Matthew's talk with the Dowager makes me think some things are going to change. And as we all know by now, Robert doesn't do change well. So it got me to thinking...

I hope you enjoy.

He heard her approach as he sat on the bench at the corner of the garden. Part of him was relieved that she should follow but on the surface, it irritated him. Her attitude was alien to him, something he simply could not understand. It had caused a distance between them during the war and now that distance was back as was his feeling of being lost, rudderless in the coming storm.

Rolling his eyes at his own thoughts and petulance, Robert Crawley chided himself. You're being a fool, he thought briefly. A few months ago you were weeping with gratitude that she was willing to stand by you after your own stupidity. And now you're criticizing her for the very same attitude that made her forgiveness possible. Mentally he was beating himself.

He felt her settle on the bench next to him. He also felt her hand, tentatively working its way into his. "Robert," she whispered softly in that calmly demanding voice of hers.

Swallowing deeply before risking a glance in her direction, he squeezed her hand gently. Then turning to face her, he sighed as he caught the glistening of tears sitting in her eyes. With his free hand, he tenderly reached up and wiped the tears away. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

She smiled at him but it was laced with sadness. "We seem to have a wedge between us again," she observed.

With a sigh, Robert nodded in agreement. "How do you do it?" he asked her. "How do you keep up with all the changes? I feel like everything is changing and I'm struggling to keep up and failing woefully. I feel so lost most of the time," he admitted.

Cora looked away for a moment, her eyes scanning the large house that stood before them. "It is the difference of our backgrounds, of course. My father came form austere beginnings, made his own fortune, and he had to be flexible, moving with the changes as they came, to do it. I was raised in a house where there was no sense of history, not as you have here. For us everything was in flux. You, on the other hand my dear husband, were raised with all of this," she said as her hand made a sweeping motion across the expanse of the house. From a very young age you were charged with keeping the history of it, to do whatever it took to preserve it. And in many ways that meant not letting change come."

Robert sighed. "I suppose…"

Cora looked at her husband and smiled. "Yes… of course you do."

He looked into her blue eyes, now smiling, and his breath hitched. "I just feel so lost…like the world is moving on and leaving me behind. And I don't know how to keep up."

"Oh my darling, you've never liked change… and in some ways, I quite agree with you. But the world is changing. Methods that have worked for centuries are no longer sustainable. If our way of life is to be preserved at all, then we must make small changes. Surely you see that?"

"So…I should let Matthew take over the running of Downton? What am I to do then? I feel so useless…unnecessary."

You are not useless and I find you quite necessary, although I know that isn't enough for you," Cora said teasingly. "But no, you should not turn it over to him completely. You should listen to him and to Murray. Listen to their ideas. Discuss it with them; understand what they are trying to explain. And together with Matthew, make the changes that are necessary so that our grandchildren can play in this garden as our children did, as you did, as Crawley children have done for generations. Give them that history by making the changes necessary to preserve it."

Robert Crawley, sixth Earl of Grantham, looked into his wife's imploring eyes and knew she was right. "I've spent my entire life doing what I thought was right for Downton."

"I know you have," she affirmed.

"Without doubt, marrying you was the best decision I've ever made. I don't know how I would have done at all without you," he confessed.

Cora smiled at her husband and he was sure she was about to tease him about marrying her for her money, which he fully deserved. But she surprised him. "Well, my wise husband, I am making a decision that I hope you will see as a shrewd one."

"Oh?" he asked intrigued.

"Yes. We are not going back into the family. Instead, we are going up the back stairs to our room. And I am going to demonstrate to you just how useful and necessary I find you."

As Robert watched his wife's face, he could only think how scandalous her expression was. "Should I worry that I'll be put out to pasture for stud?" he teased.

Grabbing his hand and standing to lead him, Cora laughed. "Well, my darling, while I do think you are quite a stud, you need not worry. I refuse to share you with any of the other mares about." With that she gave him an impatient tug and lead him to his lesson.