"I have to congratulate you Miss Baxter." She started, shaking her hand.
"Thank you Milady."
Cora was surprised to hear her say Milady. Was her mother not talking about this recently? She remembered that her mother was surprised she did not need to call Robert and his family Lord and Lady. It had bothered her that her mother thought England was so far behind, but now here Baxter was saying the same thing.
"Earth is calling." Rosamund waved her hand in front of Cora's face.
"I am so sorry, what did you say?" Cora focused on the conversation again.
"I said what a wonderful evening this has been. When do you think we will see the results?"
Cora looked at Phyllis. "I think that we can have the pictures ready by Wednesday. Do you agree, Phyllis?"
Phyllis nodded. "I think that Tuesday is even possible, but Wednesday for sure."
"That is wonderful, I see Robert is waiting, let us call it a day." Rosamund said.
The three women walked towards the elevator, where Robert was standing. His hands in his pockets and an annoyed look on his face.
"Where is John?" Cora asked when they reached him.
"He is getting the car. Rosamund, do you still fancy that drink?"
The car? Cora thought. Since when was John his chauffeur and why did he not just use the underground?
"We can go with the five of us, to celebrate this success?" Rosamund continued.
Robert looked at Cora and said with disdain in his voice. "Let us wait with calling this a success. It is a bit early isn't it."
Cora didn't miss his sarcastic tone, but ignore it. Instead she faced Phyllis. "Do you have time to go with us?"
She shook her head. "I am incredibly sorry, but I cannot. I am already later then I said I would be." Phyllis lowered her eyes. "But I am sure you will enjoy tonight. I will see you on Monday at the office."
The elevator doors opened and they all got in. Rosamund started talking with Robert, Cora was staring at the floor. She was anxious to go out with Robert. She knew Rosamund was going to be there too and until now she had a good relation with her. But Robert was obviously not happy she was joining them this evening.
"John." Robert started when they walked towards him standing next to the car. "Do you have time for a drink or two?"
"Right now?" John asked.
"Of course, right now. Lady Rosamund and I are going for some drinks, and I would like for you to join us."
"Miss Levinson is also joining us." Rosamund added.
"Maybe next time, I have to get up very early tomorrow morning."
"Rosamund, I am also going home," Cora added. It did not feel right to go with them to a bar. Robert was so hostile towards her, that she should not try to interfere in his private life. Now Phyllis and John were not joining them, it was not a work-related evening anymore.
Rosamund looked at her with raised eyebrows. "What? You are leaving me alone with Robert? Where is the fun in that? I thought we would go out together to celebrate tonight. But I guess we will do that another time.
Cora opened her laptop and typed in the search bar: Crawley family. She got a lot of hits, but most of them related to 'Crawley Advertisements' Then she tried: 'Lord Crawley'. Nothing was coming up that was related to Robert or his family. She contemplated, how was she going to find out about the lord and lady part. She then typed: 'Lady Violet and Lord Patrick.' This gave her a hit with a photo. Violet was handing out an award to another man. The title said: "Lady Grantham awarding the winner of this year's flower show.' Lady Grantham? That was weird, why was Violet called Lady Grantham? Cora copied the name into the search bar and this time she got more hits. There was an article referring to the Grantham's. They were an old family that got their title many years ago. Patrick and Violet were Earl and Countess of Grantham. Their family name was Crawley, but the title they got was 'Grantham'. The family-owned a big house up north called Downton Abbey, but the building burned down and was never rebuilt. The company 'Crawley Advertisements' was started by Patrick and grew into what it is today. Cora could not find out why the Abbey was never rebuilt. According to what Cora could find, the estate was still theirs. The family still held the title high and they had several ceremonies they attended. Robert was the next in line, and when his father died, he would be Earl of Grantham.
Why had her mother known about this? What was her reasoning? Cora still did not understand why she was here in England. And with this information, she was even more lost. What did 'Levinson and Son' need from a British company with a title? It did not make any sense to her.
With a deep sigh, she closed the webpage. She took the memory card Phyllis gave her and she transferred the pictures onto the cloud. There was no need to work on them tonight, but what else could she do? She felt a bit stupid for not going for that drink. Why did she let Robert bully her this much? Because that was what he was doing? He was bullying her, and the comments he constantly made did hurt, she had to admit. She had overheard him calling her Miss Pretty. When she first started at the office, she made sure to look good. She was wearing skirts with nice tight-fitting blouses, but after those comments, she started to wear loser-fit clothes. She did not like the idea, that Robert saw her as a pretty woman without any brain cells. It was not hard to see that Robert liked what he was seeing, and in a way, that was extremely flattering, but it made him even more hostile towards her. As if he needed to prove that he did not like her and hide the fact he liked looking at her.
She had to admit, he was good-looking himself. She had noticed that on the first day, and much to her annoyance she was attracted to him. She catches herself staring at him during meetings.
Cora looked at the clock, it was only nine o'clock. She decided to go out for a walk and to grab drink at the pub next door.