"Robert, I do not understand why you are this hostile against Cora. Even after she proved to be useful. When was the last time we had such a success?"

Robert took a sip of his whiskey. "How can you call this a success already; we do not even have results yet."

"My dear brother, they call that instinct. I feel this is going to be big."

"And why is Cora getting all these credits. As if we did not do anything for this event. I am so sick and tired of playing second fiddle. I also do not understand why Papa is not restoring Downton. We have enough money to make that happen. We do not have to live their anymore, we could rent it out. By rebuilding Downton, we can offer a lot of jobs for the village and take back our place as providers for the village. Like in old times."

Rosamund sighed, she knew Robert had always dreamt of rebuilding Downton, he also attached immense importance to their title, something she never understood. For her the whole Milady and Milord business was old fashioned, she was surprised to hear it tonight again from miss Baxter. Robert had probably told her, she should address them that way. On Monday, she would ask Miss Baxter to not do that from now on, she was just Rosamund. She did not care about the title and rank they had. It did not add anything, especially not here in London. "Robert." She started, but she saw his attention was somewhere else. Rosamund followed his gaze and she saw Cora standing at the bar. She had never seen the guy she was with, probably a friend she made.

"I do not like that man." Robert said, without taking his eyes of Cora.

"Do you know him?" Rosamund asked.

"Never seen him before, but I do not like the vibe he gives. Something is wrong, look at Cora." Robert continued.

Rosamund now looked better and indeed saw that Cora was tense, and her hand on his arm was not out of kindness, but to hold his hand away from her. The guy leaned in and tried to kiss her. Without a word, Robert got up and walked towards the bar.

Cora was waiting for her drink at the bar, when she noticed a man standing next to her.

"I have not seen you here before." he said.

"I can say the same thing to you." Cora replied.

"You are not from here, I hear an American accent, am I right?"

Something was off with this man, Cora thought. She wished he would leave her alone. "I am waiting for a friend." was her short answer.

"We can wait together."

He moved his hand to her waist, but Cora put her hand on his arm to keep him from touching her.

"That is alright, but I can wait alone."

The man leaned in, but just before he could kiss her, Cora heard: "There you are." A strong arm turned her around and pulled her away from the bar.

"Robert?" Cora said surprised.

"Come sit with us." Robert said trying to get her further away from the bar, but Robert was pulled back from her.

"I was first." The unknown man said. "Find your own woman." He pushed Robert back and grabbed Cora's arm to pull her closer to him. "She wants to be with me."

"No, I do not want that." Cora said, pulling her arm back.

Robert stepped in between them. "You heard the lady; she does not want your company. Bugger off."

Before he could walk away with Cora, the other guy swung at him and hit his jaw.

"Robert!" Cora exclaimed. There were a lot of people now surrounding them trying to keep the men apart.

"What did you do that for?" Robert pressed his hands against his face.

"We should leave." Cora heard Rosamund say. "Come on."

The three of them left the pub, when they were outside, Cora turned towards Robert. "Thank you." She said very timid. "We should get you some ice for your jaw. My apartment is around the corner."

"Did you know that man?" Rosamund asked her, while they walked towards her apartment.

"This was the first time I saw him. But I have not been in a pub very much, since I arrived."

"He is not a regular." Robert added, "Never seen him before at this pub and after tonight I do not think we will see him again.

Cora showed Robert and Rosamund the living room, she went into the kitchen to get him some ice. This was a weird turn of events she thought. Robert in her house was not something she would ever think would happen. And Robert getting into a fight for her, was even further from what she was expecting. She had not even seen him in the pub. She knew they went out for a drink, and she could have known that they went to this pub. It was the one where she first met Rosamund and it was Robert's local pub. She walked into the living room and handed Robert a bag of ice.

"Thank you." He looked up.

"No, no, I have to thank you. I think you saved me for a horrible night." Cora did not like the idea to say thanks to Robert. But he did save her, she did not want to think about the things that man would have done with her. "I got lucky you two were in the same pub."

"That is not really a coincidence. It is our pub, so of course we will be there a lot."

Cora raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean it is your pub? You mean it is the pub you are a regular?"

Robert sighed annoyed, why was this woman so exasperating. "As I say, it is our pub. Did you even pay attention to the name of it?"

It was like bricks fell into place in Cora's mind. The pub was called. 'The Grantham arms' She had not made the connection. She tried to play dumb. "What has Grantham have to do with Crawley?"

Rosamund was the one to answer. "I think we need to tell you about our family a little bit more. We are coming from an old English blood line. There is a title attached to our name and that is Grantham. We own an estate up north and there was a building Downton Abbey. But due to a big fire, that house is not liveable anymore, for many years now. Our father decided to leave it be and start a business here in London. But even without the building, our title still exists. We are lords and ladies, although I believe it is very old fashioned to use those terms."

"It is not." Robert said indignant. "We should be proud of our title and use it more than we do know. Miss Baxter is the only one who knows how she should behave, and she still uses Milord and Milady."

"Oh, Robert. Stop this. It is old fashioned, and you know that. The only reason Miss Baxter uses those terms, is because you told her to do so. I wonder why John is not falling for that trick."

Cora stayed silent and watched them bicker.

"Well." Robert now turned towards Cora. "If it is up to me, we are going to rebuild Downton into its full glory."

"I do hope you are not expecting me to use your title from now on?" Cora replied. "How is your jaw feeling? Can I have a look?" Carefully she pulled the bag of ice out of Robert's hands and softly placed her fingers on his jaw.

Robert was surprised by the softness of her skin against his. Her touch was gentle. He lowered his eyes and said. "You can call us by our first names, as you were doing until now." He could not look up into her eyes. Her touching him, did something for which he was not prepared. His skin was prickling, and he had the urge to pull her against him. He looked up at Rosamund and said. "We should leave, it is late."

Cora quickly pulled her hand back; she was not sure why she was still holding his jaw. "See you on Monday."