Richard rubbed his temples after downing half a tumbler of whiskey. He normally did not drink on duty but today was the lousiest day he'd had in months. It was the first fight he'd had with his new bride and he was somewhere between punching a wall and banging his head with it. What should have been a team effort - and indeed a slight lightening of his workload ended up being a row were things which were never meant were said along with an unhappy phrase Richard couldn't stop kicking himself over which he knew had cut his wife deeply.

*Flashback*

Dinner was just over at the Clarkson household. Letting the maid do her last task for the day before she turned for the night, the newly married couple settled in with a glass of Brandy and a tumbler of whiskey in front of the living room fire. Isobel nestled herself in his arms after downing her drink and untied his bow tie which she'd remarked drove her crazy along with his spectacles. It had become a sort of routine after he caught her pouting when he removed it himself just after they started dating. He hummed contently as she unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt and started placing kisses along his warm and soft cheek while he rubbed her sides, her soft body becoming boneless in his hold. He could never get enough of her affection and the way she came to him at the end of the day became a reason for living to him.

"So what do we have tomorrow?" she whispered, rubbing her nose against his.

"I'm surprised you forgot!" he grinned "nurses are coming over for interviews, remember?"

"Yes I know" she giggled as his finger touched a ticklish spot "But I meant you. What are you doing?"

Richard's adoring look turned into a puzzled one "Er...interviewing with you,no?"

Isobel's expression mirrored his own as she moved away so she could look him in the eye "I thought I was doing it on my own..."

"Since when?"

"Well, isn't that the classic controlling doctor? I'm the nurse in charge and..."

"No Isobel, helping with the process is fine but I need to interview my nurses..."

By now their voices were getting higher and the physical distance between them grew.

"Your nurses?! I control their shifts, training -"

"Yes for the last couple of years and only when it suits you!" growled Richard as Isobel gave an indignant cry and shook her head in disbelief as the Scottish doctor barreled on.

"Let's face it, you hadn't been a nurse in years before you came here and I've been at that hospital almost since its inception!" Richard felt like hell as soon as he spoke the last remark - he knew she was busy raising her son on her own before she came to Downton.

Isobel flinched as though she'd been hit in the face and opened her mouth only to close it again when nothing came to her mind in answer to her husband's true but cutting claim.

"Well then...I suggest we both go to sleep - don't bother coming to my room." she said angrily, her voice clearly cracking with emotion as her eyes filled up. She made her way upstairs quickly before slamming the door.

"Oh Isobel, I'm so sorry..." whispered Richard to the empty room, sitting back down as the full weight of what happened hit him. Why did he have to be such an ass? He knew she took pride in doing things on her own and that was a task he could have easily have done without - he hated recruiting! She was right. He was controlling.

And now his wife was crying in their marital bed in what used to be her room on the second floor of the house she shared called hers and her son's before he was even part of her life. Grabbing a whiskey bottle from the cabinet, he headed to the guest bedroom, cursing himself all the way.

*end flashback*

So here he was. Having interviewed all the candidates himself, he was glad to note that his colleague in Edinburgh had kept his yearly promise of sending him some good nurses from back home. He always head a good mix of Scottish, Irish and English staff. Every year nurses left mostly to be married or because they needed to go back home wherever that might be and every year the hospital took on a group of girls barely older than 18 who had been student nurses. Isobel always looked after them and took a couple of promising ones under her wing and looked forward to do some of the picking herself.

The very thought of her made his own handwriting look like Chinese characters. He couldn't chase the hurt look she gave him away from his mind...sod the selection! He needed to check on his patients and as he made rounds, he kept an eye out for her but he knew it was just wishful thinking. Why the hell did he say that to her? Why did she have the power to rile his Scottish temper up so? These thoughts were all his mind could process and he felt his head about to explode when a note was delivered to his office. He took a look at the neat handwriting and lavender coloured paper.

He barely had the strength to open it - could this be how his brief marriage would end? Is this how she would tell him that she had regretted her decision and was thinking better of them? Ripping the lid of the small envelope he was immensely relieved to see that cold and simple though it was, his wife was simply informing him that she was dining and sleeping at the abbey. As it was, it was better this way as he had yet to work out an adequate apology and dining at the grand house without her as an ally seemed like a nightmare. The problem was, how could he live with Isobel Crawley Clarkson at arms length when he could barely draw breath without thinking about her?

In the evening he lay down picturing her funny expression as she tried to pick a gown and pinning up that beautiful brown mane of hers...how he wished to rake his fingers through it once more!

Dinner at the abbey was a grand affair as some friends of Robert's were staying. Isobel would usually either try to join in if there was a serious discussion or privately make fun of the nonsense spewed by what was considered the British upper class with her husband. But today, everything seemed to grate on her. Luckily, her son was too taken by his new wife to notice but it did not go past her observant cousin Violet who was astonished that her friend had turned up without her husband. She could barely wait till they had to turn so she could make her excuses and go upstairs but life was not on her side.

"Trouble at mill?" the haughty amused chuckle of Dowton's grande dame made almost made the brunette scream.

Isobel turned sharply and looked her friend very severely in the eye "How about entertaining yourself with our guests? Better yet, how about a good dose of your own business?" She walked away to fat to catch The old lady's jaw hitting the floor in outrage before closing again in a worried expression

A knock on Richard's office door had him look up from his discharged charts.

"Come in!" he barked and looked up to see Violet Crawley waving her hand dismissively as he got up from his chair and took strides, aided by her infamous stick, to the chair across from him.

"I know you're a busy man, so I'll cut straight to the point. I know this is none of my business but I saw your wife at dinner yesterday and let me tell you - she is miserable! She barely touched her dinner and spoke to absolutely nobody even if the table was full of guests. By the end of the affair she was close to tears and excused herself as soon as we turned in. " she took a deep breath and let the information sink in.

Richard went red. He knew not to try and downplay it and contradict her but he was also embarrassed that his old ally knew something about his own private affairs.

"Look I don't know what the confuffle is about but I think you should know that she is quite sad about it..." Wanting to put her friend at ease, she turned the conversation around "Why don't you come over for tea? There are other matters I would like to discuss with you..."

The relief on the doctor's face was a picture and Violet was quite amused when he seemed to deflate "Yes of course my lady...I'll see you out"

The blonde gentleman never saw the mischievous smile on the face of his friend. She could not wait to see the look on her friends' faces when they found each other in her drawing room - this couldn't go on one more day, it was ridiculous.

What do you think so far? Would you like to see what happens next? :)