She wonders if he will come to her room before going downstairs for dinner and has to smile when he does. After O'Brien has left, they spend a few more minutes by themselves the way they used to do, her halfway sitting on the vanity, him leaning against one of the sideboards. The minutes before dinner used to be among her favorite times of the day because it was one of a very few times they could really be themselves. They don't have to be an earl and a countess in those moments, they can just be a normal married couple who talk about their children, their in-laws and their neighbors. She has to laugh at that thought. "What makes you laugh?" he asks. "I just thought about how the minutes before we go downstairs for dinner are among the very few we get to spend as a normal couple during the day. We don't have to be an Earl and a Countess in here, we can just be us." He chuckles at this. "True. I wonder how many of our acquaintances have moments like that during the day. Or during their marriage."

"Your parents had those moments, I am sure of it. Your sister and her husband. Mary and Matthew will have them."

"You've just listed family members, not acquaintances."

"Well, one usually doesn't know acquaintances well enough to know what kind of marriage they have."

"Maybe that is true for some. But when we go to that dinner party on Friday, look at the other couples closely and then tell me what you saw."

"What dinner party?"

"I forgot to tell you. We got invited by Shackletons. And I am afraid we will have to go."

"Yes. We need to be seen together. Maybe we should behave improperly to show that we are still in love."

"Cora, you are incorrigible."

"Why?"

"Because you'll make us stumble from one scandal into the next."

"You told me yesterday that you thought that rumors about our divorce had been floating around since the day we got married. It is all the same scandal then."

"Tell my mother that."

"Will she be going to that dinner party too?"

"She and the old lady are friends."

"Oh joy."

"Yes. And to get into the mood we now have the honor of going downstairs and enjoy another dinner with my mother."

"You might have to take me by the hand, otherwise I probably won't leave this room."

"Incorrigible, just as I said. Come here then. Let's shock my mother and the servants by walking into the dining room hand in hand."

"Your mother and Carson will howl at the moon in unison."

"We might have to cover our ears then."

"Don't you dare behave tonight in the same manner you behave at home." She is exasperated by her son and daughter-in-law. First they fight for months and make everyone miserable and the moment this leads to a scandal about an impending divorce, they return to being what they were before the war, a couple obviously in love and obviously quite reluctant to follow society's rules on how a married couple should behave; in short they aren't making everyone around them miserable anymore, but they are making everyone uncomfortable. She was glad when Cora called her the day the scandal broke and told her that it wasn't true, she didn't even say a thing when they walked into the dining room hand in hand a day later but when the next day she found them kissing in the library in the morning and kissing in the drawing room in the afternoon she was once again sick of it.

"Don't worry Mama, we'll be good," her daughter-in-law reassures her, although she doesn't know whether to believe it.

All her guests seem surprised when they see that both the Earl and Countess of Grantham have come and that there is no apparent animosity between them. In fact, they don't even complain when they have to sit next to each other at dinner because there is uneven number of people and there is just no way around sitting one couple together. They seem a little surprised that it is them but to a close observer it becomes obvious that the surprise is a good one. She watches them carefully. She only sat them next to each to see what would happen. Her mother-in-law told her off for doing so. "The Dowager Countess of Grantham is a good friend of mine. Do you have to embarrass her like that?" But the house is hers now and she can do whatever she wants and she told her mother-in-law so, in no uncertain terms. She was hoping for something to happen, a complaint about the seating arrangement, maybe an eye roll or sour looks and later on, maybe a fight, or at least a few unkind words between Lord and Lady Grantham. But they have sat next to each other for twenty minutes now and there hasn't been one unfriendly look, let alone an unfriendly word. They behave impeccably, talking to everyone around them and as is her usual custom, the Countess charms the wits out of all the men around her.

He is sitting next to Lady Grantham and he thought about apologizing for his wife's poor choice of seating order, but it doesn't seem to bother either Lord or Lady Grantham that they have been placed next to each other, so he doesn't say anything. He envies Lord Grantham and he can't believe that the scandal of an impending divorce holds any truth. He would never divorce Lady Grantham. She is a beautiful woman, but so is his wife, yet he would like to divorce her very much. But Lady Grantham has something about her that cannot be described in words. She is a generally kind and intelligent woman but that is not it. Maybe it is her way of speaking, or her accent or the way she moves or her smile or maybe all of those things and more. He knows he is not the only man in this room pining for her. He is sure that every man in this room wishes to be in Lord Grantham's stead. To be married to a woman like that. When his wife asks the women to go through and they all get up, he sees how the hands of Lord and Lady Grantham touch briefly and they look at each other for a moment. He can't see their faces but he is almost sure that they smiled at each other.

"So, rumors about your divorce aren't true then," he says to Lord Grantham once he has had enough to drink to ask such an impertinent question. "No," the earl replies and smiles. "Mary had to break it off with Richard Carlisle to be able to accept Matthew and Carlisle is taking his revenge. That is all."

"So you didn't take a maid to bed then?"

"That is a very personal question, but I'll answer it all the same. No, I didn't."

"And you don't have a mistress either."

"Of course not."

"You are a lucky bastard."

"I do not appreciate you questioning my parentage, but I agree that I am very lucky."

She corners Lady Grantham right after the separation because she has to know whether the scandal is true. She saw Lord and Lady Grantham's hands touch when they got up after dinner and she also saw the look that passed between them. It wasn't that of two people about to file for a divorce.

"Lady Grantham, I hope you don't mind me asking. But how is it going between yourself and Lord Grantham?"

"Very well, as usual."

"So the rumors aren't true?"

"About the divorce? No. That is just a man slighted by Mary taking his revenge."

"I am happy for you then." But she isn't. She is jealous of Lady Grantham. For being married so happily. And for being what she is, not a countess, but a woman who is able to keep her husband's interest, a woman who is still loved by and in love with her husband after thirty years of marriage.

"Mama, are you satisfied with our behavior?" he asks her jokingly.

"Yes. But you shouldn't have been placed next to each other at dinner."

"Have you ever gone through a day without complaining?" Cora asks his mother and he has to chuckle.

"Well, not everyone can be as smiley and as American as you."

"That is true. Once again, I was the only American in the room."

"One would think that having lived in England for more than thirty years would have made you less American."

"I like being American."

"I bet you do." He knows that at least Cora does not want to fight with his mother and he doubts that his mother wants to fight with Cora. They have just become so used to bickering with each other that they can never stop.

"Once Mary and Matthew are married we should go on vacation to America."

"I hope you are not including me."

"No. I was thinking about a romantic vacation with your son." He thinks his mother is going to explode and he wants to warn Cora but she looks at him and smiles in a way that tells him that she won't say anything else on the subject. His mother keeps complaining for a while but he doesn't really listen, he gets lost looking at his wife instead.

Later, when he comes into her bedroom she looks at him and says "You were right." He is confused for a second and asks "About what?"

"The other couples. I did look at them. They don't have what we have. Not one of them. You should have heard those women talk about their husbands It was a lot worse today than it usually is, and I think that was because at least half of them thought that I would join their complaining. But I would never say anything like that about you, no matter how much we might have fought."

"I talk to those husbands. I know what they say about their wives and so I can very well imagine what the women say."

"It was as if they were happy about our divorce. Lady Shakleton cornered me and asked me outright if it was true."

"So did her husband. He asked me if I had a mistress. As if I needed one."

"I'm glad you think that."

"I'd rather not do it all than with anyone who is not you."

"Robert"

"What? It's true." She is laughing now and he has to laugh too.

A week later they wait in front of their house to welcome Sybil and Tom. She watches as her husband welcomes their youngest daughter first and then shakes Tom's hand almost warmly. Sybil seems overjoyed to be home and even Tom doesn't seem to mind being back at Downton.

"We'll have the anniversary dinner tomorrow night, so you'll have time to rest."

"Thank you Mama. I am glad you and Papa worked things out."

"Yes. It was time. It's rather ironic that it happened two days before the scandal began, but maybe it was fate, who knows."

"So you two are back to normal?"

"We are on our way back to normal. That is more than I would have hoped for two weeks ago." She would never mention this to any of her daughters but she herself hadn't been sure that Robert and her would ever talk to each other again, let alone have a real marriage again.

She is woken the next morning by her husband gently kissing her. "Robert," she mumbles, puts her arm around him, pushes him onto his back and tries to fall asleep again.

"Cora, darling, wake up." He keeps on kissing her.

"I'm too tired to open my eyes." He attacks her with more kisses.

"That won't help, Robert. Considering how long we were up last night and how much we had to drink, you'll need a bucket of ice water to get me out of bed."

"All right," he says and she hears him leave the bed and go into her bathroom. When she hears the water running she decides that it is better to actually get up.

"Why the rush Robert?"

"We have guests."

"I thought Isobel and your mother and sister weren't coming before tonight."

"That is true. But Tom and Sybil are already here."

"They can have breakfast without us."

"They did have breakfast without you. I had breakfast with them, but I let you sleep. We'll have lunch in half an hour."

"What? Robert! Why didn't you wake me?"

"Because you looked so peaceful."

"I give you peaceful," she says and throws a pillow at him.

He catches the pillow and throws it back at her. It hits her squarely in the face because she didn't even try to catch it. Apparently she didn't expect him to throw it back at her.

"I am sorry," he says but he can't stop laughing. She looks at him exasperatedly and he knows that she is making a decision in that moment. She has to decide between being mad at him for having thrown the pillow back at her or laughing with him. Between taking this as a setback on their way back to normality or as having finally reached normality again. Because before the war took over their lives, Cora would have laughed herself silly about a situation like this one, but afterwards she would have been offended. His heart explodes with joy when she begins to laugh.

"I better ring for O'Brien," she says once she has calmed down enough to speak.

"Yes."

"You should leave this room."

"I know," he sighs. But instead of walking towards his own room he walks towards her and kisses her.

"I love you," he says to her.

"I love you too," she says and holds on tightly to him until there is a knock on her door.

He goes downstairs and finds both Matthew and Tom in the library, which doesn't really surprise him, because he already thought last night that those two got along rather well and not just because they seem to favor the same kind of drink. He forces himself to be happy about the friendship his two sons-in-law are obviously forming, because if Matthew likes Tom it is probably a very good sign. And one of the things Cora and he fought over was allowing Sybil to follow her heart. Cora was ready to welcome the chauffeur to the family and he is sure it would make her happy if he were to welcome him too.

He talks to Matthew about the problems with the farmer who can't pay his rent but has four little children and Tom offers his opinion, not surprisingly arguing that they should be lenient towards the farmer. He realizes that Tom has a different perspective on things and wonders if that wouldn't be very helpful in running the estate.

Once he is changed for dinner he goes into his wife's room and waits for O'Brien to leave. He leans on the side board as soon as the door has closed and watches his wife turn around and lean onto her vanity.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"I am listening."

"Do you think it would be a good idea to ask Sybil and Tom to stay here?"

"What?" The surprise and disbelieve in Cora's face speak volumes.

"I'd like Sybil to be back here. And I know you would like that too. And I think having Tom here might be a good idea."

"Why? You were against their marriage, even if you gave them their blessing."

"Yes, I was. But she loves him, that is obvious. And he is decent man. And he also might be good for the estate."

"Why do you think that?"

"Matthew and I talked about some problems concerning the estate before lunch. Tom was there too and offered his opinion. He has a different perspective on things, and as hard as it is to admit it, he made both Matthew and me see sense concerning some aspects."

"Then ask them to stay. Tell Tom you want his help. They might want to stay."

"Good. But I won't do it before tomorrow, because tonight is about you."

"No Robert, tonight is about us. And our marriage."

"I thought we had ruined it forever."

"So did I. But we were wrong. We've made it through the darkest path of it and we came out unscathed."

"Even without bruises?"

"Not without them, but they are gone. I think it is safe to say that we are back to what we were. When you threw that pillow back at me this morning, I knew that we had made it."

"Why was me throwing a pillow at you what made you think that?"

"Because it meant that you didn't walk on eggshells around me anymore. You reacted the way you would have before the war took over. You weren't afraid anymore of hurting me with every little thing you said and did. Because you knew what would hurt me and what not. Things that hurt me you wouldn't even think of doing or saying, so you could react in a way that was natural for you. Natural for us. And then I realized that I could react like that too, or rather that I had already done it by throwing the pillow at you in the first place."

"Come here," he says and opens his arms to indicate for her to step into them. She does exactly that. He takes her face between his hands and looks into her eyes.

"I love you, my darling. I have loved you for the past thirty years and I will always love you. There was a headline in one of the newspapers this morning that said 'Earl and his Countess not to split'. I had to laugh about that. People are calling you 'my Countess' again, something that started when they first realized that we truly loved each other, they even called you that before you actually were a countess. And you are my Countess but that is just a consequence of who you really are. My wife, mother of my children, love of my life."

He knows that Cora is not able to speak right now, but the tears running down her face show him what exactly she feels at this moment. He wipes the tears away and kisses her.

"Now let's go downstairs and celebrate our marriage." Cora only nods; he takes her hand and leads her downstairs. He doesn't let go of her until they have to sit down at the dinner table, and he takes her hand again as soon as the men have joined the women again after the separation, which he made sure was wasn't even five minutes long. He doesn't let go of his wife for the rest of the night.


AN: Once again we are at the end of a story. Thank you for all the reviews and views!

Kat