AN at the bottom :)
Matthew
Downton Abbey - June 1928
.
They have been sitting at the breakfast table for 15 minutes now. Sam, Robert, he and Julie. They need Julie for the questions Robert is not going to ask. So Mary pushed Julie towards begging to be allowed to breakfast in the dining room and not in her own room with her governess anymore. According to Mary this took about two minutes. The difficult task is for Sam and him. Robert.
Sam nods at him and he begins to speak.
"I think we are heading or an economic crisis."
"Maybe," Sam says. They have practiced this.
"What is an economic crisis?" Julie asks. They of course did not tell her to ask this but they both know Julie well enough to have been sure that she would ask. She is curious, intelligent and has been encouraged to ask questions and speak her mind by her parents and both her siblings for all her life.
"It means that the economy is going down. At the moment looks as if everyone was getting richer all the time. People have invested a lot of money at the stock markets. But it might crash. The money might just vanish."
"Money cannot vanish," Robert says. They knew he would make a comment like that.
"Are you sure?" Sam asks. "You might want to talk to Uncle Harold about that. He lost half his fortune in one bad investment."
"Your Uncle Harold is a scoundrel and an idiot. He lost all that money because the company he gave it to went bankrupt."
"Exactly," Matthew replies. "That company went bankrupt. A lot of companies might go bankrupt in the future."
"Because everyone makes so much money now that they don't know what they are doing anymore. It is like a bubble," Julie says. They had not expected this.
"What do you know about this?" Robert asks his daughter.
"Nothing," Julie replies. "But that is what it sounds like to me. But I will ask about this at school."
"You will do no such thing," Robert replies and stares at his daughter. After months of begging from Julie's side and discussion with Cora and Mary Robert finally agreed to let Julie attend a school from August on.
"Oh Papa," Julie says and nothing else.
"Be that as it may, little sister," Sam says and winks at Julie. Without any further discussion Julie drops this topic. Matthew often marvels at how easily Sam and Julie can communicate without words. One look from Sam was enough to tell Julie that he was on her side but that now was not the right time to discuss it. One grin from Julie was enough to tell Sam that she understood and would cooperate.
"I agree with Matthew," Sam continues. "I think we have to be careful and think about what to invest in. Woodland Manor is making quite a bit of profit these days. I thought about investing most of it into the stock market but I think I will invest in real estate instead. Houses may lose some value during a crisis but they don't just vanish. If you put in enough money to keep them up, they will gain value after some time."
"Yes. That is what we tell our clients too," Matthew replies.
"Papa, do you have a lot of money in the stock market?" Julie asks then. Again this is nothing they have told her to ask but something they were quite sure she would ask.
"Only a little. Most of the money we have is in the estate. Your mother is as cautious as Sam and Matthew and when your uncle lost so much money she made me pull out our money."
"She did?" Sam asks in utter astonishment.
"Yes Sam, she did," Robert replies. "Your mother ran an estate almost by herself for two decades. I can hide nothing from her. She wants to know where every penny goes and if I do something without telling me first she badgers me to tell her." He doesn't know what to say. Of course Cora would ask about these things. Having had the responsibility for Woodland Manor for twenty years she must know how to run an estate and deal with large amounts of money.
"Mama is a very great woman then," Julie says and Robert looks at Julie and smiles.
"That she is my darling girl and I hope you will be just like her."
"Chances of that are rather good, I think," Sam replies and smiles at Julie too.
It makes Matthew think of his own three children. Katie and George were followed by Lilly, a baby who announced herself to her mother eight weeks after Lilly's funeral. When half a year later Mary and he carefully suggested to Sam to name their newborn daughter Elizabeth Sam agreed in an instant. 'I will never be able to name one of Lilly's daughters after her. But I am very honored that her best friends' daughter will be named for her.' Initially they referred to her as Lizzie but within less than six months that had turned into Lilly. According to Sam this was one of the best presents they could have given him. He has turned into a fiercely protective godfather and Matthew has been wondering for some time whether it wouldn't be good for Sam to find love again and possibly have more children of his own. Of course he does not mind Sam's attention to Katie, George and Lilly. But he has a feeling that what Sam really wants are more children of his own. He has never talked to Sam about this for fear of upsetting but he wonders whether he shouldn't talk to him about this sometime soon. He will have to ask Mary or advice first though, she is much better at these things.
.
Cora
Downton Abbey – later that morning
.
"You look like someone made you eat a lemon," she says when Robert walks into her room.
"Well," he says exasperatedly and sits down on her bed. "Your son, your daughter and your son-in-law formed a conspiracy to make me pull out our money from the stock market."
"My son, my daughter and my son-in-law?" she asks. "Two of those are yours as well."
"I am afraid so," Robert replies jokingly. "But you were faster than them anyway."
"Yes. When Harold lost all of that money I knew this wasn't going to go well. We shouldn't be too invested in the stock market."
"And we aren't Cora. We modernized the estate, we bought land and built houses. We are using the rent to keep modernizing and keep up our house."
"I know darling. But I do wonder if the house isn't too big, if it all hasn't become too much. Too many servants, too grand dinners for 1928. This is not 1888." She has thought about this a lot. All of the grandeur that they live with seems so much. So much more than it seemed before the war. Sam only lives in a small part of Woodland Manor. The house is open to the public almost all year around. He makes quite a lot of money by letting in the public.
"I know what you are thinking Cora. But at Woodland Manor it is only Sam and Jamie and I wonder whether you have noticed that Sam spends almost half his time here. He is at Woodland Manor long enough to manage the estate but that is all. Not counting Sam, there are four adults and for children who live here. We have to have more staff and more rooms. And I am not giving it up Cora. I am not giving up Downton or our way of life. If Matthew chooses to make changes and I am sure that he will, that is up to him but I won't be the one to do it. I have changed more than enough."
"I know darling. I am not going to push you on that. And we do live a very nice life."
Robert turns to her now and she can't help but kiss him.
"Cora, I promised Julie I'd take her along to visit Yew Tree Farm. There are kittens there and she wants to see them."
"She is thirteen, she can go by herself," she mumbles but knows that she won't get what she wants. Not now anyway.
"Besides Sam we won't have any visitors tonight. We can go upstairs shortly after dinner," Robert says when he leaves the room and she shakes her head at him.
Just when she is ready to go downstairs there is a knock on the door that is unmistakably Sam's.
"Come in," she says and smiles at her son. He looks better now, much healthier and happier than he still did a few months ago. It seems as if he was finally out of mourning.
"I wanted to talk to you about something. Alone," he says.
"Sit down. Mary and Matthew are going to a business lunch for Matthew in York and Robert took Julie to see kittens."
"He did not only take Julie," Sam answers and laughs. "Julie took it upon herself to let Katie, George, Lilly and Jamie know that Robert was taking to see them. So now the Earl of Grantham is doing estate business with five children in tow. Although I am sure that Julie will be able to keep them in check."
"Did Robert take the nanny?"
"I don't think so."
"He is a courageous man," she answers and crosses bedroom activities of her list of things still to come that day. Robert will be too tired for that. But he will have enjoyed a wonderful morning with the children. "You wanted to talk to me Sam," she says.
"Yes," her son says and fiddles with his watch. "I have been thinking about finances."
"You cornered Robert about it this morning," she says and Sam nods.
"It appears you got there first. But I am talking about my finances. The estate, my estate, is making quite a lot of profit. Even after modernization and reparations I have a lot of money left. For the past few years I just saved the money but I want to invest it. Not in the stock market. Into real estate. So I asked Matthew to find out which houses in London are being sold. Even if don't want a typical 'London House', owning a house in London would be useful."
"I agree," she says.
"Well, Matthew found out that our old house is up for sale again. I could buy Suffolk House back. It is named Baker House at the moment but I could rename it of course."
"And?" she asks.
"I don't know if I should buy it back. It is a nice house and it belonged to the family for over a hundred years. But I am still not sure. Wouldn't I be going back to the past?"
"If you want to see it that way yes. But you could also see it as investment into the family's future. And it would be nice for Jamie to have it. To have something that has belonged to his family for a long time. Something besides Woodland Manor which he may want to give up at some point anyway." She is sure that the younger generation will deal with country houses very differently.
"Would you like the house to be back in the family?" She knows Sam wants to know if she would agree to him buying something that belonged to his father, a man she married because her parents wanted her to, a man who did not make her happy.
"Yes. Sam, that house was your father's house, that is true. But the moment you were born it turned into your house. So if I were in your shoes I would buy it back. But that does not mean that you have to buy it back. If there are any painful memories," Sam interrupts her at that moment.
"No. There are no painful memories except for that of the pain. I still miss her, I will always miss her and I will always love her but I have put her behind me."
She gets up then, kneels down in front of her son and squeezes his hand. "I am very proud of you, my dear boy," she says.
"Thank you."
.
She is in the entrance hall when Robert and the children return.
"Julie, next time I promise you a treat, you will not tell all your nieces and nephews about it," Robert says exasperatedly.
When he sees her he gives her a very weak smile. "Help me darling, please."
She laughs and sends Julie and Katie upstairs. There are old enough to find the nanny and have her help them. Then she faces the other three children. "Did you have fun with Donk?" she asks and the children begin to nod and talk.
"The kittens, granny, the kittens. They were so cute and we were allowed to play with them. Can we have one, please?"
She looks at Robert in his disheveled state and thinks that this is a decision for another day.
"I am not sure. Let's talk about it some other time. Now it is time you all went upstairs and had lunch." She takes the children upstairs and overhears Robert say to the butler "Next time I agree to taking all the children with me, stop me."
"Very well my lord," the butler replies.
.
.
Sam
London – June 1928
.
"So the house is not for sale?" he asks Matthew who has just telephoned him.
"Not for sale. It is to be auctioned off," Matthew replies and his stomach settles again. He would have been rather disappointed had it not been for sale after all. He has had his heart set on buying it back.
"Well, that could make it cheaper," he says.
"Or more expensive," Matthew replies.
He does not really care. It does not matter to him how much he will have to pay. Of course he has set himself a limit and he will stick to that limit but it is far higher than what he estimates the house to be worth and a lot more than what he sold the house for when he desperately needed money to save Woodland Manor.
.
The auctioneer keeps talking about the house's history which he knows by heart. When it gets to the point at which it is said that "the current Duke of Suffolk had to sell the house because of financial difficulties' he wants to protest and explain that those difficulties had been imposed by the war and the Army Medical Corps. But he would only have exposed himself as the current Duke of Suffolk and he does not want that to happen.
There aren't too many people who bid on the house and except for one other person he seems to be the only with a serious interest. In the end he outbids his contestant.
When he asks the auctioneer who the other person had been he says "some rich American lady." The image of his grandmother comes to his mind immediately. "There she is," the auctioneer says and he turns around.
The woman walking towards him looks nothing like his grandmother. She is a lot younger than her, maybe even a few years younger than he is himself. She is also not bedecked in jewels. In fact she is wearing a simple dress and a matching hat. She looks normal. There is nothing extraordinary or remarkable about her. Or maybe that is what is remarkable and extraordinary about her. He doesn't know.
"You must have wanted this house very much," she says instead of greeting him.
"Yes," he says. "I am sorry for taking it away from you but it meant a lot to me."
"Oh, don't be sorry," the woman says in an unmistakable American accent. Much more American than his mother's accent. "This was just one of many options for me. It is a pity because this house looks very nice and seems to have been kept up well. But there will be others houses that I can buy. Oh, by the way, I am Josephine Miller," she says. 'She even has a normal name' he thinks and then sees her staring at him.
"Who are you?" she asks and he realizes what it is that is extraordinary about her. Her cheek, her fearlessness, her self-confidence. But then she doesn't know that he is a duke. And it is going to stay that way.
"Crawley," he says because that is the first name that comes to his mind. "Sam Crawley".
"Well, Mr. Crawley, would you like to join me for a cup of tea?"
"What?" he splutters.
"Join me for a cup of tea. To celebrate you beating me at the auction."
Every fiber of his being is telling him to say no. So he says "Yes, of course".
He hopes that they are not seen by someone he knows. Not because that would cause a scandal. It wouldn't. This is 1928 after all. But because he does not want his cover blown.
"That Duke of Suffer," she says and without knowing what he is doing he corrects her. "Suffolk."
"Oh well. That Duke must have been really desperate to sell such a lovely house."
"I suppose so," he says. What else is he supposed to say?
"Wouldn't you like to meet him though? His family owned that house for a long time. Maybe he could tell you a few secrets."
"I am sure he could," Sam replies.
Thankfully the waiter arrives then and takes their order. This seems to be reason enough for his companion to talk about something else.
"I came here from New York. I've been in London for a few months. I thought it would be like New York. But it isn't. Not at all."
"No, New York is very different," he replies.
"Oh, have you ever been there?" she asks and what follows is a two hour conversation about New York and the people living there. It is the most interesting and most pleasant conversation he has had in years.
"Mr. Crawley," Josephine – Ms. Miller, her corrects himself - says. "I am sorry but I am afraid that I must take my leave now." He wants to argue but of course he can't. He does not know this woman and will in all likelihood never see her again. He should never see her again because he lied about himself. So he asks "Would you like to meet again?" and then wants to kick himself.
"Yes," she replies. "Monday next week. At the Peter Pan statue." He nods and calculates that Monday next week is only four days away.
"Until then Jo-, Ms Mi," now she interrupts him. "Call me Josephine, Sam," she says and smiles.
"I must tell her the truth," he keeps saying to himself on his way home.
He briefly considers asking Matthew to make a few inquiries about Josephine Miller but he is sure he will meet her only once more and there is no need to waste Matthew's time on something so trivial.
.
Monday
.
"Sam," she calls out for him much too loudly for his taste.
"Hello Josephine," he says and can't hold back a smile. She smiles in return and it nearly knocks him off his feet. He has to stop this. He needs to tell her now that they cannot see each other anymore and that he has to leave. So he says
"Would you like to take a walk around the park?"
Conversation is very easy again and at the end of their walk, Josephine is holding onto his arm in a manner that reminds him of the way his mother sometimes holds on to Robert. 'Oh dear God,' he thinks. He needs to stop this.
At the end of the walk when Josephine asks him to go dancing with her the next night he knows he should say no but of course he says 'yes'.
.
The Jazz Club that Josephine picked for them is nice and perfectly acceptable. So acceptable that after having been there for an hour he spots his mother and Robert on the dance floor. He wants to hide, to run away but Josephine has already pointed them out to him. "Look at the two of them," she says and he grins. "They are dancing very closely to each other. They are either both married to someone else and are having a heated affair or they are one of the very few lucky married couples who are actually in love with each other. What is your guess?" she asks.
"Very happily married," he says and she looks at him. "I say she is his mistress," Josephine replies and an icy arrow pierces his heart.
"Let's ask them then," he says. "What are you doing?" Josephine asks when he gets up. "Wait and see," he says. Sometimes attack is a form of defense. Although this will come with a lie.
"Mama," he whispers and taps her shoulder. Both his mother and Robert look at him in utter astonishment.
"What are you doing here?" Robert asks and he says "I came here to dance."
"With whom?" his mother asks and looks around the room.
"With that woman over there. Josephine Miller." Robert wants to say something but he shakes his head. "Please listen and play along. Don't ask any questions. I promise I will explain it all later." Robert shrugs his shoulder so he continues. "You have to come with me and pretend that I am your son."
"You are my son," his mother says immediately. "Alright, I am your son and Robert has to pretend that I am his son. My name is Samuel Crawley and we are an upper middleclass family. You are not an Earl and Countess, I am not a Duke. You are Mr. and Mrs. Crawley." His mother looks as if she was about to break into loud laughter and Robert says. "What do you say Mrs. Crawley? This could be fun." His mother nods and agrees.
So he takes them to their table.
"Miss Miller," he says, "May I introduce my parents to you. Mr. and Mrs. Crawley. Who, by the way, have been married for thirty years."
Robert can hardly contain his laughter but Josephine doesn't seem to notice. She is too taken aback by having met his parents.
His mother of course is instantly charmed by the young American woman in front of her. Robert seems a little more reluctant but that might very well be because he had not planned on spending the night with his stepson and a woman he doesn't know.
Half an hour later Robert and his mother leave, claiming to want to go home. Although he is almost sure that they are going to a pub. They discovered pubs as a place where they can display behavior bordering on indecency in public and have since gone to pubs quite regularly.
Josephine and he stay at the club where they dance a lot and drink too much. He has no idea how it happened but sometime during the night he finds himself in Josephine's apartment. It is a nice place, very nicely decorated. Not too modern, not too old fashioned.
"The maid and the cook never come before nine," she says and he understands this to mean "You have to leave at 8:55".
"So we are all alone in here," he asks and she nods. There is no doubt about what they are going to do now and he puts up no resistance. Not for a single second. He loses himself in her and what they are doing. When a tiny thought of having to be careful creeps into his mind Josephine tells him not to worry before he has even voiced the thought. Maybe she saw it on his face, maybe she does this regularly with different men and knew this questions would come. He does not care. Not one bit. This is his night with her.
"You are very good at this," she says after she has been lying with her head on his chest for quite some time.
"Maybe. But this wasn't the first time you did this. How many men can you compare me to?" he asks in a tone that he hopes sounds good naturedly.
"Just one. My husband," she says and jolt runs through him.
"Your husband. Your living husband. The man you are married to," he says and she says "yes".
He jumps out of bed, thereby knocking her of the bed as well. When he sees her sitting on the floor, tears of pain stinging her eyes, he feels sorry.
"I am sorry," he says. "I did not mean to hurt you."
She gets up and puts her arms around his waist. She is standing far closer than he would like.
"I know. And I am not happily married. Not like your parents. I thought that your mother was your father's mistress because my husband has a mistress. More than one actually. He is in New York, enjoying his time with her. Or them. I fled. I just couldn't stand it anymore. And before you ask, yes, I am seeking a divorce. I have proof of his infidelity and I am sure he wants a divorce as well."
He looks into her eyes and believes her. He knows she has said the truth.
"You weren't completely wrong about my parents. The woman we saw was my mother but the man with her was not my father," he says and Josephine now looks at him as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "So they are having an affair? And you know about it?"
"No," he says. "My mother was Robert's mistress for many, many years. It is a very long story, too long to tell it now. But Robert is now my stepfather."
"But their last name isn't Crawley then. Why did they go along with that charade?"
"I suppose because they love me. We get along very well. My mother and I and Robert and I. But their last name is Crawley. But they aren't Mr. and Mrs. Crawley. They are the Earl and Countess of Grantham."
Josephine keeps staring at him. "Then who are you? If you are not Sam Crawley?"
"I am the Duke of Suffolk. And the Earl of Derby. But that is my son's courtesy title, so I never use it."
"You have a son?" she asks. He thought she'd be more bothered by him being a duke but apparently not.
"Yes. He is three and half years old. His name is Jamie. I have pictures," he says, looks for his jacket and gets out the little booklet with pictures he always carries around. "That is him," he says. "But the other children are not mine. The oldest one is my little sister and the other children are my stepsister's children. Here he is all by himself and here he is with me," he says and shows her two more pictures.
"He is very cute," Josephine says.
"Yes." Josephine turns the page and a picture of Lilly jumps at them.
"Is she the boy's mother?" Josephine asks and he nods.
"So you are married too?" she asks and he shakes his head. It is hard for him to speak now but he needs to speak so he pulls himself together.
"No. I was married to her of course. I loved her very much. More than you could imagine. But she died. For years we thought we couldn't have children but then she became pregnant. It made us even happier. And then she died in childbirth."
They have now sat down on the bed and Josephine gently touches his shoulder.
"What was her name?"
"Lilly," he says and hears his own voice waver.
"We can stop this," Josephine says. "And forget all about it. Pretend it never happened."
"No," he says and shakes his head. "I don't want to forget this. Or you. Lilly's death is in the past. I have made my peace with it. I had to make my peace with it. I will never forget her but I am free again. If those are the right words."
"They are," Josephine says and kisses his shoulder.
"Do you have any children?" he asks and she shakes her head.
"No. Walter, my husband, doesn't seem to be able to make them. But it might be better that way. With the divorce and everything."
"That is probably true," he says. They look at each other and begin to kiss.
.
"Sam, you have to wake up," someone next to him yells. When he opens his eyes he sees Josephine sorting through his clothes.
"It is 8:30. You have to leave now. I don't want the maid and the cook to gossip about me. Hurry," she says and it makes him laugh out loud.
"Now, you may be a duke but you are completely naked and I do not want anyone to see you in here," she says and throws his belt at him.
"Alright," he says and starts to get dressed.
"When will I see you again?" he asks and kisses her.
"Tomorrow. If you stop kissing me now."
"Tomorrow." "I'll be here at eight," he says, gives her one last kiss and leaves.
.
Robert
Grantham House – Later that day
.
"I don't have to ask where you spent the night," he says when he sees Sam trying to sneak upstairs.
"I had hoped," Sam says but she shakes his head.
"Don't worry Sam. Neither your mother nor I are blind. And we are the last two people on earth who could scold for you doing what you did last night."
"Thank you," Sam says. He thought the boy would leave but he doesn't.
"Do you have a minute? Could we go into your room? So we wouldn't be overheard?"
"Of course. Your mother is still asleep."
"This room is tiny," Sam says when he enters it. That it is true. There is bed in there, a closet and a shelf. Two people fit into it but none more.
"Yes. Your mother wanted a bigger bedroom in here, so we had the wall moved. I don't use this room. Except for dressing and undressing."
"But you have put up a lot of pictures," Sam says and looks at them.
He always puts up pictures. Even his room at his club is full of family pictures.
"I am on some of those pictures," Sam says in astonishment.
"What did you think I would do? Cut you out?"
"Of course not. Thank you for playing along last night," Sam says and he has to grin at him.
"It was fun. And Ms. Miller was very nice. Your mother is utterly taken with her."
"Is she?" Sam asks. "I am afraid it is Mrs. Miller. But she only told me afterwards." He doesn't have to ask what exactly 'afterwards' means.
"Hm. Did you tell her the truth?"
"I did. She took it rather well. But what was she supposed to do? She had deceived me as well."
"Are you going to see her again?"
"Yes," Sam replies and then looks as if it cost him quite a lot to say what he is about to say.
"She is filing for a divorce. She is sure her husband wants it too. I believe this to be true. She didn't lie. But she is not divorced yet. Should I stop seeing her?"
He now has to weigh his words very carefully.
"Sam, by your own moral standards you probably should. But as you are asking this question I am sure that you are reconsidering those standards."
"They aren't what they were Robert. I hope you know this," Sam says and he nods.
"Of course I do. But accepting my affair with your mother isn't the same as having an affair of your own. Even if the woman in question is about to be divorced. The question is whether you love her."
Sam shrugs his shoulders.
"I am 37 years old. I am a widower. I know love does not come at first sight and that after meeting someone three times you have no idea whether you love someone. What I do know is that we seem to get along and that, well, that is works. We seem to be compatible."
He wishes Sam hadn't said this. He does not want to anything about his stepson's sex life.
"Those are good signs," he says.
"Yes. It is different with her," Sam continues.
"Of course it is. She isn't Lilly."
"No. I think Lilly would like her. Somehow that makes it easier. She didn't seem to mind Jamie either. I showed her pictures and she called him cute."
He has to laugh now. A sure way to Sam's heart is to compliment his son.
"Sam, both your mother and I will understand. If need be, we will cover for you. My father did it for us, and it helped us. But before you think about what you are going to do after the divorce is through, make sure she likes Jamie and that Jamie likes her. He is still very young. If you marry again, and I hope that you do, that woman will become his mother, at least to some extent. If there is another child things might even become more complicated."
He hopes he hasn't said the wrong words.
"Maybe my three year old son will be smarter than me and accept a stepmother. Maybe he will realize that that evil person who wants to marry his father isn't evil at all but very willing to become his mother. He cannot remember Lilly after all."
He doesn't know what to say. So he says "Hm."
"Robert, I," Sam says and then stops speaking.
"I know you are sorry Sam. I am not mad. I never was mad. I have loved you like a son for a long time."
"It was nice to introduce you as my father. I have never been able to do that before."
He squeezes Sam's shoulder.
"You don't have to ask me to pretend to be your father."
Sam doesn't say anything for a moment.
"Take your time with your Josephine. Make sure that she is the right woman for you."
"I will. And thank you. For everything. It feels like I keep saying that to you."
"Don't worry about it."
.
"It appears Sam is having an affair with a married woman," are the first words he says to Cora that morning.
"Like father, like son," she says and grins at him.
"I was the one who was married, not the one who had the affair with a married person."
"That is true," Cora says. "I am not sure whether that makes it any better though."
"Well, I married my mistress in the end," he says and Cora gives him a beautiful smile.
"Thank God you did," she says. He sits down next to her and steals a piece of toast from her plate.
"Haven't you had breakfast yet?" she asks.
"I forgot to eat toast."
"So you only ate bacon and beans."
"And scrambled eggs," he says and Cora swats him on the arm.
"Sometimes you are like a little boy Robert," she says and he has to laugh.
"But only sometimes. I am an old enough to steal my wife's toast after all."
"And sometimes you are a very foolish man."
"Your foolish man, I am afraid," he says and now it is Cora who has to laugh.
"Again, thank God that you are," she says and then leads into him.
"I promised Sam we'd help him. That we'd cover for him if he wanted us to. He says Mrs. Miller told him that she was about to be divorced and he believes it to be true."
"I could strike up a friendship with her. She is American and all by herself. It would not seem implausible. But Sam has to know that I would only do so if there was a chance for real love. I won't play hostess to an array of mistresses."
"I don't think you have to. Sam may not have noticed it yet but he is about to fall in love with Mrs. Miller."
"Good," Cora says and sighs a sigh of contentment.
.
Cora
.
Downton Abbey – October 1928
.
"Thank you, Lady Grantham, for inviting me. I know that you are taking a risk," Josephine says to her.
"You know too much about me not to know why I am willing to take that risk," she replies. "And the stakes aren't as high anymore as they used to be."
Josephine nods at this.
"Yes. I am very glad about that."
"What about the divorce?" she wants Josephine to understand that is not just for fun.
"The lawyers say it should be through by Christmas. We both want it and there are no difficulties about money. My father made sure that I would keep my money."
She nods. That is possible in America.
"You know that laws are different here?" she asks and Josephine nods. "I know. Sam has told me all about that. He is very straight forward, he doesn't keep secrets. I like that about him very much."
"Oh, there are the children," Mary says and everyone turns to the door. Julie of course is not among them anymore because she is at school. She misses her little girl but going to school was what she wanted and it is probably best for her.
"Hello Jamie," Josephine says when the little boy walks towards them.
"Hello Josie, hello Granny," Jamie replies and grins.
Sam introduced Jamie and Josephine to each other in September and the little boy was quite taken with her right from the start. 'She talks like you Granny,' he said and smiled.
"Daddy!" Jamie now screams as Sam has just reentered the library.
She watches Jamie and Josephine walk over to Sam. It appears that things are quite settled between them.
Robert had Matthew find out whether Josephine's story of the divorce was true and it was. She later told Sam what Robert and Matthew had done and for once Sam accepted that what had Robert had wanted was the best for him.
She almost jumps when she feels a hand on her hip.
"It is just me," Robert says and she laughs. "'Just' is an understatement, darling."
"I am glad about that. It looks like Sam and Jamie might find happiness after all," Robert says and she agrees.
"Let's hope that they will be able to turn their affair into something more soon. Hopefully they can get married next year."
"Are you sure they will?" Robert asks and she nods.
"I am almost sure that Sam wants more children. And he can only have those if he is married. And he is clearly in love with Josephine," she says.
"She seems to love him too. Some men are very lucky in that regard. Thankfully I can count myself among those lucky few."
She puts her hand over his now and turns to him. "Yes," she says and smiles.
.
Sam
.
Woodland Manor – May 1929
.
He is very nervous. More nervous than he was before his first wedding. But Lilly had been the daughter of an English aristocrat, 20 years old at the time and most importantly NEVER been married before.
He had hoped that his second wife was a divorcee would not be noticed but the papers jumped on it. He only found out from the papers that his wife would not be admitted at court but he doesn't care about that. He wants a good life for himself and for Jamie and Josephine is the key to that. He is now sure that he loves her and the feeling is mutual. Jamie already looks up to her as his mother and he is very glad about that.
What made his feelings for Josephine even deeper was when he saw her in Jamie's room last night.
"Jamie, this is a photo of your Mama. Your Papa loved her very much, I want you to know that. And she loved you very much too. Would you like to have the picture in your room?"
His heart had almost burst with love then.
"Yes. Then I won't forget her," Jamie and answered and Josephine patted his head.
"No."
"When you and Daddy get married tomorrow, will you become my Mummy?" Jamie asked then.
"That is up to you, my dear boy. If you want that to happen, then yes I will. But if that would make you feel uncomfortable you can always think of me as a very dear friend."
Jospehine had made to leave the room then but Jamie had stopped her.
"I would like you to be my mummy," he had said and Josephine had given his son who had now become their son a kiss on the forehead. "I feel honored by that."
"Jamie is four years old and a lot smarter than I was at 23," he said to Josephine when she left the boy's room.
"Sam, don't you think you should get over this? Robert and your mother certainly seem to be over it."
"I am over it. I just sometimes regret what I did. I could have had a father. And at 23 I would have needed one, what with the war going on."
Josephine then smiled at him, kissed him and said "Speaking of father's, you will become the father of a second child in about seven months. So it is high time we got married." She then walked away from him and he needed a moment to catch up with her.
"You are pregnant already? How is that possible? We only stopped being careful two months ago."
"That seems to have been enough," she said, kissed him again and then dragged him downstairs.
After weeks and weeks of discussion he had agreed to having more children. It is one of his deepest wishes but he was too afraid of losing Josephine the way he lost Lilly. Josephine promised she would try her best not to die and he believed her. He had to. She wants children and so does he. He had been sure that it would take years for her to fall pregnant but apparently it only took a few tries. He will have to find the best doctors in the country.
He shakes himself out of his memories when his sister suddenly appears in front of him.
"Sam," she says. "Mama told me to tell you that it was time to leave."
The wedding is not a big affair, it is held at the registrar's office and only family is in attendance.
He drives Josephine and himself back to the Manor in his own car. There are many more people watching them that he thought there would be, but he considers this to be a good sign. The people around him seem to have accepted Josephine as their new duchess. Even if this wedding is a subject of gossip. But he does not care. It is time to be happy again and he is happy. Very happy, he thinks and takes hold of his wife's hand.
.
Julie
Woodland Manor – later that day
.
She is only fourteen years old but she has been allowed to attend this reception and she is very happy about it. It broke her heart when Lilly died and she thinks that no one will ever be able to replace her but Josephine seems to be the right woman for Sam. She is kind and smart and American. Marrying a divorced American is of course rather daring but she also thinks that it is romantic. Maybe one day she will be able to marry an American. The thought makes her laugh. She does not really want to think about that, all she wants to think about is music.
She plays a few songs at the reception and then listens to the band that has been hired to play for them. She likes the idea of bands much better than that of string quartets. The music is far more exciting to her.
Most people are now dancing and she watches them. She knows that Sam and Matthew and her father will all ask her to dance and for her that is enough. She looks at Mary and Matthew who seem to be talking more than they are dancing. Sam and Josephine are dancing in a different manner, more exuberant and more excitedly. It looks funny to her but as they seem to be happy she does not mind.
"Who are they?" a woman she has never met before asks and points at another dancing couple. Two people engrossed with themselves, smiling at each other, probably sharing easy banter. When the song ends they leave the dance floor holding hands.
She smiles and says "they are my parents. The Earl and Countess of Grantham."
AN: So this was the last chapter of this story. I hope you liked it. I think it is the longest chapter and I thought about splitting it into two chapters but to me it makes more sense this way.
I hope the jump from Lilly dying to Sam finding someone new didn't happen too quickly. Of course there are three and half years between Lilly's death and Sam meeting Josephine but as there were only a couple of days between updates, I hope I didn't create the wrong impression.
BTW, if this had been a film, the last shot would have shown Robert and Cora from behind, walking off the dance floor holding hands. Julie's comment would have been a voice over.
I decided to give the last line of this story to Julie because she essentially is what turned the affair into a marriage (even if her parents would have gotten married without her).
For those of you who are wondering, Josephine survives the birth of her child and possibly even has one more child. Even if there is potential for more about Sam and Josephine, I think that this a fitting end to the story. It has come full circle so to speak.
For a long time I considered making this my last fanfiction story but writing these past few chapters was a lot easier for me than writing the previous ones, so I don't think that I'll stay way. I have got a very rough idea for one or two more stories. They will, however, be a lot shorter. I am sure that within the foreseeable future I will not be able to take on such a large writing project. It took me a lot longer to finish it than I thought it would but it was always clear to me that I would eventually finish it.
Anyway, I would like to thank you all for bearing with me for such a long time and for reading and commenting this story.
As always, let me know what you think and have a great day everyone!
Kat