AN: Apologies for the delay! I've had a super busy week. I know this is a short chapter, but I thought it should stand alone. And more is on the way!
"Your conduct toward Cora has been most admirable," the earl said to Robert as they swirled glasses of port after dinner one evening.
Admirable? He'd never quite thought of himself as admirable. "Thank you, sir," he said. "I'm not sure I think of it that way, but thank you."
"Then how do you think of it? Do you not think you've treated her admirably, above and beyond the way many husbands would?"
What "most husbands" might or might not do had never been of much concern. "I don't much think of it at all, actually," Robert said. "I don't think in terms of treating her a certain way. I just…try to be kind to her and to make her happy."
"Yes, and I think your attentions to her, given her…limitations as a woman, would not be the norm in your situation. But before all this, you went to great lengths—extraordinary lengths—to preserve her life."
Of course he had. Was that so unusual? "I merely wanted to make sure she had the best treatment—"
"For which you went all the way to Germany."
"She is my wife. I would have gone all the way to Australia for her." It had never occurred to him not to do anything possible to save Cora.
Patrick sighed and took another drink. "Why is that, though? Most men—certainly after hearing what a disaster her condition represented for the line—would have taken Jones's word for it and left matters alone."
A familiar flash of anger shot through him. "Are you suggesting I should have left Cora to die?"
"No, no." The earl shook his head. "Of course not; you know I've grown very fond of her. But why did you do all that? Why were you so desperate to find a doctor who could give you a better prognosis, when so many of them told you it couldn't be done?"
Hadn't Cora asked him similar questions? Why he wouldn't let her die, why he wouldn't divorce her? "I–I thought it—honorable, I suppose," repeating what he'd told her. "She is my wife. I thought it my duty." The explanation felt even emptier than it had that day, but he was at a loss to explain it any differently.
Patrick raised one eyebrow. "Germany is rather a long way to go for honor, when you weren't even certain Wagner could do anything for her."
"It did not seem so far, not for this."
"And why have you been so devoted since?" the older man asked after a moment's silence. "Is that a matter of honor as well?"
Robert knew he did not think of honor when he brought Cora gifts or held her on his lap or carried her in his arms or took her down to the falconer's, as she'd grown fond of doing. All he was thinking of was how happy his gestures might make Cora, and how happy her happiness might make him. "No," he said, searching for a better explanation, "I suppose it just seems…proper. Good and right that I should treat her well, when she's suffered so much."
His father made a noncommittal, slightly skeptical noise.
"It's nice to make her happy," Robert went on, although he was not sure what exactly they were arguing over. "Her life is not an easy one."
"No, no." The earl shook his head.
"And…and it was my idea to go out riding that day," he said, hitting on something credible. "I suggested it."
"You surely know better than to blame yourself, don't you?"
Robert said nothing. He did feel guilty at times, but in truth he knew that Cora had readily agreed to the ride, and on many occasions, she had been the one to suggest they take the horses out. Her accident could just as easily have happened on a day when she had taken the initiative instead of him.
"I think you do," his father said quietly, and Robert nodded.
Patrick inhaled from his cigar and then blew the smoke out. "Robert, I want to warn you against falling in love with Cora."
"What?" He was not going to fall in love with Cora. Of course not! What a preposterous idea that he could fall in love with her now, not when there was no intimacy between them. Perhaps years from now, when they could be together again, it might be possible, but certainly not under the current circumstances.
"I ought to have spoken up earlier," Patrick continued. "You must not fall in love with this girl."
"I'm not. I'm not! I don't…feel that way about Cora. It's–it's not that sort of love. If it's love at all." He acknowledged that he felt affection for her, that he cared for her, that he worried over her and grieved for her suffering. And he had grown to enjoy her company very much. But it wasn't love, at least not the romantic sort.
"Are you certain? Because the more I see of you with her, the more I think I'm not seeing an honorable man or a kind or guilty one, but a man who's fallen in love. And that…well, among other things, it would be very inconvenient."
"It's also not true."
"Then I'm glad to hear it. Because what's of concern at the moment is your heir."
"James is my heir," he said. The words felt like chewing glass. "Cora and I cannot have children."
"Cora cannot have children," his father corrected. "You are perfectly capable."
"But I am married to Cora, and I refuse to divorce her."
The earl waved his words away. "Of course not. That's your mother's wish, and it's ridiculously complex and unnecessary. No, what I've been thinking is that perhaps you could take a mistress and have a son. We could certainly settle the land and the money on him, and perhaps we might be able to legitimize him later* so that he gets the title, or perhaps we could even pass off that Cora bore him, if she's agreeable to the plan."
"I–I'll do no such thing!" He felt just as much horror at his father's suggestion than at Cora's request last summer that he divorce her. "It's wrong, it's–it's filthy—and what about Cora? How would it make her feel? Don't you think she feels inadequate enough without me rushing off to a mistress?" He gripped his port glass so hard that he was surprised it did not crack as he remembered her tears before Christmas at the thought that she could not make him happy.
"This is what I was afraid of," Patrick said softly. "You do love her."
"Just because I don't wish to add to her suffering doesn't mean I'm in love with her!"
His father gave him a long, hard look. "However you feel—and I'll leave it to you to sort out—you must see that there's no point in falling in love with your paralyzed wife. It's only going to bring more heartache to you both. There isn't a happy ending to this love story, Robert. I suggest you realize that sooner rather than later."
Patrick stood, clapping a hand to Robert's shoulder, and they both abandoned their port to join the ladies in the drawing room.
*I am not an expert on English inheritance laws, but it was apparently within the realm of possibility (although legally complex) to legitimize a child after it's born if the parents married later. So for example, Robert could have an affair and father a son, and then when Cora dies (because she'll presumably still die before him), Robert could marry the mother. Or, as Patrick says, they could claim the child was Cora's and even bribe a doctor to sign a false birth certificate. It would also be possible, whether the child were legitimate or not, for the Crawleys to leave him the estate. He may not be Earl of Grantham, but the money and the house could have been willed to anyone had it not been for the entail. The entail exists in this AU because it would presumably have still been signed at Robert and Cora's marriage, but since it was Patrick who drew it up, I assume he could smash it since he's still alive.