The last days were crazy busy, it took me a little bit longer to write this chapter, but I finally finshed it. Hope you all will like it.
Cora was listening to Robert's breathing. She woke up early and had trouble falling asleep again. She was worried about her mother's reaction to Robert. She had expected her to be happy, but it was far from that. Martha had ignored Robert most of the time. And she even said on the day, they left that Cora should think about what she was doing.
But Cora knew she did the right thing, she wanted to be with Robert although Violet was not very welcoming. Patrick and Rosamund were. Rosamund texted her yesterday that she needed to meet Marmaduke soon. It meant a lot that Rosamund was such a kind friend.
Robert stirred and moved; Cora looked at him. He was still fast asleep. She looked at the clock, four in the morning. A deep sigh escaped her, and she turned on her back, she needed some more sleep. Robert had not said much about tomorrow, only that he wished the weather would be good.
How would the house look like, was it as big as Robert and Violet said? And how bad was the state of the house? Did the fire only burn the inside, or was it more like a ruin?
Suddenly Robert wrapped his arm over her stomach, and she got pulled closer to him.
"Tomorrow will be a long day, try to sleep." He murmured while pressing his face into her loose curls. She had put it into a braid before going to bed, but due to her tossing and turning, it had gotten loose.
Cora turned on her side and curled herself up. Robert's arm was still wrapped around her. But he had not fully woken up. Cora pressed herself a bit more against his chest. She felt her eyes getting heavy again.
"Do you know how to ride?" Robert asked while cutting into the sausage on his plate. The pub offered a full breakfast with the room.
"I never learned how to drive a stick, but I think I can learn," Cora answered, sipping her tea.
"I was not talking about driving. I asked if you ride."
"You will have to clarify. I do not understand what you mean." Cora felt her cheeks colour.
Robert chuckled; Cora looked adorable with her red cheeks. "I was asking if you know how to ride on a horse?"
Cora's eyes grew and she got a wide smile on her face. "I love horseback riding." She answered. "We have our own horses back home."
"That is amazing." Robert tried not to laugh. He liked how different Cora said things somethings. He would say horse riding, but she added 'back' to it. Probably an American thing. "We will go over the estate on the back of a horse."
"That sounds amazing." She looked out of the window. "The weather is perfect for it."
Robert helped Cora to get on her horse, then he mounted himself. The stable boy wished them to have a fun day and then they rode off.
They enjoyed the wind in their hair. Together they galloped over the green fields.
"If you look closely, you already can see the contours of Downton." Robert pointed in front of them. They were now riding towards the house. Robert always felt butterflies, the moment the house came into sight. He looked sideways to see Cora's reaction. Her face showed her excitement he felt.
"I was not sure what to expect, but I was not expecting a house this big." She said.
Robert sped up the pace, and Cora followed. She enjoyed this morning to the fullest. Being together with Robert, and she had not seen Robert this free and without worries before. Waking up this morning next to him, was already a very good start of her day. This morning was the first time, she wanted to be closer to him, then just lying next to him in bed. She had been very nervous about that part of the relationship. Would she be good enough, and would she be Robert's first? He would be her first and that scared her. What was expected of her? She did not know. She could not think about this for long, the house came into full view now and she was stunned again by the size of it.
Robert slowed his horse down and looked at Cora. "What do you think?"
"It is a majestic house. Incredible, the size, it is so big!"
"Can you picture yourself walking through that front door every day?"
Cora had not thought that far into the future, she had not realised that rebuilding it, would mean they had to live there. "It does not look like it needs rebuilding?" She said quickly, to hide her shock.
"The outside is not damaged; it is all inside. It is a disaster inside, and we are not even allowed to go in, due to the state of it. But we can go closer and try to look in through the windows?" The childlike excitement was back on his face, and he got down from the horse.
Cora followed and stepped next to him; his face was pressed against the window.
"This is the library, one of the rooms, that was untouched by the fire. We got very lucky, because there are quite a few rare books in this collection. Come, look at this." Robert took Cora's hand and pulled her with him. "Through this window you can see the grand staircase, even though the fire raged through the building, that beautiful staircase is still standing." Robert pulled Cora closer and wrapped his arm around her. "One day you will be able to walk down that stairs." He kissed her temple.
Cora could not resist, she brushed with her hand over his cheek and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. "One day my love, one day."
"Come, we will get back on the horses and ride around the building."
Cora had to hurry; Robert was already riding off.
"When I was younger, we used to go jumping here at the back of the house." Robert exclaimed looking backwards to Cora.
'Just be careful.' Cora thought, but she did not say it out loud, she gave Robert a smile. She saw him speed up again and preparing for the jump. The horse jumped and when it landed on the other side of the small river, Robert was not in the horse anymore. She heard a loud scream and he disappeared.
"Robert!" Cora yelled and quickly got to where he fell of his horse. "Robert." her voice full of worry.