My Dearest Darling

Chapter 47

"That sounds like a lovely plan." The nervous and strained expression on Mary's face softened, and she smiled gratefully at her father, only to furrow her brow again in the blink of an eye. "Can you make that reservation for four, Papa?"

Her father eyed her curiously, his eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion, but he replied with a smile on his lips: "Of course, I can."

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"The Earl of Grantham and Lady Mary Talbot, milady" Mead announced as they entered the homely sitting room in Rosamund's house in Belgrave Square.

"Mead, there truly is no need for that formality. I am only here to see my sister," Robert said, sounding quite amused as he pushed past the elderly man standing in the doorway. He had told Mead often enough that a simple introduction would be enough when it was just family and Rosamund had said the same, but the butler insisted on it. He was quite like Carson in that regard, all about doing things properly. Maybe it was just their specific breed of butler, their generation that did not want to abandon the rules and customs they were brought up to respect and follow.

Father and daughter walked on in, only to find Rosamund in the same position Mary had found her in the last time she was there. That armchair near the window must surely be her favourite by now, and the decanter of whiskey was still standing on that small side table next to it. Mary threw her father a telling look, which he requited with a concerned one of his own.

"Robert, Mary! What are you doing here? I did not know you were coming down to London today. You could have had lunch!" Rosamund exclaimed when she turned around and saw her brother and niece walking towards her.

"Oh, we just had some business to attend to and we thought we would quickly stop by," Robert said quickly, veiling the truth of their meeting with Murray earlier. Mary and he had decided to wait for dinner with the announcement that needed to be made concerning that. "And we wanted to invite you to join us for dinner tonight. I made a reservation at the Ritz."

"The Ritz? What are we celebrating, brother dear?" Rosamund replied in jest when she kissed her brother's cheek in greeting.

"You will find that out soon enough, Aunt Rosamund. I'll leave you two for a little while, there's a phone call I need to make."

For a split second, Robert looked at her like a deer caught in headlights. They had talked about Rosamund's situation on the way to Belgrave Square and had decided that he should probably try and ask her as soon as possible — today, at best. Was she seriously leaving him alone right now to start this conversation? He had hoped she would be there to help him articulate himself well enough so that his sister would not misunderstand him. So much for that — apparently, his daughter had different plans. That only meant he had to be much more careful with the words he would choose.

"Can I offer you anything; coffee, tea, something stronger?"

He wanted a whiskey, desperately. The alcohol would help loosen his tongue and make it easier to breach the subject to his sister, but it was too early in the day to start drinking heavy liquor and it would also cloud his judgment. That was something he truly did not need for this. And Cora would reprimand him the instant he said yes were she there with him, she would be more than right to do so.

He needed his wits about him for this. "A cup of tea would be nice," he replied instead.

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Only a few minutes later, there was a steaming cup of tea in his hands and the pleasant small talk with his sister was getting increasingly harder to bear with this matter burning on his tongue.

"Rosamund, I have a request for you, and I need you to hear me out and not reject it or put me off."

"My, what could that be? You make it sound so awfully serious," she smirked into her tea cup as she took a sip.