"Mama, I have some bad news." Sybil said when Cora picked up her phone.
Cora immediately sat down, preparing for the worst. Robert had been in an accident or something.
"Anna, found a letter this morning in O'Brien's room."
"Oh." Cora let out, relieved it had nothing to do with Robert. She knew he would be drunk most of the time at the moment.
"She has left you, without a real explanation." Mrs. Hughes said. "Do you want me to place an advert, or do you want to do that yourself?"
Cora was relieved, now she did not have to let go of O'Brien, she had resolved that problem herself. She did not need a lady's maid when she left Downton. "I will do that myself, thank you darling. Can you let your Papa and Aunt Rosamund know I am taking the train tomorrow?"
"You are coming back home?" Sybil said enthusiast. "I am so glad you are finally feeling good again. See you tomorrow. Love you."
Cora put her phone down, she looked down at her hands, they were shaking. She was going to ruin her girl's life and she hated herself for it. If only she had given Robert more attention, he would not have strayed.
"Dear Mama, what brings you here." Robert kissed his mother on her cheek, who stayed seated.
"Sit down Robert, sit down." Violet gestured towards the sofa. "We need to talk."
For a second Robert wanted to play dumb, but he knew Rosamund had told their mother about the upcoming divorce. "This is not Cora's fault." He wanted to defend her, knowing the opinion of Violet about Cora.
Violet looked at Robert. "What happened?"
"I have cheated on Cora with one of our maids."
"A maid?" Violet laughed. "Oh Robert, how could you be so foolish."
Robert was surprised by this reaction. Was he being laughed at? "Mama, what do you mean?"
Violet shook her head. "I knew you made foolish decisions before, but this one. Where did you think this would end? You living here with a maid?"
Robert's cheeks were burning. "I, I." He stuttered. "I did not think about that."
"That is clear." Violet said. "Now wonder Cora is this upset, you were betraying her with a maid!" She scorned.
"Jane, was a smart woman, she was not just a maid." Robert tried defending Jane.
"Clearly not, my dear boy. Clearly not. A smart woman would never try to steal a man away from a Lady as a maid. Did she think she could replace Cora?"
"No, Mama, she did not. I do not know what we were thinking."
"I can honestly say that I know for a fact you were not thinking. Although it is smart, having your maid as your mistress, she is always around you, so you do not have to sneak out of the house."
This shocked Robert, he had never thought about that.
"And now what, what are you and Cora going to do?" Violet asked.
"Cora wants a divorce, and I will give her what she wants."
"You are letting her go this easily?"
Robert sighed, he felt tears burning, but he did not want to cry in front of his mother. "There is no other option left. I tried talking with her, but there is no way back. Cora is not coming back to me."
"We will see about that." Violet said resolute.
"Mama! I ask you to not bully Cora into staying with me. I want Cora to be happy and if that is not with me, then I have to accept that fact."
Violet stayed silent after that and Robert drank from his whiskey, he wished Violet would leave so he could drink more and intoxicate himself. Escape the reality and pretend everything was still as it was.
Rosamund and Violet had stayed for dinner. The silence around the table was discomforting. Sybil was the one who broke the silence. "I had Mama on the phone this afternoon."
Robert's head shot up. "What did she say?" He enquired. Rosamund gave him a stern look.
Sybil looked surprised; her father had a strange reaction she thought. "She will be back home tomorrow."
Robert could not be happier he thought, but the same second, he realised that the fact Cora did not tell him herself did not mean she was coming back to him. She was only coming back to tell the news to the girls. "Good." He said, timid.
"Mary, how is the event coming along? Are there any interesting guest coming?" Rosamund made sure they changed the topic.
Mary pulled a face. "No, they are just some locals who are renting our space and expertise for a stupid wedding."
"Mary, it is very middle-class to look down on other people. I did not know you started the business to only work with upper-class?"
"Oh Granny." Mary hated it when her grandmother scolded her in front of Edith, who was sitting at the other end of the table with a smirk on her face. "But this wedding is so simple."
"Be glad that people are using your services." Robert said annoyed. "You will work as hard for these people as you would for the King of England."
"Now, now." Rosamund shushed. "Let's not fight about this."
"Well, I am glad Mama is coming home, she can help with this stupid wedding."
"One more time. Mary, one more time and I will cancel your whole business. And your mother is not doing anything for you. You will organise this event yourself. Better yet, you will organise all the events in the future yourself. Your mother helped you to start, but I will tell her not to from now on." Robert was fuming.
"Maybe Cora should make that decision herself?" Rosamund tried to defuse the situation.
"Because she always makes the right ones, is she not!" Robert shouted. He pushed his chair back with so much force that it fell to the ground. Without another word he left the dining room. Leaving the rest of the family stunned behind.