Here I am with part 2, now there's only a part left. It's the first time I write a Isobel/Richard scene, so I hope you'll like it. Really thank you for all the reviews!:)

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Part 2

Isobel Crawley had always believed in second chances; it was proved by the way she had tried to help Ethel, Mr Grigg and any other person she had ever seen in trouble. The news was just that, lately, she decided to apply that principle to herself as well. The possibility to be loved again had in fact shaken something in her and it had been that desire for company that led her to accept Lord Merton's proposal, in spite of obstacles and discords. After all, which alternatives did she have? Only mourning her late husband and her precious son – dead that kept living in her head, though. No, she would have married Lord Merton and would have tried to carry on with her life, even if she had no other reason to do that.

It was only when she found doctor Clarkson in front of her door, that her will started to waver. It was a totally unexpected visit and, somehow, she felt a bad presentiment just noticing his slightly upset face. However, she let him in with the offer of a cup of tea, welcoming him in the most cordial way.

"So, what do I owe this visit to?" she asked once they were sitting in the living room, hinting a smile.

Richard smiled back, but it was a tense and embarassed one. Thruth be told, he himself didn't know exactly why he was there, he hadn't surely prepared a speech and he wasn't sure which expectations he was allowed to have. He just knew that time was running out, the marriage was coming and the countess's words were still lingering in his mind.

"I just wanted to see you one last time before seeing you turned into a lady…" he answered eventually, deciding to raise the topic through some slight irony.

As expected, Isobel immediately rejected that prospect. "Oh, please. I may even become a Lady by name, but, alas, I highly doubt this will change my nature…" she replied with a chuckle.

"And are you so sure about it?"

Any trace of joking had suddenly disappeared from his face, as the question was pronounced in a serious but yet ambiguous tone. Sure of not changing or sure about the wedding? Actually, the way he was staring at her with unexpected courage left room to different levels of interpretation. Isobel got them all and unavoidably went on the defensive. Her expression grew serious too, or actually more than serious, annoyed and even offended.

"I am not sixteen, doctor Clarkson, I do believe to be able not to take sudden decisions" she abruptly answered. However, she realized soon her unusual unkindness and, with a deep sigh, calmed down her tone. "I've had some reserves, that's true, but then - you won't believe this! – it was right Cousin Violet to offer me a solution…"

"Really? And how did she help?"

"Not much time ago, she talked to me about the rarity of second chances and the importance of taking them befo- … Why are you laughing?"

Richard wasn't actually laughing, but surely a joyless chuckle had escaped his lips, as he found himself rolling his eyes. He had already had the opportunity to listen to the account of that particular conversation between the two women, and he felt irritated in seeing Lady Violet ironically passing from being his main supporter to being his main opponent.

"I simply find the situation quite funny… Just two days ago, Lady Violet talked to me about the existance of multiple options for everyone instead, as well as the urge to open our eyes to see them…"

He picked the words accurately, but, once again, it was the determination in his eyes to have more eloquence. She looked back at him for some moments with an indecipherable expression, then suddenly shook her head.

"Oh, I see. But maybe this is not true for me."

"But I can assure you, we were exactly talking about you…"

Isobel widened her eyes this time and, in the end, it was her the one to look away. She couldn't understand what was leading her friend to reveal his cards so naturally and, actually, she never even knew that he had such cards to play. Maybe he had just been infected by Violet's bluntness and, especially, by her adversion toward Lord Merton.

"Doctor Clarkson, I have no idea why you and cousin Violet are so much against this marriage, but, you'll see, this is actually my only second chance. It's possible that it isn't the last proposal of marriage I will ever get, but surely it is the last accompanied by a declaration of love" she started to say, determined to defend her position. "Usually, at this age, people get married for company… But instead Lord Merton precised to be in love with me. The idea of love changes everything, don't you believe that too?"

As often happened, the woman had let herself been carried away by her ideas and didn't think before speaking – or at least, she didn't think enough. Probably, the allusion to their past was totally unwilling, but for the doctor it wasn't difficult to recall his attempted proposal some years before; he was immediately hurt by that and, for the first time during that conversation, his boldness seemed to abandon him. The hell with the countess, the hell with his feelings, the hell with his hopes! He had a precise idea of love on his own, but clearly it was too late to show it and the baron had beated him on time. Lord Merton had been brave, sincere and passionate – all things he himself hadn't been able to be in more than ten years and now it was too late to make up for it.

He would have liked to confess that he did loved her too and had loved her for more time, that his own proposal was out of love as well and, most of all, he wanted to make her see that she had another alternative. He was there for her and he could be there in any way: as a friend, as a love, as a husband, as an option. However, he knew that it would have been a completely useless risk and so he just remained silent. He was the one to have no option, after all.

"I perfectly understand. A proposal impossible to refuse, uh?" he said in the end, with a bitter tone. "Congratulations, then…" he added then, attempting in vain to use some more enthusiasm.

Before the woman could reply in any way, he had suddenly stood up and already reached the door. The tea in his cup hadn't even been touched. And yet, right the moment of defeat surprisingly turned out to be the one he chose to dare the most.

"Isobel?"

And even more surprisingly, he used for the first time her Christian name.

"Just so you know, I'm used to loneliness. Therefore, I never used it as a reason for any decision I've ever made…"