Robert opened the gate that lead to the front door of Rooksway, letting his bride pass ahead of him and dismissing the carriage driver with a word of thanks before following her up the cobbled path. Producing the keys from his pocket he set about opening the front door and watched as Cora stepped into the dimly lit hallway. Closing the door and locking it behind him, Robert followed her towards the bedroom.

Suddenly Cora halted in her tracks, gasping and Robert just managed to not walk into her. Her eyes swept around the room which was filled with candles. Red rose petals littered the bedside table and the vanity she had used when they last resided here. And a present with cerulean wrapping paper and a silk bow to match sat on Cora's feather pillow.

"Oh Robert," she breathed softly. "It's beautiful!"

"You're beautiful," Robert beamed as he stepped up to her side and took her hand, lacing her fingers through his. "Most newly married high society couples have extravagant honeymoons in Europe or at the most lavish retreats Britain has to offer. And they have all the comforts that their combined fortunes can afford to accompany them. Alas I daresay many people both among our family and friends as well as society in general would be expecting me to do the same. To whisk you off to Paris or Rome just as a start for a few weeks." Pausing, he caught her steady appraisal of him and he smiled tenderly at her. "But I've thought long and hard about the location of our honeymoon and it seemed natural to me that we should spend it here, where our life as a couple truly began. Not to mention I overheard Papa saying a few weeks ago that he plans to refurbish this cottage as well as the others on this part of the estate and rent out the four empty ones which means that this will be our last chance to spend some time here before everything changes." Cora gently squeezed his hand in hers.

"Everything will change after we return anyway though," she observed. "We will have new roles to fulfill both in our marriage and to the estate. I won't be spending my days so leisurely. I'll be learning exactly what being the Countess of Grantham entails. And I hope that after a period of time that we can start a family together too." Gazing up at her new husband, she took a step closer to him.

"I'm glad you have such a grasp on the situation Cora. And when the time comes, I cannot wait to have children with you. But not yet. I want to have you to myself for a while longer first." Cora could see his eyes twinkling and smirked.

"Well that is what a honeymoon is all about darling," she reminded him casually. Letting go of his hand she stepped over the threshold and into the bedroom, making a beeline for the previously forgotten present. Turning back to Robert, who had leaned against the door frame, she gestured to the present. "May I?"

"Of course you may dearest." Cora tugged the silk bow loose and brushed it off the parcel. Then she tore at the paper eagerly, extracting a beautiful navy silk nightgown. Cora held it against her body, moving to the mirror to examine it. It was very low cut in a v-shape across the bodice and the delicate hemline barely reached down mid-thigh.

"I love it Robert, thank you!" she said earnestly as she turned to him with a large grin plastered on her features. "And I can't resist trying it on now if you don't mind?" she added hopefully.

"I was rather hoping you would suggest it," he responded happily. Propping himself up from his leaning post, he grasped the door knob and began to pull the door shut.

"Robert what are you doing?"

"I'm letting you get changed. I want to start off seeing you wrapped up in your new present because I fear if I stay whilst you get changed I'll be too tempted to skip ahead to other activities." Cora giggled.

"Alright I'll call you when I'm ready," she informed him.

"I cannot wait!"

Robert went to the armchair in the lounge room and sat down, trying to breathe deeply. It took all his concentration to succeed as thoughts of Cora in the nightgown filled his mind. They hadn't been together in nearly two months with the wedding looming and all the planning that it had entailed and he had really missed their intimacy. He had spent his days longing for when they would finally be married and free of all formal restraints and when he had sat down to consider his personal wedding presents to her, their honeymoon had been at the forefront of his mind. Naturally there had also been a couple of presents amongst the pile at the reception but it was now images of how striking Cora's porcelain skin would be against the navy fabric that filled his mind and sent his pulse into a staccato of tactile anticipation.

Mercifully, Cora's voice floated down the hallway only a few minutes later. Robert could not jump to his feet fast enough as he darted back towards the bedroom. Pausing, he took a deep breath as anticipation flowed through him. Their wedding night was finally here! He knocked eagerly and Cora giggled.

"Why are you knocking? I told you I was ready." Robert entered the room looking boyishly sheepish, but his face quickly transformed into one of pure delight and desire.

Cora was lying propped up on her right elbow, legs crossed daintily and a saucy smile on her lips. The nightgown accentuated her curves and contrasted her skin perfectly and, because of her angle, her cleavage was shown to particularly good advantage. His breath caught as he stared at her. Cora chuckled at his expression.

"Are you going to just stand there all night? I had hoped you were planning to officially consummate me darling," she waggled her eyebrows at him.

"Indeed," he agreed. "I was just taking a moment to etch this vision of you onto my memory. You are stunning my love," he raved. Cora blushed and her grin widened.

Slowly, Robert padded over to her, his eyes locked on hers. He unbuttoned his jacket and discarded it at the foot of the bed, and then he crouched beside her.

"Perhaps I can help you with this?" Cora asked innocently. The corners of his mouth twitched.

"Well since I don't have a valet…" he began but was interrupted by Cora capturing his lips with hers in a heated kiss. At the same time, her left hand grasped his tie and pulled as she rolled down onto her back, pulling him with her. With her other arm now free, she quickly undid the tie and threw it to the side while his hands roamed over her body, exploring it through the silky fabric. He found a nipple, and immediately set about teasing it as Cora sighed softly into his mouth.

She made quick work of his shirt buttons with Robert pulling back to shake it off his arms. With his chest now exposed, she reached for his belt and neatly undid the clasp. Robert was enjoying touching his wife through her new nightgown but was anxious to feel her skin against his. Climbing completely onto the bed, he straddled her legs as his hands ran up the bare lower section of her shapely thighs, catching the hem and drawing it higher in the process. He watched with great pleasure as Cora's eyes darkened and a serious of trills escaped under his gentle caresses. Lifting her hips, she allowed Robert to bunch the nightgown around her waist before he pushed it higher and off her outstretched arms leaving her in all of her glory. Robert swallowed as he felt that area tighten considerably.

With agonizing slowness, Cora reached out and unbuttoned his trousers, her fingers brushing purposefully against his stiff member. He groaned in response to her ministrations as his hands drew patterns on her abdomen. But he was having trouble concentrating on his task and soon his hands were on either side of her hips in an attempt to steady himself. She had him freed of his confines moments later and he wasted no time in kicking off the remaining offending articles of clothing, his broad chest rising and falling rapidly. Cora's hands reached for him again but he caught her gently by the wrists, shaking his head slightly at her. Her brows drew together briefly but quickly shot up as she felt the tips of his fingers of his other hand touch her intimately.

Robert watched avidly as his wife began to build towards her release. The way she squirmed beneath him as he stroked her, alternating between light and purposeful touches. Soon he had shifted his target from her sensitive spot to her sweet sex, elated to find that she was ready for him. He felt a strain on his groin as his fingers became slick and he eased two into her. His grip on her wrists relaxed completely and her arms fell to her sides with a dull thud, her slender fingers scrunching up the bed cover and her knuckles going white as her body tensed, moaning with need and pleasure.

His fingers swirled around, relishing her intense heat, adding further fuel to the fire. Leaning over her, he applied his mouth to her neck, sucking tenderly. Then he placed a series of open-mouthed kisses along her collarbone and down to her left breast, taking her nipple into his mouth and rubbing his tongue over it. Cora whimpered audibly and one of her hands snaked into his hair, massaging it and encouraging him. Robert knew he would not last long. Her reactions to his attentions were driving him mad despite his best efforts to focus on her pleasure. Adding his thumb and resuming his stroking from earlier, he was rewarded with a buck of her hips into his hand. He swiftly removed it and repositioned himself. She wrapped her legs around his waist, doing everything she could to spur him on but Robert paused.

"Robert please!" Cora moaned and tried to push against his buttocks but he held firm. He lowered his head until they were almost nose to nose and gazed raptly into her diamond eyes.

"To love and to cherish till death do us part," he whispered, reciting their wedding vows from a few hours earlier. "I love you so very much Cora Crawley."

His bare emotion touched her soul deeply as she swallowed, trying to shore up the tears that were now threatening to breach. "I love you too Robert, always and forever." In that moment, their lips and bodies fused from two halves into a perfect whole. What had started as a passionate rediscovery of each other had now turned into a much deeper, living and moving promise as Robert thrust into her with the gentlest of motions. Simultaneously, his tongue slipped into her mouth to meet hers in an intimate encore of their wedding dance. Cora's hands ran purposefully up and down his back, tracing each curve and enjoying the way his muscles flexed as he moved above her. Robert used one arm to take his weight and anchor himself while his other hand cupped her cheek, thumb brushing lightly against her soft skin.

Soon they could no longer kiss as their tempo increased but they kept their communications up through their eyes and touches, savouring every moment together. Robert's heart was getting closer and closer to hummingbird speed but he determinedly held back, running his hand down her body to fondle her just above their joining. A few well placed touches and Cora began to quiver. He shifted his finger tips slightly and felt her walls starting to surge.

"Yes my love," he panted, plunging faster and deeper within her. Cora arched up into him and let out a long, lusty cry, her whole body trembling and he finally gave in to his own base urge, slumping on top of her, his head coming to rest in the crook of her neck.

For untold minutes they lay in a state of boneless bliss, catching their breath and enjoying being wrapped up in each other. Eventually though, they began to feel the nip of the air so Robert summoned his energy and rolled off of her onto his side of the bed and then sat up completely, swinging his legs onto the sides and standing up. Cora, who had felt the immediate impact of a cool breeze, looked up at him, pouting.

"We can't get warm if you are lying on the covers," Robert pointed out, wishing they had thought of this detail when they had first begun. Cora grumbled in response and also got up as her husband slid under the bed spread with a contented sigh. He winked at her, enjoying the view of her small breasts jostling against her chest as she too immersed herself and wriggled over, settling against him in her wonderfully familiar manner. He turned his head slightly and inhaled the fragrance of her hair before pressing a kiss to her forehead happily.

"Of all of our day to day interactions, holding you in my arms and falling asleep with you after we've made love is my favourite part," he confessed.

"Mmmm. It's mine too," she agreed sleepily. Stroking her upper arm slightly, he peered down at her. Her eyes were shut, her lips curled upwards and her arm was draped over his stomach. How he had missed this. "Goodnight my darling husband," she mumbled.

"Goodnight my dearest wife," he echoed and relaxed into the arms of slumber.

The next morning they arose close to midday having spent most of the night alternating between making love and sleeping. And as much as they mutually agreed they would love to simply lounge in bed all day, the smell of bacon and sausages that was wafting under the door was too much to resist for their protesting stomachs. Cora had meandered over to the wardrobe that Robert had told her should house plenty of her outfits when there was a hesitant knock at the bedroom door.

"Ah that'll be Miss Lacombe here to help you dress before breakfast, er luncheon, gets cold," Robert advised as he hauled himself out of bed.

Cora popped her head around the wardrobe door. "Alright darling. Some of your clothes have been put in here too," she informed him, emerging with his dressing gown in hand. Robert was already half dressed in his pajamas and took it gratefully. As soon as he was decent, he went to the door and opened it. Miss Lacombe was no longer there but the sounds of cluttering pots and pans told him she had merely retreated back to the kitchen to see to the food so he set off down the hallway and into the kitchen.

"Good morning Miss Lacombe." The young brunette turned around from the stove and smiled.

"Good morning Milord." Robert observed the bacon and sausages which had been tempting his nose for the last half an hour along with some eggs, which were currently cooking and a pile of freshly made toast.

"This looks very good," he commented. "I think rather than dress now we'll just sit down and eat. It would be a shame for good food to just sit there." At that moment, Cora sidled into the room in a peach-coloured tea gown, her hair drawn back loosely in a ribbon. Robert raised his eyebrows bemusedly.

"I know it's a bit unorthodox for this time of the day but it's comfortable and it feels lovely after a day in a wedding dress," she announced.

"Was that wedding dress causing you discomfort?" Robert asked incredulously.

"Not really but it isn't quite like being in any other sort of dress. And I don't wear ball gowns all day either," she pointed out. "Don't mistake me, I loved wearing my wedding dress. It is so very beautiful. I guess I'm just a bit more modest about some things than other women are." He nodded.

"Shall we?"

"Certainly."

They made their way to the small round table and sat down on opposite sides. Miss Lacombe had already laid it out for them and immediately began bringing over the food. Cora's stomach growled loudly and her cheeks flushed but as usual, nothing fazed the stead-fast ladies' maid turned private cook and housekeeper. She had been by her mistresses' side ever since her wedding to John and had seen her at her best and worst. She had watched from a distance as her lady had become more and more depressed, her spirit broken by her marriage to a cruel man. And then a knight in shining armour had come along and took control of the situation. Whisking her away to safety at this very cottage. Loving and caring for her. And he had thought of every particular, Charlotte Lacombe having been one of his priorities in order to make sure his mistress was comfortable but also, as he had once explained to her on a journey back from calling on Lord Durham in London, because he was concerned that she would suffer greatly if she remained at that house with Her Ladyship missing. Lord Downton was a good, kind man, she thought. And although it was common place to take a mistress in discretion, the journey of this young, now happily married couple, oddly didn't even feel like it had started as that. Something which she could not quite explain to herself. But circumstances aside, it gladdened her heart to see peace and harmony restored to her ladies' life because she very much deserved it. Miss Lacombe watched as her two employers began helping themselves to portions from assorted plates, content with her situation in life and she hoped to continue to serve Lady Downton for a long time. She did not know that her time was in fact, almost up.

Over the next two weeks that followed, Robert and Cora fell into a leisurely routine, assisted my Miss Lacombe. They were never out of bed early in the mornings, deciding that it was pointless since they were on their honeymoon and thus did not have anything pressing their time that did not involve moving bed springs. After luncheon they would go for a walk with Robert taking care to select a different route around the estate for them each time. He felt strongly about Cora getting to know his beloved estate almost as well as he himself knew it and he knew it would help her prepare for her role of destiny whenever it might come. Cora relished these walks and all the flamboyant descriptions that came with them, finding herself engrossed in the history of her new husband's family and estate. She had known very little about the Dukedom of Furringham when she had married into that family and was barely enlightened any further afterwards because John was too busy keeping her on a tight leash and drumming into her that she was only there to produce an heir. Yet another example of just how lucky she was to have found Robert and been given a second chance for happiness. When they returned from their walks, they preferred to spend their time in the back garden, making the most of the warm summer days. They would take turns reading poems to each other on the bench under the birch tree or Cora would bring out her needlework while Robert read a book. One day Cora had Robert pose for her in front of the back section of the cottage, explaining that "it's a perfect location for a portrait darling. Very befitting for a young Viscount to be seen looking after his inheritance and since you had the gardeners in, the flower patch looks marvelous." And every day after that, she would always spend a good couple of hours dedicated to her painting. In the evenings they preferred to dine at the cottage with the occasional trip to the village or Ripon, enjoying the best of Miss Lacombe's cooking and the accompanying bottles of champagne, claret, scotch and sherry before retiring to bed to continue making the most of having their own private little world.

As the end of their second week approached, Cora asked Robert to take her back to the ridge overlooking Downton as he had done when she had first arrived. Robert was not very keen on the idea of going too close to the house when they were still 'away' since Rosamund was the only one who knew where they actually were but as with most things, Cora's persistence paid off. After showing her the way she trudged up there for six days, easel and paints in hand. This was to be a gift to her new father-in-law whom Robert had assured her, shared the same interest in paintings that he did. And she did make a point of stealing into the nearby tree line to satisfy Robert's concerns about being noticed. He had no objections to her finally doing everything her heart desired. She had told him of how John had once happened upon her as she had finished a painting of her favourite beach in Newport and torn it apart because it made her happy and reminded her of home.

As much as neither of them cared to admit, despite the months that had past and the situation they were now in, that man still haunted them both from time to time, usually as a result of Cora reminiscing about something during that period of her life. And they both made a concerted effort to avoid it where possible and in Robert's case, encourage Cora to spread her wings. He was excited by how much confidence she now had and her energy, once almost non-existent, was overflowing with tremendous rewards. He grown warm just thinking about some of them. But he was also keenly aware that their time at the cottage was almost up. In three days they would be returning to Downton to start their new life together and while he was very much looking forward to finally living it, he was loath to close the door on a defining moment of his life.

Charlotte Lacombe stood behind Cora, braiding her hair with quiet efficiency. But her eyes no longer held the contentment she had felt at the start of her employers' stay at Rooksway and her shoulders were hunched, weary with worry. Cora had first begun to notice subtle changes in the manner of her ladies' maid during their second week there. Unsure of its cause, she elected to keep her counsel and observe but she had seen no improvement. Miss Lacombe had been as courteous and hard working as ever but she had become noticeably more distant. Cora had often glimpsed her with her brows drawn together and a faraway look in her eyes as she went about doing the dishes or dusting the furniture and it plagued her. Gazing at her defeated form in the mirror, she decided that enough time had passed. And she did not want any unknowns on the last days of her honeymoon.

"Miss Lacombe are you quite well?" she asked tentatively. She watched as Miss Lacombe immediately hitched a reassuring smile onto her features.

"Yes Milady, very well thank you."

"I'm glad to hear it. I hope you will not think me too impertinent, or dare I say American, but you seem really disheartened of late. Is there anything the matter?" Miss Lacombe swallowed visibly as she tied a bow at the bottom of the braid. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Cora added hastily.

"No, no, you should know anyway." At this, Cora felt a pang in her heart. Something was definitely not right that she should warrant being told as if personal opinion did not matter. Miss Lacombe stepped to the side and faced her mistress, trying to conceal the anguish she felt.

"I was going to tell you when we got back to the big house," she began. "I'm handing in my notice." Cora's eyes grew wide with shock as she absorbed the news. She had been through so much. And Miss Lacombe had always been there, an anchor to steady her in an uncertain world. Struggling to find her voice, Cora summoned her strength. She did not want to appear unprofessional .

"I'm sorry to hear this and wish you all the best for the future. You'll be paid two months wages and I'll write you a letter of recommendation."

"Thank you. I'm sorry for spoiling your honeymoon." Cora nodded, accepting that she was partly to blame for forcing her ladies' maid's hand early. "It's just I had a letter from my father."

"Oh?"

"He writes that my mother has become sick. The doctor has diagnosed her with a weakness of the lungs and says that there is nothing to be done." She paused, trying to collect herself, head bowed at her confession.

"I'm very sorry," Cora whispered, sensing her pain. "Papa is trying his best to look after her but it is becoming too difficult to do that and still hold down his job. So he has asked me to come home."

"I understand." Saddened by her ladies' maid's circumstances, Cora made a snap decision. "Miss Lacombe, I will see to it that you continue to receive half your wages every month. I imagine you will not be working until further notice when you leave and I wouldn't want you or your family to be further burdened by a lack of income." Truth be told, she did not know if she was entitled to give out favours like this but that concern was vanquished as she witnessed the look of gratitude on Charlotte Lacombe's face.

"Thank you very much Milady!"

"Please write to me and keep me informed of your situation," Cora continued. "And if there is anything I can do to help, please let me know." Miss Lacombe nodded.

"Thank you, I will. I'll stay for the first few days back at the big house to get you settled properly and give you time to advertize for a new maid." Cora smiled softly. The sound of the door opening distracted them both.

"Will that be all Milady?" Miss Lacombe asked, turning her attention back to her mistress.

"Yes, thank you Miss Lacombe. You may go for the night."

"Very good Milady."

Cora's eyes followed her maid as she nodded to Robert before departing the room and closing the door behind her. Robert stepped closer to her, his hands posed over the knot around his dressing gown. "Is everything alright my dear?" Cora shut her eyes and shook her head. And a voice inside of her wailed that something was most certainly not alright.

A/N I am SO SORRY for not updating for a shameful amount of time. Many thanks to my wonderful Nova Super for coming out of hiatus to beta this for me! I assure you I will not leave it so long to update again.