Downton Abbey Fanfiction

¤Twenty - five ¤

Next Day. ....
Lady Rosamund's house, London

Cora had arranged with Rosamund to go shopping in London. They hadn't seen each other in a long time really, so when Cora arrived at the door Rosamund was surprised to see that she was pregnant. It worried her that Edith hadn't told her. That no one had told her. It worried her even more that Cora didn't mention it. Not once. She did not acknowledge it at all, which led one to believe that there was some secretism surrounding the situation, which seemed quite odd. A Countess married for more than thirty years with three grandchildren, had no reason to keep her pregnancy secret. Edith had, being unmarried. The only reason that someone like Cora could have to keep such a secret, is if the father of the child was not Robert. But that, surely, was utter nonsense! Cora was not the type to be unfaithful to Robert, they were in love.

Rosamund remembered when they were young and newly married. Cora had been so dreadfully upset because she thought that Robert didn't love her. She was still 'a wild American' in those days, and seemed to have walked out of an opera, with all her dramatic displays of love and hate. Rosamund had been delighted with her new American little sister, she was someone who she could talk to about fashion and silly things, and had such an amusing accent. Miss Levinson; with her rich coffee coloured tresses and sapphire eyes, animated expressions and exotic accent. The entire thing was so exciting! As amusing as it had been to watch the horrified faces of those young Cora introduced herself to, Rosamund had eventually taught Cora to wait for a formal introduction and other unwritten rules of high society.

Although much time had passed, Rosamund continued to think of Cora as an innocent, slightly dramatic American who saw the best in everyone and could never understand why jealous daughters of Earls would create nasty rumours about her in order to deter her possible suitors. Rosamund remembered Cora as the young woman who had handed over her money and heart to Robert at the bat of an eyelash. Who never thought twice before marrying Robert, presuming that he loved her as much as she loved him; and then being absolutely heartbroken to discover that while he had graciously taken her money and heart, he didn't give much in return other than a title and a large empty cold country house in the middle of nowhere.

Cora had loved Robert from the very beginning, from the first glance, however it had taken Robert about year of marriage before he fell in love with her. Over the years, Rosamund had watched Cora stick by Robert through thick and thin, loving him despite his bouts of complete idiocy. They were very much in love, as far as Rosamund had gathered, and as she thought of those times, she had no doubt that the child was Robert's. After all, who else could be the father?

If only she knew where Cora had been the day before, and where she had slept the previous night. Cora smiled and stood up. "Shall we set off?"

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The Kitchen, Downstairs, Downton Abbey

Daisy was left alone in the kitchen. The others were in the servant's hall. She made a sandwich and a cup of tea. The bustle of breakfast was over, so she had a few moments to herself before preparations for the other meals of the day were made. Everything was quiet. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. As no one else had gone to answer it, Daisy did.

It was a handsome young delivery man. He was working for Bakewells and carried all sorts of cooking nessessities. He had mousey brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He smiled at her. "Hello, I've come with the deliveries." He said. "Come through" she smiled in return. "Would you like a cup of tea?" She asked, once someone had taken the deliveries from the man. "Yes, thank you. I'm Jerome Dawson, by the way. I didn't catch your name..?" Daisy handed him the cup. "Daisy Mason." Jerome was about to say 'a beautiful name for a beautiful woman', but spotted a wedding ring on her finger. "Ah, does your husband work here too?" He asked instead. Daisy looked puzzled for a moment, before remembering that she wore William's ring. "Oh, yes he did. But he died during the war." She replied softly. Jerome tried to hide his joy at hearing that he may still have a chance with her. "The war took many, leaving many young widows. It even took my finger" he said, attempting to add some slight humour to the morbid subject. She smiled slightly and sipped her tea. "I'm glad that's all of you it took" she said, almost blushing when she realised how that sounded. He smiled back.