"But aren't you the least bit curious?" she propped herself up on one elbow and fingered his collar with her free hand, brushing the backs of her knuckles against his neck before leaning in to kiss the skin there. He murmured in appreciation until she pulled back to look at him again, expecting an answer.
He sighed, gripping her a little more tightly around her middle where he held her against him, clearly a little frustrated to have to continue conversation. "I trust Mrs. Patmore and Mrs. Hughes and Carson. We purchased the appliance. I have been assured it is doing it's job. I see no reason to traipse about after midnight and risk being caught by the servants to satisfy some idle curiosity - "
"Spoilsport," she huffed, rolling away from him.
"When I am far more curious about how to get you to make the same sounds you were making this morning before we were so unkindly interrupted by your maid," he growled, rolling after her and wrapping an arm around her middle, nuzzling at her neck.
She let herself push her bottom back against him and was gratified at the groan she heard. She could just wait until morning, she thought, feeling his hand drift higher and brush the underside of her breast. She sighed contentedly before shaking her head; softly yet determinedly grasping his wrist and lifting it from her.
"No, Robert," she began primly. "I won't be distracted. I really want to see it! I'll just be a minute."
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and began tying her robe around, feeling around the floor for her slippers. She looked down at his face, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, mouth hung open in surprise.
"Cora, you can't be serious."
She could see just a sprinkling of his chest hair peeking out from the top of his pajamas, and he looked impossibly adorable and boyish and all that she loved about him. It took willpower to not reach out and ruffle his hair and lean down to kiss him, and slide herself back into bed, but she fixed her robe more securely around her middle and stared back down at him. She really did want to see the thing they had discussed for what seemed like months on end - the most modern thing in the house, the most incredible thing Mrs. Patmore had imagined, something that would make lives easier and make food last longer and according to Carson, made quite the interesting noise. No. This could not wait until morning.
"Perfectly serious," she announced, lifting her nose in the air just a bit and walking to the door. She had a hand on the knob before she looked back at him, his gaze having followed her as she crossed the room.
"Well? Aren't you coming with me? What if something were to happen, Robert?" she batted her eyelashes just a little at him, knowing he was powerless to it, and heard him grumble "of course I'm coming. What - leave you skipping about the stairs at all hours, what are we coming to? What if something were to happen-" and smiling to herself as he righted from the bed, found robe and slippers, and came to join her at the door.
"I hope you're satisfied," he said, standing before her, knotting his dressing robe rather firmly.
"Very satisfied, darling, at least for the moment," she leaned up to kiss him, feeling him lean in just enough so she knew he wasn't truly cross at all. "Come, now. It will be a kind of adventure! And I promise to make it worth your while," she added, grabbing his hand and heading out into the hallway.
The candle she had thought to grab from the nightstand cast shadows as they cautiously made their way down the stairs, hand and hand. She felt suddenly rather nervous - rather glad that Robert had agreed to join her. The house looked and sounded so different after dark, it seemed so much bigger - and it struck Cora that it had been quite some time since she had ventured out past her bedroom door after bedtime; quite some time since she had felt the need to visit the kitchens after dark.
She tugged her husband's hand more closely to her, letting him take the candle and lead the way when he reached for it, leaning in towards his warmth and hoping she knew how much she loved him for coming with her.
They walked for quite some time in the dark, Cora expecting she didn't know what around each corner, until they were finally descending the stairs she knew led to the kitchen. She felt warmer just walking down them - the smell tea brewing and bread baking always seemed to be in the walls of this place.
They made their way down the last steps to the big island in the middle of the kitchen.
"Here we are!" she said, a little too brightly, turning to her husband for reassurance. He smiled down at her before they both heard it - yes, Carson was right! It was a most peculiar hum.
"That sound - " Robert began, turning.
"I hear it, too!" Cora added, and they walked together towards the large silver box that made said noise. She reached out a hand to touch it, expecting a shock or an overwhelming vibration. But she reached for the handle and only felt - "oh, it's cold." She pulled on the handle and they both gasped quietly as the door opened and revealed row after row of bowls filled with unidentifiable goods. The chill reached them and Cora shivered involuntarily. Robert pulled her to him in reflex.
"Well, darling, here we are. We have arrived at the door of an icy sort of modern world." He chuckled a little.
"Don't tease!" Cora admonished.
"I'm not, Cor." He reached for her chin and brought her face to look up at him. "But this is a rather cold spot. And now that we are here, looking upon this large, impressive, and surely expensive contraption, what do you think?"
She giggled under his attention. "Oh, Robert! Isn't it a bit wild? Did you ever think such a thing possible? Mrs. Patmore says it will keep food fresh for weeks! Cheese, butter, milk, cake! It will all last so much longer! What a modern machine we've purchased for our kitchen! I even read in my magazine that they've invented a machine that will clean carpets, called a vacuum! And they have another that will wash the clothes!"
Robert pulled back, indignant. "What do these men think, inventing such things? Do they think that machines could possibly replace the quality of hard-working servants? What do they propose for the servants to do if they were to be replaced by such impersonal machines? I understand some things, such as your…. your… this ice box -"
"Refrigerator, darling," she supplied.
"Of course. But if we start here, where is the end? If we have a machine to clean carpets, to keep our food iced, to wash our clothes, what do you suppose will become of all our dear and trusted servants? Are they all truly to be replaced by silver humming contraptions?"
"Oh, Robert," she smiled at her husband, always thinking of the good of the estate and the people who lived and worked there. She loved him for it. "I haven't thought about what you're asking - and they are truly good questions, dearest. You have every right to ask them - as Lord Downton, all the people here are under your care, but -" she reached up to brush the hint of bed head that was beginning behind his greying temples. "But you promised me a look and I would love to share a small something or dessert with you - and we can leave tomorrow's worries until tomorrow?"
He looked down at her for a beat before kissing her softly.
"Of course, Cora." She could feel the warmth of his gaze passing over her face as his hands reached for her waist and pulled her to him, looking deeply into her eyes before asking in all seriousness, "I think I'd worry less if I had a bit of cake, wouldn't you agree?"