"No," Lady Grantham said simply. "Absolutely not, Robert."

"Mother, I am asking you to trust my judgment," Robert said, exasperated. He had known he would face opposition at home and had spent the best part of the past two weeks since deciding to court Miss Levinson trying to decide how to present his decision to his mother. After a fortnight in town and a couple of more walks with Miss Levinson, as well as a dinner at the home of a mutual acquaintance, he knew it was time to return to Downton, namely to check on the estate, but also to start preparing her mother for the possible addition to their family. A task, which Robert had to admit to himself, would not be an easy one.

"I am finding it difficult to trust the judgment of anyone who believes it a good idea to even consider marrying a foreigner, especially one from the new world," Violet spoke with unveiled contempt.

Robert sighed. "Trust me, mother, if the situation were different, I would not be considering it, but," he paused, glancing at his mother and lowering his voice in case any servants were nearby. "We will have to sell Downton Abbey by the end of the year if the issue of money is not solved."

His words were enough to silence Lady Grantham for a moment, but soon she opened her mouth to speak again.

"But really, Robert, an American?" she asked. "Would not a well-bred, rich English girl do? I could even concede to a decent gentleman's daughter, two or three generations removed from a fortune made in honourable trade."

From Violet this was a considerable concession, but Robert shook his head. It wasn't enough. "There are very few families in England who could boast the kind of fortune we need, and even fewer with daughters in a position to inherit such a significant amount of money."

"What about Miss Winton? Her family is both old and wealthy."

"It would be an intolerable option and you know it as well as I do," Robert sighed, rising from his seat and walking over to the window to cool down. "I am willing to sacrifice a great deal for Downton, and I certainly have no delusions about marrying for love, but I would like to be able to at least respect my future wife."

"The Honourable Miss Winton is a perfectly respectable young lady," Violet replied curtly, pursing her lips. "Certainly more so than some young American upstart with new money to flaunt with."

"Certainly she is respectable by the standards of society," Robert quickly amended his statement, "but she is also very ill-tempered, self-indulgent and vain. As an acquaintance I can respect her, but as a wife I could never value her. I do not have very high expectations for my marriage beyond securing the future of Downton, but as this decision does concern the rest of my life, I would at least like the woman I marry to be someone with whom it would not be torture to share my life with. "

Lady Grantham looked at her son for a moment before letting out a sigh that spoke of resignation, at least for the moment.

"It almost sounds as if you have already made your choice," she finally said.

"I have," Robert said simply. "At least I think I have," he added a little more uncertainly. "I had Stephens to make inquiries about her family's wealth and her portion of it and it is certainly more than I could wish to gain from marrying any English girl."

"And you think her more respectable than Miss Winton?"

"She is an amiable young woman with good manners. She certainly makes for better company than Miss Winton, and I have no reason to doubt her virtue."

"I suspect she is pretty?" Lady Grantham asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She is very pretty," Robert admitted, avoiding his mother's eyes, "but that has nothing to do with my choice, if that's what you think. All I ask for is a good dowry and a decent personality."

"So there is nothing I can do to change your mind?"

"No, my mind is quite made up," Robert replied, straightening his back. Standing up against his mother was never easy, but this was an issue where he felt he could not yield. He would do anything to save Downton but as long as he had even a small say in the matter, he would not want to pay the price of personal misery for it, perhaps for the rest of his life. Even if he never came to love Miss Levinson, his short acquaintance with her had at least been enough to assure him she was good company and, he had to admit, very pretty to look at.

"No call from the Earl today?" Mrs. Levinson asked as she returned to the drawing room after a rest in her own chamber. She had taken to calling her daughter's suitors simply by their titles.

"No, he's gone to Yorkshire," Cora replied, not lifting her eyes from her book.

"To Yorkshire?" Martha raised an eyebrow. "To stay?"

"To visit, I believe," Cora replied, colour rising to her cheeks as she still stared at her book, no longer able to discern the words written on it. "He has to see to his estate."

"Then why in Heaven's name have you not gone out?" her mother asked, sitting down beside her. "Just because one young man has been showing you a bit of attention does not mean you should abandon all your other acquaintances. The Marquis was very attentive to you at Lord Fitzpatrick's dinner last week and he is of far more consequence than this young Earl of yours."

Cora's cheeks turned a deeper shade of red as she buried her face behind the pages of her book.

"He is not my Earl," she muttered. Then, recovering a little, she added with more conviction: "And Mama, I really do not like The Marquis of Greenborough. He is so full of himself."

"He will be the Duke of Blenheim one day," Mrs. Levinson said, lifting Cora's chin so she could meet her eyes. "He could make you a Duchess."

When Cora did not reply, her mother shook her head.

"But I see you would rather be a Countess," she sighed.

"What is wrong with being a Countess?" Cora asked more sharply than she had intended. She bit her tongue not to say more.

"Nothing," Martha replied with a shrug. She studied her daughter's face for a moment, then let out another sigh and stood up. "Nothing at all, my dear," she said before walking out of the room, shaking her head to herself. Who was she, after all, to meddle in the matters of the heart? A title was a title and that was all she and Mr. Levinson had agreed to before setting off to Europe.

"But be a dear and at least try give the others a chance too," she said before stepping out of the room. "Who knows how serious this Earl even is with his intentions."