Nervously Cora opened the door to the living room. Her mother did not look up, only Harold turned around.
"Where is Robert?" He asked.
"Robert has gone up to his room," Cora answered stepping further inside.
"You need to call him. I want him here for this conversation." Martha said, she still did not look at Cora.
While Cora walked back, she heard Harold say: "Mama, this is what Papa wanted. Let us follow his wishes.
"Robert, you need to come to the living room," Cora said when Robert picked up his phone. Cora did not want to walk to his room, this was a lot faster. She waited for him outside the living room. When he came close, he slid his hand over her lower back and kissed her temple. "It will all be alright" he said.
Cora felt stronger with him next to her and was ready to face her mother. She leaned against him. "Thank you."
They entered the room together and when Martha turned around, Robert's hand left Cora's back. She took a deep breath and took a seat opposite her mother. Robert took the one next to her.
"You know you were Papa's little princess." Martha started.
Cora felt tears well up in her eyes.
"He always made sure you and your brother had everything you wanted. Even now he is dead, he is still taking care of you. As promised you will get your allowance." Martha paused and looked up. "I want to make this very clear. This decision is your father's. Even when you decide to work for Crawley Advertisements, you will not lose your part of Levinson and Son."
Cora saw Robert's head turning towards her, but she kept looking at her mother.
"But there is more. There is a fund that was meant to get you into a good marriage. If there was a Lord in England who wanted to marry you, you would have a large sum to bring into that marriage. But things have turned out differently."
"Mama," Harold said. "this is unnecessary."
Cora looked at Harold, he was usually not standing up to their mother. She was thankful he did now.
Martha gave Harold a harsh look. "Am I wrong?" Her eyes now pierced into Robert's, who swallowed visibly.
"I do not want to speak in a disrespectful manner, but I am afraid you are wrong," Robert said very polite.
Now Cora's head, shot in Robert's direction. What was he saying?
"We are not at the point where we talk about marriage, but I am a lord and I even own an estate."
"And that is why we called you down here." Martha interrupted. "You are engaged to be married to another lady, are you not?"
Robert shook his head. "I am sorry, but again I have to correct you. I am not engaged to be married."
"Mama, Cora already told us, Robert was and still is not seeing someone else." Harold said.
"Are you willing to marry Cora?"
Robert looked at Cora, he reached for her hand and squeezed it softly. Then he looked back at Martha. "We will see what the future has in store for us. I would love to get to know your darling daughter better. I can say at this moment, that I like Cora, very, very much and she makes me very happy." He looked at Cora again and smiled at her.
Cora got all warm inside. Robert was such a gentleman. In a very polite manner, he put her mother in place and protected her.
"I think, we need to come to the point of this conversation. Robert already proved he likes Cora, by being here at this moment." Harold tried to redirect the conversation. "Papa has left a lot of money, and you and I get to share the biggest part of it. He left Mama enough for her to live comfortably. But there is one problem, he tight your money up and there is a prenup. You will only get the money if you marry a lord, and it is invested into an estate."
Cora's hand was still resting in Robert's big strong hand, and it felt incredibly safe. She looked at Harold, expecting that there was more to come.
"As you already told me, Mr Crawley here," Martha pointed at Robert, "does not have a house on the estate. So, there is no way the money will come to you. If you decide to move to London, you will have to do with the allowance." She sneered.
Robert squeezed Cora's hand. "Harold and I have talked about this, this morning. And we think we have found a solution." He turned his body towards Cora. "You already have a place to live. The house is yours and will always be yours. You also have a job, with a decent salary. We are going on this journey together and if it is up to me, one day, I will put a ring on your beautiful hand." He paused and locked his eyes with hers. "And if that is going to happen, we will rebuild Downton as the glorious building it once was, with the money your father set aside for you."
"Oh, Robert." Cora's voice cracked and she felt tears burning. "Are you sure?"
"My darling, I have never been as sure of something as I am right now."
"I think that is settled then. Cora, there is one more thing." Harold looked at Robert and then at Cora. "In case you two are not ending up together, I made Robert sign a legal document."
"What for?" Cora said surprised.
"He will sell the house back to us, so you will never have to leave that house if you do not want to."
Now Cora could not hold back her tears any longer. "Thank you, Harold. Thank you." She sniffed. "Mama? Are you alright with all this?"
Martha shrugged her shoulders, got up and walked out of the room.
"Give her some time. She is grieving Papa and knowing you will also leave this country for ever, is hard on her."
"See, I do not understand that. She wanted me to go to England and find an English lord. Why is she now preventing me from doing exactly that?"
Robert put his other hand on top of Cora's hand that he was still holding. "Wanting something and realising it is truly happening are two different things. Also, the sudden death of your father changed some things."