II
Years passed. Things changed. Cora noticed the change in her husband's passions between when their marriage began to where they became comfortable together. The first time she wore lipstick, he had taken her with such furious abandon, with an almost savage nature, Cora had not known that marital relations could be like that. And she found she enjoyed it immensely. Robert was always so polite and kind, always very proper and gentle. Seeing him be with her in a manner that was so opposed to the way he presented himself in public was the first crack she saw in the armor guarding his heart. Cora knew, when they married, that he did not love her. She knew he did not love her, but she loved him. And she became almost single-minded in her goal to claim his heart for her own. He wholly held her heart, even when she knew he wished it otherwise. He did not want to love her and did not want her to love him, did not want the guilt of knowing he had taken her money and her heart and given her a cold title in return. Well, the first evening she wore lipstick in Paris was the first time Cora had hope that her marriage may turn from its shallow existence into something deeper. Into love.
And, of course, love had grown. Robert's heart had followed his passions. And by the time their first child was born, Cora knew without a shadow of a doubt that her husband loved her as she loved him. She had stolen his heart, and she cherished such a prize.
Their lives moved on. Change came, slowly but surely. One daughter, then two. Then, after a little time, a third. And then no others. Robert and Cora became the Earl and Countess of Grantham upon the death of Robert's father. Mama moved to the Dower House. Robert went away to war and then returned. Cora focused her attentions of keeping Downton Abbey running smoothly and raising three proper well-bred young ladies.
It happened, one day, when Mary had asked if she was old enough to wear perfume. Cora had balked. The governess was busy with little Sybil. Edith was reading a book but very obviously paying attention to her mother and elder sister. And Cora wasn't sure what to do. It seemed an awful thing to realize that her daughter had grown old enough to wear perfume. But the fact of the matter was that Mary was growing up. It was time.
"Mary, let's you and I go up to my room and see what we can find for you. Edith, you keep reading your book," Cora instructed. Edith's eyes narrowed in jealous displeasure, as often happened whenever Mary got to do much of anything, but she did not protest. Edith was not a protesting child. She might whine—quite a bit, actually—but she was never defiant. Not like Mary was. If Cora had refused this request to Mary, there would have been a fight. A bitter one. Sybil was a fighter, too, but she had a different fire to her, one that Cora recognized in herself. Mary, however, took after her grandmother. Both of her grandmothers, really. Edith took after Robert.
As they made their way up the stairs, Cora held out her hand to Mary with a smile. Mary looked at her mother and very nearly scoffed. She hurried upstairs and did not take her mother's hand. Cora swallowed back her hurt. It was not something she should be hurt about. Mary was growing up. She did not want to hold her mama's hand anymore. Cora could not fault her for it.
They made their way to Cora's bedroom. Mary sat on the chaise and watched as Cora went through the drawers of her vanity. The new maid, O'Brien, had quite a lot of things stored in there for Lady Grantham. She did good work with Cora's hair and in keeping her clothes and jewelry in perfect order and providing anything that the Countess could want. Cora appreciated her new maid's efficiency, even if she did have a somewhat cold demeanor. But as an American, Cora found most of the English to be quite cold.
"Oh my!" Cora exclaimed. In her search for some perfume that she could give to Mary, Cora came across a small tin that had been shoved to the back of a drawer and long forgotten. And now rediscovered.
"What is it?" Mary asked curiously.
Cora blushed, not wanting to confess to her child. "Nothing," she dismissed. She grabbed a small bottle that she had taken on their travels to Egypt just last year. "I think this will be good for you, Mary."
Mary took the small bit of perfume and excitedly put it on immediately, following Cora's instructions on how much to use and where to place it.
"Now, you can keep that with your things and you may wear it when you dress for dinner with the family, but that is all. I shall know if you run out of it too quickly," Cora warned.
"Yes, of course. Thank you, Mama!" Mary said happily. She hurried out of the room with her new prize.
Cora was left on her own in the bedroom. She took out the old lipstick that she had hidden away all those years ago.
She smiled at the memories of that pretty pink lipstick. Robert had made her promise to never wear it out of their bedroom—though it was not their bedroom at that point—and Cora had kept that promise. But she had, on occasion, dismissed her lady's maid early and painted it on her lips and waited for Robert to come to her. And it had always had the same marvelous effect on him.
When Cora had fallen pregnant, twice in two years, the lipstick had been forgotten. There were far more important things for her to contend with than seducing her husband. Besides, Robert hardly needed seducing most of the time. He had fallen in love with her, and their lovemaking had become just that: making love.
On opening the tin, Cora found that the lipstick had long gone stale and dry and dingy with age. She could not have expected it to still be usable.
But it did give her an idea. Cora went to her bedside table where she had magazines and catalogues piled up for her to read with her breakfast. She found one from a cosmetics company in London and flipped through until she found a listing for lipstick. It came in a variety of colors, now. It was still primarily used by performers and prostitutes, a fact that had come to Cora's attention long after she'd first purchased it in Paris. But it was now sold in a respectable London shop.
Cora rang for O'Brien. She had a few things to order. Mary should have perfume of her very own. Cora could use some more cream for her face. And perhaps another little something special.
It took time for the order to arrive, but when O'Brien informed Lady Grantham that the parcel had arrived from London, Cora eagerly had it sent up to her room for her to examine in private. O'Brien knew a great many things about the Earl and Countess, but she did not need to be privy to this.
All day, Cora was practically abuzz with anticipation. She had difficulty paying any heed during tea when Mary and Edith bickered or when Sybil inevitably dropped her saucer. She lost the thread of conversation when Mama came for dinner and when Robert discussed a difficulty with one of the tenant farmers. She feigned a headache when Robert asked if she was alright. She could hardly spoil the surprise by telling him that she had nothing akin to a headache at all. It did help, however, because Cora had a perfect excuse to go upstairs right after dinner and Mama went home shortly thereafter.
O'Brien dressed Cora for bed and unpinned her hair and plaited it down her back. Cora dismissed her immediately after. And as soon as she was alone, Cora took her brand-new lipstick from its hiding place.
This color was similar to that of the original from Paris. But that had been a softer pink. This pink was much brighter. And when Cora painted her lips, she rather thought they looked like the bright wild orchids they had seen on the Isle of Wight. It made her look quite different, she thought, but she rather liked it.
Oh she'd never even think of wearing it outside this room and not in front of anyone but Robert. But that was part of what made it so special. Only her beloved husband would see her this way. Only Robert would ever seen her in so many ways. Her heart filled as she thought of how dearly she loved him and how special their marriage was, how lucky they were to have their relationship as it was.
Cora heard the sounds of Robert with his valet in the dressing room, and she put everything away and arranged herself on the chaise in what she hoped was an enticing manner. And she waited. Robert never took too long readying for bed.
The door between their rooms opened, and Robert entered as he always did. "Did O'Brien bring you something for your head—oh!"
She almost laughed as he was struck dumb, frozen where he stood when he saw her for the first time. She allowed him to take in her appearance for a moment before she spoke. "I remembered that you seemed to enjoy when I wore the lipstick from Paris. It's been quite some time, but they sell it in London now. Do you like it?"
"Cora," he said in a strangled voice.
"Yes, Robert?" she answered teasingly.
His eyes were practically bugging out of his head as they fixated on her bright pink lips. "Oh my dearest love," he breathed.
Cora knew that tone of his voice quite well after all these years. Though she did not usually hear it until he was already inside her and they were both panting with hearts pounding.
Robert tore his dressing down off and practically lunged at her on the chaise. She did not need to wait long until they got to the point of panting breaths and pounding hearts. The lipstick, as it had been in years gone by, was smeared all over Cora's mouth and Robert's mouth and down her neck and over her breasts, everywhere his mouth trailed over her body.
It was not until after Robert had recovered from their first round and carried her from the chaise to the bed and then made love to her again that he finally spoke once more.
"I had forgotten how irresistible you look with your lips painted like that," he said with a happy sigh.
Cora was draped over his body as their limbs remained tangled together. "I am glad to find that I can still be irresistible to you after all these years," she giggled in response.
"You are quite often irresistible to me, my darling Cora. Though I will say that I pride myself on my ability to control myself for the most part."
"Well, I like it when you lose your control with me like this."
He pressed a kiss to her hair, now hanging loose and in a knotted mess from their exertions. "That was a wonderful surprise. I'm glad you were able to find some lipstick again. I quite like it on occasion."
"So long as it's only when we're alone," she corrected. "I assume that rule still holds from when you made it during our honeymoon."
"Oh god yes," he said emphatically, making her giggle again. "Cora, could you imagine what would happen if we were in front of anyone else when you looked like that? I should think we would be banned from polite society."
"Why might we be banned from polite society, just because I wore a bit of lipstick?" she asked, goading him slightly.
"The lipstick might not be the problem, but me having my wicked way with you against the nearest available surface might be," he said.
They both started laughing at that, though the laughter was soon muffled by their kisses, and then the only sounds to be heard were moans of pleasure.