"Marmaduke?" Rosamund turned around in bed. "Are you awake?"

"Hmmmm."

"Have you seen Robert lately?"

"My dear. You know that I only see Robert when we have a family gathering."

"I do know that, but it could have been that you met up."

Marmaduke turned around, so he faced Rosamund. "What is wrong?" He asked while placing his hand on her upper arm.

Rosamund sighed. "I am not sure something is wrong. But I am scared Robert is making the wrong decisions."

Marmaduke scooted closer and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "If he is, you cannot change that. He is a grown man, that can make his own choices."

"Mama is forcing him to stay at Downton and I know that he does not want to be there. Not yet. He told me once that he dreamed of finding a wife and then moving to Downton to start a family. Now Mama is forcing him to move to Downton already. The chance he will be happy there is incredibly small. Especially now." She fidgeted with the collar of his pyjama.

"What has happened, that would make a difference if he could be happy there?"

"I think he is in love."

"Really? Robert? Your brother Robert?" Marmaduke asked surprised.

Rosamund chuckled. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Your brother never showed interest in any woman. And now he is in love?"

Rosamund nestled closer against Marmaduke. "I saw him meeting a woman yesterday, and he was not like himself. When the woman came close to him, I could see the adoration in his eyes."

"Well, that is nice." Marmaduke yawned. "Darling, it is late. Please can we go to sleep?"

Rosamund angled her face up; she kissed his jaw. "Yes, my love. You have an early start tomorrow."

Marmaduke shifted, so he could press a kiss on her lips. "So do you. Get some sleep. Your brother is old enough to make his own decisions."

'Is he?' Rosamund thought while she waited for Marmaduke to settle into his pillow again, before scooting closer to him. 'And why did Robert not tell her that Cora wrote that book she recommended to him? She was convinced that the C in C. Levinson stood for Cora. And what was he doing in a pub in Richmond?

"Robert? Do you have a minute?"

"I answered my phone, so I guess that means, yes?" He answered.

A sigh from the other side of the line. "Picking up your phone does not mean you have time to talk." Rosamund said annoyed.

"In the meantime, that minute has almost passed. What is it?"

"Are you in London or Downton?"

"And why do you need to know? Maybe you should track my phone to see where I am." He stated. It did still bother him that Rosamund tracked him.

"Robert, I already apologised for it. Can you please answer my question?"

"At the moment I am at Downton. Papa has a bad week, if it goes on at this rate, I am afraid that taking over the company is not something from the far future, but reality very soon."

"Do you remember that book I gave you?"

"About those twin sisters that discover they are twins because one of them is a stem cell match?"

"Yes, that is the one."

"What about it."

"What did you think of it?" Rosamund was not sure Robert realized that Cora had written that book.

"I liked it very much and I hope that he will write more books in future."

This was for Rosamund the confirmation that he did not know that it was Cora who wrote it. "There is a meet and greet this weekend, I was thinking about going. Do you want to join me?"

"I am not sure I can be away from here."

"Robert, it is a weekend. You are allowed to live your own life. Mama and Papa are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. Please come. Marmaduke would also love to see you. You can come for dinner and then afterwards we will go to the meet and greet."

Robert sighed. "Oke alright."

Annoyed Robert put his phone down. He had hoped to use his weekends to go and see Cora. She had texted him this morning and he felt butterflies all over his stomach. He could not wait to be back in London and kiss her beautiful lips. Oh, how sweet she had tasted. He wanted to hear her voice, and he immediately dialled her number. He had no idea if she could talk. But he figured that the restaurant would still be closed.

"Hello?" Sounded on the other side of the line.

"Hello Cora. It is Robert." He was confused why she greeted him like this.

"Robert." She exclaimed. "I am so sorry. I have you on my headphones and I did not check the number. Hi, how are you?" She said much softer and sweeter.

Robert chuckled; her tone had changed the moment she realised it was him. It made him all warm and fuzzy inside. "I just wanted to hear you voice."

"That is sweet of you. But I am sorry to disappoint you. I was just preparing to go on a run."

"I will not hold you long." Robert wished he could find a good excuse to keep her on the line longer. "This weekend I am back in London; is there a moment we can meet?"

There was no answer for a couple of seconds. "Oh, it is a very busy weekend, but I have time on Sunday afternoon." She finally answered.

"Only if you really want to?"

Now Cora laughed. "Is that a serious question? If it was up to me, we would see each other right now. But you are not around. I love to see you again Sunday afternoon. We could go to Kew Gardens?"

"That does sound like a wonderful idea. I will not keep you any longer. Enjoy your run."

Robert put his phone down. He stared in the distance; a bird was picking up worms from the grass. He wished it was Sunday already, knowing he would see Cora again, made him anxious and happy at the same time. In his mind, he saw how Cora would run. He had seen her before, in her black leggings and pink top. He pictured how she would move. Her small breasts would move up and down. Her curls tight up in a ponytail, but he imagined some curls escaping and dangling alongside her cheeks. Her face would be slightly coloured, and some sweat would be glistening on her forehead.

He pulled a paper out of his pocket and read: 'His hand is warm and safe in yours. Your head is resting on his shoulder as he caresses your hand with his thumb. He cherished this note, even though he did not know who wrote it. It felt like home when he read those words. And he imagined them sitting on a bench like this.

"Robert!" A sharp voice woke him up from his daydreaming. The bird had left the grass, and he now stared at just the grass. "Robert." The voice sounded again. It was his mother. Slowly he turned towards her.

"Where were you with your thoughts? You do realise that owning a business means that you need to work during the day? Honestly, I do not understand you. It seems like you are not happy to take over your father's company."

"I am not happy. You have seen that right." Robert said brisk.

"What!" Violet gasped.

"It is too soon. I had other dreams before I moved here and became head of the company."

"Your father is still the head of this company. And officially you still live in London."

"Mama." Robert sighed. "You know what I mean. It is sooner than we all expected it to be. And I had hoped to live some more before being tight up here in this big old house."

"You are sounding very ungrateful at the moment."

"Is he? Is he ungrateful?" Patrick's voice sounded, and Robert saw him rolling into the library. He had arranged an electric wheelchair, this way his father had more freedom.

"Our son is handed a perfectly well-running company on a silver platter and all he can say: I do not want it."

"I am not saying that, Mama."

"My dear. We all had hoped that the day Robert would take over was far ahead of us. But reality has shown us differently. He is allowed to feel frustrated about it. Heck, I am."

"Thank you, Papa." He smiled at him full of gratitude. "Since you are here, I have some questions about Chatsworth."

His mother turned on her heels and left, once she noticed that both her husband and son, would not argue any longer.