Robert slowly ambled back towards the house, Isis running ahead of him. He kept an eye on his faithful friend, not wanting her to come to any harm, although she knew the estate just as well, if not better than he did.
He stopped and turned to take in the vastness of the Downton estate. It still held him in awe. The beauty of the place. There was not one part of the land he hadn't walked at some point in the fifty years he'd lived there.
He dug his cane into the soft grass, took off his cap and rested his hands upon his stick. He looked over to his far right at the rolling hills that led towards Ripon.
His mind wondered back to when he and his new American bride would ride their horses over to the lake that was hidden in between the hills. It had become a sanctuary away from prying eyes for them. A place where they could talk without the airs and graces expected of them at the Abbey. A place where they could explore the land and each other.
He felt the heat rising under his collar and grinned. Cora and he had had many a carefree day out there. He wished they still could but alas, it wasn't to be.
Robert looked down at Isis who had come back to find her master. She sat at his feet and looked up at him, wagging her tail. He patted her head and looked back at the landscape, keeping his hand on her head.
His eyes moved a little to the left, to the woodlands where he and his sister would often play as children. He chuckled as he remembered sunny summer days spent with Rosamund, hiding from their nanny in the woods, and the reprimand that always followed from their father. He could never stay angry with them for long. Rosamund saw to that, she could wrap Patrick Crawley around her little finger, and he always obliged.
Robert thought back to when his father taught him to fly a kite up on one of the many hills that made up the far end of the estate. The memories of the kite nearly taking him off the ground it flew so high. He sighed, imagining what it might of been like to teach his own son to do this.
His gaze then fell upon the gardens that made up the left side of the estate. Memories of Mary inviting his wife and he to tea parties with her nanny came flooding back to him. Of Edith falling over and taking the skin off her left knee and the only thing to console her was him promising she could ride home on his shoulders. The end result being a blood stained jacket to clean and a rather disgruntled valet. Then his thoughts drifted to Sybil, his darling Sybil and her zest for life. He laughed as he recalled her as a toddler, running through the gardens, calling him "pop pop". He remembered the first time she rode a horse, Mary trying to teach her the "proper way" to sit. "Like a lady, Sybil, not like that". And the resulting bang on the head she received when the horse and Mary had had enough.
He was brought back to the present day when Isis started to bark loudly and insistently.
"What is it, girl?"
Isis took off towards the house, still barking. Robert turned to see what had interested her so much and smiled when he saw his wife walking towards him. He put his cap back on and pulled his cane from the earth and started to follow his four legged friend. When he finally caught up with the two of them, Isis being petted by his wife, he smiled.
"What brings you all the way out here, Cora?"
She looked up from where she was petting the dog. "You did, my dear. It's late and we were getting worried about you. What have you been doing?" She straightened and smiled at him. He took a step closer and shrugged his shoulders a little. "Reminiscing, Cora. That's all. Have I missed the dressing gong?"
Cora slid her arm into her husband's and started to walk with him back to the house, Isis leading the way. "Very nearly, my darling. What have you been reminiscing over?" She looked up at him, her countenance warm. "My life, our lives together on the estate. Things that have made me smile." He returned her tender smile and gripped her arm a little tighter.
Just as they reached the Abbey, Cora leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'm pleased your memories have made you smile, my love. I like it most when you smile, your eyes look so blue and alive."
Robert stopped them just before the front door and turned, giving her the smile she loved so much before leaning in and kissing her tenderly. "That one was just for you, Cora." She grinned at him before entering their home, her arm still in his.