"Damn," Robert swore under his breath as he fumbled with the ribbon, ruining the bow it had taken him embarrassingly long to shape. He had never wrapped a gift by himself before, and now he mentally berated himself for waiting until the last minute to attempt it. This was clearly not a skill that came naturally to him.

He had taken a gamble, he knew, with this gift. Rosamund suggested that a necklace or a set of combs would be fitting for a first anniversary, but when he made the trip to London in search of the aforementioned jewelry, he had stumbled on something simpler and, he hoped, more meaningful. In the weeks since making the purchase he had gone back and forth with himself about whether or not it had been a good choice. Now, as he stared down at the poorly-wrapped package, the ribbon looking more like a clumsy sailor's knot than a bow, he felt less convinced than ever.

And perhaps the gift would not have caused him so much anxiety, had it not been so imperative to him that their anniversary be perfect. He was deeply ashamed of how lonely and unsure he had made this first year for her, and so wanted to orchestrate a day that left her with no doubt of the love he had only recently given voice to. So far, he believed his efforts had paid off. The two of them passed a long, uninterrupted morning in bed, dozing in each other's arms and taking their breakfast on trays. Although the afternoon was a bit too cold for a walk, they had gone on one anyway; it allowed them to spend a stolen hour in her bedroom warming one another up. Dinner had become more of a social affair than he would have liked, his mother taking it upon herself to organize the guest list, but the dancing afterward had more than made up for that. It had not been long since they excused themselves for the night, flushed and laughing as they practically ran up the stairs to dress for bed.

Robert had thought this brief parting would be just the right amount of time to wrap her gift, but it had taken him quite a while longer than anticipated. This will have to do, he thought. Not giving himself any more chance to balk, he picked up the package and pushed open the connecting door.

Cora looked up at him from where she lounged on the chaise, a lazy smile spreading across her face. Her hair had been left loose so that dark curls tumbled exquisitely down the light pink fabric of her dressing gown. He liked her best like this: soft and undone in a way that only he was allowed to bear witness to.

"What took you so long?" she asked, and he realized that he had been staring. Grinning sheepishly, he stepped toward her and bent down to kiss her cheek.

"I was getting your gift ready."

"Oh?" She peered curiously at him with a raised eyebrow.

Robert took the package from behind his back, handing it to her before settling in the armchair across from the chaise. "I wrapped it myself," he said rather stupidly, as if that was not obvious. Thankfully, Cora took pity on him and merely smirked rather than using the opportunity to tease him.

He knew that she knew what it was the moment he gave it to her; with its shape and weight, it could hardly be anything other than a book. She tried to hide her confusion, quickly relaxing the brows that had knit together, but her eyes gave her away, expressive as they were. His stomach rolled, and he cursed himself for not buying the jewelry Rosamund had instructed him to.

Cora pulled at the ribbon carefully, almost maddening in her fastidiousness. Robert held his breath as her slender fingers undid his abysmal wrapping job. Finally, she tore the last of the paper away to reveal a first-edition copy of Persuasion. She looked up at him, then down at the book, then back at him, her expression a disconcerting mixture of shock and awe. "I don't understand - how did you know?"

"You told me," he said. When she only continued to stare wordlessly at him, he found himself even more nervous and unable to contain the flow of words that came spilling from his mouth. "It was the first time you came to Downton. We were in the library - I was trying rather hard to impress you - and I asked what sort of books you like to read. You mentioned Jane Austen and how you'd read all of her novels more than once, except for Persuasion, because your copy had been lost one summer in the move from Newport back to New York. You said it was her most romantic story, and at first I thought you were just flirting with me, but then you kept talking and I realized you were serious." He paused, the tops of his ears growing warm at the memory.

"You said something, I don't remember exactly what - I'll admit I was doing a bit more admiring than listening at that point - something about how lyrical the prose was, and I remember thinking what a shame it was that you couldn't read it again when clearly it meant so much to you, so I thought that -"

Before he could ramble any further Cora flew out of the chaise and into his lap, embracing him with such exuberance it nearly knocked the wind out of him. He tentatively patted her back. "Do you like it?" he asked weakly.

In lieu of an answer, she took his face in both hands and began peppering him with kisses. It was then that Robert knew he had made a very good choice. "I love it," she laughed when she finally pulled away, breathless and pink-cheeked. "I love you."

They grinned at each other for a moment, giggling like children, until Cora moved to rise. "I should get your gift."

"Not yet." Robert snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him, savoring her warm weight as she dropped into his lap. His gift could wait. For now, he was perfectly content to hold Cora while she wriggled in his arms, trying to get comfortable in the armchair that was really too small to fit both of them. As he ran his hand along her spine, he was quite sure that he had already been given the best gift he would ever receive.