August 1896
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"May I come in?" Robert asks again and she has to laugh. She had no idea he was back at the Abbey.
"Of course," she says and wants to smile at him but the serious expression his face tells her that this is not a laughing matter. She knows what is coming.
"I only came home for two days. To get a ring," he says.
She is disappointed but not much.
"So you have made your decision."
"Yes. I think she expects a family heirloom. I found a nice ring that belonged to my grandmother."
"Who is she?"
"The Honourable Maria Stonewell. Daughter of Baron Stonewell. She is nice, she says she likes children and the country. I am sure she and Mary will get along. And I will get along with her as well."
She should not ask this question but of course she does. "Do you love her?"
"No, I don't love her. I couldn't love anyone else as long as," but Robert does not finish the sentence.
She should not look at him now but of course she does. Robert stares at her so intently that it hardly leaves any doubt what he was about to say. She wishes he had.
"Well, Miss Levinson, wish me luck," he says and leaves her with a strange feeling in her heart. It isn't broken but it isn't complete anymore either.
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"Have you lost your mind?" Rosamund asks him and he has no idea why she attacks him like that.
"You want to propose to Maria Stonewell?"
"Is she not good enough for you?" he shoots back and Rosamund shakes her head in exasperation.
"She is not good enough for you Robert."
"What? Where am I supposed to find someone better? I have to marry someone I get along with. I don't care if she is only the daughter of a baron. Grandfather was a baron too."
Rosamund shakes her head again.
"Robert, how blind can you be? This is not about titles and ranks. This is about love. You could find love, you have already found it. You found it years ago. I understand that you did not follow your heart then but you should do it now."
"What would you like me to do?" he asks and he is afraid of the answer.
"I would like you to get back onto the train to Downton, go home, get a more meaningful ring, go to the School House, get down one knee and ask Cora Levinson to marry you."
"Mama and Papa will not allow it."
"Who cares? If they try to stop it, elope."
"We will end up in the gossip columns."
"Every storm blows over Robert. Cora is from our social sphere. More or less at least. She knows how to behave. She won't embarrass the family but I gather that she would make you very happy."
He thinks about what his sister said later that night in bed. For the first time in months he lets the thought that he always tried to mute run away with him. Marry Cora. Sleep next to her. Sleep with her.
'Oh dear God,' he thinks when he notices how much he would like all of this.
AN: For some reason I have always imagined Rosamund as very supportive of Robert's marriage to Cora. To me, Rosamund appears rather practical and in my head she knows her brother quite well and knew that Cora and he would be very happy if he allowed it to happen.
Let me know what you think!
Kat