"I hope you recovered from my mother's unkind behaviour," Rosamund said, while walking with Cora to the drawing room.

Violet had gone upstairs to rest, Robert excused himself and went to his room to take a warm shower. Cora had been afraid of it already, but he had been freezing when they came back to the house.

Cora sat down close to the roaring fire. Although she had not been rained on, she was cold and was glad for the warmth inside this room. Back in the house, she had pulled a cardigan out of her suitcase. She brushed her hands together in front of the fireplace. "Robert told me about your mother. I was prepared, but to be honest, I had not expected it to be like this. Can I do anything to make her more comfortable around me?"

"Can you change your home country?"

Cora looked confused at Rosamund. "Of course not."

"Well, then I am afraid you will need to learn how to deal with her behaviour. The only thing we can do is from time to time tell her to stop."

Cora stared at the ground; her heart felt heavy. She was not sure she could deal with this feeling of being unwanted. She wanted to be with Robert, but at what cost would that be?

"You two will mostly be in London, far away from my mother and her unkind behaviour."

"And you believe that it makes a difference how far away we are? My own mother managed to get me out of England and I ow it to Robert, that I am back here. I am not sure if I had been strong enough to leave. I did that once, but I am glad I did not have to try again. Robert did that for me."

"What did I do for you?" Robert asked while he walked towards Cora. He kissed her temple and sat down. Cora looked at his dapper appearance. He had changed his clothes; he was now wearing dark blue suit pants with a white dress shirt. His brown belt had the same colour as his dress shoes. It was such a difference from what he was wearing before. He had still looked very well put together, but that was leisure clothing. Although she knew that many people would still call it office chic clothes. He now looked as if he could slip in his blazer and start a meeting. She wondered if he had brought those nice clothes in his suitcase until she remembered that he lived part-time at Downton, so that meant he had clothes in the closet here

Rosamund smiled at them. "You two are an adorable couple."

Robert took Cora's hand in his. "We do make a good pair." He smiled at Cora. His smile changed into a frown. "Are you still cold?" He put both hands around hers.

Cora shook her head. "I am slowly warming up."

"You need a glass of whiskey, that will help." He stood and walked towards the liqueur cabinet. "You want a glass too?" This question was directed at Rosamund.

"No thank you."

Robert raised his eyebrows. "Something is going on. This is the second time in a short period of time, you have said no to a nice drink."

"It is weird is it not, how we have normalised drinking alcohol."

Cora looked at Rosamund, she had already seen that her face had changed, but she had not paid much attention to it. But now she looked again, and she suspected why she did not drink alcohol. Rosamund must have felt her staring, she smiled at Cora. This confirmed her suspicion. "How far along are you?" She asked quietly, hoping Robert would not hear her question.

Rosamund briefly put her hand on her abdomen. "Three and half months. Soon we will tell the family."

"Here you go." Robert handed Cora her glass. "And a glass of water for you, spoilsport."

"I agree with Rosamund. It is weird how normal it is to drink alcohol." Cora was relieved that Robert had not heard the short conversation just now.

"Do not start, Cora, I am not an alcoholic, but alcoholic drinks are nice. Especially when it is a good whiskey or wine."

"I enjoy having a good glass of wine, but we cannot deny, that it is not a very healthy habit." Cora gave him a soft smile, hoping it would end this discussion. She turned towards Rosamund. "Robert told me that you played the piano when you were younger. Is that something you still do?"

Rosamund laughed. "Oh no. As soon as I was allowed, I walked away from that instrument. I never liked it and to be honest, I also was not very talented."

Cora quickly glanced at Robert. Was he going to tell his sister about his talent?

"Rosamund, did you look into that file I sent you?" Robert changed the subject, so quickly that Cora had trouble not to direct him back to the topic they were talking about.

"I do not know why I am all of a sudden involved in the business."

Robert leaned forward, closer to Rosamund. He said in a quiet voice. "You are not involved as long as you do not want to; this document is about what will happen when Papa." He paused and swallowed visible.

Cora wanted to take his hand or touch his leg to comfort him. But she kept her hands on her lap.

"When Papa dies." He finished his sentence.

Rosamund looked into the fire, and Cora saw that she was trying to control her emotions. Should she leave and let them talk alone? She shifted in her place, which made Robert look at her.

"Are you still cold? If you want, I can ask Mrs. Hughes for more towels so you can take a warm shower to heat up again."

"What Cora needs is a nice warm blanket, I will get one," Rosamund said and immediately got up and left.

"You can take a shower if you want. Rosamund and her blanket can wait." Robert brushed over her cheek with his thumb.

"Robert, I cannot take a shower here or sit under a blanket. What if your mother walks back in and I am covered with a blanket as if I am at home here."

"She will need to start accepting that fact. Because this will be your home one day." He stopped and felt his cheeks getting bright red. What was he saying, he was running way too far ahead. They were only starting to know each other and here he was stating things as if they would marry soon. "I am sorry." He murmured. "We should be leaving soon; our room is booked in the village."

Cora took Robert's hand. "You should stay here. I will go to that hotel, and we can see each other tomorrow again."

"But why?"

"Oh, Robert." Cora sighed when she looked into Robert's eyes and felt as if she was looking into the eyes of a labrador. "Everything is going so fast and with your Mama being so clearly against me, I am not sure how smart it is when we go to a hotel together."

"I booked two rooms in the pub," Robert said timidly. "We do not have a hotel in our village, it is a pub. And I know things are going fast. But we have been drawn towards each other for a long time now, I cannot imagine my life without you in it. Please do not let my Mama ruin this for us."

"My Mama already tried that." Cora squeezed his hand. "This will not be an easy stroll through the park, will it?"

Robert got up and pulled Cora with him. "I will let my Papa know that we are leaving. Tomorrow, I will show you the village and the other side of the estate and if you want, we can come here again for afternoon tea before we drive back home. We will make the best of our walk-through life together.