"Mrs Hughes, I wonder if we should go over-" Mr Carson's words petered out when he rounded the corner into Mrs Hughes' sitting room and found the housekeeper dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. Concerned, Carson rushed over. "Whatever is the matter, Mrs Hughes?"
Mrs Hughes waved her hand. "I was just going over the menus with her Ladyship."
"And that has you feeling blue?" Carson asked, perplexed.
Mrs Hughes chuckled sadly, "No...watching her Ladyship try to remember the name of a lobster thermidor has me, as you've put it, blue."
"Well, that isn't so terrible," Carson responded gently.
"It is when it's been his Lordship's favorite meal since I began working here." Mrs Hughes shook her head. "The poor thing."
"Mrs Hughes!" Carson admonished.
"Oh don't get yourself worked up into a state. I'm not being disrespectful." Mrs Hughes explained. "But I can't help feeling sorry for her. And it makes me rethink our plans."
"How so?" Carson asked, trying to mask the worry that gripped him with her words.
Mrs Hughes sighed. "I no longer think we should wait until we retire...to marry. We none of us are guaranteed anything in this life. Her Ladyship is younger than us and..."
There was no need to go on. Carson knew what she meant. It could be one of them, at anytime, falling ill or worse, and they would have missed their chance. Waiting had seemed the best decision but Mrs Hughes was right.
"I'll speak to his Lordship." Carson promised before standing and leaving the room.
"Your Lordship, I wonder if I might have a word." Carson requested as he entered the library.
"What is it, Carson?" Robert called from his desk without looking up.
"Well, you see...that is..." Carson stammered, unsure how to begin.
Robert braced his hands on his knees, now giving the man his full attention. "My word, what has you so frazzled?"
"My lord," Carson began again, steadier this time. "I wish to discuss a rather...delicate matter with you."
"Please Carson, you are beginning to make me feel very apprehensive. I've never known you to have difficulty when it comes to saying what's on your mind," Robert said.
"It's best I just come out with it." Carson said, more to himself than Robert. "I've asked Mrs Hughes to marry me and she's accepted."
Robert sat quietly, the words at first making no sense to him. It was only on the third repeating in his head that their meaning became clear. He couldn't have been more shocked if Carson had told him he was going back into show business.
"I see," Robert replied, although he didn't really. He had always thought Carson and Mrs Hughes worked well together, he'd call them friendly even. But marriage?
"The thing is, my lord, we had discussed putting it off. Until we were retired. Or at least until I was. But we don't wish to wait any longer." Carson explained.
"This puts us in a predicament Carson. You must know that." Robert's brows drawn together. A choking sort of bitterness rose up within him. That they would do this, at this time when the family was already dealing with so much, made him irate.
"I do. I hoped we could keep on at Downton, but if that brings about any awkwardness, then one of us will go." Carson's words were meant to placate but Robert's jaw clenched.
"I'll need time to think on this." Robert huffed before striding past Carson and out into the Great Hall.
"What exactly do you find so distressing about this turn of events?" Violet asked her son, looking up at where he braced himself against her fireplace mantel.
Robert flipped his hands up in exasperation, "Mama, don't pretend that you would have allowed this when you and Papa were at Downton."
"I wouldn't allow it now," declared Violet, matter-of-factly. "But you and I see most of these things quite differently. You've allowed Anna and Bates to wed and even provided them with a cottage..."
"This is entirely different! This is my butler and housekeeper. They can't just go as you please. The entire running of Downton is dependent on them!" Robert pushed away from the fireplace and went to the window, his agitation increasing.
"Is it, Robert? Or is there something else?" The intonation of Violet's voice, devoid of its usual drippings of sarcasm and haughtiness, put Robert on edge more than it appeased him.
"There is no hidden agenda to my disapproval." Robert explained quickly.
"How is Cora?" Violet asked carefully, leaning forward and continuing to probe Robert.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Robert asked stiffly.
Violet folded her hands in her lap and looked into his eyes, something like pity reflected in them and Robert's stomach churned uncomfortably.
"I think a great deal," Violet responded. "I think that had you learned of Carson and Mrs Hughes months ago you would have been happy for them and you would have settled on an arrangement."
"And now?" Robert barked, his voice cracking.
"Now, I think your anger is driven by jealousy." Violet sat back, waiting.
It didn't take long for Robert to huff harshly, "Jealousy? Of what exactly?"
"They are starting a marriage, fresh. A future together. And you are feeling uncertain of yours. With Cora. My dear boy," Violet pushed herself up and came to where Robert stood. He refused to meet her eyes as he inhaled and exhaled heavily. She laid a hand on his forearm. The touch, so foreign coming from his stoic mother, loosened the tight hold of his anger until it fell away, leaving him tired and aching.
"I resent them," Robert said quietly. "I resent the happiness they are probably feeling, the hope, the looking ahead to better things...when everything good for me now lays somewhere in the past."
"Robert," Violet's voice was so gentle Robert felt like weeping into the folds of her skirts, like a child. But he had never been that kind of child, and she had never been that kind of mother. "If you could go back to the day you took Cora as your wife, with the knowledge of what waited for you in the future, would you make a different choice?"
Robert startled at her question, stepped back and shook his head emphatically, "No!" And it was true, he realized, after letting his mind ponder the question briefly. He would choose her again and again, no matter what.
"Perhaps you shouldn't begrudge Carson and Mrs Hughes the chance to have a fraction of what you've had." Violet said. "And who is to say that there are not still days of good left for you and Cora."
Robert sighed and squeezed Violet's hand before pulling at the hem of his jacket and squaring his shoulders. "You are right, of course. I need to stop moping about this, for my sake as much as Cora's."
"You should do something special," Violet suggested. "Travel maybe?"
"If only it were that easy. Perhaps if Tom were still here, but now that he's gone and Mr Jennings has taken over, I don't think it's possible." Robert started walking out of Violet's drawing room, intent on gathering his things and heading back to Downton, but her next words stopped him mid-stride.
"And if Tom were back? Would you go then?" Violet tossed out casually.
Robert turned slowly, "But Tom is in Boston, Mama."
Violet shrugged her shoulders, her lips turned in a coy grin, "I think halfway between Boston and Liverpool would be a more accurate description of his location."
"What do you mean?" Robert demanded, excitement twitching within his chest.
"I had thought he should know what was going on here. We are his family after all, and Sybbie is Cora's oldest grandchild. He wanted to come back right away. He wants to help." Violet answered.
Despite his joy at the reunion, Robert also felt guilt at interfering with Tom's plans for a new life, "While I am overjoyed, he shouldn't upheave Sybbie again for us."
Violet waved his sentiment away in annoyance, "I think the boy was looking for an excuse to leave. And do you blame him? The only thing worse than New York has to be that dirty little city he's calling home now."
"Mama…" Robert scolded, shaking his head. He took a step to leave once more, but paused and turned. "Thank you."
Violet feigned a look of surprise. "For what? I did nothing."
Robert smiled, the first one that he felt whole-heartedly in a long time. "Cora will be so pleased. She puts on a strong front but she's missed Sybbie so. I think especially now."
Violet became serious, "I don't know if Cora told you that I knew about Marigold. But she was very upset that I kept it from her. I hope that this can show her I meant no malice."
Robert nodded, "I'm sure it will, Mama." Robert left the drawing room, eager to share the news with Cora, hoping the thought of seeing Sybbie soon would help lift her spirits as much as it did his.