AN: Thank you all so much for the reviews and follows! I hope to have longer chapters after this one.
Chapter 1
"Not bad news, I hope."
"Oh…," Robert said absently, stuffing the letter that had absorbed his attention so fully back into its envelope. "No, no. Everything is well."
Patrick studied his son and Robert looked away under the buckling intensity of his father's scrutiny. Carefully, he tucked the correspondence into his breast pocket and took up his cigar once again. Robert hadn't been altogether surprised when Carson had placed the evening post beside him and her letter had been resting on top. He had only been afforded passing glances of her penmanship over the last ten months, but its angular, penetrating scribbles were distinct enough to make an impression.
He had been expecting a reply, having written shortly after the incident. His mind skittered around the word she had so intrusively spelled out numerous times in the lines written by her hand...miscarriage. Martha, predictably, did not dance around the facts. What Robert hadn't anticipated was Martha having her own news to share. He felt quite like Pandora's Box lay in his lap now, as he futilely tried forcing the knowledge she had given him back in.
Patrick lifted the decanter of whiskey in Robert's direction and Robert waved him off, the sight of the liquor turning his stomach. He still wasn't fully recovered from the hangover he had suffered the day before, a prolonged punishment for his inebriation. Robert hastily stubbed out the remainder of his cigar, the smoke pluming up between he and his father and he stood.
"If you don't mind, I think I'll go through." At his father's nod of dismissal, Robert left the table.
Entering the drawing room, Robert was disappointed to see Rosamund sitting with their mother, the pair talking quietly. A swell of annoyance rippled over his skin at his sister's presence. Marmaduke had taken the train back to London that morning, but Rosamund had unexpectedly decided to prolong her holiday visit to Downton. Her overly conciliatory behavior towards Cora made her motives dubious and Robert did not appreciate her meddling or her duplicity.
Robert looked about the room. "Where is Cora?"
Violet pursed her lips at his gruff interruption. "She retired early."
"She did?" Robert frowned, though it wasn't really a surprise. It had become her custom recently. Most evenings found him fidgeting in the drawing room with his parents, his mind wandering, his thoughts searching Cora out as she cloistered herself in her bedroom.
"She did look a little wan," Rosamund added. "Is it prudent that she be walking the grounds during the day? It cannot be good for someone who so recently-".
"Please do stop it, Rosamund!" Robert spat, his words halting any further observations from his sister. "Stop your pretense."
Rosamund drew her chin into her neck, her brows coming together in shock. "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Yes you do," Robert hissed, becoming more agitated. "Do not pretend you care about Cora's well-being. You are not her friend."
Rosamund leapt abruptly to her feet, slapping at the skirts of her wrinkled dress. "I am truly hurt by your implications, Robert. You know, you can be unreasonably cruel when you want to be." She whirled around in a fury and stomped out of the room. Robert chanced a glance at his mother, who had been watching their argument quietly.
"I admit, Rosamund's motives are not usually altruistic ones, but perhaps you were a touch harsh." Violet said finally, her voice as impassive as her stare. Robert let himself fall into the sofa next to her. He leaned back and rubbed at his temple.
"She is putting on a show, needing to feel involved. Rosamund has no sisterly affection for Cora, let us not kid ourselves." Robert sighed.
"You think us all far meaner than we really are." Violet said, her voice more subdued than Robert was accustomed to. It pulled Robert up from the petulant slouch he had crumpled into and he sat straighter.
"Do I?" Robert snorted. The sound fell flat. "I suppose it's easy for you to forget all of the mean things you all said before the wedding? I however, cannot."
Violet rolled her eyes before fixing them sternly back on Robert. "That was before. What's done is done. She is your wife now."
"Oh, so that changes everything for you? It did not seem that way only weeks ago, months ago, your constant harping on her...".
"Robert, you are such a child when it serves you," Violet pointed out. "What I do, I do out of necessity. Cora needs to learn. I am trying to help you both."
Robert's reply was somewhere between a grunt and a tsk. He crossed his arms, the position causing the letter he had almost forgotten to crinkle, an imperceptive sound that he felt more than heard. So caught in his fretting over how to tell Cora the contents of her mother's correspondence, he hadn't been aware of Violet's movement. Robert startled at the touch on his leg and he jerked his head back in Violet's direction to see the features of her face softening.
"Cora is family now." Violet's words held emphasis, truth. They prodded Robert, making his heart pound fiercely, the blood rushing into his ears. He felt hot and then chilled. Cora was his and he was hers. A family. A pair which they had been close, so very close to making a trio. Robert's eyes dropped and he studied the threads of his pants, though he did not see the fabric at all. No, what he saw was Cora, the way her skin had shimmered, the way the tip of her nose had wrinkled when she smiled widely and told him the news. A baby.
"There will be others, my dear boy." Violet's voice was confident but Robert could not let himself feel the truth in them just yet.
"Will there?" Robert asked. "I don't know, Mama. Cora…". Robert raised his eyes, as though searching for her through the ceiling.
"Give her time," Violet soothed and Robert laughed, despite the ache in his belly. Violet stared at him in confusion.
"It's only that you aren't always so...tender." Robert explained.
Violet turned up her hands in defeat. "Honestly Robert, even I'm not made completely of stone."
Robert chuckled. "Yes, not completely it seems." He grew serious once again and reached into his pocket. "As if there weren't enough happening, I received this from Mrs. Levinson tonight."
Robert handed the letter to his mother. Violet raised an eyebrow before carefully unwrapping the envelop and easing the paper out. She held it away from her and scanned the succinct words written by his mother-in-law. The lines around her mouth deepened as she frowned. Violet folded the letter once more when she was finished and placed it on her lap.
"Well, what are you going to do?" Violet asked.
Robert released the breath he held and closed his eyes. "What can I do? I cannot keep this from Cora."
Violet leaned forward forcing him to look at her. "I'm not sure it would be wise to tell her in her condition."
"Oh Mama," Robert said. "She's stronger than you think, you know."
"I'm not saying she isn't." Violet replied. "I'm simply pointing out that this might not be the best time to learn her father is dying."
Robert stood, walked to the fireplace, then turned and walked back to the sofa. He continued his pacing, struggling over what to do. Though Robert had just defended Cora's strength, in truth she seemed terribly fragile lately. Exposing her to more heartache was something he wasn't sure he could manage. Wasn't it why Martha had written him in the first place? To protect her from the reality? Yet to not tell her felt extremely dishonest.
Violet clapped her hands together. "I've an idea. Martha says they are going to Egypt. Surprise Cora with a trip. It will do you both good."
Robert stopped his pacing, his mouth falling open. "You want me to take my wife to the desert?! Half a world away? For what purpose?"
Violet sighed laboriously. "Robert, must I explain everything to you. It will allow Cora to see her father, which could very well be the last time. And then it will be the Levinson's responsibility to tell their daughter of his condition."
"It seems very close to lying." Robert countered, but part of him was already agreeing with the plan. Surely, once they were there, once the Levinson's were confronted with Cora, they would tell her about Isador's cancer. And Cora would be thankful that he'd brought her to them, she wouldn't see it as a betrayal at all.
December 31, 1890
"Did you forget something, Mitchell?" Cora called absently as her bedroom door opened. She kept her focus on the small pocket watch in her hands, the tiny grooves of the dial nipping the pads of her fingers as she wound it round and round. The gold face could use a polishing, she mused to herself. Gingerly holding the chain attached to her father's old watch, Cora held it out, ready to instruct her maid on its care.
"Oh!" Cora exclaimed, the watch dangling like a pendulum in front of her. Robert stood over the threshold of her bedroom, his hands clasped behind his back.
"I'm sorry if I startled you," Robert said quietly.
"Oh no, you didn't. I thought you were...well, you heard who I thought…". Cora's voice faded off and she looked away.
Placing the watch on the cold marble top of her vanity, Cora played nervously with the chain. Biting down, she worried the gummy flesh of her bottom lip and pushed her breath through her nose, hoping to quell the queasy sensation filling her stomach. Since their loss, being in Robert's presence knocked her off balance, pinched her breath and left her short of gasping. Cora couldn't think too long on what it meant, how unworthy she felt of the affection he obviously wanted to show her. Instead, she avoided him, wanting to ignore the way his eyes appeared more grey than blue when he looked at her, they way they held her in their care whenever they were in a room together.
"I was sorry to hear Carson say you'd come up." Robert offered, coming further into the room.
Cora swallowed around the tightening in her throat. "I was feeling rather tired."
"I know," Robert said. The compassion those two syllables contained made it difficult for Cora to speak. "But you cannot spend your first New Year's at Downton alone in your room."
Cora smiled briefly, dipping her head down further, waiting for the well of tears in her eyes to subside. "Of course. The toast."
"Well, luckily I brought the champagne to you, milady."
Cora's head snapped up at the sudden teasing and she couldn't help but laugh, a genuine, vibrating laugh at Robert's mockery of a bow. When he straightened Cora saw the glasses he carried, a full bottle of his father's best champagne clutched in his hand. And something else. An unmarked envelope. With curiosity, Cora watched Robert unpeel the gold foil and she jumped as the cork popped loose of the neck, a foaming surge of alcohol oozing from the bottle. Cora giggled as Robert clumsily tried to catch the bubbling river with one of the flutes only to drop the glass, the torrent running down his arm. Leaning forward quickly, Cora pressed the rim of the other flute to the champagne bottle, catching it before any more could soak Robert.
"Well, that was the least graceful entrance I've ever made," Robert muttered and Cora chuckled, placing a hand on Robert's arm. Robert's brows lifted as he watched her and Cora, under the warmth of his eyes, let her hand fall. She coughed, needing something to fill the silence that had crept in on them but Robert snatched her hand quickly, holding it in his, keeping her where she was.
"It's almost midnight," Robert whispered, leaning closer so that his lips were right above her ear.
"Hmm," Cora hummed, closing her eyes and inhaling. She had missed his scent, the heady mixture of oak and tobacco and him.
"Four, three, two, one." Robert counted off, each number said lower and lower until his voice was just the tickle of a breath. He stayed close, each exhale brushing against her neck had Cora sunk into him, his arm coming around to embrace her tightly before he tipped her chin up and covered her mouth with his. A groan lodged itself against Cora's sternum as Robert's tongue flickered against her own and only loosened itself, flowing from her mouth as he pulled away.
"I have one last gift for you," Robert declared, placing the envelope he had been holding into her hand.
"Oh?" Cora replied, breathless.
With an encouraging nod from Robert, Cora tore into the long paper, pulling out its contents. Unfolding the packet, she scanned the documents and then froze, the paper starting to quiver.
"Is this real?" Cora wondered.
Robert's lips stretched across his face and Cora had to stop herself from leaping into his arms. "We leave next month."
"Robert," Cora said when she could find her voice. "Did you plan this with Mother? She and Father will be in Egypt then as well! She wrote just a few days ago to say so."
"I did. I thought you might like to see them. It's almost been a year after all." Robert said, a flicker of something passing over his eyes. Cora was too happy to question it.
"Oh Robert, thank you. Thank you so very much!" Unable to resist any longer, Cora wrapped her arms around Robert's shoulders, holding him close. When she felt his answering embrace, she sighed, some of the melancholy that had settled around her dissipating, excitement for their upcoming adventure taking its place.