Cora walked straight to the window that had a view over the city. Robert booked a suite in Hotel Schloss Mönchstein, a very romantic-looking castle. She heard Robert thanking the butler and coming towards her. He put both hands on her hips. Cora leaned back. "I cannot believe that we will be celebrating Christmas here. This looks so incredibly magical."

"I hope it will be a magical time. They say this is one of the most romantic places to celebrate Christmas, with one of the best markets."

"Being here with you in this incredible suite is enough to make it magical." She turned around and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you."

Robert kissed her tenderly. "Let us explore the city. Did you know that this is where they shot a lot of The Sound of Music scenes?"

"I do know, I had not expected you to know though."

Robert saw how she wrinkled her nose, something that made him weak. She was so adorable when she did that. He kissed her again, this time longer. "We will dine in the Mirabell Palace."

Cora's shoulders dropped. "I did not bring clothes with me to dine in such a fancy restaurant."

"Do not worry, it is not like dining in the Ritz, and I am sure you have something nice with you."

Cora almost pouted. "I did not realise we would be staying and dining in such fancy places, of course I have nice clothes with me. But no evening dresses."

"That gives us a good reason to go shopping." He kissed her once more.

"Thank you. Next time I will pack my suitcase a bit more sensible."

"All your purchases will be brought to your hotel sir." The shop assistant gave Robert a big smile. They had just spent a small fortune in the shop, Cora was not sure they were still in Salzburg. But Robert had talked with the receptionist, who called a cab for them, and they ended up in a store with all kinds of designer dresses.

The first one she loved was a black fil coupé silk, sleeveless, floor-length flared gown decorated with poppy embroidery. The second one was one that Robert had really liked on her. It was a black sculptured halter neck, sleeveless gown with an open-back, that was framed by two straps on her back. The third one would be for Christmas Eve, that was a scarlet red one-shoulder silhouette floor-length gown. Robert also made her buy a new coat, she had a warm coat with her, but that one was not suited to wear over her dresses. He picked up a cape overlay double-face wool cashmere coat, that was honestly warmer than she had expected when he came up with it. She had tried to get him to put it back on the rack, the three dresses had already been very expensive, and this coat was also not on the cheap side. Robert convinced her that she would never have to worry about money and that she could buy whatever she wanted.

"You will be the best dressed lady of the evening tonight."

"I am glad we could go shopping, but this trip is costing you a fortune this way."

"We cannot put a price on my love for you, you make me happy, and I love it when I can make you happy. Today that was with new dresses."

"You make me happy by just being with me. I do not need these fancy dresses and expensive holidays. I just want to be together with you."

"But these things make things better, at least for me that is. Let us get some lunch."

"Can I have this dance?" Robert took Cora's hand; they finished dinner in the Mirabel Palace. The food was exquisite, and they enjoyed the surroundings and each other's company. Cora wore her poppy dress, and Robert had his dark blue suit on. Before they went in Robert took some photos of Cora standing on the steps in the garden. They had watched a group of young girls recreating the Sound of Music scene. Robert had loved this simplicity, no worries and just the two of them.

"I am not sure I know how to dance."

"Did your mother not send you to dance lessons?" Robert asked surprised. He had suspected that Cora knew how to dance, since she was brought up in the richer class.

"Oh, but she did, I just do not know if I can still do it. I have not danced in many years."

"Let us see how we will do." Robert pulled on Cora's arm, and she willingly followed.

'Waltz of the Flowers' by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was playing and within seconds, Cora was in Robert's arms waltzing over the dance floor. It was as if they had danced for many years together. The moment Robert put his hand on her lower back she became one with his movements. Many songs later, she slightly tapped his shoulder. "I can use a drink."

Robert laughed. "Getting tired?"

Cora leaned against him. "Yes, and thirsty."

"We better do something about that then."

"Where are we going?" Cora asked Robert. They just had dinner in The Glass Garden, this restaurant was part of their hotel. But now Robert took her arm and walked outside.

There was a cab waiting for them, Robert opened the door and helped Cora inside. "This is another surprise." He kissed her cheek, while he sat down next to her.

Cora was wearing her red dress, and Robert was dressed in an evening tailcoat. He looked very dapper; she had loved seeing him in his fancy clothing every evening. She, herself had enjoyed it to dress up every evening. During the day they were walking around in casual clothing, but in the evening, they transformed themselves.

It was Christmas Eve and Cora was not sure what the plan was. Yesterday he had taken her to Augustiner Bräu, and she had loved it. It was so different from their evening outings. They all had been fine dining, but this was different. Drinking beer out of a stone mug and eating traditional Austrian food. She had loved browsing the various Christmas markets. They also went up to the castle and did a guided tour.

The cab stopped in front of the Cathedral. They had visited this one yesterday, and Cora had loved the atmosphere inside. She gave Robert a puzzled look, this was not an Anglican church, why would they be here? Robert had told her about his faith and that he was a traditional English man. This Cathedral was Catholic.

"We are doing the traditional Christmas Eve with a church service." Robert took her hand.

"But Robert? This is a Catholic church?"

"I know, but I wanted to give you a real Christmas Eve. And in Austria that is in a Catholic church, so here we are. I heard the choir is very good, I am looking forward to that part."

"The bobbing and standing are not your cup of tea you told me before."

"It will be good exercise."

During the service, Robert had looked at his phone multiple times. It made Cora nervous; Robert never used his phone when it was not appropriate. The moment they stepped outside, Cora put her hand on his arm. "Something wrong?"

Robert was again looking at his phone. "Rosamund has called several times and also Marmaduke."

"Oh no. You should call them back."

"It is after midnight; I cannot call them at this hour."

"What time did they call you?"

"About an hour ago was the last time Marmaduke called. But why did he not leave a voicemail or a text message?"

"Send them a text message if you do not want to call. If they are still awake, they can answer?" Cora felt nervous, why would they both call Robert? Did something happen with his father?

"That is a good idea, I will do that. If something happened to Papa, they would have left a message would they not?"

Cora wrapped her fingers around his arm. "They would, I am sure of that." She said it with more confidence than she felt.

Robert stopped walking and turned towards Cora. "Happy Christmas my darling." He kissed her tenderly.

"Merry Christmas sweetheart." She murmured.

"I am blessed celebrating Christmas with you in this magical place and whatever is happening at home. I am happy to be here with you."

Cora kissed his lips. "Thank you for taking me here. And I loved this church service, now it is Christmas."

"Not before we exchanged our gifts." Robert teased.

Cora felt her cheeks go pale. "I left mine in the hotel."

"I am glad you did that because I did too." He put his hands on her face and kissed her again.

"You go first." Cora gave Robert his package. When they came back to their suite, there had been another surprise. Robert arranged a Christmas tree inside their suite and his gifts for her were lying underneath the tree.

Robert took the package from her and slowly opened it. She saw his eyes widen. "Where did you find this one?" He stared at the package.

"I am not going to reveal all my secrets." Cora said.

Robert put his hand inside and took a watch out of the box. "Darling this is a ROLEX Daytona?"

"It is indeed. I remember that you told me you love watches and that you like vintage ones. I was not sure if you already had this one, but according to your face, you do not have this on yet."

"Cora this is a collector's item. You must have paid a fortune."

Cora leaned towards him and pressed her lips on his. "You told me a couple of days ago that you could not put a price on loving me. That is the same for me, I love you and want to see you happy."

"Oh, my darling, I do love you so much." He reached for his package under the tree. "This one is for you my sweet."

Cora opened the ribbon and the packaging. Her mouth dropped when she saw what was inside the box. "This is beautiful." She stuttered. She was looking at a gold bangle with diamonds, round-cut and marquise-cut. "I love it, it is amazing."

Robert's phone started ringing again and he immediately got up. "It is Marmaduke." He said before answering.

Cora could not hear everything. 'Not in London...Rosamund... Hospital... too early...' were the only things she could pick up.