Cora hates when Robert is away. She has no idea he feels the same.
He was to accompany her on a trip to take Mary to visit America, but pressing matters at Downton forced him to miss the crossing.
Her letters are filled with excitement for the journey and barely veiled longing for his arms. He reads and re-reads them, keeping them in a box on the desk in the library.
He feels terribly isolated in the big country house, knowing that when it came to Downton Abbey, it was a distance he would never be able to overcome.