A/N: I started this quite a while ago based on a prompt but I only recently decided I wanted to flesh it out into something publishable. I've lost the original prompt, but the basic premise was that the arrival of an old suitor of Cora's makes Robert jealous, so that's where we're at. I don't think this will be more than 2 or 3 chapters at most unless Robert and Cora decide to start running the story without my consent.

"Robert?" Cora spoke tentatively as she entered the library with a note in her hand. Robert silently set down the ledger he had been studying and took a deep breath. He recognized that tone of voice.

"Yes?" he asked, fixing his wife with what he hoped to be the look of a man who was in charge. He knew she was about to ask him something he probably would not like but would most likely not be able to say no to.

"You remember Mr. Walter Douglas?" Cora asked, stepping a little closer.

Robert's back straightened at the sound of the name. Of course he remembered Mr. Walter Douglas. The real question was, what reason could Cora possibly have to be thinking of him?

"Yes," Robert replied, dragging the word. "But why should he be of any concern to you? To us, I mean," he corrected himself hastily.

"You know I correspond with his sister," Cora replied matter-of-factly, looking down at the piece of paper in her hand.

"You do?" Robert asked rather densely. He had not been aware that she did.

"She was one of my closest friends back in Newport."

"Ahh, yes, of course." Robert had to confess to himself he had very little memory of the sister. What he remembered far more vividly was the admiration with which Mr. Douglas had been gazing at the newly made Viscountess when he and Cora had spent some time in New York and Newport following their wedding. It had been quite loudly whispered among the local society that before Cora's mother had decided to take her to Europe, a union between her and Mr. Douglas had been highly anticipated. It was, however, not something he had ever spoken to Cora openly about as he had felt their relationship at the time had not been on steady enough ground to warrant such private questions.

It took Robert a moment to realize that during his reflections, Cora had continued speaking, and he only managed to catch the end of what appeared to have been a longer account of the content of this friend's letter.

"…so as I was writing back to Cassandra, I thought we could invite her brother over for dinner since he knows so few people around here," she finished, looking up from her letter again.

Robert blinked. "Dinner?" he parroted. "Why?"

Cora gave him an exasperated look. "I just told you he is visiting England and will be in York next week. It would be polite to invite him at least to dine when I have known him since childhood. You have nothing against that, surely?"

"Uh, no," Robert stammered, "of course not. He and his family will be most welcome to Downton." Surely the man had to be married, he assured himself. He had probably missed the part where it had been mentioned.

But there was no such comfort to be had.

"Oh, it will be just him," Cora replied, pressing a quick kiss on Robert's cheek before turning to leave. "He has been a widower for many years now."

Unable to utter anything in response, Robert watched his wife go as he tried to make sense of the conversation they had just had. Finally he came to the unwelcome conclusion that he had just agreed to invite an old suitor of Cora's for dinner, and the thought did not please him at all. The timing could simply not have been worse as the man was likely to remind her of everything she had left behind at a time when the life she had chosen in Downton had recently been rocked with so much sorrow and adversity.

With gloomy thoughts, Robert stood up to fix himself a drink and, walking over to gaze out of the window, he downed the amber liquid with one great gulp. Of one thing he was absolutely certain: he did not have the smallest desire to meet this Mr. Walter Douglas again and even less he wanted his wife to renew the acquaintance.

"How many years is it since we last saw Mr. Douglas?" Robert asked, trying to strike an easy tone of conversation as he joined Cora in her dressing room before they would go down to greet their guest.

A week had passed without Cora ever returning to the subject of their expected guest but Robert's thoughts had been plagued by his approaching arrival almost incessantly. It did not help that he had to keep guessing whether Cora was studiously avoiding any mention of the man or if she simply was too indifferent to bring up the subject again.

"It must be more than thirty years," she replied to his query, a smile gracing her lips as she studied her reflection on the mirror. She looked remarkably beautiful, as Robert was sure she had to be well aware of, and he could not help wondering if she had made a special effort for Mr. Douglas. The pang of jealousy, as he looked at his wife's reflection, was unavoidable.

"I'm sure he will barely notice a difference when he sees you," Robert muttered almost unintelligibly, directing his words to a loose thread on the carpet that he suddenly found curiously offending.

"What was that, darling?"

Cora turned around at his words that she had been unable to make out and, while Robert kept his eyes cast down, walked over to him with a smile playing on her lips.

"Robert?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she brushed his shoulder with a gloved hand. "Is something the matter?"

Robert looked up, startled to find Cora suddenly so close, looking at him expectantly.

"No, nothing at all," he lied quickly, taking in her scent as she stood near him. Lavender. Why was she wearing lavender? It had always been his favourite smell on her.

"Are you sure you are not unwell?" There was a tone of teasing laced with real concern in Cora's voice as she sought Robert's eyes to find the answer.

Robert could only meet her gaze briefly, but it was enough at least to assure her he was not ill.

"We should probably go now before we are late," he said then, offering Cora his arm while avoiding the question.

As they descended the stairs, Robert wondered what thirty years had done to the man he could recall as having been quite handsome at one time. Secretly he was hoping to meet a bald, weather-beaten man with at least two chins and an ill-fitting suit, but at the same time he kept bracing himself for a charmingly aged gentleman with good posture, impeccable dental structure and a full head of hair.

Robert stole a glance at Cora, wondering if similar thoughts were running through her head at the very moment, and if so, what it was that she hoped to see. Her face, however, bore no signs of anything but the general complaisance of a lady of the house prepared to meet a guest. It was a look she had mastered well over the years and one she had learned to wear no matter what her inner sentiments at any given time might have been. Robert could only reflect with remorse on how there had once been a time he had been uncertain of whether she would ever be fit to bear the title her marriage to him would bestow on her. How foolishly he had underestimated her then while being so sure of his own worth and entitlement.

"You look beautiful," he whispered as they reached downstairs, suddenly feeling very possessive of the woman by his side, wanting to mark her as his own in whatever way he could, if not by deed then at least by words. He watched as her lips curved into a smile at his compliment even though she did not turn to look at him, and for a moment Robert felt gratified until he realized that her eyes were in fact fixed on a tall, remarkably good looking gentleman standing in the hall next to Carson. The insufferably well groomed man could only be Mr. Douglas.

It took Robert all he had in him to force an expression on his face that vaguely resembled a smile as he approached the newcomer with Cora, and even more effort to politely welcome him to his house as a guest. It did not help that for Cora the reunion appeared to be effortless and she had soon not only welcomed Mr. Douglas to Downton, but also introduced him to Mary, Matthew and Edith who had all gathered to meet the American stranger. The only one missing appeared to be the dowager Lady Grantham.

"Where is the Dowager Countess?" Robert asked Carson at his earliest opportunity before they all moved through to the drawing room to wait for the dinner to be announced.

"I am afraid her Ladyship is indisposed," Carson replied with a curt bow. "Nothing too serious, but we received a word that she would not be joining us this evening."

Whether the Dowager Countess truly was indisposed or simply not inclined to spend an evening with an undomesticated American would have to remain a question for another day. Robert thanked Carson for the information and made his way to his wife's side which he realized he had left unguarded for too long already. Even as he took his place next to Cora, she sat listening to some tale by Mr. Douglas with a smile on her lips while Matthew periodically interjected the narrative with prompting questions and remarks.

Robert would have preferred to have had his mother at hand to help keep the American intruder on his toes, but it seemed instead that he would be left completely without support. The younger generation, Robert very quickly observed, would not be on his side as their fascination with the American and all the stories he had to share of his thriving enterprises only made him feel increasingly inadequate and out of place in the present company.