"What do you mean you want to bring her to Downton? She's an American for God's sake!" Violet's voice bellowed throughout the entire house. The Crawley family were gathered in the small library of Downton Abbey after dinner. It was a rare night when they were not entertaining and Robert decided it was as good a time as ever to mention Miss Levinson to his parents. Apparently he had been mistaken.

"Oh Mama, how can you be so prejudiced." Rosamund rolled her eyes. She was used to fighting Robert's battles when it came to their mother.

"Rosamund stay out of this." Her father warned her. Though he would never admit it, Richard felt scared every time his wife shouted. She had such a voice that could cause the ground to tremble. "Robert, I'm sure Miss Levinson is a perfectly nice girl but is it really necessary to bring her here?" It was a last feeble attempt to break up the argument before too much damage had been done.

Robert took a deep breath. "You're right. She is perfectly nice. I certainly think her much nicer than those other girls you insist on me meeting." He took care with his words. "Besides, she is a foreigner in this country. Shouldn't we show her some English hospitality?" Violet remained silent.

When she saw her brother's reasoning lost on their mother, Rosamund glanced at Robert and, once receiving an approving nod from him, said, "You know, Mama, this would be your opportunity to show an American just how much better the English are at everything." This proved too good a bait for Violet to resist.

"I suppose." Trying her best to hide her contentment, she added, "Robert, you can invite her to come next Wednesday. We are having a dinner party then and she could meet some of our family friends." With this, she stood up from the settee and walked out of the library.

"Are you sure it would be such a great idea?" Richard was now having his own doubts about the whole scheme.

"Papa, you were the one who said to find a wife, and Cora Levinson has enough money to save the estate three times over."

Defeated, Richard took a last sip from the whisky glass in his hand and was almost out of the door when he added, "I just don't want to see made an irreversible mistake."

Once their parents were gone, Robert and Rosamund were left to have one of their rare heart-to-heart discussions.

"Have you decided on marrying her?" Rosamund was desperate for inside information. The idea that Robert has something exciting going on his life pleased her to no end.

"Goodness, Rosamund? Do you think this is some kind of novel? I met her last week."

"And you've already had a fight with Mama about her. That's a sure sign of an impending marriage." She was teasing him, of course, but this was no light matter. There were many times when she woke up thanking her lucky stars that she was born a girl and do more or less as she desired when it came to finding a partner.

"Besides, if I ask her to marry me, she's going to have to know the full story. She would have to know that I don't love her, not yet anyway."

"Are you sure you don't?"

"Yes I'm sure." Robert had enough of this conversation now. It was too late in the evening to think about his feelings. "What would you know about love? I have seen you flirt with at least twenty men since Tuesday and you've only been presented two weeks ago."

Rosamund did not care for this type of talk and promptly excused herself, saying all these discussions made her tired.

Robert may have been already in his early twenties but the prospect of marriage terrified him speechless. The idea that someone would be entrusted to his care for the rest of their lives, the idea of seeing the same person first thing in the morning and last thing before falling asleep, the idea of having children...

Children... He hadn't even thought about children yet. Not only did he have a duty to marry someone rich enough to save the estate, but he also needed to produce an heir for Downton. How on earth could he be expected to do everything? Robert was not even an Earl, and yet his responsibility, his duty, was already resting heavily on his shoulders.

Robert looked around the library. How many of his predecessors had sat in this very spot, thinking about their futures? Were they just as scared as he was? He decided that if his sanity was to remain intact, he would have to take things one step at a time.

And the first step was to bring Cora Levinson to Downton Abbey.