Five days earlier

Isobel closed the door, watching Lord Merton's back as he descended her walkway. He had come by to personally invite her to attend his son Larry's wedding the following weekend. Isobel was at first confused, since she had already accepted the written invitation that had arrived months ago. She was planning on traveling to London with the Crawleys, and was to be a guest at Robert's London home for the weekend festivities.

She was not surprised when he called, he seemed to be finding any excuse to call on her these days, but she was uttered stunned when he said "I would very much hope that you would do me the honor of being my personal guest. That is, to stand at my side throughout the ceremony and the wedding festivities. I cherish your company and I am not sure I can stomach the whole affair without someone who understands me quite like you do, at my at my side"

It is really what Isobel deserved. She should have been more direct with Lord Merton before it had gotten to this point. Ever since she lost Mathew she had suffered from bouts of loneliness and while she didn't want a relationship with Lord Merton she did find his company cheered her up some. However, as she discovered he had certain intentions for their future, she tried to make her lack of interest apparent but she had mellowed in her directness of late and clearly Lord Merton was not picking up on her subtle hints.

This brought her mind back to the awkward conversation she had with the only other man to pursue her since the passing of her husband. She managed to handle that much better, putting a stop to it while it was still in its infancy and therefore, didn't affect the wonderful relationship she had with the good Doctor.

Thinking of Richard Clarkson made her conscious of the fact that as Lord Merton's special guest, she would need to leave for London earlier than originally planned and would miss her visit with Mrs. Pegg. Dr Clarkson had introduced them a year prior and Isobel had ever since kept up with the Pegg family. She had few people left to nurture and the Pegg's were very grateful for her attention.

She knew Dr. Clarkson always included the Peggs on his weekly house calls so she decided to stop by the hospital to ask him to inform Mrs. Pegg of the change in her situation.

XXXXX

Richard Clarkson was sitting in his office when a soft knock was heard. He said enter, expecting one of the nurses, but when he saw which nurse had entered his office he couldn't hide the smile on his face. "Mrs. Crawley, is everything ok" he asked.

"Oh, yes, thank you, I was just wondering if you could pass a message on to Mrs. Pegg for me tomorrow"

"Certainly" he said.

It wasn't until that moment that Isobel realized that she would have to explain to Dr. Clarkson that the reason she had to cancel her visit with Mrs. Pegg was because of the special invitation from Lord Merton. While she knew she had no romantic interest in Lord Merton, she was well aware that there was a growing suspicion among the Crawley family and for the matter, Downton village, that there was much more to their relationship.

As she explained the situation, Richard had trouble hiding the fact that he was not pleased. He had always hung on to the hope that should Isobel rethink her choice of marrying again, that he would be top of her list. However, the last six months had made it harder and harder for him to hold on to that fact.

Richard considered himself a passive sort of man that would, for the most part, not rock the boat but there was something about Isobel Crawley that brought out the passionate side in him and for once he decided that he was not going to quietly step aside for Lord Merton. If he could woo her with invitations that were hard to decline, then he could too.

"When you were a nurse in Manchester, did you ever go on house calls?" he asked

"No" she replied "Reginald always handled them himself, why do you ask?"

"Well, I could use a good nurse with me this week and things are quite busy at the hospital. Mrs. Watson's baby is due any day now so I need to travel to the outskirts of town. It is quite beautiful country, I thought you might like the excursion and I would greatly appreciate you help"

Isobel immediately perked up. Richard knew her well, Isobel cared deeply about helping those less fortune then she and she was always up for an adventure. "I'd be delighted" she responded.