Chapter 15
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10 years later
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"Robert. Robert!" He does not want to be woken. He has only just fallen asleep. Rosamund and Maramduke are staying with them and he and his sister spent the evening in the library, gossiping about their mother and drinking the scotch that Rosamund stole from their father's library the day before. And now Cora is shaking him and refuses to stop.
"Robert, please!" He then realizes that her voice is quivering and reluctantly sits up. He looks at her and takes in her appearance. He sees how pale she is and tear tracks on her cheeks. His heart plummets past his stomach down to his knees.
"Is it one of the girls?" he asks and when Cora shakes her head he feels relieved.
"It is your father, Robert." He knows what she is going to say before she does. He can see in her eyes which have turned to grey that his father is dead.
"He must have had a heart attack. There was nothing that could be done." He nods and gets up. "I have to tell Rosamund," he mumbles but feels Cora grab his wrist.
"She already knows. Marmaduke and she are on their way to the Abbey. Rosamund said she wanted to help your mother and give you some time to adjust. And we need to tell the girls."
He nods. That is what they need to do. Tell their daughters that their grandfather has died. It will be especially hard on Mary who after all spent the first few years of her life sharing a house with her grandparents.
"We'll tell them tomorrow," he says. "Let them sleep."
Cora nods and opens her mouth to say something but he does not want to talk, not right now. His father is dead. He needs to deal with this alone.
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"How are you?" Cora asks him very gently, but he can't answer. He is sure that Cora knows that he didn't go back to sleep. There are too many things on his mind.
"I lost my father," he says and she nods. She gently touches his arm and he lets. "I am so sorry," she says and he nods. He cannot speak. Tears are threatening to run down his face.
He is not surprised when Cora accompanies him to breakfast. On a day like this she won't leave his side and he is thankful for it.
"We have to talk to the girls," he says after having eaten two bites of toast and nearly spit them onto his plate.
Cora very gently grabs his hand and draws circles on it. "Robert, we should talk about how much we tell them."
"What do you mean? Their grandfather is dead. That is what we'll tell them."
"Of course," Cora says and smiles a sad and understanding smile. "But do we tell them that you are the Earl of Grantham now? Or that we will have to move very soon?"
It hits him then that he has suddenly become the Earl of Grantham. He cannot remember not knowing that the title would one day be his but it always seemed so far in the future. And now that day has come. But one thing he does not understand.
"Why do we have to move? And where?"
Cora looks as if it was rather hard for her to say what she is about to say.
"The Abbey. The Earl of Grantham lives at Downton Abbey."
He had not realized this. On top of everything else he will now have to move his family back into what his daughters call "the big house". They have lived at Eryholme for ten years now and he considers it their home and he knows that so does Cora. He very much doubts that she wants to move back into the Abbey.
"Darling," he says, "I am sure that we can hold that off for a few weeks. Such a move has to be planned."
Cora nods. "Yes. I suppose so. It will give us a chance to say goodbye to our home."
"Downton Abbey will become our home Cora. My mother will have to leave. She can move to the Dower House, or here if she wants to but you will not have to share a house with her."
"Won't I?" Cora asks with so much doubt in her voice that his heart which is heavy with grief for his father breaks into pieces.
"No darling," he says. "She will have to go. If I have to make a choice between my mother and you, I will always choose you."
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The funeral seems a blur to her. She has never been quite sure how she felt about her husband but now that he is dead she knows that she will miss him dreadfully. He was her companion for many years and they got along rather well most of the time. Especially after both Rosamund and Robert had moved out. They finally had the house to themselves. And now she will have to leave the house because Robert will surely, must move into the Abbey. And her son who is now the Earl of Grantham will not allow her to stay. He will not make his American trollop share a house with her. Although it is just as well that she won't have to live with her daughter-in-law. She has never warmed to her and never will warm to her. Had that woman produced an heir things might be different but that American nanny had not even been able to do that.
She looks up and around the room. They are in the library of course and she sees Cora and Rosamund standing to one side. She cannot hear what they are talking about but to her it seems as if Cora was comforting Rosamund.
"Your ladyship, dinner is ready," Carson announces and she and Cora say "thank you" at the same time. And then it hits her. Her son's bankrupt American nanny of a wife has become the Countess of Grantham. What a shame.
I hope you like this chapter! There is only one more to go and it will probably be published on Saturday or Sunday.
Let me know what you think!
Have a great day,
Kat