Robert
He watches as the carriage is pulled away. He feels as if Downton has lost its soul.
"Papa?"
"Yes?"
"She will come back, won't she?"
"Of course she will."
"Will you marry her?"
"I will ask her to marry me and I hope that she will say yes. Would it make you happy if I married her?"
"Yes. She would be my mother then."
He thinks that Cora already is Mary's mother but he doesn't voice that thought.
"So, that American girl has left then?"
"Mama, don't call her that. Please."
"That's what she is. An American."
"Mama, don't tell me that you have changed your mind and that you will again try to prevent me from proposing to her."
"Is that what you are planning to do?"
"Yes. And I won't be stopped this time. And I am almost sure she'll say yes."
"Well, she has spent too many nights in your room to say no, don't you think?"
"How do you"
"Robert, I am the Lady of this house. I hope you've been careful."
"There won't be a child."
"Not yet."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, when you are married, I hope that you will provide me with more grandchildren."
"I think that is rather likely."
"Good. Because two is certainly not enough."
"Is Rosamund pregnant?"
His mother's face clouds over for a second but she catches herself.
"No. I was talking about Sam. He is a lovely boy."
"Mama, is everything all right with Rosamund?" His sister has helped him so much over the past few months and he wants her to be happy.
"She isn't sick but she can't have any children. But don't ever tell her that I told you. She made me swear not to tell anyone besides your father. And except for your father, me, and now you, Marmaduke and Cora are the only other people who know. Don't ever mention it. Or at least not to anyone besides Cora."
"Why does Cora know?"
"Because Rosamund was scared to go to the doctor alone and asked Cora to come along. And she did it. That American girl is very nice. You better make sure that she accepts you."
"I can assure you Mama that I am trying my best."
The next two and a half weeks set his teeth on edge. The closer the day of the court date comes, the more nervous he gets. His lawyer keeps assuring him that it should all go well and he knows that Philippa wants this divorce as much as he wants it and for the same reason.
Despite Cora's assurances and frequent letters, Mary is still terribly afraid that Cora won't come back. He has written to Cora about this and she is now sending three letters a week to Mary instead of one but it doesn't help. He can't blame Mary for her fear, she is just a small child, her mother has never cared about her and then left without saying goodbye.
He doesn't feel comfortable about leaving Mary alone, even if it is just for two days, but he can't take her to London with him. He is sure that Rosamund wouldn't mind if he brought her and that neither would Cora, but he has a feeling that he should do this without Mary. She is too young to really understand what is going on and he is afraid that Philippa might have changed her mind about seeing Mary, and seeing her mother again now would just confuse Mary too much. So she has to stay at Downton.
The child's tears seem endless when he says goodbye to her and she clings to him as if she was afraid to never see him again. He thinks that she probably is. His father finally takes her from him and promises her that he will take her on a walk later. It calms her enough for him to leave. He wants all of this to be over. He wants Cora and Sam at Downton and to be done with all the drama but it is not to be yet.
Because the train sits out of Peterborough for what seems like hours, he gets to his sister's house a lot later than he thought. He is fidgety all through dinner to such an extent that Rosamund almost yells at him to finally calm down. Marmaduke keeps offering him drinks but he doesn't want to go to court hung over so he declines all of them except for the first one. He doesn't sleep at all that night. He wishes that Cora was there, but her being at the same house as he both on the day before and the day of his divorce would cause too much talking. And he'd much rather see her afterwards if he can only see her once.
He leaves the house the next day a married man and returns a bachelor. He knows the papers will be full of it again, there were at least ten journalists in front of the court house who tried to get a comment from him but he did not say anything. He is not sure that he wasn't followed, but there is nothing wrong with staying at his sister's house. To avoid any kind of gossip, Cora had already gone to Rosamund's house in the afternoon so that they wouldn't arrive at the same time.
When the butler opens the door he tells him "The Dowager Duchess of Suffolk awaits you in the sitting room." His heart skips more than just one beat and he has to keep himself in check to not run into the room. When he realizes that she is alone in the room he wraps his arms around her and says "It's done."
"Really?" she asks.
"Yes."
"I can't believe it."
He can't really believe it either.
After they have said goodbye to Cora later that evening, his sister sits down next to him.
"So, when are you going to make her a Crawley?"
"I don't know. I wish I could do it tomorrow but I think we'll have to wait a few weeks at least. It would probably be better to wait a few months but I don't think I could stand it. She's coming to Downton for Mary's birthday and I am not sure I'll be able to let her go again."
"Have you made any plans for your proposal yet?"
"Yes. I'll do it on the 27th. Sometime after dinner."
"I thought you wanted to avoid another scandal."
"I do. And me asking her doesn't mean an official announcement. We can wait with that. But I can't wait to ask her."
"Do you think she expects a proposal?"
"Yes. Maybe not that soon. But she is waiting for it. And she will say yes. Rosamund, can I ask you to help me with something?"
"Of course."
"After dinner, on the 27th I mean, would you make sure that no one comes into the entrance hall for a while? I want to do it in the Abbey because that will be our home."
"You can always rely on me. If nothing else works, I'll start a fight with Mama."
When he arrives home, Mary comes flying down the stairs quite literally and he catches her just before she stumbles and falls.
"Mary, my darling girl, what is going on with you? You can't run down the stairs like that. It is dangerous. You could have fallen and you would have been hurt then."
"But you caught me Papa. When will Cora come?"
"The day after tomorrow."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. She is coming with your aunt and uncle and yes she will bring Sam."
"Good."
Mary is so jittery for the next one and a half days that she makes him even more nervous than he already is. He isn't as sure that Cora will say yes as he pretended to be when he asked Rosamund to keep people from going into the entrance hall.
They arrive the next day just in time to change. Cora has been placed between him and his father due to her rank during dinner. He wonders if he isn't asking her to give up too much. But he has got the ring in his pocket and there is no going back. He has already asked Cora to come to the entrance right after the separation after dinner and he isn't sure that she doesn't have a suspicion.
"What is it Robert?" she asks when she comes into the entrance hall.
"I just wanted to have you for myself for a few minutes. We really didn't see much of each other three days ago and I've missed you. And we won't have a quiet moment tonight because Mary is so excited about her birthday that she is bound to wake up every ten minutes and she will want my attention. And yours too probably. And we won't be missed now. So dance with me."
She smiles at him as he starts to hum. He slows them down after a few minutes and as she usually does, Cora puts her head on his shoulder.
"Cora?"
"Yes?"
"You know that you are the love of my life, don't you?"
"I've suspected it. But it is nice to hear you say it." She lifts her head and looks into his eyes. "And I love you too. I've been wanting to say it for a long time now but I was always scared that I shouldn't. At least not before"
"Yes. I know what you mean. Can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can." Now, this is it. He is finally doing what he should have done five years ago. So he gets down on one knee and the smile on Cora's face tells him the answer before he has even asked the question.
"Cora, I know I am asking you to give up a lot for me. But I am going to ask you regardless because I love you too much not to ask. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
"Yes." He puts the ring on her finger and then gets up and kisses her.
A round of applause is building around them and there are rose petals falling from the gallery. He breaks away from Cora without letting go of her and looks around. His father, mother, sister, brother-in-law and daughter are all standing in the entrance hall and what seem to be all the servants of the house are standing on the gallery. He looks into Cora's face and she is laughing. "I told Rosamund to keep people out of the entrance hall." He kisses his soon-to-be-wife again which leads to another round of applause. "Thank you," he says and looks over to Rosamund who obviously has trouble restraining a thoroughly excited Mary. Cora looks over at them too and says "Mary, come here," before he can say anything. His daughter comes running and he lifts her up. He has never seen his little girl so happy.
"Cora, does that mean that you will live with us?" she asks hopefully.
"Yes, it does."
"And Sam too?"
"Yes."
Mary screams with joy and almost hits his and Cora's heads together when she tries to hug them both.
Mary
Cora is coming to live at Downton. It makes her so happy. And Sam will stay too. It is as if she has been given a mother and a brother on the night before her birthday. She doesn't even care about her birthday anymore. This is so much better. Her Papa carries her into the drawing room and she is allowed to stay up as long as she wants. She decides to stay up the whole night. Sam is too small to be there with them. She wants to tell him about this when he is older. So she mustn't miss anything. Her aunt Rosamnund sits down at the piano and plays very nice songs. Her Papa dances with Cora and her grandparents dance together. Her Papa asks her to dance with him next and she is allowed to step on his shoes because she doesn't know how to dance yet. But she has to learn soon because dancing is fun. It makes people happy. Everyone around her is happy. Because Aunt Rosamund wants to dance too, Cora plays the piano for a little while. She wants to learn to play too. She will ask Cora to teach her how to dance and how to play the piano.
She is woken up the next morning by Cora. "Wake up, birthday girl", she says. It is her birthday, she almost forgot. There is a maid in the room too and she puts a breakfast tray onto her bed.
"I thought we could have breakfast together this morning. Just you and I. What do you think?"
"In bed?"
"Yes. If you like." Of course she likes it. Silly question.
"What about Papa?"
"He already had breakfast. You slept late. But you got to bed late as well. And it is your birthday so we didn't want to wake you too early."
While they eat, Cora tells her about her birthdays in America, how her brother once tried to steal all of her presents and how she once got a kitty as a present that chewed on her father's shoes. There is a knock on the door and her father comes in, carrying Sam. "Good morning my birthday girl", he says and gives her a kiss. She doesn't even care about her presents anymore.