The Downton Princess | A Downton Abbey Fanfiction

Chapter Twelve

     After dinner that evening, Lord Grantham requested to speak with Lord Dankworth alone in the library. Darrel protested, but Tobias assured her that he would be fine. Darrel agreed but told Sydney to stay in the main hall and intervene if he had reason to believe that Robert punched Tobias.

"Can I offer you a drink?" Robert asked as he picked up a decanter.
"No, thank you, my lord," Tobias replied, wanting to keep his head clear during the conversation.
"Very well."
Robert poured himself a drink then sat on the sofa across from a very nervous looking Tobias.
"Based on your behaviour, you know what this conversation is about," Robert announced. "So I will not insult your intelligence, Dankworth, and I can keep this conversation briefer than I anticipated. Let us talk about Darrel."
"Very good, my lord," Tobias nodded.
"Now, at first I thought I would have to question you quite a bit. But I suppose that if Their Majesties put up with you, you must be a decent enough man. And you must not have been involved in any shady business."
"I have not, my lord."
"Well, what made you interested in my daughter?"
"I will admit to you, my lord, that originally I was not. I attended that garden party at Buckingham Palace because Their Majesties invited my family. My parents, my older brother, and I. However, when my parents noticed that Her Highness...Darrel...went into the gardens, they suggested that I follow and go speak with her."
"That sounds rather ominous."
"I assure you, my lord, that I had no ill intentions when I went to speak with her. I do not know if this will assure you, but I knew that we were still close to the rest of the party, and I saw that one of her guards had followed her when she left toward the gardens."
Robert nodded but was not entirely convinced. However, he did not think Darrel would put up with a man who harmed her. And as she was the Princess of Wales, he knew she had the power to make sure anyone who harmed her would not go anywhere near her again.
"I found Darrel sitting on a stone bench in the gardens," Tobias continued. "I had no idea what to say to her. I am not especially good at speaking with women, and the fact that she is our future Queen did not make it any easier. So, I began to ramble on about flowers. I was not speaking to her directly, it was more...loud mutterings about my observations. I know a lot about flowers, and there were so many at the Palace gardens that I had not been able to see before. Outside of books anyway."
"And speaking about flowers made you interested in my daughter?" Robert inquired.
"Not exactly, my lord. But as I rambled, Darrel suddenly looked up at me. Then I remembered who I was with, and I did the usual bowing and such. I expected her to ask me questions about who I was, my title; that sort of thing. Instead, she pointed at a section of Convallaria Majalis in the gardens, and asked me what they were."
"My daughter's never been very interested in flowers."
"I do not believe that she is particularly interested in them either, my lord," Tobias nodded. "But she told me later on that she appreciated talking about something other than titles and estates. And...I was always told that I should refrain from going on about my flower knowledge in front of guests; especially women. My parents and older brother said that it would make me seem quite odd, and boring. So, I realized that I appreciated Darrel's company when she allowed me to talk about such things, and she seemed to enjoy them."
"Really? She enjoys you speaking about plants?"
"She says she admires the passion that I have for them."
While Tobias tried to make it sound as if he were interested in Darrel in a romantic way, he had not lied to Robert. It was all true. After the two began courting, Tobias asked Darrel why she always asked him about flowers while they were on walks, or in the gardens at the Palace. Darrel replied by telling him by saying that she had never met anyone who had a true passion for anything. She enjoyed watching Tobias' eyes light up with excitement upon finding new flowers to draw.
"So, after this garden party, the two of you began to court?" Robert asked.
"Not quite," Tobias replied. "Upon seeing how excited I was about the flowers at the Palace gardens, Darrel invited me to return another time so that I could look around, and sketch. So, a week after the Garden Party, I did return with my sketchbook. Darrel decided to walk with me and had me explain a few species. Then as I sketched, we talked about various things. I returned a few more times, and we continued to do the same thing. After knowing each other for about a month, Their Majesties told us that it was time that we made a public appearance since it was clear to them that we should be courting. We attended the opera a few days after that...and that was that."
Robert nodded, as he processed what Tobias told him. Meanwhile, Lord Dankworth fidgeted in his seat, hoping that he did not say anything that gave away the fact that he and Darrel did not love each other.

"Well, it all seems to have been done very properly," Robert nodded. "And I suppose that since Darrel does have all those guards, there was always supervision of some sort."
"Of course, my lord," Tobias assured. "There was always at least one guard present when we were in the gardens. And I am sure that there were more hidden throughout the grounds."
"Good. Although that was a pointless question, as I know that Their Majesties would ensure that there would be no scandal. So let us talk about something that Their Majesties will not. Which is your actual relationship."
"I am afraid that I do not understand, my lord."
"Their Majesties care about their public image and the monarchy's future. As long as neither of you causes a scandal, and Their Majesties believe that you are fit to marry the future Queen of England, they will not involve themselves. However, I am not like them. I care about Darrel."
"As do I, my lord."
"My daughter is not even nineteen years of age, and already so much has happened to her. She realized that she was the Princess of Wales, she got engaged to Sebastian Carlos, they ended their engagement, and now here you are."
Tobias was about to protest but stopped himself when he remembered that nobody was supposed to know that Sebastian was the one who ended the engagement. When William Turner's article about the end of the engagement came out, Darrel said that it was a mutual agreement and that both parties agreed that it was for the best. And Darrel never told the Crawleys anything more than that.
"Despite it being a mutual agreement, I noticed how hurt Darrel was after she ended her engagement," Robert continued.
"I understand, my lord," Tobias nodded. "They were together for three years, I am sure it was hard for her."
"I just want to make sure that you realize that she might still be confused. And I do not want you to rush too quickly into things. Give her time to get over Sebastian, before you make her commit to you."
"Of course, my lord. I know that it cannot be easy to be courting someone less than a year after the end of a three-year engagement."
"Good. Because I care about my daughter very much. I do not want anyone to take advantage of her while she is still emotional over her previous engagement."
"I assure you, my lord, that I am doing no such thing."
"Good. I do not care if she is the Princess of Wales, or that you are the son of a Duke. If you do anything to make her unhappy, I will hunt you down and make sure that you regret it. Do you understand me?"
"Of course, Lord Grantham."
Robert nodded, got to his feet and left the room. Tobias let out a heavy sigh, relieved that their conversation was over.

Robert entered his bedroom where Cora sat in bed, reading. She looked up upon her husband entering the room and smiled.
"How did it go?" Cora inquired. "I hope that you did not injure Lord Dankworth."
"Do not worry, he is intact," Robert nodded.
"And? How was it?"
"It was strange. There is something odd about that man."
"How so?"
"I can see that he cares for Darrel and respects her. I do not believe that he means to cause her any harm."
"So what is the issue?"
"Whenever I spoke with Sebastian about Darrel, you could tell how much he loved her. I could see the passion. But with Dankworth, it is not there."
"Well, they have only been seeing each other for a few months."
Robert shrugged, "I do not know."
Lord Grantham entered his dressing room and pulled the rope to ring for Bates. He was confused after his conversation with Tobias. He felt that Lord Dankworth acted too formally. It was as if he were speaking to someone important at a dinner party, not to the father of the woman that he was courting. It did not make sense to Robert at all.

Meanwhile, Tobias entered his guest room to find Darrel waiting for him.
"Oh, good, you are still in one piece," Darrel smiled, getting to her feet.
"Were you expecting otherwise?" Tobias inquired.
"Well, I am afraid that Papa does not have the best track record. If he fears that I am making a mistake, or if he is angry, he does not always think."
"Do not worry. I think that it went very well."
"I am glad. And thank you, for putting up with it. I am sure that Papa's questioning is very different from Their Majesties' interrogations."
Tobias nodded in agreement.
"Well, it is getting late, I shall let you get some rest," Darrel announced. "Have a good evening."
"You too," Tobias replied, with a slight bow, not yet used to acting informally.
Darrel gave Tobias a small kiss on the cheek then left the room.
Tobias let out a heavy sigh as he collapsed onto the bed. He knew that his conversation with Lord Grantham went well. But deceiving the Crawleys was harder than he expected. If he and Darrel ended up getting married, he was not sure how well he would be able to keep up the charade. Robert did have a point; unlike Their Majesties, he cared about Darrel's happiness. Tobias would have to work even harder in the future to convince the Crawleys that the two of them were in love.

Will Robert accept Darrel's courtship with Lord Dankworth? Or will he try to intervene?