A/N: This contains some material that most of you will recognize. It is Julian Fellowes' material and not mine. I am simply borrowing it, and I lay no claim to it whatsoever. But this is the scene which inspired me to write my Valentine's Day fic the way I did, to extend the story beyond the two prompts I used (in Chapters Two and Three). And of course I added a little to it. xx
Spring, 1912
It had been a disappointing evening, after a difficult and sad number of weeks. Downton had been playing host to the Duke of Crowborough, who ostensibly had his eye on Mary. Robert and Cora had been hopeful that their eldest daughter might be settled favorably still, even after losing the closest heirs to the estate and title, cousins James and Patrick – Patrick being marked out as Mary's fiance – to the sinking of the Titanic.
But the Duke of Crowborough, having found out that Mary wasn't to inherit Downton and all the money that came with it after all, had changed his tune over dinner. Robert was thoroughly put out with the man, and now, getting ready for bed, he was trying to make Cora understand why he wouldn't fight the entail on Mary's behalf. Cora watched him move around the room from her place propped up in bed.
"I try to understand. I just can't," she said.
Loosening his dressing gown tie, Robert sat on the bed. "Why should you? Downton is in my blood and in my bones. It's not in yours. And I can no more be the cause of its destruction than I could betray my country. Besides, how was I to know he wouldn't take her without the money?"
"Don't pretend to be a child because it suits you."
"Do you think she would have been happy with a fortune hunter?" He turned from her, preparing to stand and take off his dressing gown.
Cora said clearly and matter-of-factly, "She might have been. I was."
Robert turned back to her, leaning toward her, his elbow on the bed, looking at her seriously. "Have you been happy? Really, have I made you happy?"
Smiling at him, Cora reached over to touch his hand. "Yes." She ran her hand along his arm, then looked at him and amended, "That is, since you fell in love with me. Which, if I remember correctly, was about a year after we were married."
Robert heaved a small sigh, saying, "Not a year." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Not as long as that," he said, getting up to remove his dressing gown. "But it wouldn't have happened for Mary."
"Why not?" Cora inquired.
"Because," Robert answered, sliding beneath the bedclothes beside her, grinning. "I am so much nicer than the Duke of Crowborough."
Chuckling, Cora replied, "I'll be the judge of that," causing him to chuckle as well. She leaned over to turn down her own lamp, leaving only the candle burning at his bedside. She turned onto her side to face him, saying, "Just don't think I'm going to let it rest, Robert." Playing with the collar of his night shirt, stroking her fingers along his neck gently, she continued, "I haven't given up by any means."
Robert hated disagreeing with her, although it happened often enough. He looked away, rubbing his hair, his forehead, his eyes, as he said, "I must do what my conscience tells me."
"So must I," she replied. Robert looked at her again. "And I don't want you to think I'll let it rest," she added, still running her fingers along his neck.
Knowing his wife's stubbornness, knowing his own resolve, knowing that even through their disagreements they still loved one another, Robert smiled and turned to blow out the candle.
Sliding his arm under Cora and pulling her toward him, Robert remarked, "It wasn't even nearly a year, Cora. Only a few months. Remember?"
Cora ran her fingers along his shirt front. "It felt like a year to me."
"Well, it wasn't. And I'm glad it wasn't. Because you know what, sweetheart?" Robert stroked her hair, as was his habit.
"What's that, my darling?" Cora asked, wrapping her arm around his middle and nestling her head against his shoulder.
"Because my own happiness depends upon yours. I can't be happy if you're not, my love," he whispered.
Smiling, Cora tightened her arm around him. "Then you have nothing to worry about, Robert. You have made me happy. Happier than I ever thought I would or could be."
Robert sighed in contentment and bent his head down in the dark, to kiss his wife. For whom he was still completely head over heels.
