January 13, 1889

"My Lord, if I may trouble you for a moment?"

Robert looked up from his book to see Carson standing by the settee in the library. "Yes, Carson?"

"I wondered when might be a convenient time to view the available bedrooms?"

For a moment, Robert was confused about what the butler meant, but the answer came to him quickly. He'd not really thought of it before right now. Carson had, of course. Carson was very good at keeping tight control over everything in the house. He really was an exemplary butler. "If you'd like to show me now, that would be fine," Robert said. He marked the place in his book and put it aside. "Come along, Norman," he said to the dog asleep at his feed.

The Labrador got up and followed close at heel as always. Robert followed Carson up the grand staircase. His slight anxiety grew with each step. He did not have to choose today. He would remind himself that he did not need to make the decision today. He could look and see what was available and then think about it. It was quite an important decision, after all.

Robert would be getting married. And that meant that he would need a different bedroom. He needed a different bedroom because his wife would need to be in a bedroom that had a door that connected with his. The bedroom that had belonged to Robert since he had grown out of the nursery would be his room no longer. He was leaving the bachelor's corridor for good. He would no longer be a bachelor, so it stood to reason.

He thought that perhaps Cora might be consulted about which bedrooms would be theirs. After all, she would be living in whatever room was selected. And she would be arriving at Downton in just a few days. Surely it was only polite that she have a say?

At that thought, Mama's voice popped into his head and demanded that he grow up and inhabit the position of his title and make decisions for himself. What sort of man whinges on about the opinion of his fiancée when he's only marrying her for her money? After all, she's an American and wouldn't know any better. It would be up to Robert to choose.

A very large part of Robert hated the way his mother had infected his thoughts this way. But he had made the mistake of wondering aloud about Cora's opinion for the honeymoon trip and Mama had scolded him about how he was the well-traveled and well-bred of the two of them he was to be her husband, and it was his duty to make the arrangements. Wondering about Cora's thoughts in this and apparently anything else was a sign of Robert's weak spirit. Privately, Robert did not agree with this. Wasn't he supposed to make her happy? How was he to make her happy when he didn't know what she thought? Well, Mama certainly wouldn't approve of such things. He'd have to wait until after they were married before he could try to ask Cora's opinion. Though by that point, hopefully he would get used to making decisions on her behalf, and they could adjust perfectly well.

Choosing the bedrooms, though, was nothing like making plans for a honeymoon trip. The honeymoon would last for a few weeks. The bedrooms would last for their lifetimes. Papa had chosen his bedroom and Mama's when they had gotten married, and they had kept those rooms after Papa became the earl. Robert would do the same. When his father died, Mama would move to the Dower House, Robert and Cora would become the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and they would still be in the same bedrooms that Robert was expected to choose for them now. It was a very big decision. He would have to take his time.

"There are two options I can show you now, Your Lordship. There are several other connecting rooms that I do not think would be suitable, as they are quite in need of significant repair and furnishing, and they are rather far from the main staircase. I took the liberty of having the maids clean these two for you to look at, but if neither is to your liking, we shall of course clean and view the others," Carson explained, leading Robert down the hall.

"I am sure you know best, Carson," Robert answered.

"The first is here." Carson opened the outer door that led into a small valet's space and then the interior door.

It was a lovely room. The sun came through nicely. The furnishings were, as in the rest of the house, quite lovely. It did not look too different from the room in which Robert currently lived, which was a comfort. He wandered through it and enjoyed how large it was. He could have his personal desk moved in here if he wanted. There was plenty of space.

Robert went through to the door on the other side of the room that led into the lady's bedroom. This room was light and airy and decorated beautifully. The walls were a pale gold with green accents. It was very nice.

He opened his mouth to say that these rooms might do perfectly for he and Cora upon their marriage when the sound of water through the pipes sounded. "What's that?" Robert asked with a frown. He knew the sound, of course, because he'd heard it whenever his valet ran his bath. But he'd never heard it outside of his own bathroom.

"The bathroom there," Carson pointed to the door beside the bed, "is on the same pipes as Lady Grantham's bathroom next door."

The thought of his mother's bathroom on the other side of the wall to his wife's bathroom was too horrid to even contemplate. Robert knew what would eventually happen in his wife's bedroom. He did not want his mother anywhere near them. "I'd like to see the other rooms you've selected," he told Carson quickly.

The next set of rooms were smaller. Robert would have much less space than he did even now, actually. That would hardly do. But as he promised himself, he would think on it and not decide now.

He went through the connecting door to the lady's bedroom. This room was slightly smaller than the other, and the walls were pale blue. The upholstery on the furniture was a rich gold.

Robert suddenly had a vision of Cora in this room. Of how her sapphire eyes might sparkle amidst the blue and gold here. How her skin would be so luminous in the candlelight, how her dark hair would contrast so beautifully against these colors. When they were married, he would come to her in this room and take her in that very bed. He could envision it all so clearly.

"This is the room," he said suddenly, almost without realizing it.

"Would Your Lordship like to take some time to consider?" Carson offered. He probably knew how Robert had disliked making decisions and dealing with change. He knew most things, it seemed.

But despite promising himself that he did not have to make a decision yet, Robert was adamant. "No, I'm quite sure. These rooms are to be prepared for the future viscountess and myself for after our wedding."

"Very good, My Lord," Carson answered with a respectful nod.

Cora would be arriving in just a few days. When she did, Robert would invite her to see the rooms. Hopefully she would like them. They would be living in those rooms for the rest of Robert's life. Both their lives were about to change so much—Cora's much more so than Robert's, though he was not immune—and it was quite a heady thing to consider that the future was so set out before them. This is what his life would be. And while he did not know all that would come to pass, he at least knew where he and his wife would lay their heads at the end of each day.