Thank you to everyone, who have read, reviewed, favorited etc, etc. It means so much. :)
Chapter 2
Violet looked up from her book as Spratt entered the room.
"Lord Merton is here to see you, Your Ladyship." Violet blinked at that.
"Lord Merton?" Spratt nodded. "What does he want?"
"He didn't give a specific reason, but just asked to see you."
"The man does realize that we're leaving for London in a few hours, does he not?" she asked slightly annoyed.
"He does, Your Ladyship, which is why he said that he was just making a quick visit."
Violet sighed. "Oh very well. Send him in."
Spratt left the room and seconds later Lord Merton entered.
"Lady Grantham," he greeted as Spratt closed the door behind him. "I do apologize for stopping by unannounced, and so shortly before your trip to London."
"It's quite alright, Lord Merton. But we are leaving in a few hours, so I do hope that you'll be brief."
"Yes, of course." She gestured for him to take a seat. "Thank you."
"So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Well, I need your advice."
"My advice?" she asked furrowing her brows in curiosity.
"Yes, your advice. I assumed you would be the perfect person to ask, since you're so close friends with Mrs. Crawley."
"Close friends with Mrs. Crawley?" Violet took a moment to let the words settled, but then let out a hearty chuckle. "Never in my life have I heard anything more absurd," she said as she continued to chuckle heartily.
Lord Merton blinked. "You mean to tell me that you're not? Not even merely friends?"
Violet stopped chuckling and looked Lord Merton straight in the eyes. "My good man, I will never publicly or privately admit to being close friends with Mrs. Crawley. Or even merely friends. I really only tolerate her half the time, and I spent the other half finding her quite insufferable."
"I see." He paused a moment before going on. "Well, in that case I can only assume that you'll be glad to see her leave, when she accepts my offer."
Violet raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "Offer?" she asked a little surprised. "What offer is that?" she then added more nonchalantly.
"As I'm sure you're well aware, Mrs. Crawley and I have been courting these many months," he said smiling. "We started courting shortly after your luncheon last year."
"Hmm yes, yes," she answered pretending that she knew full well, what he was talking about.
"My affection for Mrs. Crawley has grown quite strong during these months. And so therefore I thought it was only right that I move our relationship further along."
"And by further along you mean what exactly?" she asked seemingly uninterested on the outside, but fearing the worst on the inside.
"I mean that I want to offer marriage to Mrs. Crawley," Lord Merton said and then chuckled lightly shaking his head in the process. "Goodness that sounds quite strange even to my own ears. What I meant to say is that I intend to propose to Mrs. Crawley."
Violet gave him a tight brief smile. "I see." He smiled in return.
"I thought you would. That's also why I wanted to seek your advice. I know how much Mrs. Crawley loved her first husband. That is why I thought I would get your opinion, on whether or not you thought that she would accept my proposal."
"Well, Lord Mert…"
"But," he said not even realizing, he was cutting her off, "seeing as you're not friends, I understand that you're not the right person to ask after all."
"No, I suppose I wouldn't be," she said calmly, while on the inside she was giving herself a tongue-lashing.
"Not that it matters though I realize now, as I'm quite convinced that she'll accept my proposal."
"Really?" she asked trying not to sound too surprised.
"Oh yes quite so. And I don't need her to love me as much as she loved her husband. Just the fact that she loves me will be enough."
"And you would really settle for that?"
"Yes, I would."
"And you're quite convinced that she does love you?" she asked carefully.
"Oh yes quite convinced," he said confidently and smiling brightly.
"I see."
"And since you're not close friends, I'm glad that you won't miss her, when she's gone. I was a bit afraid that I would be breaking up your friendship."
Violet blinked at that a few times. "When she's gone?" she asked a little more surprised than she had intended.
"Yes. When we marry, we're naturally going to be living in my home. And as you know, I live quite a long way away from Downton."
"Naturally," she said quietly then added a bit more loudly and casually. "Yes naturally, you'd expect Mrs. Crawley to move away to live in your home."
"I do have an estate to maintain. And as Mrs. Crawley will become Lady Merton, she'll have her fair share of duties to attend to concerning the household."
"Of course." She paused for a moment taking it all in. "So when will you ask for her hand in marriage?"
"I will be stopping by Crawley House, when I leave here to make arrangements for us to meet for luncheon in London."
"So you're not asking her today then?"
"No, I won't be doing that. I need a bit of time to prepare. Besides, London has so many beautiful parks to offer, so I thought I'd take her out for a walk first. After the walk in the park, I plan on taking her to luncheon at The Golden Duckling and propose there."
Violet gave an inwardly sigh of relief being grateful that he wasn't planning on asking her today.
"Well, it is best to be prepared after all," she said giving a tight smile. "For any scenario," she added nonchalantly.
Lord Merton chuckled lightly. "Well, I certainly have to prepare myself for being a married man again. Not that I expect it to be difficult with someone as lovely as Mrs. Crawley for a wife."
"No, I suppose not," Violet quietly added.
"Well, seeing as I got what I came for, I should leave you." He stood up smiling kindly. "Thank you for your time, Lady Grantham."
"It was no trouble, Lord Merton."
"I do hope I can count on your discretion, and that you won't tell Mrs. Crawley or anyone else about this conversation?"
"Yes, of course you can," she said giving him a short tight smile.
"Thank you," he said again. Violet nodded in response as she rung her bell.
Seconds later Spratt appeared in the door again. "Lord Merton is leaving," she told him.
Spratt nodded and Lord Merton walked over to him. Before walking out the door, he turned around.
"I'll see you soon in London, Lady Grantham."
She nodded giving him another short tight smile. "Yes, I'll see you then. Good day."
"Good day, Lady Grantham."
Once she was alone Violet cursed the day last year, when Lord Merton came to luncheon, and she'd invited Isobel to come, too.
TBC
