A heavy silence imposed on the remaining inhabitants of the library as Robert rounded the corner towards the front door and out of side. It was deafening and stifling. Matthew and Tom exchanged an awkward glance. Mary sat on the sofa blankly while Cora remained standing at her side examining her shoes. Yes, the silence was heavy and everyone was feeling most uncomfortable.

Tom's gaze settled on his mother-in-law. He was feeling most perplexed. Had he really misinterpreted that badly? Cora had agreed with their plan and that she would play a part in it and when she had leapt to her husbands' defense he had thought that the bid to get Robert on side would fail. But she had then proceeded to reason with him and unlike his hothead brother-in-law, she had been gentle and yet somehow, had still failed. How they would bring Robert around now he just didn't know as Cora had been his trump card. Cora caught him staring at her so forlornly and offered a small smile.

"Don't worry Tom, Robert will come around, you'll see," she said softly.

"I really thought he would listen to you," Tom replied as he shook his head slightly. "You did the best job out of all of us explaining that I just can't believe we aren't all shaking hands and outlining the details of the future right now." He let out a tired sigh.

"Robert is just being silly Tom. I want him involved with this and he was the one who said we would be joint masters. I think he is just having difficulty adjusting to it, that's all. As such, he isn't seeing everything with a clear head," Matthew finished.

"That may be so Matthew but that is not what concerns me," Cora cut in sharply, taking everyone aback.

"But Mama, we need to get this plan up and running. The money won't be there forever. We can't just keep waiting for Papa like this because it just isn't viable." Mary rose from her perch and faced her mother. "I wish Papa saw all this differently but he doesn't. He passed his stubborn streak on to me-"

"-Don't I know it," Cora muttered.

"- so I doubt there is anything to be done now if he won't do it himself. Let's drop it and just get on with the plan," Mary concluded.

"No." Cora's voice was sure and she drew herself up to her full height, a commanding Countess, mother and mother-in-law. "None of you will do any such thing unless I say so at this point. I know Robert and I know I can still bring him around."

"But Mama-" Mary began to protest.

"I said no Mary," Cora snapped. Mary recoiled; her Mama hadn't spoken to her in that tone since the night she had suggested marrying Matthew as a solution to the Great Matter. "For once in your life will you please just listen?" Cora's hiss echoed through her mind and she bowed her head towards her Mama, conceding to her will.

"Have a little faith in my ability to talk to my husband after 32 years of marriage. I do know a thing or too." Cora turned to Matthew and Tom who each mimicked Mary and nodded. Satisfied that the message had sunk in, Cora turned on her heels and walked out of the room with her head held high.

A tentative knock on Robert's dressing room door made both Robert and Bates look up. "Come in," Robert called as he held out his arm so Bates could continue working on his cuffs. The door opened revealing Cora in all her dinner finery. She stepped into the room and moved over to where he stood.

"You look lovely in that dress," Robert commented as he took in the sight that was his beautiful wife.

"Thank you Robert," she murmured. "Bates would you please leave us?" she said a little louder.

"But Cora I am not yet finished dressing," Robert started as irritation seeped through him. Cora ignored him and shot Bates a stern, no nonsense look.

"At once Your Ladyship," Bates said and hastily retreated.

Before the door had even shut, Cora's hands had found his cufflinks and she began to fiddle. Robert watched openmouthed as she set the link in place and picked up the other one. Robert offered her his other arm, waiting for her to speak and yet she stayed silent.

"I thought you had come in here to speak to me about something," Robert prompted. Cora finished his other cufflink and turned away from him to pick up his dinner suit.

"Well turn around Robert," she said, almost amused as she stepped forward with his suit. Robert did has she bid him and put his arms out behind him as she carefully slipped them into the armholes. She then stepped forward a little and brought it up until it sat on him just right. Cora had never done any of this for her him before and he was touched but also bemused by her actions.

"Are you trying to put poor Bates out of a job?" he joked.

"No, no," she replied airily and fetched the brush. After a few carefully placed strokes of the bristles across his shoulders her hand stilled, she lowered the brush and shuffled up beside him in the mirror, admiring her work.

"I never knew my wife had the skills of a valet," Robert teased.

"I don't know why it should surprise you after all the practice I have had dressing you up until this point," she smirked. "Don't we look good together Robert?" Cora asked suddenly. Robert managed to stop himself from choking on air. Something was definitely going on in that head of hers because she was not prone to blowing her own trumpet often.

"Yes we do," he agreed. "A perfect match if I do say so myself." Robert thought it best to play along at this point and see what she had in store for him and he didn't have to wait long to find out.

"Mmmm. You are such an integral part of who I am Robert and I would never want to be apart from you," she said suggestively. "To exclude you would be to deny me a part of myself, the most important part." Robert felt his emotions soaring to the moon at her words and placed his hands on her hips behind her. He took great care to place a kiss just below her left ear while avoiding messing up her neatly arranged hair. As his lips left her skin he drank in her tantalizing lavender scent.

"God Cora I love you. You are such a little minx to put me in this state right before dinner." Cora snickered.

"I know," she said sweetly as she looked at him in the mirror. "Is it too much for you my darling?" Robert mumbled something inaudible against her neck as he began an assault on her sensitive points. His arm had surreptitiously found its way around her waist and his ministrations were starting to affect her. Cora knew she must tell him what was on her mind before she lost control and slipped into a wayward pre-dinner love haze.

"Robert look at us in the mirror for a moment." Robert ceased his investigation of her jaw line and lifted his head up, meeting her gaze. "What do you see?" Cora asked. Robert split a lopsided grin.

"I see my loving, beautiful wife in a stunning black dress with a beautiful green pattern across the chest toying with my desire," he informed her cheekily.

"Is that all?" she said, trying hard not to giggle or blush.

"And I see that she is right where she belongs, in my arms." Cora couldn't contain her scoff and she swatted his arms playfully.

"That's right Robert. Just as I belong in your arms so you belong in mine. And you belong at the middle of the table opposite me, surrounded by our family too. They all need their father and father-in-law as much as I need my husband." Robert kept his gaze firmly fixed on Cora. Her eyes bore into his even though they were looking at the mirror. He didn't move a muscle as a silent struggle of wills broke out between them.

"Please Robert, give the children the benefit of the doubt because they aren't children anymore. They are responsible adults that we have raised and groomed for the roles we have now and it really does mean everything to them that their father and father-in-law is there to guide them, to be there for them when they make mistakes and to encourage them into the future. Do we not all still have a child hidden in us that wants that?" Cora paused dramatically, waiting for him to challenge her logic but this time it was he who kept quiet so Cora continued. "You are still needed as much as you are wanted. There is so much they still have to learn and you can teach them, we can teach them together even." Robert swallowed as he straightened up behind her but he didn't remove his arms from around her.

"Cora…"