Thank you all so much for your kindness. I really appreciate it. :) Hope you'll enjoy the chapter. :)
Chapter 10
"Hello everyone," Isobel greeted as she walked into Rosamund's sitting room. They all turned towards her blinking in surprise. "I hope you don't mind me joining you?" she asked directing the question to Rosamund, when she saw the look on everyone's faces.
"Of course not," Rosamund replied with a smile walking towards her. "I think we're all just surprised to see you so soon. We all expected you to still be at luncheon. Having luncheon at The Golden Duckling is no quick affair, and we only just finished with our own luncheon." She then looked behind Isobel towards the door, and then back at Isobel. "Is Lord Merton with you?" she asked trying not to sound annoyed with just mentioning the man's name.
"No, he's not," she replied with a shake of her head. "And we never went to The Golden Duckling for luncheon. Or at least I didn't go."
"Why not?" Cora asked curiously. "It's such a luxuries restaurant, and the food is simply to die for," she said with a big bright smile on her face. "You must've had a very good reason, if you decided not to go to luncheon there."
"I did," she replied nodding. "When I turned down his marriage proposal, I thought that it was best not to go to luncheon," she said rather bluntly.
Everyone in the room stared wide eyed at her, before they turned to each other to see, if they indeed had all heard the same thing. When it seemed they had, they all turned their attention back to Isobel.
Mary was the first to find her voice. "What?" she asked shaking her head in the process still not convinced, she'd heard Isobel correctly.
Isobel was about to give Mary a reply, when Rosamund cut across first. "He asked you to marry him?" she asked surprised.
Turning now towards Rosamund Isobel was about to answer, when Cora asked another question. "Why did you turn him down?" She was equally surprised as the rest.
Isobel turned her head towards Cora, but before she could even open her mouth to speak, Martha had a remark of her own. "Oh yes do tell," she said intrigued leaning forward in her seat. "I bet there's a fascinating story behind it."
Isobel took a moment to see, if anyone else would ask her a question. But when silence once again fell upon the room, she felt she could start to answer their questions.
"Well," she began, "at first he didn't get the chance to propose, as I was rather shocked, when he mentioned we'd been courting these many months. So I interrupted him before he even had a chance to ask," she explained.
"You mean you hadn't been courting these many months, he's been to visit you?" Cora asked surprised.
Isobel blinked at her question. She then took a look around the room and saw that almost everyone seemed equally surprised.
She blinked again and then shook her head. "No, we haven't. Did you all think we had?" she asked just as surprised as Cora had asked.
Everyone looked around at each other, and while some nodded others just shrugged.
"I think most of us did, yes," Mary replied.
"To be honest I haven't had the time to give it that much thought," Edith answered.
"I actually thought he might've just been your lover," Martha said cheerfully.
"Oh for heaven's sake!" Robert exclaimed aghast.
"I quite agree!" Rosamund exclaimed just as aghast. "Please, let's have none of that talk!"
Martha chuckled at their outbursts and that everyone but Harold and Rose were looking rather uncomfortable at her remark.
"You English people are so uptight," she said. "Why shouldn't Mrs. Crawley take a lover at her age?" she asked. "It's not like she'll end up pregnant or anything like that," she said making everyone gape, but not making anyone take note of Edith's discomfort.
Rosamund shook her head. "I wasn't disputing whether Mrs. Crawley should have a lover or not," she argued. "It's the fact that Lord Merton should be anyone's lover that I'm quite uncomfortable hearing about."
"Enough!" Robert nearly roared. "This is not a suitable conversation to be having. It stops this instant!" he said firmly.
Martha grinned. "Oh relax, Robert. It's just a bit of fun."
"It's not fun!" he argued. "It's making everyone highly uncomfortable."
"Actually, I'm not uncomfortable," Harold supplied with a grin.
"See?" Martha said looking at Robert. "Harold is not the least bit uncomfortable, and nor am I."
Robert rolled his eyes groaning, and was about to argue again, when Cora cut across before he had a chance to say anything.
"Mother, please just stop," she told Martha calmly though with a slight edge to her tone. "The same goes for you, Harold," she told him, when she saw that he was about to open his mouth to give a reply. He held his hands up in surrender, and gave Cora a nod.
Cora then looked back at Martha and gave her a pointedly look, causing Martha to hold up her hands in surrender, too.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop," she said.
Cora looked between Martha and Harold one more time to make sure that they did indeed intend to stop, before looking back at Isobel.
"Please continue," she told her while giving her an apologetic smile in the process.
Isobel smiled a little in return but then shook her head. "I really don't know why, you all thought we'd been courting, when we haven't spent that much time together," she said still rather surprised by it all. "We never even addressed each other by our Christian names."
"No, I suppose you never did," Cora said realizing that fact. "But then what happened?"
"He went on to explain that since he thought, I felt the same way about him that he felt about me, it meant that I'd agree to marry him. I was even more shocked by that," she chuckled as she recalled her reaction. "Then after telling him that I didn't want to marry him, I went on to explain to him why, I never thought we'd been courting."
"I take it, he understood that then?" Mary asked.
"He did," she said nodding. "But then he went on to ask me to marry him again, because he thought that I'd grow to love him in time."
"But obviously you turned him down then, too," Cora said.
"Yes," Isobel said. "If I'd agreed to marry him, it would've been a marriage based on companionship for me, and I could never marry for anything less than love," she explained exchanging a knowing glance with Mary and Tom, all three remembering their conversation they'd had at the Abbey. "And," she said looking back around at everyone, "I don't love Lord Merton, and I could never grow to love him. So after that I thought it was best not to go to luncheon together, and we parted ways."
Everyone nodded in understanding as the door opened and Violet entered.
"Isobel," she said surprised. "You're here."
"Yes, I am," she said smiling.
"And you won't believe the day, she's had," Cora said.
"Oh? Why what happened?" Violet asked nonchalantly.
Before Isobel could answer Martha cut across. "Well, to start with Lord Merton nearly asked her to marry him, but it was stopped before he could get the words out," she said chuckling.
"Thank heavens he came to his senses!" Violet exclaimed in happiness causing everyone to blink in surprise, and Isobel to frown a little hurt by her comment.
"Well, it actually seems that Lord Merton didn't quite have his senses about him," Martha explained.
"Oh, I'm not referring to Lord Merton," Violet said cheerfully.
"Then who are you referring to?" Cora asked confusedly.
"You know very well, who I am referring to," Violet answered.
Cora shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't," she replied back.
"And I'm afraid that neither do the rest of us, Granny," Mary said.
Violet looked around the room to see that everyone was wearing the same confused expression. She blinked a little at first, but then started to chuckle.
"You're not fooling me, so you might as well stop right now," she said while continuing to chuckle. But when she saw that they still remained confused, she rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'll humor you all, if that will satisfy you," she said slightly annoyed that she had to give in to their antics.
"Yes, please do," Isobel said. "So who are you referring to?" she asked curiously.
"Well, Dr. Clarkson naturally," she said as it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Dr. Clarkson?" Isobel repeated utterly surprised, while everyone looked just as surprised by the mention of the name.
"Yes, of course," Violet replied.
"Why would Dr. Clarkson have stopped the proposal?" Rosamund asked.
Violet turned to her. "You more than anyone should know the answer to that," she said while Rosamund remained confused. "The telephone conversation earlier," she reminded Rosamund. "A friend of a friend indeed," she said chuckling. "No, my Dear, you didn't fool me," she said triumphantly.
"I'm still confused," Mary said shaking her head. "Why exactly would Dr. Clarkson call here and then stop the proposal?"
"Oh for goodness sake," Violet huffed. "I agreed to play your silly game to humor you all, but now this silliness really must stop."
"Please, Granny," Mary said smiling brightly trying to convince Violet that it was all still part of whatever game, Violet thought they were playing with her. "Just humor us for a little while longer. Why would Dr. Clarkson call here or stop the proposal?" she asked gently.
Violet huffed again not being amused by their behavior, but decided to humor them nonetheless.
"Because he's in love with Isobel," she finally answered. Silence fell upon the room again as everyone stared wide eyed and open mouthed at Violet. After a few moments, she rolled her eyes. "Alright you've had your fun, so you can all stop now," she said annoyed. "Where is Dr. Clarkson anyway?" she asked starting to look around the room. "Did he go back to the hotel to change?" she asked Isobel.
Although still being utterly shocked by the revelation, Isobel shook her head and somehow managed to keep her voice calm.
"No, he's not, because as far as I know, he's not in London."
Violet narrowed her eyes in confusion this time. "He's not?" she asked but then watched Isobel shake her head. "But the telephone conversation," she said turning to Rosamund. "That was Dr. Clarkson on the telephone, was it not?"
"No, Mama," she said shaking her head. "My friend Julia Crawford has a friend visiting London, but who knows nothing of the restaurants here. She'd heard great reviews about The Golden Duckling, and knowing that I'd been there, Julia gave her my telephone number, so that I could verify the information. So the telephone conversation earlier was with a friend of a friend as I told you."
"So who stopped the proposal then?" Violet asked once again directing her attention to Isobel.
"I did," Isobel explained. "At first Lord Merton didn't really get the chance to propose, as I was too shocked to find out that he thought we'd been courting, and that he thought I felt about him the way he felt about me. When I'd then explained to him that I didn't love him and why, I thought we'd never been courting, he then asked me to marry him again. But I turned him down, because I could never love him and I can't marry for companionship only," she said talking a calming breath.
Violet's eyes widened a little at the information. "Ah I see," she said calmly. "Well, then never mind what I said," she said cheerfully trying to pretend that nothing had happened, as she walked over to take a seat on the sofa.
"Oh no you don't!" Isobel told her getting in her way. "I want to know why you think that Dr. Clarkson loves me."
"I'm also rather curious to hear the answer to that," Martha replied with a grin.
"For once I actually agree with you," Robert told Martha. "I think you better start to explain, Mama," he said.
When she received another pointed stare from Isobel, Violet sighed. She then decided to give in and started to explain directing her attention at Isobel.
"Lately whenever you've mentioned Lord Merton's name in Dr. Clarkson's presence, I've noticed that he looked rather dejected." Isobel blinked in surprise at that. "Then when you told me that he'd been rather abrupt with you, when you'd met him in the village on the day we left for London, it as good as confirmed my suspicion," she explained. "But yet I wasn't completely sure," she said giving a small shrug and giving a small innocent smile.
Realization dawned on Isobel. "The business in the village that couldn't wait until we got back from London. You went to the hospital to talk to him," she stated matter-of-factly making Violet nod. "But why go talk to him then? I don't understand."
"I knew that Lord Merton planned on proposing to you in London at The Golden Duckling, and thought that if Dr. Clarkson did indeed love you, he would be the only one to stop you from accepting Lord Merton," she explained calmly.
Isobel gaped at that information and stared wide eyed. "You knew Lord Merton was planning to propose?" Violet nodded. "How did you know that?" she asked utterly shocked.
"Never mind that," Violet said shaking her head dismissing the question.
"Yes, bu.."
"It's not important," Violet said cutting Isobel off.
Isobel rolled her eyes at that. "Fine then!" she said with a slight edge to her tone. "So you went to the hospital, asked Dr. Clarkson if he loved me, and he just confessed?"
"Oh heavens no!" Violet said. "The man's stubborn as a mule, and would admit to nothing at first. However, he did give himself away a bit, when I told him that Lord Merton planned to propose to you here. But you won't believe what I had to say to finally get him to admit that he was in love with you," she said then shaking her head to get that particular part of the conversation out of her head. "Not that it's important to repeat that exact part," she said leaving no room to argue with her on that point.
"But apparently it wasn't enough for him to change his mind, since he never showed up," Cora said.
"No, it wasn't. I gave him the number to Grantham House and to here. But it seems he didn't bother to listen. The man was just going to accept that Isobel was going to marry Lord Merton," Violet said with a slight annoyance to her tone that Dr. Clarkson had kept to his word of not telling Isobel that he loved her.
"So," Isobel began a little nervously, "what did he say, when he finally admitted that he loved me? What was his reaction to him believing that I was going to marry Lord Merton?" she asked softly.
Violet blinked at the change in Isobel countenance, and then smiled at her warmly.
"He said that he'd be heartbroken, if you married Lord Merton, and that it would be the worst thing imaginable," Isobel gasped a little at that and stared wide eyed. "He then said that nothing in the world mattered more to him than your happiness, and that he wouldn't stand in the way of that. His own happiness didn't matter to him he said. Then he further said that he would not wish to cause you any grief, and that he'd rather remain your friend than risk losing your friendship," she explained.
"Oh how romantic," Rose sighed dreamily.
"Yes, it is rather," Violet agreed. "But then the man went on to say that if Isobel did marry Lord Merton, he'd leave Downton because he wouldn't be able to cope seeing her, whenever she came back to visit," she said rolling her eyes. "Never in my life have I heard anything more absurd," she said shaking her head.
"That's actually also rather romantic, Granny," Edith replied shaking her own head at how Violet could think that it was absurd.
"Yes, I suppose it is," Violet admitted. "And the man did also seem devastated at the thought of Isobel marrying Lord Merton. I've actually never seen a man more broken. The man was close to tears," she explained.
"Really?" Isobel asked with a voice full of emotion.
"Yes, really," Violet replied softly smiling warmly.
Rose sighed again smiling happily, while some smiled happily as well and others were still shocked at the revelation.
"There's still one thing I don't understand," Mary said confusedly. "Since you knew that Lord Merton was going to propose to Isobel, why did you wait until the last minute to tell Dr. Clarkson? Why didn't you tell him the minute you knew of Lord Merton's plans?"
"Because it was Isobel's behavior in the car and the conversation we had, which led me to believe that our dear Isobel has feelings for Dr. Clarkson, too," she smiled a little triumphantly as Isobel blushed a little.
Mary smiled at that. "Isobel, is this true?" she asked.
"Oh please say it is," Rose squealed excitedly.
Isobel blushed even more wringing her hands in the process. "Well, I…I…" she said trailing off ducking her head but smiled shyly.
"I think that's answer enough," Mary said smiling warmly at Isobel. "So we will ask no further," she said knowing full well how annoying it was to have everyone asking questions like that.
"I quite agree," Rosamund said. "But I do think you should call Dr. Clarkson. You should let him know, what's happened and tell him how you feel," she told Isobel kindly.
"Yes, and you won't even notice the rest of us standing around the telephone, listening in on your conversation," Martha said with a teasing twinkle in her eyes.
"I assure you that you will have complete privacy," Rosamund told Isobel. "And that no one," she said annoyed giving Martha a glare in the process, "will disturb your conversation."
Isobel smiled kindly at Rosamund for her support and offer, but then her smile faded.
"It's very kind of you to offer, but I won't be calling Dr. Clarkson," she said shaking her head. "I just can't."
Everyone blinked a little in surprise at the change in Isobel and her answer, and Rose pouted sighing heavily.
Rosamund nodded understanding. "As you wish. But is there anything, we can do for you? Anything at all?" she asked kindly.
Isobel nodded. "Yes, there are two things actually," she said.
Rosamund smiled at that. "What can we do for you then?"
Isobel raised her head determination shining in her eyes. "There's a train leaving for Downton in less than an hour. In about 50 minutes actually," she said looking at the clock. "Can you see if you could get me a ticket for that?"
Blinking in surprise at her request at first Rosamund quickly came back to her senses. "Yes, of course."
"I don't care where I sit," Isobel explained. "Third class would do me just fine. And if you can't get that, I'll be happy to sit with the engine driver," she said smiling.
"She's actually not joking about that," Violet explained.
Shaking her head at Violet's comment Rosamund turned around heading towards the door.
"Mead!" she called out causing Violet to grimace.
"Have we stopped using the bell all of a sudden?" she asked a little annoyed.
Rosamund ignored her and instead focused on a slightly confused Mead, who appeared in the door.
"Yes, Milady."
"I need you to book a train ticket for Mrs. Crawley for the next train leaving for Downton. Whether it's in first or third class is irrelevant. It leaves in less than 50 minutes, so you need to hurry."
"Yes, Milady," Mead replied with a nod and left in a hurry.
Turning around Rosamund made her way back to Isobel. "You said there were two things, we could do for you. So what is the second thing?" she asked.
"I need to borrow your chauffeur, so that I can go back to Grantham House to pack some of my things. And then I'll also need him to take me to the train station," she explained. "If that's alright?" she asked after seeing the look on Rosamund's face.
"It's more than alright," she said smiling gently. "But as I didn't expect that anyone would be in the need of my chauffeur, while everyone was here, I told him he could take some time off to run some errands. I'm afraid he won't be back for another hour or two," she said.
"Is the car still here?" Tom asked stepping quickly towards them.
"Yes, it is," Rosamund said.
"Then I'll drive her. I'll take her to Grantham House first, and then from there to the train station. It'll be much quicker than a taxi," he said smiling. "And if she's not able to get a train ticket, I'll drive her back to Downton myself," he stated firmly. "If that's alright with you of course?" he asked Rosamund but kept smiling as he was certain the answer was yes.
She smiled at him. "It's more than alright, Tom," she told him as Mead entered the room.
"I was able to get Mrs. Crawley a train ticket for third class, Milady," he said.
"That's marvelous," Isobel said smiling happily. "Thank you so much," she told him gratefully, while he gave a nod in reply.
"Mr. Branson will be taking Mrs. Crawley back to Grantham House, so please show him where the car is," Rosamund told Mead.
"Very well, Milady," he said giving a slight bow. "If you'll follow me, Sir," he said addressing Tom.
Tom gave him a nod and then looked at Isobel. "I'll meet you out front." She nodded at him in return and he then left with Mead.
"Well, if you're leaving London in less than one hour, you need help packing," Mary said to Isobel. "So I'm coming with you to help you pack, and to see you off," she explained smiling warmly at Isobel.
"I'm coming, too," Edith said giving a small genuinely smile, which didn't go unnoticed by Violet and Rosamund. It was the first time since coming back from Switzerland that she'd shown any kind of true happiness. "Two helpers are better than one."
"Can I come, too?" Rose asked excitedly. "Oh please, please, please," she begged.
"No!" Mary told her firmly. "You're far too excited, and we need to be discreet so that no one back at the house calls Downton, and lets Dr. Clarkson know that Isobel is coming back."
Mary and Robert exchanged glances, both full well knowing that Barrow might easily ruin everything, if he found out why Isobel was suddenly going home so suddenly.
"But I want to help," Rose whined.
"Well, you can't!" Mary rolled her eyes at having to tell Rose no twice. "Besides, there is no room in the car with only room for two in the back, and one up front with Tom."
Rose pouted at that and Martha put an arm around her shoulders. "Best you stay here with me, and we'll have some fun while the others are gone," she said with a twinkle in her eyes causing Rose to smile a little and Violet to roll her eyes.
"And on that note, I think we best be off," Mary said.
"Now, make sure you call and tell us everything that went on between you and Dr. Clarkson," Cora said excitedly.
"Cora, don't expect her to call you straight away," Martha told her. "She and the doctor will probably be very busy," she said winking and then grinned.
Robert groaned but said nothing this time, but his reaction to what Martha had said caused Violet to grip her cane a little tighter.
"Please don't tell me, she's referring to what I think she's referring to?" Violet asked through slightly gritted teeth.
Mary shook her head. "Don't ask, Granny." She then looked at the clock. "We really should be off now. Tom will be waiting with the car."
"Yes, of course," Isobel said nodding. She then looked around at everyone. "Sorry to have to leave you so suddenly, but I feel I must," she said smiling.
"No need to apologize," Cora told her smiling warmly at her. "We all understand."
Isobel took another look around and saw that everyone was nodding, and that they indeed understood. It warmed her heart to know that they cared that much.
"Go get your man, Cousin Isobel," Rose encouraged enthusiastically smiling brightly.
"Ah yes well….well…well thank you," Isobel told her not really knowing what else to tell her. "Thank you all," she said addressing the rest of them, who nodded in reply. "And thank you," she told Violet sincerely and warmly.
Before Violet had the time to offer her more than a smile, Isobel threw her arms around her hugging Violet tightly, which made everyone stare wide eyed and then made them try their best to cover their grins. However, Violet stiffened at being hugged, and when Isobel felt her discomfort she let go of her.
Getting over the discomfort Violet managed to smile a little. "Not quite the need for that kind of appreciation," she said taking a calming breath. "But you're welcome," she told her warmly.
The held each other's gaze for a few moments more, but then Isobel nodded. "We're off then."
"I'll walk you out," Rosamund said.
Casting one last look at everyone, Isobel gave them one more smile and left the room with Rosamund, Mary, and Edith.
Once outside Mary and Edith got into the back of the car, while Isobel took a moment to say goodbye to Rosamund.
"I don't know how to repay you for your kindness," Isobel told Rosamund.
Rosamund shook her head. "You don't have to repay me at all," she said smiling kindly. "And even if you did, you just repaid me back by hugging Mama. That was quite a sight," she told her through her laughter.
Isobel joined in her laughter. "Still," she said when her laughter had died down, "I'm very grateful for your help," she said genuinely.
"Think nothing of it," Rosamund told her. "Now in the words of our young Rose, go get your man," she said encouragingly but not as enthusiastically as Rose had done.
Isobel blushed a little but managed to nod at Rosamund, before getting into the car and driving off.
TBC