap this.”

“Do you also need bridesmaid dresses?” Phillipa asked.

Cora looked at Rosamund and Baxter. “I have not really thought about it.” She paused. “Girls, do you want to be my bridesmaids?”

“YES.” They both exclaimed directly.

“But.” Cora started. “I am not sure it needs to be dresses.” Cora thought about Rosamund’s wedding and that she had not been wearing a dress. “What do you say about suits?” She could see the excitement in the eyes of both Rosamund and Phyllis, and she knew this was a good decision. I will leave the colour up to you two and will ask you to keep it a surprise for me.

“We can do that.” Phyllis answered.

“Miss Levinson, if you want, I can design those suits for the ladies?” Phillipa joined.

“That would be amazing.” Cora said enthusiastically.

“We will say goodbye then, we see you tomorrow in the office.” Rosamund almost pushed Cora out of the shop.

“Alright, alright. I am leaving.” Cora laughed and said another thank you to Phillipa before she left.

+++

“Did you find a dress?” Robert asked, when Cora came home. She had not expected to see Robert home already, but for the first time in weeks, she did not feel anxious.

“I did.” Cora blushed. “It will be incredibly special; you have never seen anything like that before and the colour! This dress will pop.” Cora enjoyed the look on Robert’s face. She loved teasing him and now she knew he was going to try and picture something in his head. She wondered what colour he was seeing in his mind. Swaying with her hips, she walked closer, Robert was sitting in one of the big chairs in front of the sliding doors. Once she stood in front of him, she quickly sat down on his lap with her legs wide over his. Her hands sliding over his chest, she bent forward and licked his earlobe. “But you will especially like what extra thing I bought, but that is something you will need to wait for even longer, than our wedding day.

Robert had instantly moved his hands to Cora’s hips, and he was pleasantly surprised that she did not winch. Since the incident this was the first time Cora initiated them being intimate and he needed all his strength to contain himself and not rush her.

“I missed you.” Cora whispered in his ear.

Robert now moved his hand over her bum, and he felt Cora react by moving her hips. She scurried forward and pressed her core into his groin. “Oh Cora.” he breathed. Slowly he brought his hands up over her sides until he reached her shoulders.

“I want to feel you.” Cora murmured while kissing his neck and jaw.

Robert got up with Cora in his arms, she wrapped her legs around him, meanwhile not stopping her kisses on his skin. He walked with her to the bedroom and laid her down. When he was leaning over her, he started unbuttoning her blouse and went on to pull her pants down. Soon she was lying under him in her underwear.

“Now it is my time to see more of you.” Cora said with a hot voice. Her hands tried to get his shirt of his body, but she wanted to go to fast and did not manage to unbutton one button. Robert laughed and helped her.

“You are so handsome.” She breathed when she looked at his wide chest. Her fingers stroking his skin and softly twirling his chest hair.

“My beautiful princess.” He said just before he crashed his lips on hers. In the head of the moment his hand went down over her belly towards her already warm and wet core. His fingers raked through her hairs, her skin got goosebumps and it made him freeze. Was he going too far, was Cora ready for this?

Cora pushed her hips up and moaned. When he did not continue with his caresses she groaned. “Do not stop.”

Hesitating he kissed her delicious looking lips. “Are you sure.”

She took his hand and pushed it further down, he felt how wet she was, and his lust took over. He forgot about all his worries; he did not think about how Cora would feel if she would be scared. He only knew he needed to feel her insides and slipped his fingers in. Cora arched her back and that made his arousal even bigger. He took his fingers out of her and brought his hand up to his mouth, while locking eyes with her he licked his finger. He saw on Cora’s face that she was bursting from desire, if he had not been this deprived of feeling her body over the last weeks he had teased her longer, but he could not wait and pushed inside her. With strong movements he thrusted, the sounds Cora made, were enough for him to go faster and faster. It did not take long before he reached his high and slumped down on her panting chest. “How I missed you, my darling. But this was magical, you are magical sweetheart. You do not understand what you do to me.”

Cora circled with the tip of her fingers over his back. “You are my sorcerer, that will always bring magic.”

“Did I give you magic? Or was it just me?” He suddenly felt guilty for finishing this fast, he had not waited for Cora to reach her high. Did she even reach her high? He did not know. He was only in his own feelings and thoughts. He felt his skin burn against Cora’s cooler skin.

Cora raised her head to kiss him. “The night is not over, is it?” She smiled against his lips, while her fingers started to circle down to his lower back. She pressed her nose into his neck and took in a deep whiff of his scent. It made her body shiver from desire.

Robert felt it, he got up, so he could position himself down on her, he kissed her thighs. With an agonisingly slow pace, he moved his kisses to her wet folds. Whit his hands firmly on her hips, he picked up the pace and started kissing and sucking even harder. He softly bit her, what resulted in a high-pitched squeal and her nails digging into his back. Cora did reach her high easier, when he used his mouth and fingers, he had learned that over time. He slid one finger in, while he kissed the brim of her breast, he licked her nipple. Another squeal, he knew he was on the right path now.

He kept altering his pace and the amount of fingers he used, until Cora arched her back as far as she could, and he felt her pelvis starting to shake. “Robert, oh Robert, ROBERT.” With a last squeal her body relaxed again, he did not stop his kisses. Both his hands were roaming over her skin, she was feeling sweaty and hot. Slowly he laid down on her chest with his head. Cora’s hand was lazy going through his hair.

“Sorcerer.” She whispered.

“Yours, and only yours.”

+++

*The dress description is used from the website of Phillipa Lepley*

But Papa! Why? Chapter 49

Robert checked the bedroom; Cora was still sleeping. During the night she had woken up several times, from nightmares. He needed all his restraint not to pay Mr. Bricker a visit right now. He should write a note for Cora saying that he had left for the office already. He preferred to stay with her until she woke up, but they needed to start the paperwork for the lawsuit. He wished she would wake up calmly and at least a bit well rested. He had said, she could take the day off, but Cora had insisted on going to the office. The last time she woke up last night, she had said it would not help staying at home. Her mind would only run in circles. And he had agreed on that, being amongst other people would help. And in the office, there were people who knew what had happened, if she wanted to talk, it was possible. Although he was not sure if Baxter would be back, and Rosamund had emailed that she would take today off. Was Baxter back from her get away? He did not know that either. At least he and his father would be in the office.

Robert walked towards the kitchen and saw fresh oranges on the kitchen counter, he could make her an orange juice. Cora loved a fresh orange juice in the morning, it was something that her father used to make her when she was a little girl. Every morning Cora made herself a freshly juiced orange juice, to keep the memory of her father alive. But Robert suspected it was not just the memory of her father, but he could see and hear that she missed her country from time to time. Two years ago, she had never thought about moving to England and now she was going to marry him and stay the rest of her live. He would make sure; she would never have a reason to move back. He would not survive losing her he was sure of that. He looked around in the kitchen, he hoped to find a manual juicer, the automatic one would make too much noise. Even though the bedroom was on the other side of the apartment, he did not want to risk waking her up.

He almost had the glass filled when he felt a small hand on his back. “I have an automatic one, you do know that do you not?” Cora asked, while leaning against his back. She had wrapped herself in her morning dress, her curls were wild, but she had tried to tame them with a hair elastic.

Robert chuckled. “I do know that, but I did not want to make too much noise, you were finally sleeping somewhat peacefully.

“Those last couple of hours were finally real sleep.” Cora smiled.” I feel a little bit more rested.” She wrapped her arms around Robert, she rested with her cheek against his shoulder blade. “When will I be able to sleep normally again, I do not want to give this power to him. He does not deserve that I am feeling the way that I do.”

He put the last orange down, wiped his hands on a towel and turned around, so Cora was now wrapped up in his arms. She instantly rested her head against his chest, her hands were on his lower back. “It needs time darling.” He said.

“I do not want to waste that time on this. We should be doing fun things. Like going to see those Highland Cows.” She let out a deep sigh.

Robert kissed the top of her head. “I am going to the office; do you want me to wait for you?”

“You are leaving already?” Cora lifted her head, she now rested with her chin against Robert’s chest.

“I want to speak to my father as soon as possible, we need to get the lawyers to work.” Robert moved his hand up to Cora’s neck, he massaged her scalp.

Softly Cora moaned, she loved it when he did that. “I am going to take a shower and will come to the office on my own.”

Robert kissed her on the lips. “I will be waiting for you.”

“No, you will not.” Cora chuckled.

“What do you mean?” Robert leaned back, surprised by her words.

Cora laughed. “You will not be waiting for me.”

“I will.” Robert interrupted her.

“No dear, you will not. You are consumed by the case you are about to file as soon as you enter the office.”

“Hmm, you know me to well.”

+++

“Robert, can you come into my office?” His father was standing on the first floor, when he entered.

Robert greeted the receptionist; he had not seen the woman before. Since Baxter started working with Cora, they had not found a receptionist that worked on the same level. They were spoiled with Baxter’s work attitude. He quickly walked on to his father’s office.

“Sit down please.”

Robert looked around the room, but only his father was present.

“Did you talk with Cora?” Patrick inquired.

“She has told me what happened last Friday. I cannot express how mad I am. What can we do about this?”

Patrick stroke with his hand over his chin, something he did when he was concentrating. “Is Cora coming in today? Or is she not ready to go back to work yet?”

“She is ready to go back to work, she was not dressed, when I left, but she will be here soon.”

“Good, a police officer will be here later this morning to take a statement of her. With that statement our lawyers will start working. I hope at least that she will report Mr. Bricker for what he has done?”

“I think she will report him.”

Patrick only looked at Robert for a couple of seconds. ‘I may hope she is not doubting about that. She needs to report him, if she does not, we cannot do anything, and he will be walking freely. He needs to be punished for this.”

Robert loved his father for this. Cora was not even his daughter, but he protected her as if she was. “I will let her know that she has to be here. What time will the officer be here?”

+++

“The officer is waiting in my father’s office for you. Are you ready for it?” Robert put his hand on Cora’s lower back, while they walked towards the stairs.

Cora nodded. “Will you stay with me?”

“My father will for sure, and if I am allowed, I will also stay.” He felt Cora’s back tense. “It will all be alright. You only have to tell the officer what has happened, he is not here and will not be here.”

Cora stopped midway of the stairs and turned towards him. “Do you think I will need to face him again?”

“It is possible that you will see him when it is brought to court but let’s not look to far into the future. For now, the officer is here and needs to hear your story for his report.”

+++

“Did he do anything else than putting his hands on the inside of your legs?” The officer looked up from his notepad.

“He touched more than just the inside of her legs.” Robert said sharply.

The officer now looked at Robert, who was sitting in the back of the office. “I have written down where he touched her, but it is visible painful for the lady to talk about it. So that is why I choose my wording the way I did. You can be assured that this incident will be written down into the smallest details. Man like this need to feel the consequences.”

“Thank you, I think I have told you everything that I remember from that evening.” Cora’s voice was thick.

“Mr. Crawley, is there anything else you want to add to your statement?”

Patrick looked at Cora and then back to the officer. “Everything that happened after I arrived is in your notepad already.”

“Good, so can I speak with Miss Baxter and Mr. Molesley too?”

“I am very sorry, but Mr. Molesley is not here in London, he lives in Downton up north. Miss Baxter should be in the office, Robert do you know where she is?”

“She is in my office; I saw her when we walked in.” Cora answered.

“Thank you, is there a way Mr. Molesley can come to the bureau?”

Robert snorted. “He is in Downton, so I do not think he will be able to come for his statement.”

Patrick scraped his throat. “When do you have time for him at the station? I will send my driver to pick him up and he will be in to tell you his side of the story.” He gave Robert a stern look.

The officer got up and put his notepad back in his jacket. “I am going to write out your statement and will send them so you can check if I did not miss something.”

“Thank you, officer.” Patrick shook his hand.

+++

Patrick walked with the officer to get Baxter’s statement, Robert got up and stepped closer to Cora. She had a straight back while the officer was in the office, but now her shoulders were bent forward, and she slummed down. Carefully he put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright?”

Cora took in a very shaking breath. “I am not sure.”

Robert squatted down next to Cora’s chair. “Can I do anything for you?”

“It was easier to tell you last night what happened than it was to this officer. Is that not weird, should it not be the other way around?” Cora looked at her folded hands on her lap.

“I do not know my darling. I really do not know.”

“As soon as this police officer finishes the statements, our lawyers will start working.”

The door opened and Patrick stepped back inside. “The lawyers will be here this afternoon. We do not need the written statement to start.”

“Papa, does that mean, Cora has to tell the story again this afternoon?”

“Unfortunately, it does.” Patrick looked at Cora. “I am sorry my dear, but we need to go through this as fast as possible.”

Cora looked up. “I know, I know. When will they be here?”

Patrick looked at his watch. “In two hours, they will be here.”

“Good.” Cora got up.

“Where are you going?” Robert asked.

“I have two more hours to work on our current advertisement.”

“You are going to work?” Robert now asked surprised.

Cora shrugs her shoulders. “What else should I do, wait and feel miserable and think about last Friday. No please, I rather not.”

“Cora is right.” Patrick said. ‘Keeping your mind busy is the best thing you can do right now. I will let you know when they are here.”

“Thank you. For everything.”

Patrick was standing close to Cora; he took her hand in his. “For you my darling, I would do anything. I see how happy you make Robert, and you are part of our family now.”

+++

“Did you ask him to sit next to you?” Richard sat opposite of Cora, next to him was his partner, Helen. Until now it had been mostly Richard who asked the questions.

“I did not ask him that. He suddenly was sitting next to me.”

“What did you do next?” Richard asked.

“I asked him to leave. I told him that I was expecting a client and that he needed to go.”

“Oke.”

“He told me that he was the client and that he had lied to make that appointment.”

“He used the same tactic as you had done, when you went to his office, did he not?” This time Helen’s voice sounded.

Cora did not like her voice, she sounded as if she was judging her for what had happened. “I indeed pretended to be a client to learn more about his company. That is true.”

“And then your father-in-law, or upcoming father-in-law bought that company to get rid of the competition.” Helen’s voice was sharp.

“He did offer a big amount of money, Mr. Bricker accepted that offer and sold the company.”

“He was there for some sort of revenge?” Helen was the one to ask this question.

“He said that he wanted me and that he would not take no for an answer. He insisted that I wanted him too. But I never wanted anything more than the business interaction we had.”

“So, this man is interested in you and the company you work for has bought his company. So, he lost everything?” Helen again.

“He did get a lot of money for it.” Cora protested. “And I have been very clear from the moment he sat down next to me, that I am engaged and did not want anything from him.”

“Why are you treating Miss. Levinson as if she has done something bad?” Robert interrupted. He had wanted to interrupt earlier, but he managed to bite his tongue. But he did not like what those lawyers were doing. Were they not hired to punish that Bricker guy?

Richard looked at him. “I do understand that it does look like we are trying to put the blame on her. I can guarantee you that we are not. Miss Levinson’s story is very clear and there is no doubt in our mind, that this is not sexual assault. We want to make sure that we have highlighted every point of view, so that the lawyer that Mr. Bricker is getting, will not get a foot in between the door.

After many more questions, they finally said they knew enough for now and left. Cora stood next to Robert, when Richard and Helen left, she leaned against Robert’s chest. “I am exhausted.”

“Do you want to go home?” Robert wrapped his arm around her shoulder when he felt how heavy she leaned against him.

“Please.” He voice was soft. “But please hold me for a little bit longer first.”

Robert now wrapped both arms around her, Cora did the same, her arms slide over his sides to his back. She pressed herself against his chest as if she tried to disappear in him. Robert cradled her head and made sussing sound while he hold her as close as possible. This process would be a hard road for her, he already knew. Mr. Bricker would get good lawyers and he would fight this as long as he could. He felt frustrated, this should be the time they were preparing the wedding. Six more months, and Cora would be his wife. He would do everything he could to round up this whole process as quick as possible. He did not mind that it would cost them a fortune, Cora was worth it, more than worth it.

But Papa! Why? Chapter 48

“You know you can take every Friday or Monday off when you want to?” Robert looked at John. He had parked the car in front of his apartment.

“Let us not rush into things.”

“But you two look so good together.” Robert continued.

“Anna is a cute woman. I can only admit to that. But I do not want to rush her.”

“As long as you know that I support your free days to go and visit her.”

“Thank you.” John got out of the car and took his suitcase out of the trunk. “Say hi to Cora for me.”

“I will enjoy your evening.” Robert drove off. He noticed that when he got closer to Cora’s apartment he started to hum. He could not wait to kiss his Cora. He missed her these days. It was strange how those things went, one and a half years ago he could not stand her and now he could not be without her.

With a skip in his step, he walked towards her door, he heard music when he opened the door. A relief, she was home. He saw her standing outside on the balcony, it was a warm summer night. He already imagined them sitting on the balcony, both with a glass of wine, him massaging her feet that she had stretched over his legs. The sliding doors were open, and he walked closer. Cora was staring over the water, and she had not noticed him entering the house. Trying not to make a sound he stepped behind her, with a smooth move he put both his hands on her hips and pressed his lips on her neck. But instead of her body moulding against his, she stiffened up and he heard her holding her breath. Unsure he pulled his hands back and touched her shoulder, turning her so he could face her. “Cora?”

A million thoughts were racing through Cora’s mind as soon as she felt hands on her hips. She froze when it happened, and the image of Simon’s hands on her flashed in front of her eyes. She tried to relax again as soon as she realised it was Robert, but her body did not let her. She stepped back from Robert’s touch, his hand was now on her shoulder. She needed him to pull his hands back, so she could snap back. “I was not expecting you already. I am sorry.” She forced a smile on her face and looked into Robert’s worried eyes.

“Something is wrong dear. What happened?”

Cora knew she told Rosamund she would tell Robert what had happened, but now she was looking into his eyes, she could not tell him. “I was just miles away.” She said instead of telling him the truth. It felt bad, but how could she tell him? He would be so hurt and get incredibly angry. She forced herself to step back towards Robert, she put her hand against his chest. “Did you have a good time?”

Robert put his hand on top of hers, the other rested on her lower back, pulling her closer towards him, pressing a kiss on her lips. “We did, the meeting went well, and we have a new big client. They have a big farm, with all kinds of livestock. But mostly they have horses. Magnificent ones, I must add.” Robert let go of her hand and turned towards the water, his other hand was still on her lower back, which made her also turn towards the water. “They want us to do all their advertisements from now on. From promoting their open days as when they want to sell a horse. They also have Highland cows; we are invited to come back next year when the calving season is there. Imagine all those cute small Highlander cows, that will be so adorable.”

Cora had to fight to not freeze again when Robert pulled her close and kissed her. His enthusiasm over the new client made it easier for her to relax. She leaned against his upper body and listened to his stories about the weekend.

She tried to suppress a yawn, but Robert noticed. “It is late, I know. We should go to bed.” Robert nudged Cora towards the bedroom. “I will take a shower first.”

Cora was very relieved when he said that. That way she could crawl under the covers and try to fall asleep before Robert came to bed.

Robert took a long shower, he was not sure what, but something was wrong with Cora. She looked relieved when he said he was going to take a shower. She had reacted weirdly when he touched her. She was hiding something from him, but he had not the faintest idea of what it could be. When he walked into the bedroom, Cora was already under the covers. Not the home coming he had hoped for. He could not think about anything else after he dropped John off. He wanted to feel her around him, but it was not going to happen tonight. The kiss she gave back to him, was not the same as usual. It felt forced, she said she was not mad that he did stay one night longer, but what if she was angry?

He got under the covers on his side, Cora always slept on the left side of the bed and he on the right. The coincidence was, that they both slept on that side already before they met. Neither of them had to adjust to sleeping on a different side of the bed. He was not sure if he would have budged, he liked his routines and sleeping on the right side of the bed, was one of those routines. Cora did not react to his presence in the bed. Her breathing let him know she was still awake, he decided scooted closer to her, with his hand he slid over her side, hoping for a reaction. But he got nothing, not a soft moan or squirming. He got even closer and wrapped his arm over her stomach, he pulled her against his chest when he noticed she was shaking. “Cora, can you please tell me what is wrong? Did I do something to upset you?”

Cora started crying very softly. “It is not you; you did nothing wrong.”

“But what is it then? Something has upset you, even so that you are crying. Please tell me, maybe I can help?”

Cora sobbed; she could not control her tears anymore. She felt Robert’s strong hand on her side, turning her around so she was facing him. Robert pulled her against his chest, he pressed a kiss on the top of her head. His warm and strong hand was resting on her back, the other one, was brushing through her hair. It did not help, it made here cry even harder, because his caring touches only reminded her of the dirty hands of Mr. Bricker. Cora tried to push herself away from Robert.

Robert resisted, Cora tried to move away from him, he wanted to comfort her, why did she not let him? He finally gave up, Cora pushed herself up, so she was sitting against the headboard. Robert did the same, he had turned on his side, so he was facing Cora, meanwhile Cora stared in front of her. “I promise, you did nothing wrong.” Her voice without any emotion now.

“Can you than tell me what did happen? Is it my mother again?”

Cora shook her head.

“My father? Did Rosamund say something that is upsetting you?”

She shook her head even harder. “No, no. It is not your family. They have been more than incredibly nice.”

Robert now sounded irritated. “Can you just tell me. First you do not answer the phone. Then when you finally call you sound weird, I come home, and you do not want to kiss me. You even froze when I touch you.” Cora opened her mouth, but Robert continued. “No, do not tell me you were just in your thoughts. You never react like that, NEVER. Something is really, really wrong and I need to know what it is, right now!”

Cora cowered under his harsh tone.

“I thought we had a relationship build on trust, but it seems that you do not trust me. If that is what it is, than we should rethink what we are doing and if we should go on.”

“Robert?” Cora gasped.

“Am I wrong? You do not trust me, because otherwise you would have told me what is wrong with you, the moment I came back home. Or even better, you would have called me. But no none of that.”

“Robert, please.” Cora said with a small voice. “It has nothing to do with trust.” She took a deep breath. “It had all to do with not wanting you to get angry and do something stupid.”

“And you say it has nothing to do with trust? You do not trust me to act like a grown up, so you will not tell me what happened while I was away.”

“Can you please let me talk, I am trying to explain.” Cora’s voice got darker; she was getting angry too. “Something did happen last Friday. Your father was the first one that made the decision that we should wait with telling you. It would not help the situation.” Cora’s tone got softer again. “I had an appointment with a potential new client, they had asked me to come to a pub. Baxter had worded her concern about the meeting, but I did not see any harm in it. I send her away for her weekend with Mr. Molesley.” Cora smiled. “They are a cute couple, and I hope they will be able to make each other happy.”

“They are indeed perfect together, but you digress.”

Cora now sat in a cross-legged position, with her body facing Robert. “I went to the pub, it was a nice one, where they had reserved tables. I was early and the client had not arrived yet. I waited at the table, when Mr. Bricker arrived.”

“Mr. Bricker.” Robert said in shock.

“Yes, Mr. Bricker.” Cora had her hands folded in her lap, but she was wringing her hands nervously. “He sat down next to me. I asked him to leave because the client could arrive any moment. He then revealed that he was the new client and he had mis leaded us. He said that there was only one thing that he wanted and that was me.” Cora pressed her hands in her legs, trying to stop them from shaking. “I told him I was sorry for what had happened and that I never should have tried to get information about his company out of him. He answered that I could make it up to him. He started touching me.” Cora’s body started trembling. “I tried to get away and asked him to stop, I could not get away, because he blocked me in.”

“Where did he touch you?” Robert said, his voice was low, but soft.

Cora looked up at him, all the while she had been talking, her eyes had been down towards the duvet. Robert’s eyes expressed kindness and you could see he felt sorry for her. His expression did not help with her trembling. She tried to control her voice. “He pressed his hand in between my legs.”

“HE DID WHAT.” Robert exploded. “WHERE DID HE TOUCH YOU! HOW DARE HE.”

Cora got small and scooted backwards, away from him. She had never seen him this angry.

When Robert noticed that Cora got scared, he murmured an apology.

“He did not want to stop, and I do not know what would have happened if Mr. Molesley, Baxter and your father had not entered the pub.” Cora looked up again. “Oh Robert, he wanted me as payment for the loss of his company. He will not be satisfied with money, he wants me, and I am afraid he will never take no for an answer.”

“My dear, he will have to take that no for an answer. Thank God, that Mr Molesley, Baxter, and my father were there. How did they know?”

“As I said, Baxter had a weird feeling about this meeting. And once I had left, she had gone to your father. He decided to go and take a look at where we had the meeting. Mr. Molesley was the first one who saw us. he told Mr. Bricker to go away, but he did not listen. It was then that your father came in and pulled Mr. Bricker from the bench away from me. They brought me home, where Rosamund was waiting for me.”

“Well at least there were people who looked after you. But you should have called me, I would have gotten in my car directly.”

“That is why your father said we should wait with telling you about the incident.”

“Incident?” Robert breathed. “Cora, this is more than an incident, he assaulted you and he will pay for it.”

“No, Robert. Please do not do something that you will regret later.” She saw the darkness that got into Robert’s eyes. “It was an incident; they were there before he could do real harm.”

“You said so yourself just now. You are afraid he will never take no for an answer. I will make sure he will never have an option to not accept that no.”

“Violence is never the answer my dear.” Cora’s voice sounded delicate.

“The legal system knows what to do with these type of man. And we will make sure he will pay heavily for what he has done to you. You can be sure of that. We will put the best lawyers on this case. He is going to regret setting a foot in that pub that evening.” Robert slowly stretched out his hands and put them on top of Cora’s, she did not pull away. “I think I understand why you did not call me that evening or told me over the phone. But why did you not tell me when I got home? You got scared when I touched you, I now realise why, but I thought I had done something wrong.”

“I cannot explain why I did not tell you. I had promised Rosamund, and myself, that I would tell you as soon as you would be back home. But when you touched me, I could only think about how I could get away from you.” She lowered her eyes again.

Robert moved his hand towards her chin and lifted her face, so she was looking at him again. “I will never fully understand why you did that, but I think I can at least grasp a bit why you got scared. You were taken back to Friday evening when that Bricker guy touched you.”

“All I could think of on Friday night, when I finally got home, was how I needed you. I needed your arms around me, so I could feel safe again. And now you are back here, I got scared and pushed you away.”

Robert waited for Cora to continue, he did not know how to react, and he wanted to make sure Cora would say everything that was needed for her to process what happened on Friday evening. It felt like she had pressed pause and could not find the play button anymore. She only had the rewind button. Robert laid his hand against Cora’s cheek and softly brushed with his fingers over her jaw.

Cora let her head lean against his hand, trying to let his presence reassure her. It felt as a relief, that Robert knew what had happened. He got angry as she had feared, but he was still here with her and not rushing to kill Simon. Robert’s soft strokes over her skin, made her calm down. She scooted closer towards him, and she let her head rest against his chest.

Robert wrapped both arms around her and rocked her, while she finally let out all the tears that she had been holding in. “You are safe again darling. I will make sure our legal team will make mincemeat out of him. He will never own a business; he will never be able to come close to you. And if he does, he will have to face the consequences, I will be sure of that.”

Cora heard Robert’s steady heartbeat, a sound that she loved listening to in the night she could not sleep. She loved lying her head down on his chest after they had terrific fun and hearing his racing heart. His chest rapidly rising and falling. She shivered by the thought of how safe he made her feel every day.

“Are you cold?” Robert tried to pull the duvet closer, but they were half on top of it.

“Just very very tired.”

“Of course you are. Come let us lay down and try to get some sleep. Did you sleep at all these last two nights?”

“Barely.” Cora admitted.

Robert shook his head and made a displeased sound. “He will pay for this.” Robert fluffed up Cora’s pillow and waited for her to lie down, once she turned on her side, he pulled up the duvet and covered her. Making sure her shoulders were nicely tugged in. He then laid down next to her, pulling his pillow as close as possible.

“Please hold me.” Cora said with a voice that was half asleep. “Will you take me to those Highland Cows soon?

Robert smiled at her last words, than did as she asked, he wrapped his arm around her, Cora’s head fitted perfectly in the small corner formed by his other arm. Cora moulded her body against his and he felt her relax. It was a relief that she could now finally relax, according to the puffs of air against his chest, she was already asleep. He tried to make himself a bit more comfortable, so he could sleep too. Mr Bricker could wait until the morning, they could not do anything on a Sunday night, but tomorrow he would make sure that the best team was put on that case. Simon would pay for what he had done to Cora, imagine what could have happened if Baxter had not expressed her worries towards his father. And he would thank his father immensely for trusting Baxter and go with her. Although he did not like it, that Cora had to deal with this for two days on her own, he understood why they did not call him. He would have been out of his mind, and it would not have ended well for that Mr. Bricker.

But Papa! Why? Chapter 47

‘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”

But Papa! Why? Chapter 46

“Do you want me to join you on this appointment?” Baxter asked Cora.

Cora looked up from her papers and smiled. “No, I can handle this one on my own. You have fun plans with Mr. Molesley, did you not?”

Baxter’s cheeks slightly coloured. “He asked me to go to the theatre tonight indeed.”

“Go on then, hope you will have an amazing afternoon and evening. Tomorrow, I will give you an update on this client.”

“I can tell Joseph that I will be a little bit later.”

Cora put her pen down and had a more serious look on her face now. “You do like him, do you not?”

Baxter chuckled. “It is not that I do not want to go out with him. I cannot wait to see him again.” She blushed again. “But I am not sure about this client and the appointment.”

“What do you mean?”

“Clients normally do not want to meet before telling us what they want for their advertisement.”

“Not everybody is the same, I guess. Please go and enjoy the rest of the day together with Mr. Molesley.”

Baxter nodded. “When, you are sure?”

“I am sure.”

Cora arrived at a small pub. The client requested for her to come down to a pub along the river side. It was a bit far from the office. But Cora decided that it did not mind, since nobody would be in the office this afternoon. She could go home directly after the meeting. Robert was away for the weekend. He had and appointment a couple of hours away, so he decided to make a weekend out of it, it would be too far to drive back home tonight. It was a strange sensation that tonight she would have to fall asleep without Robert next to her, she already dreaded it. Robert’s breathing next to her had very quickly become her safe haven.

To her surprise she was welcomed when she entered the pub. That was something that normally did not happen in a pub, yes, the staff greeted you, but this time somebody was at the door. She had not been to many different pubs she realised, so she could not really comment about the customs in all the pubs.

“Miss. Levinson?” She was asked.

“I am indeed. Good afternoon.”

“Follow me please, we have a table reserved for you.” Cora was escorted to a booth with on both sides of the table a bench. She decided to take the seat that was facing. “Can I offer you something to drink?”

“A glass of water would be nice, thank you.” Cora played with her new ring while she waited for the waiter to come back with the water. Robert had gifted her this ring on her birthday. Due to everything that happened with Rosamund and Marmaduke, they decided to not celebrate her birthday this year. But Robert said he could not let her birthday go by without making her feel special, and special she felt for sure. Robert had hired a private chef to come to her appartement. He made them an exquisite five course dinner and after the dessert, when Robert popped open the champagne he handed her a little box with this ring in it. She had cried happy tears when he slid the ring on her finger.

She was still playing with the ring when somebody slid in the booth next to her. It startled her, she had not expected the client to slid next to her and not opposite, but also not that he would not greet her before sitting down. Startled she looked to her left and saw a very familiar face.

“Good afternoon, Cora.” a familiar voice said. The voice gave her chills, what did he want from her?

“I am very sorry, but I am waiting for a client.” Cora tried to slide away from him, but he was closing her in and there was not much room for her to move away.

“What if I tell you that I am that client?”

Cora felt all colour drain from her face. “What do you mean Mr. Bricker?”

“Exactly what I said. You have an appointment with me.”

“I do not know what you want from me. Mr. Levinson has been very clear, I am engaged to be married to Mr. Crawley. And if I am correct, Mr. Crawley compensated you richly.”

“That is the problem with people who have too much money. They always think money can solve everything. You know I do not mind, because I got more than I could ever had earned with my company. But it will never stop me from seeing you. Because I know what I want and that is you.”

“Mr. Bricker, I do not know how I can be any clearer. I am engaged.”

“You knew what you wanted when you came to my office. You were trying to interfere with my company, and well you managed that very well. Because I do not have a company anymore.”

“I am sorry, I still feel bad for it. We should never have done it that way, it was decisive and unfair.”

“You are correct on that. But you can make it up to me.” Simon put his hand on Cora’s leg.

Cora tried to slide away from him again, but she was now pushed into the wood of the bench. “Mr. Bricker, please.”

“You want more?” Simon’s voice was low and it scared Cora. His hand moved over her leg, squeezing her softly.

Cora tried to tighten the muscles in her leg, but Simon did not butch, he moved his hand inwards and sat even closer to her. He pressed his nose in her curls. Cora kept them hanging lose and she regretted that now. This morning, she had debated between wearing a dress or a pant suit. She was at least glad she chooses the pants. That way her skin was not exposed to him. She felt his hand now slid over her lower back; his other hand was placed on her leg. The way his body was turned towards her, made her incredibly uncomfortable. How could she get out of this situation, without causing a scene.

She did not want to be touched by him, what should she do? She started to tremble.

“You want more?” Simon kissed her jaw, close to her ear.”

This made Cora stiffen up completely, she felt she was going to faint. “I do not want this.” She said almost inaudible.

“But I do, and you have to repay me for what you have done.” He pressed his fingers into her spot, and she wanted to scream, but no sound came from her mouth. Why was the waiter not coming to ask what they wanted to eat, or if they wanted something else to drink. Why did nobody see what was happening?

“Stop, please.” her voice was too soft to be heard.

“I do not think this is very appropriate for a business meeting.” A voice said next to them. It made Simon pull his hands back. The moment his hands left her body, she slummed down. Wrapping her arms around her body trying to stop the shaking.

“Are you alright Milady?” It was Molesley’s voice Cora realised.

She managed to shake her head, but she could not look up.

“You will need to leave right now Mr. Bricker.”

“I am not sure who you are, but you are not ordering me to do anything.” Simon answered.

“There will be big consequences if you do not get up and leave.” Molesley’s voice was sharp.

“This family.” Simon put his hand on Cora’s shoulder. “Has cost me my company already. There is nothing else for me that I could lose.”

“You are very wrong in that. And what ever happened, you are never allowed to touch a woman against her consent. I am telling you again. You need to leave.”

Simon stayed put and just looked up at Molesley.

All of a sudden, he was pulled from the bench and pushed outside. Cora did not get to see who pulled him away from her. Where Simon had been sitting, Baxter now sat down. “Do you want me to bring you home?”

Cora felt tears stinging in her eyes when she looked at Baxter. “Thank you, I did not know what to do. I just did not know what to do.”

Baxter brushed over her arm softly. “Come, we will bring you home.”

When Cora stood, she noticed that next to Molesley there was a different man standing next to him. It was Patrick, who looked at her with a very sorrow look on his face. He stretched out his hand towards her. “I am sorry my darling. If I had known how far he would go, I would have made sure he would never be that close to you.” Patrick wrapped his arm around her shoulder and walked her towards the car.

Cora felt small next to him, why was she in this situation, she had always thought she would not be in a situation like this. She thought she would scream or punch the guy. But all she did was tremble and sit. She had let it happen, without trying to get away.

“Rosamund is waiting at your place, dear.”

“How did you know where I was?” Cora asked with a small voice.

“Miss. Baxter here.” Patrick pointed towards Baxter. “Had expressed her concerns to me once you had left. We realised something was off and we came over right away. I am sorry we were not here earlier. We should have never let you go alone.”

“Miss Baxter tried to come with me, but I said I would be fine on my own. I never realised it was Mr. Bricker. How did you find out?” She looked at Baxter now.

“I do not know. But it just did not feel right, something was off with this meeting, and I am glad I followed my gut. Although I have to apologise that I let you go alone.”

“None of that.” Cora said resolute. “I am thankful, that you came.”

“How far did he go?” Baxter asked, carefully.

Cora looked at Patrick, she saw he had his face turned away. “He touched me in an unappropriated place, but nothing more. Does Robert know?”

Patrick now looked back at her. “I have not called him yet. We wanted to get you home first, so you could calm down. Also, it will not help to get him all stressed while he is hours away. We do not want him to get in a car, when he is all worked up.”

Cora knew Patrick was correct, Robert would not be able to think straight. Although she wished he would be home, she needed to feel his arms around her, she needed his reassuring presence. But Rosamund would be there, that was already a calming thought.

But Papa! Why? Chapter 45

It had been a rough morning; they had said their final goodbyes to Marmaduke. Rosamund had requested to be brought home and left alone. Robert had protested, she should not be alone in times like this.

“We can stay with you. Being alone is not the best right now.” He had argued.

“I want to be alone. I have always been alone until Marmaduke came into my life. I need to be alone to be able to process what has happened.”

“We could stay in a different room. That way we are close when you need us?”

“Robert, please. Just bring me home and let me be.”

“We will bring you home, darling.” Cora said. “And we are just one phone call away if you need us.” She had looked at Robert, hoping he would understand that he needed to give in on this.

Robert opened the front door of Cora’s apartment; al the concierge knew him now and he could walk on without being stopped. It had taken some months before they all recognised him. He had been very annoyed by it in the beginning, but now he understood how important it was that they were this strict. One of the concierge had told him that Mr. Bricker tried to go upstairs towards Cora’s apartment. It made him mad that he was not giving up and pursued his idea of dating Cora. Or whatever was in his mind. He knew that she was engaged to him, but still he tried to get close to her. Robert was not sure what was his motive and why he did not give up and leave her alone. What were his motives? He needed to find that out, before something bad happened.

He was expecting to find Cora in the kitchen, it was almost dinner time. But the kitchen was empty, so was the living room and her bedroom. She said she would go home when he helped Rosamund in the car. She had not been gone back to work, had she? No, that was not something Cora would do. The office was closed for today and Cora was not a workaholic who would work when feeling sad. He checked his phone for messages, but there were a couple of emails, but no message from Cora. He decided to give her a ring, it was not something she normally did. Going somewhere without letting him know where she went. She knew he would come to her apartment. They had said they would stay at her place, had they not?

Robert went back down to the concierge.

“Did you see Miss Levinson come home this afternoon?” He asked after greeting the man behind the desk.

“Miss Levinson came home earlier this afternoon, but she left again soon after that.”

“Did she by any change mention where she went?”

“I am sorry, she did not.”

“Alright, thank you.”

Robert was not completely sure what to do. Where could she have gone? A bit unsure he walked towards the riverside, Cora always mentioned how she enjoyed the sound of the water. Not long after he started walking, he found her sitting on the wall, looking over the river. He could not describe the relief he felt when he saw her. He knew it was stupid, but he was scared something would happen to her and he would lose her. He could not live without Cora in his life. He knew her for just over a year, but he was convinced that he would die out of grief, when she would not be in his life. Seeing the grief on Rosamund’s face, made him scared, he was not as strong as she was. Rosamund would survive this tragic event, but he knew it would not be the case if he was left behind. A shiver run over his back, he shook it off and walked towards Cora. She was staring in the distance and did not notice he was approaching her.

Without a word, he climbs on the wall and sat down next to Cora. She did not look at him, but her left hand went to his. She took his hand in hers and rested it on his leg. Without any words they sat on that wall for a long time. Until Cora rested her head on Robert’s shoulder, she wiggled her hand out of Robert’s. Hooked her arm in his and put her hand back in his palm. A sigh left her body when he closed his fingers around her hand. “Did Rosamund get home safe?”

“She did. It was hard leaving her alone in that big empty house.”

Cora squeezed his hand. “She will be alright.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so. Your sister is a strong woman. I will keep an eye on her and make sure she will be alright.”

“You are wonderful, darling. I cannot say this enough. I feel blessed having you in my life.”

Cora angled her face and kissed his jaw. “I am as blessed as you are darling.”

Another couple of minutes went by without them saying a word. Finally, Cora sat back up and took her hand out of Robert’s. “We should go back home; it is past dinner time and I have not even started yet.” She got down of the wall and waited for Robert to follow.

“We could get something delivered?”

Cora shrugged. “I do not mind cooking us something. We can have an easy dinner.”

“You do amaze me, every day.”

“How come?” Cora said surprised.

“I can tell you that I am out of any energy to do anything after this day. Especially not cooking dinner.”

“You never like cooking dinner or cooking at all.” Cora’s face suddenly lit up. “I almost forgot to tell you.” She stopped walking and looked up at him. “I got an email from another contractor, and he made some drawings.”

“Not again.” He saw a wrinkle on Cora’s forehead. “I mean, I had hoped they would not start drawing before they heard our wishes.”

“This time I added our wish list and our vision, and you will not believe it, but… They listened.”

“Did they?”

“Correct and I have a good feeling about it this time. They ask if we could meet the day after tomorrow, I have not replied yet, but I checked your agenda, and you are free.”

“Email them back, that we will meet them.” He took Cora’s hands in his. “Are we finally starting the rebuilding?”

“We are and you know what they say when I talked with them on the phone?” Cora’s face was now glowing from excitement.

Robert got weak seeing her adorable face this excited.

“They promised me that they will start with the great hall and stairs, so that we can have the ceremony there in February.”

“I cannot wait for that day to come. The day I can call you my wife and the day we will start our family.” He brushed with his hand over Cora’s abdomen.”

Cora put her hand on top of Robert’s. “It would be an honour carrying your child, sweetheart.”

Robert pressed his lips on Cora’s. “We should practice some more tonight.” He said with a cheeky smile.

But Papa! Why? chapter 44

Mead opened the door for Robert. “They are upstairs Milord. Please wait here and I will get her ladyship.”

“Is Miss Levinson also upstairs?”

“She is Milord. I will be back soon.” Mead turned around and started to walk towards the stairs.

“If it is alright for you, I will go up myself. It is already late.”

Mead nodded. “They are in the bedroom in the front.”

Robert tried to be as quiet as possible when he opened the door to the bedroom. There was no other sound coming through the door than soft classical music and he did not want to disturb the peace. When the door was fully opened, he saw Marmaduke lying on the bed with his eyes closed. It seemed that he was asleep. Rosamund sat on a chair next to him, with a book on her lap, her hand on top of Marmaduke’s, her head was hanging forward. It could not be comfortable he thought. On the other side of the room, he found Cora. She sat on the sofa, her head was resting on her arm, that was on the armrest. She was sleeping like Marmaduke and Rosamund were. Robert looked at Marmaduke again, his face had lost all colour, and his cheeks were very sunken in. How long would it be before his body would give up? Robert thought. For a moment he was not sure what to do, he was here to pick up Cora. It was late and he had been waiting for Cora to come home. But when he saw it was twelve in the evening, he had realised Cora was not coming home. He went with her to visit Marmaduke this afternoon, he had to go back to the office and do some work. Cora had stayed on Rosamund’s request.

He stepped towards the sofa that Cora was sleeping on and put his hand on her back. Slowly moving it up and down. At first, Cora let out a soft sigh and moved so her back was pushed against his hand. But when he continued with his movements, she woke up a bit startled.

“Ssstt, they are also sleeping,” Robert whispered, lowering himself so he was in Cora’s view. His hand now brushed over her upper arm. “We should be going home, dear.”

Cora blinked, she looked at Robert. Then she leaned forward and rested her head against his chest. “We cannot go home.”

“Come to the hallway, we better not wake them up.” Robert got up and gave Cora his hand. She followed him in silence.

Cora took both Robert’s hands in hers. “I have a feeling we better call your parents to come here.”

“Is he that bad? Why is he not in the hospital yet?”

“Robert, you know that Marmaduke does not want to go to the hospital. They made sure he has everything he needs here at home. They can keep him comfortable here in his own bed. I believe it is better for Marmaduke as well for Rosamund.”

“Are you sure about that? This room will always be the room he died in.” Robert pointed towards the room.

“We should respect their choices without questioning them.”

“You are correct. I am sorry, we indeed should only show support.” He brushed over Cora’s cheek. “Do you think we need to wake Rosamund up. She is not in the most comfortable position. Her neck must hurt, I reckon.”

Cora looked at her watch. “The nurse will come in soon again; she will waken up then.” She looked up at Robert again and wrapped her arms around him, pressing herself against him. “I cannot believe this day has come so soon.”

As Cora had predicted, a door on the other end of the hallway opened and a nurse came walking towards them. “Evening.” She greeted before entering the room. Very shortly after she entered the room, the door opened again. “You better come back inside.”

Robert had to swallow on what he saw in front of him. Rosamund was on her knees next to the bed, holding Marmaduke’s hand close to her mouth, murmuring against it. The hand was lifeless, Robert now was not even sure Marmaduke had been sleeping when he came in the room earlier, to wake Cora up. He felt a little nudge in his back, it was Cora pushing him forwards. Carefully he stepped towards Rosamund. Softly placing his hand on her shoulder. She did not look up, she kept kissing Marmaduke’s hand. “Ros.” his voice got caught in his throat, he was not able to speak. He tried to swallow the lump down, but it did not work. He could not endure this sight, his darling sister overwhelmed with emotions. His brother-in-law lifeless in his bed, he was too young to die. Too young to die, was the only thing that went through Robert’s head. He saw Cora walking towards Rosamund and kneeling down next to her, placing her hand on Rosamund’s under arm. “You need to let him go.” She said in a whisper. He saw how Rosamund turned her head towards Cora and slowly nodding her head. Her hand was still holding Marmaduke’s, she was not letting go of it. “He is without pain now.” Cora was still whispering. Her voice had a soothing sound to him, and he saw that it had the same effect on his sister. Her shoulders started to relax and carefully she put Marmaduke’s hand back on the matrass. Cora rose to her feet and Rosamund followed. Bending back down towards the bed and pressing a long kiss on Marmaduke’s lips.

“I will always love you; you are always in my heart. Goodbye my love.” With a sob she turned towards Cora, who wrapped her arms around her and kept her close. Robert saw how Cora’s hand brushed over the back of Rosamund’s head. He heard her sussing sound, and he could not be happier with her in his life. Cora was what Rosamund needed at this moment. Not him, not her mother, or her father, just the friendship that Cora gave her. She had lost the love of her life; she was still recovering from the loss of their little one and now she had to say goodbye to Marmaduke. Life was unfair, Robert felt shame. Here he was the happiest man on earth with his Cora, witnessing his sister going through the hardest day ever. He stepped forward and put his hand on Rosamund’s back, letting her know he was there for her if needed. Rosamund turned around and buried herself in his arms.

“We will always be here for you, my darling sister. Never forget that we are here for you.”

Rosamund stepped back from Robert when they heard footsteps and voices coming up the stairs. Robert noticed a change in Rosamund. He saw how she straightened her back, she brushed over her cheeks, to get rid of the tears that were still there. How sad, he thought. Rosamund does not dare to show weakness in front of mother. Is mother really that harsh? He got the answer to that last question as soon as Violet stepped inside the room.

Without words she walked towards Rosamund, Robert quickly stepped aside to let her through. Violet took Rosamund’s hands in hers: “I am sorry my dear. A dark day for all of us.” She then proceeded to brush with her finger over Rosamund’s cheek. Her way of showing affection. Robert had not seen his mother openly show love towards Rosamund or him. He had known their mother loved them, but she was not the best in showing those emotions. She was to British to show how she really felt. It was a bad habit, he thought, the stiff upper lip did not bring much good, when it came to emotions. He felt Cora’s hand resting on his arm.

“We should go downstairs.” She said very soft.

But Papa! Why? Chapter 43

When she heard the shower being turned off, Cora started with the orange juice. Molesley had apologised profoundly that there was no cook to make them breakfast this morning. Cora had tried to reassure him that it was no problem at all. They had been standing on the doorstep unannounced, Molesley did not seem to be reassured, and he had been in the kitchen when Cora entered this morning.

‘I promise you Molesley, I do make my breakfast in London myself.’

‘But you are now with Mr. Crawley, and I should provide the staff you need.’ Molesley had protested.

‘Do not be silly. It is perfectly alright. We did not announce our arrival, and I do not mind. Please do not feel guilty or ashamed. His Lordship does not mind either.’ Cora had smiled at him and said jokingly. ‘As long as there is breakfast, he does not mind.’ When she had seen Molesey’s face she had quickly added. ‘I am joking Mr. Molesley. In his own London home, he has to make his breakfast. We both do not have a butler at home. It is a luxury that we have you here.’

When she entered the kitchen this morning, she was relieved that Molesley was not there himself. It seemed he had accepted that Cora would make breakfast.

It took a while before Robert finally came downstairs.

“This smells like heaven.” He said, while he turned on the coffee machine to brew himself one.

“Are you alright?” Cora asked concerned when she saw him making the coffee.

“I am.” Robert said surprised. “Why do you ask?”

Cora took the eggs out of the frying pan and put them down on a plate with the toast and beans. “You never start you day with coffee. You rarely drink coffee at all. So, I am a bit surprised you are starting this day with a coffee instead of a cuppa.”

Robert sat down on one of the chairs. “I did not sleep much, so I hope this will wake me up.”

Cora sat opposite of him and put the plate down in front of him. “I am sorry, I did not notice.”

“You were snoring as soon as your head hit the pillow.”

“I do not snore.” Cora replied.

Robert pulled up one eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?” his mouth pulled in a cheeky smile.

“Maybe a little.” Cora said timid.

With twinkling eyes, Robert stretched out his hand and touched Cora’s. “You are cute when you sleep, do not worry about it.”

“Only when I sleep?” Cora winked at him. “I will try not to worry about my snoring, but I do worry that you did not sleep. Especially after the long walk we did.”

After the meeting with Jacob, Robert drove Cora around the area. Once they reached the far end of the estate, she had asked if they could go for a walk. On the grounds she had seen that there were several beautiful gardens, they had walked through the Rose Arbour on to the Wildflower Meadow. It had been a long walk, but Cora did not mind walking. Especially not with her arm linked in Roberts. She could vision them walking through the gardens with little ones running in front of them. Or even in their old days, needing each other for support, wanting to enjoy the beauty of life.

“What was keeping you awake, honey?”

“Dad send me an email about Mr. Bricker last night.”

Cora had just brought her fork to her mouth, but she froze midway. “From ‘Advertisements by Mr. Bricker’ That Mr. Bricker?”

“Simon Bricker indeed.” Robert looked at her, there was a worried wrinkle on his forehead. “He is insisting that there will be another meeting between you and him.”

“But how does your father know about that? I am sure Mr. Bricker would have contacted Harold about this, and not your father? It does not make sense.”

“Harold has been the one who send the emails to my father.”

“That still does not make sense Robert.” Cora sounded annoyed. “Why did Harold not send them directly to you? What is going on?”

“Simon has found out that you are Cora Levinson and not MacLaine. He also knows you are my fiancée.” Robert grinned. “I still love saying that.” Once more he stretched out his hand to take Cora’s in his. “Next year I can call you, my wife.” He brushed with his thumb over the back of Cora’s hand.

Cora smiled back. “I love you, but can you please tell me why Mr Bricker is still contacting Harold. I thought Harold had taken care of that business. I still regret going there.”

“You got all the information we needed from him, so please do not regret it. As Papa said, you did amazing that day and gave us so much inside in what to do and where to go.”

“But this business is keeping you up at night. That means something went wrong, as I suspected.”

“Cora please.” Robert squeezed her hand. “There is nothing Papa cannot solve about this. It is just me who is worrying. It is not only this business with him, in the middle of the night I suddenly realised that if we do not find a contractor fast, we will not be able to have our wedding here next February.”

Cora let out a soft, ‘oh’ “We will find a contractor. And otherwise, we will find a solution. Maybe we should reset the date to the year after?”

“NEVER” Robert yelled, he continued on a softer tone. “I cannot wait another year to be married to you. Please do not suggest that again. Another year will also mean Marmaduke will not be able to be there with us.”

“Sweetheart.” Cora started carefully. “Marmaduke will probably not see another Christmas. That was why you rushed their wedding day.”

“It will also add another year before we can try to start our family.”

A warm smile appeared on Cora’s face. “We do not have to wait with that, do we?”

“If we are still marrying this February, we will have to wait. You do not want to be heavily pregnant on your wedding day or having morning sickness either.”

Cora now laughed out loud. “We should pay your father a visit as soon as we are back in London. I do believe we made a mistake with my visit.”

“Cora, trust me when I say that it will all be alright.”

“That is why you have not slept, because everything will be alright.”

Robert let out a deep sigh. “Mr Bricker is insisting on meeting you again and that is what is bothering me. Papa will make sure the business will not be affected. He already mentioned buying ‘Advertisements by Mr Bricker’. I hope we can find a way to keep him away from you. When you told me he had a weird look in his eyes I knew he would be trouble. And I promised to keep you safe and protect you.”

“More reason for us to move up here to Downton as soon as the building is finished. We will be far away from him.” Cora said. “Now, let us clean up this mess and then we will have to go back home.”

“Do we have to go back?”

“I am afraid we do. Baxter and I will have to finish the advert we are working on by Tuesday. I also promised Rosamund to pay her a visit tomorrow.”

“Do I have to come to?”

“I only promised I would go; I know how you are with sick people.”

Robert looked down. “I feel ashamed, and I promise I will pay Rosamund and Marmaduke a visit, but I find it hard.”

This time it was Cora who took Robert’s hand. “I know my dear. I know. Rosamund also knows and she does understand. As long as you promise to make that visit very soon. You will not forgive yourself if you have not and it is too late.”