AN: Thank you all for the many lovely reviews! And all the story alerst and favorites. I am glad you all like this story.

Have a nice day everyone,

Kat

Robert

He thinks that Carson might be playing a joke on him, although it would be a very cruel one and Carson isn't the type to joke. So he goes into the entrance hall and looks around. His daughter is sitting on the bench next to staircase and the Duchess is sitting next to her. "Is it true that the houses in New York touch the sky?" He is sure he is dreaming. His daughter can't be talking to the Duchess. But the Duchess answers her.

"Yes that is true. And when you are on top of one of the tallest buildings and you look down, everything on the ground is really small. The people look smaller than dolls."

"Really?"

"Yes. It is very nice."

"I want to go there."

"I am sure you would like to. And you should go there when you are older. You will like it."

He would like to keep on listening to his daughter talking to someone else beside him but he can't impose on the Duchess any longer.

"Mary, darling, it's time you went back to bed."

His daughter looks at him and says "Papa, I want to go to New York because the buildings touch the sky and everybody looks like dolls." He knows he should admonish Mary, should tell her that she isn't supposed to talk to a Duchess, is not supposed to 'want' anything. But he just can't. Mary has finally spoken to someone that is not him.

"We'll see", he says to her. "Let's get you to bed. I'll tuck you in."

"Can Cora come with us?" Now he has to tell her off.

"Mary, you can't just call a Duchess by her first name."

"I am afraid it is my fault, Lord Downton. I told her she could call me Cora."

"Then of course that is all right, Mary. But you still can't ask a Duchess to tuck you into bed."

"No, she can't. But she can ask a friend. And I am more than happy to come along." Cora smiles at him in a way that he is sure is supposed to say 'I hope I didn't overstep my boundaries'. He smiles back at her, because she hasn't. Currently she is the highest ranking aristocrat in the house besides her infant son, and she made his little girl speak. There is hardly anything that the Duchess could do wrong.

Mary keeps on chatting happily to them and when they reach the nursery he is glad that the nanny isn't there.

"Papa, will you go on a walk with me tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, of course."

"Can Cora and the Duke come with us please? Cora said I could meet him properly tomorrow." He just wants to ask what his daughter means by 'meet him properly' but he catches the Duchess' eye and she looks at him as if to say 'later'.

"If the Duchess would like to come with us, she is of course invited to do so." He wants to tell the Duchess that she doesn't have to come but that he would like it very much if she did.

"Then I'll come with you. Thank you for the invitation Mary." He watches her smooth Mary's hair down. "You should sleep now. Or you will be too tired to see the Duke tomorrow." She moves away from his daughter and he takes her place, giving Mary a kiss on the cheek and telling her 'Good night'.

He and the Duchess leave the nursery together.

"Thank you, Duchess. You've been very kind."

"Your daughter is a very engaging girl. I found her in Sam's room, standing on a chair, peering into the crib. She told me she came there to welcome the Duke. She must have slipped away from the nursery. She kept asking me questions about America. She is such a bright child, if I hadn't actually seen her, I'd never have believed that she was only three years old. My conversation with her was one of the best ones I've had here so far."

"You've made her talk." He has trouble keeping his composure.

"So she doesn't normally talk to strangers then."

"She has only ever talked to me before."

"So that's it. I had the feeling that something was off when I caught her in Sam's room. She looked so scared. But she hadn't really done anything wrong besides leaving the nursery, and she really only wanted to be kind. She was curious too, I suppose, but then all children are. So I told her that it was very kind of her to want to welcome the Duke and she started to speak then."

He can't hide his tears any longer and a sob escapes him. The Duchess turns to him.

"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't," he says.

She puts her right hand on his left arm. "Robert", she says, falling back to a familiarity they had almost five years ago. "You don't have to apologize. You are worried about your little girl. And she has taken a big step today. She isn't doing well but she took a step towards getting better and it makes you so happy that you have to cry. There is nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with that. You love your daughter more than anything in the world. I can see that."

"Yes, I do love her. But her mother doesn't. She is so horrible to her. She either ignores her or yells at her and it has been like that since the day that Mary was born. I don't know what to do. Mary doesn't understand it. Philippa isn't nice to me either, but I am an adult. Mary is a small child. It breaks my heart every time I see how she treats Mary." He has no idea why he tells Cora that. She is a Duchess, she ranks far above him, she shouldn't have to listen to his problems. But she doesn't seem to mind, she actually seems to understand.

"Robert, I am so sorry for Mary. And for you. If there is anything I can do, just let me know. Please."

"Thank you Cora. But I don't think you can help."

"Would you like to see Sam?"

"What?" He is taken aback by her question and for a second doesn't remember who Sam is.

"He should be awake by now. I have to go back to his room anyway. You could come with me. You can't go back into the drawing room right now, seeing how upset you are. So you might as well welcome the duke to your home." He knows he should say no.

"Yes. I'll come with you." So he follows the woman he once considered making his wife into her son's room.

"There you are little Sam", she coos and lifts the baby out of his crib. He has always thought Cora to be beautiful, but when he sees her holding her infant son it takes his breath away. She turns around to face him and she must have seen something in his eyes because she asks him if he would like to hold her son. He nods and she hands the boy over to her. He feels the sweet, warm weight of the baby on his shoulder and holds the boy with one arm. Cora looks into his eyes and as in one motion they move closer towards each other and he kisses her. And she kisses him back. He uses his free arm to pull her even closer to him. He has no idea for how long they have kissed but when they finally break apart all he can say is "God, Cora". She smiles at him and says "yes". They don't need to talk about this. He knows that they have both just had a glimpse of what their lives could have been like had their parents not interfered, had they stood up to their parents more vehemently.

She takes the baby out of his arm again. "I have to feed him. I'm surprised he hasn't started to cry yet."

"I'll leave you to it then."

"Thank you."

"Will you come back into the drawing room later?"

"Yes." She smiles at him. He wishes he could stay and watch her feed her son. He wishes he could stay and watch her feed their son.

When she enters the drawing room a while later, he wants to go to her. He wants to be with her. But she shakes her head at him almost imperceptibly. They cannot appear to be too close. At some point he tells her that he and Mary will leave for their walk at ten and that she and her son are welcome to join them. She smiles and nods. When she leaves to go to bed he wishes he could go with her and talk to her and fall asleep next to her.