15th August 1895

Cora woke the next morning feeling much better than she had the day before. The baby had woken her up kicking her in the middle of the night but had settled back down quickly. Aside from that she'd had a good night's sleep. After a leisurely morning spent having breakfast and getting dressed she decided it would be good to go to the nursery and see the girls while she was still feeling good. For the time being her back felt fine.

Cora's plans however were scuppered as soon as she entered the nursery to find it empty. She rang the bell.

Carson appeared quickly, "Milady?"

"Where are the girls?" she asked, taking a seat. She may have been feeling better than she had in a few days but she was still heavily pregnant and standing about wasn't good for her.

"I believe Miss Mary is out with his Lordship, Milady, and Miss Edith has not long left for a walk with Nanny. They won't be far."

Had it not been for her current state she may have been tempted to try and catch up with them but it was most definitely beyond her at the moment.

"Oh." She felt disappointed. She'd been quite looking forward to seeing her girls. It crossed her mind to ask Carson where Robert and Mary had gone but she got the feeling she wouldn't get a straight answer from him. As she'd suspected the night before, Robert was definitely up to something.


"How about the peonies?" Robert looked down at the little girl holding his hand. She looked confused.

"Peonies?" she asked.

"These ones Lady Mary." The gardener pointed over to the flowers Robert had in mind. Her face lit up.

"Pink!"

"Do you think Mama will like them?" Robert asked.

"Yes. She will love them."

With his daughters approval Robert asked the gardener to snip off some of the best flowers to put in a vase as part of his and Mary's plan.

"What about purple. Her favourite colour is purple. We should have purple flowers." Mary scanned round the garden as she spoke. The gardener set off to the other side of the flower garden followed closely by Mary.

"How will these do?" He pointed to some lilac.

"Perfect!" Mary said clapping her hands together in delight.

Robert couldn't help but smile at his daughter. He gave the nod for the flowers to be cut.

"Well Mary, that's the flowers, what next?" He looked to her for her answer.

"The village," she said definitely.

The pair went to the bakers and purchased four iced buns with sticky icing before going next door to the grocers and picking up a bottle of lemonade. As they walked back to the carriage Robert felt Mary tug on his arm.

"Papa? May we go in here please?" She gestured to the shop with a window full of glass jars. Each jar was filled with brightly coloured sweets that the sun caught beautifully.

"Not today Mary. We have buns." Iced buns and lemonade were enough treats.

"Not for me." She fished about in her pocket and pulled out six pence. "For Mama. I want to buy her a present."


Alone in the house Cora had quickly gotten fed up again and had returned to her room for a lie down. Around lunchtime a knock came at her door. She sat up.

"Come in."

Carson appeared holding a folded piece of paper that he gave to her. She opened it to find a note written in Robert's familiar hand but signed at the bottom with a wobbly "Lady Mary".

Dear Mama,

Please come to the day room.

Lady Mary

She folded the note over once more, running her nails across the crease.

"Well Carson, I do believe I've been summoned."


To her surprise, Cora found the day room to be empty on arrival. She had expected Robert and Mary at least, but they were nowhere to be seen. Unlike the room, the table was not empty.

In the middle sat a large vase of flowers in pinks and purples. Next to them was a tea stand laden with sandwiches, scones and cakes. Four cups and saucers were on the table next to the teapot, sugar dish and milk jug. A silver cloche sat covering something Cora couldn't even begin to guess at what it was.

From the corridor she heard quiet chatter from her approaching family. She turned around to see them walk through the door.

"Surprise!" Mary cheered.

"Surprise!" Edith shouted, copying her sister.

A huge grin spread across Cora's face. Something about the sight of her small family made her heart swell with happiness until it felt like it would burst. For a brief second she tried to imagine what it would look like with another girl or boy stood beside them. It was difficult to imagine. She wasn't sure she could physically love another person as much as she already loved the three people stood before her.

"What a wonderful surprise!" Edith ran over to her mother and sidled up next to her. Cora mindlessly reached down and stroked her hair. "Did you organise this Mary?"

"Yes, Papa and I. Edith didn't help."

"Mary." Robert's voice was low and warning

"She didn't." Mary whined. She looked at Robert. His expression quickly told her not to say anything else on the matter.

Cora moved the conversation on before anything could happen. "Where am I to sit then?"

Mary ran over to the table and pointed to seat she'd chosen for Cora. "I'm here," she stood behind the chair next to Cora's, "and Papa is next to me and Edith is there." She pointed over to the remaining chair. Robert pulled out the chair for his wife and waited for her to sit before going to his own place.

"Well this does look a feast fit for a king. What a treat to have tea with my family." Cora looked round the table. Edith's eyes were trained on the iced buns. She could see she was practically itching to grab one. Mary was doing her best attempt to be a properly lady. He eye caught Robert's and they both smiled. "So what, pray tell, is under here?" She pointed over to the cloche.

Robert answered, "You need to ask Mary about that."

Mary straighten up even more and looked immensely proud of herself. "It's for you Mama. I've brought you a present."

"A present? For me?"

Mary nodded.

"May I look?"

Mary nodded again even more enthusiastically.

Cora reached over to lift the cloche. As she did a waft of peppermint filled the air. She put the cloche down and peered inside the brown paper bag it had revealed. The peppermint smell increased as she unscrunched the top of the bag. Inside were a number of black and white striped sweets.

"Humbugs! My favourite." During this pregnancy she'd especially craved them. She leant over and gave Mary a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you darling. What a thoughtful gift."

Mary was beaming. "You're welcome Mama."

"Shall we start before Edith explodes?" Cora giggled. During the time spent looking the humbugs, Edith had sneaked an iced bun on to her plate and was now looking at it in the manner of cat eyeing up a mouse.

"Sandwiches first girls." Robert told them. He was bringing up young ladies after all.

"Oh Robert, let them be."

Edith sat, bun raised to her lips, glancing between her mother and father. At the shake of his head and a wink from her mother she took a large bite. Mary on the other hand was nibbling daintily on a cucumber sandwich. She rolled her eyes at Edith but secretly wished she was eating a bun first as well.

Once the girls were absorbed in munching through their feast Cora whispered over to Robert. "Did she really buy those herself?" She nodded towards the sweets.

"Yes." Robert answered as if it were a perfectly normal response.

"Where did she get the money from?"

Robert hadn't thought about this. "I'm not sure. She just produced sixpence and said she wanted to get you a present."

"Mama," Cora turned to see Edith tugging on her arm, "may I have some lemonade please?"

"Of course." She poured her a glass and some for Mary while Robert poured the adults a cup of tea. The mystery of the sixpence was forgotten.


A/N:

If you want to hop over to my tumblr ( ) there is a terribly written scene that goes in the middle of the last chapter. I may have had a tequila or two. There is also the scene from the actual show that inspired/ties in with these last two chapters.