Now Kiss Me
A/N: These characters do not belong to me. Contains Series 4 spoilers. I couldn't get this out of my head after Episode 7, so I had to write it. Thank you to SashaElizabeth, my wonderful beta!
Cora stood in the gravel in front of the Abbey, watching as the motor made it's way down the driveway and out of sight. Her husband, her sweet, wonderful Robert, was in that car heading to Liverpool and then to America. God, how she loved him. For him to travel three thousand miles across the Atlantic to help her brother made her heart swell with love to the point she thought it would burst. The words they had spoken to one another before walking hand in hand through the front doors echoed in her mind as she stood watching his departure.
"Darling, I do think your going to rescue my hopeless brother is an act of true love, and I cherish you for it."
"That'll keep me warm as I cross the raging seas."
"Good. Now kiss me."
Cora touched her fingers to her lips. They still burned with the passion of the kiss she and Robert had shared as they said their own private farewell in the Great Hall. She smiled in spite of the pang of sadness she felt as her husband drove away. He had done it for her. She knew that Robert and Harold had never been overly fond of each other. His willingness to travel to America to help her "hopeless brother" out of yet another predicament had been out of his love for her. After thirty-three years of marriage, children, grandchildren, happiness and heartache, Cora had never thought it possible to love her husband more than she did already. However, as she turned to head back inside, she found that she did indeed love him more than ever. She truly cherished him. She said a silent prayer, thanking God for giving him to her. Her darling Robert.
-O-
Robert fought the urge to turn back as the motor headed down the driveway. How he wanted to catch one more glimpse of his family. One more glimpse of Cora. His beautiful Cora. In the end, he chose to remain facing forward for fear that if he turned back he would not be able to separate himself from her in order to make this trip. The telegram that he had received that morning from his mother-in-law had sent him into a tailspin. He still could not fathom what difference he could make in the case against Harold. How could one man manage to stay in so much trouble?
It had been the look in his wife's eyes that had helped him make the decision to go. For her, he would travel to the ends of the Earth. When he had married her all of those years ago, it was for her fortune. He'd no idea that this marvelous woman would wind up being his entire reason for being. He looked forward to each morning because he knew the first thing he would see was her face. As the motor headed further and further from Downton Abbey, he replayed the last words they had spoken to one another over in his head.
"Darling, I do think your going to rescue my hopeless brother is an act of true love, and I cherish you for it."
"That'll keep me warm as I cross the raging seas."
"Good. Now kiss me."
That kiss. He closed his eyes as he replayed it over and over in his memory. The thought of her would keep him warm, but, oh, how he already longed to hold her again.His beautiful, wonderful wife.