#downton abbey drabble

[juliasdowntonstuff]

New drabble - We're all right… aren't we, Robert? pt. 1

This newest drabble is inspired by my Downton watch with Dad. At some point during S3 he asked if Cora ever found out about Robert and the maid and I couldn't really answer. All we get are hints, so I thought I would make up a little backstory using some scenes we got on the show. This is part one of two and as always, there's a sneak peek under the dividing line :)

Silence followed her departure. Complete, deafening silence.

What had he done?

He stood there. Unmoving. A tall and dark figure in the small room — motionless as realisation began to sink in.

What had he done? What had he just said to her? And more importantly — why had he said it, all of it? What had he done?

Because it was all a lie, it was not at all what he wanted. He did not want her, and most certainly not with every fibre of his being. He did not want her like he had said. And he knew he would not cherish the words she had said to him in hushed tones.

Robert needed to hear those words, desperately. Especially in recent weeks. He had been feeling as if he was losing sight of who he was, losing his standing, his purpose and his family all at once.

He needed those words. But he did not need to hear them from her. They should only be spoken softly, the sound enveloping him as he got lost in the warm familiarity of the gentle American lilt in her voice. Cora was who he needed to hear these words from, not her. Not the maid. Cherishing the words said by her would only remind him of everything that happened before, of the kisses. It would remind him of that moment it happened, of that entire evening and everything that had transpired. It would only serve as a painful reminder of this gigantic lapse of judgment that had led to him taking her into the dressing room in the first place.

Now, merely seconds after she had left, he already wanted nothing more than to forget about it. About all of it. He wanted to forget what he had said and especially what he had done. He wanted to forget everything that had happened in the last few weeks and months. He wanted to forget these damned kisses. He wanted to forget about her.

He quickly glanced over at the uncomfortable single bed that stood in the middle of the small dressing room he rarely ever slept in. This was his room, but it was not really. It hadn't been for decades. His room was her room. She was his everything. Looking at the made-up bed reminded him why he had come to this room in the first place. His wife was sick, lying in her bed in the room next door. And he had been seconds away from betraying her.

He was disgusted. Disgusted by himself and what he had almost done — or already done. And he could not stand to be in this room, the room it had happened in, for even just another second.

Tying his black embellished dressing gown tighter around himself, Robert quickly fled the room and all but ran down the stairs and into the library. With any luck, not that he deserved it, someone had refilled the decanter of whiskey. Carson certainly would have been so attentive, but the trusty butler had become a victim of the same illness that had stretched its fingers out for his wife. Maybe Molesley had? No, that man was even worse off than Carson was last he saw him.

He threw open the heavy door to the library, not letting the large and quite heavy plank of wood keep him from his destination. The last remains of the dying fire from earlier in the night flickering in the hearth were bathing the otherwise dark room in the faintest of warm, orange hues. He did not even bother turning on the lights, the faint glow was enough for him to make out the table and the glass bottles he was targeting.

Much to his dismay, the decanter with his favourite whiskey on the small side table was almost empty when he picked it up. With a dissatisfied grunt, he downed the last of it before setting the glass down much more forcefully than he should have.

[bella-caecilia]

17. exchanging looks in a crowded room 🖤

Day 3

17 – exchanging looks in a crowded room

The room was buzzing. The giddy excitement was palpable. And Cora felt that’s how it should be on one of the first balls of the season. Rose was long off to chat animatedly with her friends, and since the first dance was already over, Cora had left the dancing parquet and stood at the side with Rosamund. Robert was making conversation with two lords he had been fellow students with at Eton. Everything was how it should be.

The things Rosamund was talking about only partly reached Cora’s conscience. Her mind was nowhere in particular as she just soaked up the boisterous and warm atmosphere of the ball. She felt like she belonged right in with her shiny light orange gown, bedazzled with stones and clad in exquisite orange sapphire jewellery. She had to admit, Robert really hadn’t held back to make sure they had a London season worthy of Rose’s debut. There was a fleeting possibility that it was egoistic spending with the way Robert eyed Cora ever so often. She couldn’t quite remember the last time his eyes raked over her appearance so devouringly in broad daylight. Cora definitely felt undeniably comfortable in her skin. And Robert’s behaviour made her feel like the belle of the ball. She chuckled quietly at that thought.

Standing at the side of the lively ballroom, Cora let Rosamund’s words ripple around her. But as much as her sister-in-law was never a boring conversation partner, Cora was somehow wishing for someone else to be by her side. They shared the first dance some moments ago, but she already missed her husband.

Cora wasn’t quite used to being apart from Robert anymore. In their domestic idyll at Downton, they rarely decided to part for more than a few hours when Robert was going after his duties to the estate. They preferred being together, even if it was in mutual silence, each with their tasks. When Robert had been to America, it had felt like ages. Long torturous ages. Since he was back, Cora was trying to spend even more time by his side. Sometimes she felt a little foolish for clinging to him in a way only Isis did, but Robert didn’t seem to mind. He always had a fresh smile on his face when she sought his company in the library.

But now that they were here in London, it felt strange not attending every event clutching her husband’s arm constantly. She had a weird flutter in her stomach when she had to let go of him to talk to others and comply with social customs. Seeing him spending a great deal of these evenings conversing with other gentlemen, seemingly unbothered by her absence, felt strange. She would never say she was jealous. What for? What could possibly make her jealous? They were just following society’s standards, and Cora knew very well that Robert was looking forward to taking her to their room afterwards and being alone with her. Oh no, she had been married enough years to not feel the need to be jealous. She was just utterly affectionate this year and she took it as a good sign for their marriage. Hers and Robert’s relationship was thriving like she never thought possible for a couple their age.

Though, it was getting harder every minute to stay the relaxed wife and keep up a conversation with her sister-in-law. Cora craned her neck to look for Robert. She made a noise of approval to Rosamund who had asked a question Cora hadn’t listened to but Rosamund didn’t seem to have noticed Cora’s absence of mind.

“Right? That’s what I said all the time!” Rosamund proclaimed with emphasis.

Cora’s eyes were scanning the room. Through the crowd of dancing pairs, it was hard to get a proper impression of the groups of people. It was then, that Cora discovered her husband in a small circle of men by the winged doors to the neighbouring hall. He balanced a flute of champagne with three fingers and nodded at something the lord with the impressive moustache had said. Cora had forgotten his name. As always, Robert was participating just as he should. He was immersed in the conversation and didn’t seem to miss anything.

Cora sighed.

“What is the matter?” Rosamund inquired.

“What? Oh, nothing,” Cora waved off. Rosamund had a stern expression on her face. The red of the high collar of rubies around her neck made her eyes pierce even more intensely in the warm light of the candelabras. She was displeased to have the attention snatched from her talk.

“Well, it’s just so strange to stand in this ballroom this year, that it’s Rose’s first season, and knowing we’ve attended balls here for… how many years? It feels like Mary’s first season was just yesterday. And I remember being swirled on this exact parquet myself at this age. It’s so strange,” Cora said. She looked across the young ladies with pink cheeks and nervous eyes.

“Yes, I guess you’re right,” Rosamund agreed. “I’ve lost count of the seasons I’ve partaken in.” She took a sip from her champagne. Cora looked at her and had a thought that had been recurring since she met her sister-in-law for the first time. Rosamund was a lady through and through. Just the way she sipped her champagne pensively, remembering old times, had a poise to it Cora could never dream of matching. The way there was never a redundant motion, her chin always held up high. No matter her real height, Rosamund managed to always seem like the tallest. She was always master of the situation, never lost control. It was impressive. And Cora thought that without any judgement. It was merely an observation she made time and time again.

“Are we getting old, Rosamund?” she asked.

“Old? We? Come on, Cora. I am a widow and not just since yesterday. But I refuse to call myself old. It’s bad enough when others do it.”

“Of course.” Cora didn’t want to feel old herself, but there were rare moments when she wondered.

“And look at your husband,” Rosamund remarked. She tipped her head to the side and indicated to Robert across the room. “The way he pines for you. Don’t tell him you thought we might be old. How ancient would that make him? He couldn’t handle it.” A smirk ghosted over Rosamund’s features.

Cora snickered. She turned her head to look at Robert. He did indeed seem to pine for her. Cora felt the heat rise on her décolleté and cheeks. He still stood along with his peers but looked over at Cora intensively. His glass was empty, and the smirk that flashed across his features was unequivocal. Cora bit her lip. The wide smile she couldn’t avoid pushed up her round cheeks.

“You two are impossible,” Rosamund said.

‘You would be the same with Marmaduke,’ Cora thought but knew better than to say it out loud.

“This is not about you, this ball or this season even,” Rosamund added. “But somehow you’re acting like that.” She groaned. “See, that’s what I mean.”

Cora followed her look and saw Robert coming over with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“You have already been courted,” Rosamund hissed.

“Yes,” was the only answer that Cora was able to come up with.

“It’s not about you,” Rosamund repeated. The irritated undertone only bothered Cora very distantly.

By the time, Robert had reached the two women and blindly set down his empty champagne flute on a tray of a passing footman. He clasped his hands behind his back as he entered the ladies’ atmosphere.

“I hope I don’t interrupt you,” he said.

Rosamund already opened her mouth, and Cora saw that she was about to spew something vicious.

“Oh no, not at all,” Cora hurried to assure. She smiled broadly at Robert.

“I’m glad,” he said. “Would you care for a dance, my dear?”

Cora didn’t answer but only took the hand he held out for her. There was a flutter in her stomach and it wasn’t of the weird kind. Before she totally succumbed to her husband’s charm on the dance floor, though, she turned back around to her sister-in-law.

“Maybe you also find someone who will court you,” she spoke softly. Rosamund only rolled her eyes and shook her head in denial.

The next moment, Cora already found herself twirled around between the other dancers. No, she wasn’t old. Not yet. At this right moment, she was sure. She had never felt younger.

[ohtobealady]

Love your cobert drabbles and fanfics!! Please write more!! Hope you are doing well 😘🥰😉

So I had a very, very old request for a long-lost prompt list. They requested #18 which was an angsty “All you had to do was stay.” I do not know where that request went, so I am answering this more open-ended one from 2020 instead. Thank you Anon of Bygone Times. I am doing well! And I hope you are, too.

Just felt like doing a little something! Hurt/Comfort really. Post ANE. Please forgive the clunkiness xoxox

—//—//—//—//—//—//—

Angst #18 - All You Had to Do Was Stay

Her mouth felt as if it was stuffed with cotton and her tongue felt dry and thick. It was over, but the taste remained: mineraly and sharp, a bitter tang. It filled up her entire mouth and nose, the taste and smell indistinguishable from each other. She needed water.

Cora opened her eyes and immediately blinked. She worked for a moment to adjust her vision, pressing her eyelids softly and then peering into the afternoon rays of sun coming in at an odd angle to the room. Oh, her head pounded and throbbed. Water; where was the water?

She closed her eyes again and rested her head back against the thin pillow. She’d prayed it wouldn’t be like this. The first few times she’d done the treatment, as Doctor Clarkson had called it, she’d gagged, of course. But she managed the small measured portions of raw liver she’d been prescribed to eat over the course of the day. She could have the injections just as soon as they were shipped from London; this would get easier—less frequent. But after a week, and with the shipment still missing, she found she could no longer stomach it. She managed her portion at luncheon, just barely finding the strength to swallow the gelatinous mush in her mouth that had once been neat cubes upon her plate. But then the vomiting began at tea. And it didn’t stop. The smell of it, the vomit a dark red in the basin, set her mouth to watering and nose burning as a precursor to even more retching.

So Robert had taken her here the next morning—this morning—, in spite of her protesting, to the hospital.

Cora groaned. Whatever strength and newfound energy she’d enjoyed before was completely depleted now and what remained were aches and fatigue. She wouldn’t think of what it may mean—that the incessant vomiting of the last day and night had undone all of her progress—but instead tried her best to look at the bright side. The injections would be in soon, and there’d be less liver. Not no liver, she knew. But less. She could stomach less.

With this, she opened her eyes again. Late afternoon, she could tell. The hospital bed beneath her felt stiff and narrow. The quilt was rough. She attempted to ease herself up slowly, the blood in her head thumping and her stomach sore from its terrible labor.

But then the small creak of a wooden chair to her right, and the warm weight of his hand upon her blanketed shin stilled her.

“Lie back.”

“Robert,” her voice croaked softly, her protest pitiful and weak. “I’m alright.”

“You aren’t. You need rest.”

Despite her scoff, Cora did lie back. She hadn’t even the energy to roll her eyes. “I’m alright. Really.”

“So you said.” His voice was gentler in his contradiction than before, and even though her eyes were closed, Cora could feel the way he shifted in the wooden chair. She could feel the way he leaned closer to her, and she felt his hand move from her leg and to her arm. His fingers encircled it, and she felt him draw a soft line along the thin and fragile bone of the inside of her wrist. She sighed; her head hurt a little less. “We were pleased to see you’ve kept down the last portion.”

She hummed a reply. “Best not to speak too soon.”

“Doctor Clarkson says if you can keep down the next, he’ll send us home to bed.”

She swallowed down what she wanted to respond: She didn’t want another portion. The very thought of it prickled up beads of cold sweat upon her hairline. She did groan, but took in a long breath to steady herself. “I’ve been resting all day.”

“Yes. And he has given you direction to rest as much as possible tomorrow. That is, if you’re well enough to leave.”

“Oh, Robert,” she opened her eyes. “I don’t wish to take up a bed for anyone who may really need it.”

She felt the way his fingers moved upon her wrist. “I suppose you think you don’t?”

“I don’t need it. I’ve been ill, yes, but not ill enough for constant monitoring.” She shook her head, closed her eyes, and swallowed down the dry burn of her throat. Her voice was hoarse from the vomiting. “Besides, I’d like to see you try keeping all that liver down.”

His fingers tightened. The chair creaked. And in the absence of what she thought would be a low chuckle, Cora slowly opened her eyes to find him looking down at her.

“I wish I could do this for you.”

She sighed. “Do what?” she asked, even though she knew.

“All of it.”

She knew. Her chest ached when he looked away from her, his chin trembling. Yes, she knew. For she felt the same when he was lying in this bed a few short years ago and she was the one on the creaking chair praying that somehow they could exchange places. She’d suffer it for him, she knew. And he would suffer this for her. “Oh, darling.“

“I hate seeing you so ill. Last night. I’m so terribly sorry you must endure this.”

It took more energy than she thought she had to slip her wrist from his grasp and for her fingers to find his hand instead. She squeezed, quickly and firmly, and smiled when he at last met her eye.

“No. I don’t want that. No apologies or pity. Hmm?” She smiled wider for his sake, and she tried her best to level her voice, to not sound quite so weak. “All I want is this. For you to stay beside me. Holding my hand.”

He chuckled, softly and sadly. “You’ll have some of my pity. It can’t be helped.” At this, he brought her fingers to his lips and pressed them. They felt warm against her skin. “But I will hold your hand.”

[kanerallels]

For the Christmas fic maybe…Sabezra and “All I Want For Christmas is You?” (I just saw that post and it sounds so cute and fun!)

Thank you so much for sending in a request!! This one got a little long, but I'm fairly proud of it

“Looks like we were right about this being a meeting place for the local Imperials,” Sabine said quietly, nodding to the table filled with gray uniformed officers, all chatting and drinking.

“Looks like it,” Ezra said, fidgeting with his drink cup a little as he shot another glance at Sabine. They were both in disguise— him in a crisp white shirt and suit coat of Kanan’s that Hera had found for him, and her in a dress that Ezra had never seen before. It was magenta with a halter top, leaving her arms bare. The fabric was embroidered and beaded in diamond patterns, and the skirt hit just below her knees. In her hair— dyed freshly just for the occasion— she wore a small silver tiara.

She looked beautiful, and Ezra was trying really hard to pretend he didn’t notice. He was supposed to be over his crush, after all.

But missions where they went undercover together made that hard, especially around Life Day. Mistletoe and sappy songs were everywhere— even now, playing in the background of the bar.

I just want you for my own,

More than you could ever know.

Sabine glanced at him, and lifted an eyebrow. “Spectre Six? You good?”

Make my wish come true,

All I want for Christmas is you.

Even when she was looking at him like he was insane, she was prettier than anyone else in the room. Maybe especially then. Take it easy, Bridger, Ezra ordered himself. He wasn’t going to ruin their friendship. Not now, not ever.

“I’m good,” he said.

[adoracora-elizabeth]

Drabble - Anniversary part two

Cora waited until Robert finally left the library. She had pretended to read her book, but she had not read a word.

“I need to go and see if Tom is ready.” Robert said while getting up from his desk. He had a guilty look on his face.

“That is alright. I will be here when you come back.” Cora answered, pretending to be disturbed in her reading.

“I am not sure how long it will take,” Robert said while stepping closer to her spot on the sofa.

Cora stretched out her hand to take Robert’s. “I am feeling well today, so I will not go up before it is time to change for dinner.”

Robert kissed the back of her hand. “You know that you do not have to change. There is only family and you do look wonderful already.”

Cora gave him a soft smile. “I know. But we should do things the proper way. Was that not what your mother always said?”

Now Robert pressed his lips even longer on her hand. “I love you, my darling.”

Cora stayed behind, she waited a bit before she rang the bell to call for Mrs Hughes.

“You rang Milady?”

Cora looked up. The head housekeeper always had a sweet look on her face. But since Cora’s illness, there was a layer of worry visible. “Thank you. Can you find Lady Mary and tell her I need her in here?”

“I am afraid that she has left together with his Lordship.”

“Oh,” Cora cowered a bit. She needed to speak with Mary in private without Robert being present.

“I can tell her to come to you once they are back? Anything else I can do for you?”

“No thank you.” Cora smiled at Mrs. Hughes. “That will be all.”

With a little bow, Mrs. Hughes left the room. Leaving Cora on her own again. She tried reading again, but where she had not been able to focus before, now it was even harder. How was she going to catch Mary alone? Once Robert was back in the house, he would be hovering over her. It amazed her that he left her alone just now.

Suddenly she heard music coming from the room next door. Slowly she got up, she still got dizzy spells and since she was alone she needed to make sure not to fall. Once she felt stable enough she walked towards the dividing door and opened it.

She saw Sybbie at the piano, Lucy was standing next to her watching her play. The sound was soothing, Sybil had never played herself. It was her older sister Edith who could play very well. Sybil had never been interested, but now her daughter was. Cora swallowed her upcoming tears away. Thinking of her darling Sybil still hurt from time to time. She leaned against the doorpost to steady herself. She did not want to make her presence known, not yet.

Once the song was finished, she saw how Sybbie looked up at Lucy. Lucy brushed over her head and said something that encouraged Sybbie because she had a wide smile on her face. It was an endearing sight, seeing them together. Lucy did take on the role of stepmother very well. And it did not change one bit when little Robert was born. Now a smile appeared on Cora’s face. The look on Robert’s face, when Tom and Lucy told them that the baby was named after him, was something she would never forget.

Cora stepped inside the room, she needed to sit down. “Hello darling, that sounded wonderful.” She said to make her presence known.

Lucy quickly walked over and offered her an arm. She must have seen that Cora was unstable on her legs. She put her hand on Lucy’s and padded it softly. “Thank you.”

“Grandmama, I did not know you were listening. I hope I did not disturb you.”

With the help of Lucy Cora sat down, smiling at Sybbie. “Not at all, darling. I enjoyed listening to you. You play very well.”

Lucy sat down next to Cora, but almost immediately stood up again. “Do you need something?” She asked Cora.

Cora shook her head. “I am perfectly alright. Please sit down and relax.”

“Grandmama?” Sybbie’s voice sounded and Cora turned towards her. “Did mama play?”

“Your Mama had many talents, but she never learned how to play the piano.”

“Oh”

Cora saw a frown on her face and quickly added. “It is extra special that you have the talent, I think you have it from your aunt Edith. She played at our house parties when she was younger. Can you play some more? There is still time left before I need to go up and change.”

Sybbie did as asked, and Cora settled in the chair she was sitting in.

+++

“Mama? You asked for me?”

Mary knocked on her bedroom door and stepped inside.

Cora quickly looked at the dividing door to Robert’s dressing room, it was still closed.

“I indeed did.” She now looked at Baxter, but she was still busy putting up her hair. She had asked Baxter to make her hairstyle a bit loser tonight. She knew how much Robert liked seeing her curls and in recent years, she had not shown them that much. The hairstyles had changed a lot and it was more common to wear the hair more tightly against the head. She missed her big hairstyles some days, O’Brien had been a master in making her updo’s where her curls stole the show.

“I need your help, but we need to make sure your father will not find out.”

“What can I not find out?” Robert’s amused voice sounded and Cora felt her cheeks colour.

“I broke a vase this afternoon and was hoping Mary could help find a replacement for it.”

“And why would I care about a broken vase?”

“It was one of your mother’s vases.”

Robert stepped closer to her and brushed over her cheek. “Nine out of ten vases were my mother’s. Things break sometimes. Do not worry about it.” He looked at Mary. “You do not need to find a replacement, I am sure we have enough other options.

Mary looked at her and Cora saw that Mary understood that this conversation needed to take place another time. “I will go downstairs, are you coming too?”

“Baxter needs a bit more time, but once she is finished we are coming down too,” Cora answered.

Robert sat down in his chair and watched Baxter putting up more curls. “It is a long time ago, that I saw you with your curls like this.” He smiled and added. “Besides our private time.”

Cora’s cheeks colored again and she whispered. “Robert.” In a correcting tone, even though she loved comments like that. It showed how much he cared about her. He knew when she was wearing a new dress or when she changed something with her hair.

“Sybbie has a surprise for you. But I am afraid it is already too late to show you tonight.”

“She is becoming a big girl, she can stay up longer now, can she not?”

Cora loved the look that was on Robert’s face just now. He adored his oldest grandchild so much. “She is too young to join us at the dinner table and we cannot ask Nanny to bring her down afterwards. It would be too late and little Robert would be alone in the nursery.”

Robert sighed. “So I guess I have to wait until tomorrow to find out what her surprise is?

Cora scolded herself for mentioning the surprise. She should not have said a thing about it. Robert would not get it out of his mind and he would try to get it out of her tonight when they went to bed.

+++

“Robert, can you come with me?” Cora walked into the dining room, where breakfast had just been cleared.

“Are you finally going to tell me what the surprise is?”

Cora smiled and waited for Robert to step next to her. She took his hand and softly squeezed. “Last night you did not manage to get it out of me, and so you will not this morning. You will know soon enough.” She chuckled thinking back to his attempts to lure her into spilling the secret. She still felt her stomach muscles from the laughter he caused with his tickles.

“But I had fun trying.” Robert pressed a quick kiss on her temple.

Softly she heard the sounds of the piano.

“Did Edith come home? I did not know she would come?” Robert looked sideways at Cora, who did not respond.

When the doors to the music room opened, Robert stopped walking. He stared at the grand piano and Cora saw a tear in the corner of his eye. She squeezed his hand and leaned with her shoulder against him.

“I did not know you could play my darling. What a wonderful sound and you are doing it so well.” He said when Sybbie finished her piece. They had sat down to listen, but now he got up. Freeing his hand from Cora’s and quickly walked towards Sybbie. Cora watched how he showered the not-so-little girl with praises. She noticed that Mary was walking towards her.

“Is this a good time to talk?” She asked while sitting down next to her mother.

Cora glanced at Robert whose attention was only on Sybbie. “Can we go for a walk?”

Mary stood and offered Cora her arm, which she took gladly. She was getting stronger by the day, but some days she felt unsure.

+++

“So, I need your help organising this. We need an excuse to stay at Rosamund’s and travel the day after that. I want to keep this a secret as long as possible. Do we have family or friends in that area that may be used as an alibi?”

“I have a friend there, I do hope Papa will believe us”

“We will come up with a good story. Thank you for helping organising this. I truly hope I can surprise your Papa with it.”

“I think the getaway in itself is a surprise.” Mary touched her mother’s hand that was resting on her arm. Midway Cora had taken her arm for stability. She did not like being this dependent still, but fighting it did not help one bit.

“You Papa will not expect it I think, although he knows I am feeling a lot better.”

Mary now squeezed Cora’s hand. “I cannot tell you how relieved I am that there was a treatment and that it worked. I do now know what I would have done without you.”

Cora brushed with her fingers over Mary’s arm. “I know darling, I know. And I feel the same way. It is to soon to leave you all. We already have to miss Grandmama.”

“Well, enough about that. We should go back.” Mary said resolutely. I will arrange everything with Aunt Rosamund and the travelling. Just let me know what accommodation you will choose.”

+++

A couple of weeks later, Cora had arranged for Robert’s cases to be packed. She made sure there were enough clothes for warmer weather and a possible swim. Baxter had packed her suitcases without Robert noticing the amount. He thought they were going to Rosamund for a couple of nights.

Cora could not wait to see his face once she revealed where they were going. She hoped he would love it as much as she expected.

“Where is Tiaa?” Robert asked while they walked towards the car.

“I think she is still inside.” Cora turned towards Mrs. Hughes who had heard the question.

“I will get her Milord.”

Cora got in the car already, she had a bad day pain-wise. She was surprised she could still have these pain attacks. She should ask Dr. Clarkson about it. Probably it was just a side effect of her treatment.

She waited for Robert to say goodbye to his beloved dog. She loved how he loved his animals. He truly adored them and he made sure they had a wonderful life. Full of cuddles, good food and exercise.

“I hope Rosamund does not have a full evening planned.” He said while getting in the car.

“Oh?” Cora looked at him with raised eyebrows.

Robert’s hand moved to her knee. “You can use a quite evening, especially after a day of traveling.”

Cora was touched, Robert had noticed that she was not feeling well.

“If necessary we can go to a doctor in London?” He continued.

Cora felt Robert’s intense gaze on her. He had not noticed her being ill until she told him, but since he knew, he paid closer attention to her. And some days he knew better how she felt than she did herself. She wriggled her hand under his and interlaced their fingers. “I will be alright, I promise.” She saw his gaze still fixated on her eyes. “I also promise that we will go to a doctor if I do not improve tonight.”

She felt guilty for making that promise because tomorrow morning they would go to Torquay’s. That area was called the French Riviera and she had picked that location with special intention. She wanted to do something back for Robert. He had made their anniversary so special, and the way he took care of her since they came back from France deserved some recognition and thanks. She booked a suite at the Cary Arms, she heard that it was a good hotel with high standards. Nothing less than the best for her darling husband.

Rosamund had indeed not planned much for that evening, soon after dinner Robert announced that they would go up and Cora was relieved he suggested that this early. They had to wake up early tomorrow and had another couple of hours travelling ahead of them.

+++

“Baxter, can you wake us early in the morning?” Cora asked before Robert entered her bedroom.

“I will do that Milady, and I will make sure that your suitcase are waiting in the car before you leave.”

“Thank you.” At that moment her door opened and Robert stepped inside.

He greeted Baxter, who just left the room. He walked towards her, and before she could get up, he lifted her to her feet. “You are finally gaining weight again.” He said while placing his hands on her hips. “But why did you not tell me you have those pains again.

Cora brushed her nose over Robert’s and kissed his lips. “They are different, vastly different. I am not sure that they are related to the treatment.”

“What kind of pain is it? And where?”

Cora moved her hands to Robert’s upper arms. “Are you sure you want to know?” She paused and waited for his response. “I think they are related to me getting older and going through the change.”

“Did you not go through that earlier? And I did not know pains were involved.”

“It can take a long time before it is over. And these pains are more muscle pains. Please sweetheart do not worry, I feel better than I did this morning. I am just very tired after this travel day.”

Robert did not need another word, he took her in his arms and carried her towards the bed. Carefully he laid her down. Without walking to his side first, he got in bed to. Cora’s giggles filled the room, while he tried to tickle her as much as he could before settling on his side. “I cannot wait for the day you have your full energy back.”

Cora pulled herself close to his body and pressed a long heated kiss on his lips. “Me neither.” She felt how Robert pulled up the duvet and tucked her in.

+++

“Why do we need to get up this early?” Robert moaned when Cora tried to wake him.

“I promised Mary’s friend we would pay them a visit and we have a long drive ahead of us.”

This made Robert sit straight up, pushing Cora back on her side. “Another travel day? Why did you not tell me this, and are you sure you are ready for that?”

“Darling, I feel fine.” It was not a lie she noticed, she indeed felt better. Last night Baxter had given her some powder and it did wonders for how she felt. She even had more energy it felt like.

“Why is Mary not here? It concerns a friend of hers?”

“Darling, I do not know. She asked me to pay them a visit and talk with them about the estate.”

“Well, if you promised, we do not have a choice and he stepped out of bed.” Before he walked off he bent down and pressed a kiss on her lips. “As long as we go together, I am fine with what ever we will do today.”

+++

“This is a hotel? Is it not?” Robert said surprised when the car stopped in front of a big building at the coast.

Cora felt her cheeks colour. “It is indeed.”

“You never told me that friend of Mary runs a hotel?”

“They do not.” Cora answered.

“What do you mean? Why did we travel to this hotel if it is not for Mary?”

Cora leaned against his shoulder. “Because Mary does not have a friend here. We told that story so you would not suspect anything.”

“Suspect what? Cora? What are we doing here?”

“I booked a suite for the next two weeks. Just for the two of us. We are in Torquay’s, the French Riviera in England. I wanted to do something special for you. You have taken such good care of me and since I ruined the trip to the South of France, I wanted to make up for it.”

“Oh Cora, you did not ruin that trip. Not at all.”

“Well, the way home was not the happiest one. We were both scared to lose each other.”

Robert wrapped his arm around her. “That is true, but you still did not ruin that trip for me. I have very fond memories about that trip and I hope to relive some of those moments here.” He pulled her even closer and pressed his lips on hers.

“Lets start with going inside and enjoy a glass if champagne.”

“Or two.” Robert added with a cheeky smile.

“Or two.” Cora answered.

“Are we truly staying here for two weeks?” He said while they walked towards the entrance.

“We are. We have enough time to enjoy the hotel, and the surroundings, but mostly each other.

Cora felt Robert’s hand lower and stop at her bum, and she could not wait to be in their room. Back in their privacy, she wanted to thank Robert even more. In a way, she could not do for several months. On their anniversary they had tried, but Cora had been too tired to finish. Robert had stopped her and made sure she was comfortable. But tonight, she would not let any tiredness or exhaustion stop her. This was their evening, their weeks together, that she was going to enjoy to the fullest.

[randomabiling]

NaNoWriMo Entry #2

Pearl

July, 1891

“Robert, I don’t know what was so important-”.

His lips were upon hers and the rest of her words were swallowed into the depths of his soul as he covered her mouth so completely she gasped for air. Hands, greedy to feel every inch of her, pressed into the tender places that made her squirm with pleasure. Eyes closed, pops of light burst behind her lids as he pinched and caressed and pulled. Her mind spiraled into a dizzying freefall, all thoughts of seating charts and flower arrangements interrupted. There was no longer thinking, just a frenzy of feelings and impulses as her own hands instinctively responded, manipulating him in the ways he liked, making him groan and pant as he backed her into the wall.

She felt the absence of his hand and heard the small click of the lock, the knob secured against intrusion. It was like the release of a dam, both of them becoming more frantic in their movements, tearing at skirts and clasps and buttons. The loss of clothing made her hot skin prickle with gooseflesh and her shiver only fueled Robert’s need as he pushed her onto their bed and topped her. Finally finding the friction she craved as his body filled every blank space on hers, Cora rocked against him, taking him deep and holding him tightly. Their undulating rhythms quickened, and their release crested at the same time, both of them crashing against each other with each pleasurable and delicious wave.

When they’d both stilled, Robert collapsed beside her, his head resting on her sweaty shoulder, is finger tracing patterns above her breast. The tip touched the string of pearls still roped around her neck. She could feel one of the beads cradled in the hollow between her collar bones and that was the one he played with, pushing it back and forth lazily. The jewelry had been a gift from him after Mary’s birth and had quickly become one of her favorite pieces. 

“I should have thought on this more, when I bought it.” Robert leaned upward on his elbow, his face hovering over hers and his eyes directed onto the pearls.

“Hmm?” Cora felt drowsy suddenly, the carnal exertion adding to the almost constant fatigue she felt as the mother of an infant. 

“It covers my favorite spot!” Robert’s pout made her chuckle, and slowly his head dipped lower and he suckled the spot the pearl had occupied. The attention, the lingering kisses that grew more passionate, set her flesh tingling once again. 

“The suprasternal notch.” Cora’s voice cracked as his hand slid up the length of her body, as it cradled the slope of her breast. 

“Whatever it is, it’s glorious.It’s mine.” Robert’s mouth covered hers and her hips lifted in response, the pearls forgotten as they sailed towards release for a second time. 

[bonhughbon]

@adoracora-elizabeth asked for "Cobert + last kiss".

Cora was the first one to pull away from their long but sweet kiss, then smiling at her husband as she looks up and down at him in his war uniform.

“Be back safe to us.” she said “You and Matthew, most especially.”

“I’ll come running to your arms when I’m back.” Robert smiles.

The train then whistled loudly, and Robert smiles at her one last time.

“I love you.”

“And I love you more.”

But little did she know, that was their very last moments together…

…because it was only Matthew who ever came back.

[autumnrose11]

I suddenly had a flash of inspiration for a one-shot this fine Sunday evening. Miraculously, I wrote it down in one sitting without the least bit of procrastination. Here it is. I hope very much that it did (not) make you cry. Enjoy!

April 1970 

Shadows flickered benignly in the candlelight. Mary’s head rested on her darling husband’s shoulder, her withered fingers tracing well-worn patterns on the back of his hand. 

Fifty years since their golden wedding day. 

“My darling?” Matthew said. 

“Hm?”  

“Do you remember …” He chuckled lightly, and kissed her beautiful, wrinkled face, crowned with silver hair. “I was just wondering - do you remember all the little things about our wedding?” 

Mary raised her head to look into those pale blue eyes she had adored so long, no matter how old and tired;  twinkling at her from the wrinkled face that somehow only made him look more handsome. 

“Of course,” she murmured against the side of his face. “I remember every little detail, Matthew darling … the way you didn’t let go of my hand all through the reception … and how you whispered rather … risqué remarks into my ear at every possible opportunity …” 

She paused to kiss the faint blush that coloured his cheeks even now. After all this time, when they were both old and grey. 

“And I remember how I whisked you away when we were supposed to be opening our presents, my darling … because I’d waited to kiss you for far too long and I simply couldn’t wait any more.” 

“And how you joked that you’d finally got Lady Mary Crawley to marry a middle-class country solicitor, and you still didn’t quite know how you’d managed it.” 

“Upper middle class,” Matthew corrected her, and then their lips met after a quiet laugh , kissing softly in the twilight. His hand caressed her face, the silence broken only by the sound of their breaths. “And our first dance, Mary … as husband and wife … Do you remember that too?” 

She could only nod. The memory of that heady, tingling, giddy first dance coursed through them both; the remembrance of that delicious torture of their two bodies pressed together, aching for that deepest, sacred  union … both of them barely able to comprehend that eager hands and passionate lips need be restrained no longer. 

“Why do you ask?” 

“Because …” Matthew pulled her closer, craving her warmth against him as much as he had done on the train journey to Painswick House fifty years ago. His wife snuggled into him, their fingers interlocking. “Because I would like, very much... to dance with you, my darling … the way we did that day. On our wedding day.” 

Mary consented with a breathless kiss to his lips.  

She rubbed his lower back with tender affection, his slight wince of pain wringing her heart. It had flared up more and more severely these past few years. She’d wanted Matthew to use a wheelchair, but he had stubbornly refused to get into the blasted thing again. The echo of an old pain, a long-ago suffering in his eyes had silenced her. So they had compromised by having him use a walking stick. 

He didn’t want to use it now, however. He had his Mary. 

My Mary, always. You are my stick.  

She helped him up from the settee, and watched fondly as he shuffled over to the old gramophone. The static crackled in the air, the needle whirred. 

Matthew held out his arms, and she glided into them as easily and naturally as she had as a young woman, just as madly and deeply in love as she had been at that time.  

Musical notes flowed out of the gramophone. A quiet frisson of recognition flitted through Mary’s heart as she recognised the melody that stirred the air.  

“Sometimes, when I feel sad 

And things look blue 

I wish a pal I had 

Say, one like you …” 

Matthew’s hand was on her back, his fingers entwined with hers, Mary’s blue-veined hand upon his shoulder. It was not so much a dance as a clumsy shuffle, and Matthew faltered and stumbled and more than once, had to lean on his wife; but none of that mattered. Mary’s movements guided his, and she held him and kissed him and their bodies swayed to the familiar rhythm, one that time had made more precious and beautiful because their love was knitted into the fabrics of every word of the tune. 

And then the chorus came, and their voices broke into a synchronised harmony. Just as it had done that day so long ago, in a library full of wounded soldiers and the man who had come back safe and sound to finish the song with her. Together. 

“If you were the only girl in the world, 

And I was the only boy, 

Nothing else would matter in the world today, 

We could go on loving the same old way, 

A garden of Eden made just for two, 

With nothing to mar our joy …”

Dusk fell outside, and the fire burnt lower and lower in the grate. Only the dark silhouettes of the two entwined figures lit up the starry springtime night.  

“I would say such wonderful things to you 

There would be such wonderful things to do 

If you were the only girl in the world 

And I was the only boy.” 

She knew it was only her mind playing tricks on her, but she fancied she could hear the fading notes of Edith’s piano (that she would never play again, for Edith had died last winter) … and echoing applause of disfigured men, and a girlish heart beating with relief and love and longing. 

She couldn’t kiss him then, because he had not been hers to kiss. But now … now she could. And she did. 

His lips were as soft and warm as ever on hers; the quiet affection in their kisses had now come to represent the fading of the erotic tension that had once flowed between them, ripening instead to a deep, abiding adoration that flooded them, body and soul. 

“You’re … the only girl in the world for me,” Matthew murmured against his wife’s mouth, and he was delighted at the giggle that escaped. “I love you, Mary.” 

“I love you too.” 

“Happy anniversary, my love.” 

The static sputtered once again, the needle ceased to spin, and all that was left of the silver evening was the celebration of fifty years of a golden marriage that had never seemed sweeter. 

[levinson-mannion]

Quiet Me for Cobert <3

Leave a “Quiet Me” in my ask, and I’ll write a drabble about one character trying to calm another down [be it from crying, from lashing out, feel free to specify.]

-

Robert sat open mouthed at the scene that just occurred. As usual, his mother had been unkind towards Cora and as usual Robert had said nothing- hell his sister said more then he did.

The room was silent, you could hear every breath everyone made till finally the silence was broke by Rosamund’s slap to her brothers head.

“Go after her You fool-“

Robert regained his senses and stood, chair scraping across the floor as he pointed at his mother “Don’t think this over how DARE you talk to my wife like that night after night it’s enough now.” And with that he turned on his heel and walked out.

“CORA??” He ran across the house and into the garden’s where he found a weeping Cora.

“Oh Cora-“

Cora spun around in panic wiping her eyes. “I’m so sorry Robert, I shouldn’t of lashed out I am just so tired of being a laughing stick to your family I’m trying so hard-“ she continued to ramble but Robert enveloped her in a hug and she melted in his arms words turning into quiet sobs.

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you. I love You, i love You so much I shouldn’t of just stood by I love you and I won’t let it happen again.”

Cora drew back and stared at him “you…you love me?”

Robert nodded and kissed her lips gently, “yes, yes I do.”

A smile graced her lips. “Somehow those three words just possibly made me feel better then I thought possible.”

[bad-at-names-and-faces]

Horizon Line

For @flashfictionfridayofficial here's a 100 word drabble from my Downton Abbey post-canon WWII AU...

The engine hummed, and the full moon shone above, illuminating the clouds below. Charlie looked toward the horizon line, trying to see if any landmarks showed through.  It was a beautiful sight, but he couldn’t lose focus on reaching the target, not now.  They had only been briefed about this mission a few hours before, even though there had been rumors for months that something big was happening. As the moon was covered by some clouds behind him, the first glow could be seen ahead of him along the horizon. The clouds were thinning, and they could see some lights.

[legowolas]

December Drabbles – Day 22

Prompt: Christmas tree

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 100

Fandom: Downton Abbey

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationship: Sybil Crawley/Daisy Mason

Characters: Sybil Crawley, Daisy Mason

Additional Tags: Christmas, Christmas Tree, Love, Drabble

Summary:

After putting the final touches on their Christmas tree, Sybil and Daisy stepped back to admire their hard work.

“It’s not much compared to the one at Downton,” Daisy commented.

[juliasdowntonstuff]

Valentine´s Day drabble

A new drabble has just been posted to ff and ao3 — very last minute on Valentine's Day. It is not entirely on theme for the occasion, but this is as sweet and fluffy as my writing is likely to ever get haha

It had been a long day, Robert couldn't deny it. At dinner, all he kept thinking about was the comfortable bed waiting here in their bedroom with the soft pillows and the warm down duvet — and not to forget his Cora next to him, too. But now that he had finally managed to excuse them from the drawing room, changed into his nightclothes quicker than ever and got into bed, he simply couldn't get to sleep. Cora had joined him on the bed as soon as her jewellery had been meticulously placed in the jewellery box on her dressing table and immediately scooted closer, her hand coming to rest on his chest like it always did. He knew instinctively she had been exhausted, too.

Surely, she was fast asleep by now, so he shouldn't bother her with this. But there in the dark bedroom, still half-sitting up in bed with his hand behind his head, he could not stop thinking of the words his mother had said that afternoon when he paid her a visit.

"Cora?" he quietly asked into the darkness against his better judgment, selfishly hoping that she was not fast asleep already.

Without moving or even opening her eyes, Cora only hummed sleepily in response, she had almost fallen to sleep.

She had sensed before that something was troubling Robert, he was not as talkative as he usually was in the evenings. Once he came in through the door to his dressing room, he had only taken off his robe and slid into bed immediately. She hadn't felt his eyes on her either while she was still taking off her rings, which was very rare for him. Clearly, something was bothering him, she should have known that sleep would not come easy that night — for either of them.

"Do you like me?" he whispered, staring into the darkness ahead.

At this, Cora finally moved. "Whatever do you mean?" she asked, turning around in bed to switch on the lamp on her bedside table, and then looked at her husband with a bewildered expression on her face. She had expected a lot, but certainly not this.

"Just that. Do you like me?" he repeated before he turned on his light as well.

Cora was sitting up in bed, propping herself up on her left arm and she looked quizzically at her husband when she said: "I don't understand where this is coming from?"

Robert sighed as he, too, turned on his side to face her more fully. "It's just something Mama told me from her and Isobel's rather scandalous rescue mission of Dickie a few days ago that I can't seem to forget."

He had hoped this explanation was enough for her to finally answer his question, as simple as he deemed it to be. However, her brows only furrowed further, and her head tilted to the side. "You saw Mama today, then? Because I've been meaning to ask. What was this mysterious mission about?"

"Apparently, Isobel realised that she indeed loves Dickie. She had not heard from him in a while and wanted to see how he was doing but was denied entry by his son and daughter-in-law. According to Mama, Amelia and Larry had been keeping Isobel from seeing him so they would not have to relinquish any possible claims to his estate. It all came to a head while we were at Brancaster when Mama took matters into her own hands, took Isobel and all but barged into Cavenham to get him out. Dickie had been entirely unaware of his family's plotting, and has now moved in with Isobel in the village. They are to be married soon," Robert explained as if he was just telling her about the weather forecast for the coming week.

Cora's eyes widened in shock. "That does sound quite scandalous, indeed! Why did Mary not mention any of this at dinner?" she asked.

"I don't think that Mary knew about this. Mama only said it was very recent and that she hadn't been up here since then. I can tell you, she was dying to finally tell this story. As much as she pretends to hate gossip, she sure likes to engage in some occasionally."

Cora chuckled lightly at Robert's statement and the truth behind it — the sound caused her husband to crack up as well.

"But Isobel and Dickie getting married after all? I am so happy for them!" Cora exclaimed excitedly, almost too loudly for Robert's liking. When she saw him wince at the sudden loudness, she added much more softly: "They are a well-suited pair, aren't they?".

When he didn't reply, she turned off her light again and slid back down in bed to lie next to Robert. He was still turned to face her, and her hand came up to play with the collar of his sleep shirt.

"I'd say they are," he said absent-mindedly. "But please answer me, Cora."

"Darling, I love you. We have been married for thirty-five years now, so by all accounts, why wouldn't I like you?" Cora's hand let go of his shirt and slid up his neck to cup his cheek, brushing over the light stubble on his jaw.

Robert closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. He loved these quiet moments when it was just the two of them and they could be as openly affectionate as they pleased. Usually, her touch calmed his frayed nerves almost immediately, taking his worries away one gentle caress at a time. But not that night; as much as he relished in it, his mind was still reeling, his thoughts revolved entirely around that one question. "That does not necessarily mean you like me."

"Robert, it is too late for that kind of nitpicking" Cora sighed and he could tell she was starting to get annoyed with him. "Can't we talk about this tomorrow? I have to attend the meeting at the hospital early tomorrow morning."

"Larry, as my son I love you, but I've tried and failed to like you. That is what Dickie said, according to Mama. And I think it not only pertains to their relationship. So many other couples like us can't stand each other or don't have much in common, and yet spend their entire lives together. I need to know, Cora. Because I not only love you with all my heart, but I also like you — very much. In fact, I liked you long before I loved you. But you always say you loved me from the start, so the question remains. Do you like me?"

Cora's hand stilled its motions. One look into his pleading eyes told her that he was truly worried about this, whether she liked him or not. To her, it was such a silly question for him to ask her. But this seemed to be so very important to him.

She smiled tenderly at him, her sleepy eyes staring deeply into his, and she said: "I doubt our marriage could have been as happy as it has been if we did not like each other, darling. I indeed loved you from the start, even before I really knew you. But we spent time together, we got to know each other — I firmly believe that I know you better than anyone else in the world, and you know me best, too. You are a part of me, Robert, you always will be. The things about you that I don't love, I like. And the things I don't like, I love. Easy as that. So yes, I do like you."

Robert breathed deeply, sighing nervously in relief shortly thereafter when her hand began to dance lightly across his cheek again. His right hand mirrored hers, while his left reached for her hand on his cheek and slowly brought it to his lips. He affectionately kissed her knuckles, letting his lips linger on her soft skin, but his eyes never left hers.

"Thank you for that, my dear," he breathed, watching her cheeks colour in the soft glow from the light behind him. "Now I shall let you have your deserved rest before tomorrow whisks you away from me to the hospital yet again."

Quickly, Robert turned off the lamp on his side of the bed as well and laid back down. He did not have to wait long for Cora to come close again. But instead of settling down, she pushed herself up one last time. Surprised by this, he put his hand on her shoulder and looked intently at her.

"You don't have to worry so much, Robert. I know this stems from the nature of the marriage agreement we first came to so many years ago, and you will likely never stop thinking and feeling guilty about it, but you and I have been happy together for so many years. We have been through unthinkable things together. Please, never doubt my love for you. And never doubt my liking you, either," she smiled, adding that last bit — not as an afterthought, but as a reassurance.

He smiled sheepishly at her while his fingers absent-mindedly played with the strap of her nightdress in the dark. "I'm sorry, darling. You are right, of course."

Cora only pressed a lingering kiss on his lips in response before settling down by his side with her hand and face resting on his chest again. Sleep did not evade him much longer, his mind now put at ease with the reassurance of his wife lying there next to him, who indeed liked him, very much so.

"I would not let you come and sleep next to me every night if I didn't like you," Cora whispered playfully into the darkness of the room after a while. And his wife was right, as she usually was. He knew she wouldn't. "I would also definitely not let you sleep with me, either."

Robert's head turned quickly to look at her — only he could not make out anything in the darkness. What he could feel, though, was her smirk against his chest, and he knew that she had been very deliberate in her choice of words. He would have to seek some form of revenge for the things she still managed to do to him whenever she pleased. But that would be a task for the next day. For now, they both just went to sleep in each other's arms.

[bella-caecilia]

4 + 20 for the cobert fluff thing! i love ur writing sm <3

Day 1

4 + 20 – brushing a strand of hair behind their ear & playing with their hair right before falling asleep

The only sounds that Robert heard were the light crackling of the dwindling logs in the fireplace and Cora’s deep breathing. Her head nestled on his bare chest. Her arm rested weakly on his upper body. She was pressed close to his side, and Robert held on to her lazily with one arm while his other hand ran through the tousled curls at his hairline. Robert pulled the sheets even higher up around them; the heat of their passion slowly wore off.

“That was nice,” Cora’s soft words carried easily to his ears. The dulcet breath of her voice needed no more vigour to be understood perfectly by him.

He hummed in agreement. It was very nice. He thought maybe it was even nicer to bask in the afterglow with her now. Her warm skin on his without the impatient urge of passion. Just her calming and warming presence. At this moment, her soft and relaxed body was the ultimate reassurance.

It had been a long day. Robert had been out and about all day. He made a tour around the grounds, visiting some of his tenants, even though the weather had been ghastly. Matthew had accompanied him after lunch when he came from his office and had asked a bunch of questions as he usually did. Good questions they were, but an abundance nevertheless. Robert knew that dinner wouldn’t portray an all too relaxing situation as well with Mama, Isobel, and Matthew all coming over. It was quite late when he finally followed Cora upstairs and got ready for bed.

When he had entered her room and slipped into bed next to her, she had snuggled up to his side. She came really close, seeking warmth on this cold day of autumn. She loosely held on to his biceps and leaned her head partly against the headrest of the bed, partly against his shoulder, while he thoughtlessly browsed his book. She didn’t give him a chance to read properly as she threw in her thoughts about this and that every other minute. But Robert didn’t really care either. His mind was already a bit drowsy.

“I hope Cousin Isobel didn’t feel too put off tonight. Mama was being particularly harsh today,” Cora mused. Her voice rang sympathetically in the silence.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” Robert gave back. “I always got the impression that Cousin Isobel could handle Mama’s jabs remarkably well.” He didn’t look up and turned the page when the letters began blurring before his eyes.

Cora adjusted her grip around his arm as her thoughts wandered further. Robert felt her curls tickling his neck when she spoke again.

“But I do not like it when she is like that,” and Robert could hear it in her voice. She probably remembered many an occasion where she had been the target of Mama’s hardly amiable digs. Robert lowered his book a little and looked at his wife from the side. Her brow was furrowed, an expression of worry etched on her face. He pressed a chaste peck on her hair.

“Dearest, I think we can agree that it’s hardly one of her best traits. But not everyone can be as gracious and good-natured as you, my dear.” Robert spoke softly as he planted another kiss right above her ear. Just as he had hoped, some of the wrinkles on her forehead disappeared, and he could see a smile tugging on the corner of her mouth.

“But that doesn’t mean she could not at least try being kind,” Cora emphasised. She turned ever so little at Robert’s side, not turning to look at him but her front still being closer to him, giving him more access for his light kisses.

Robert put a finger of his left hand between his current pages and slung his other arm around Cora’s shoulders.

“I know,” he said.

Robert couldn’t have foreseen that this evening turned out to become so ardent when they lay heavily breathing in each other’s arms sometime later, Cora’s leg wound around his hips and his palms spreading on her back beneath the mass of hair that he had let loose from her braid. He wasn’t as tired all of the sudden and she wasn’t worried at all anymore. Her little sounds, her verbal affirmation that this was exactly what she needed right now, his name falling from her lips repeatedly, spurred Robert on. Holding her like this just felt so right.

And holding her afterwards, when all hunger was sated was the sweet reward. He expected her to slowly doze off by the minute. The pauses between her exhales were getting longer. Her slender fingers had long ceased their drawing circles on his chest. But just then, Cora lifted her head. She pressed her hand onto his chest for support as she raised her upper body and turned to look at Robert. Their faces were a few inches from each other. Her serene and calm expression broke into a little grin.

Robert had to chuckle. “Still thinking about how nice it was?” he remarked in a whisper. Cora gave off a light snort before she blinked heavily. She looked so endearing to him with the way her open hair was a bit dishevelled and built a halo around her head, the errant curls illuminated by the embers of the fireplace. This was his dearest Cora right in front of him, not the honourable Countess of Grantham she had to be all day. Robert reached out to brush a strand of her chocolate hair behind her ear. It was soft and unruly beneath his fingertip. The serene smile returned to Cora’s face and it grew even wider when Robert’s fingertip traced the shell of her ear. Her eyes wandered lovingly across his features.

“Come, let’s go to sleep now and dream of all the nice things,” Robert suggested, and Cora’s heavy head sank onto his chest again. She shuffled a bit under the covers until her head was tucked into the crook of his neck in the right manner and a long sigh escaped her. Soon, her breathing had slowed down again and her gentle snores filled the room.

Robert though couldn’t seem to close his eyes. He was trapped in a blissful state of trance. The movement of his chest matched Cora’s rhythm of breathing but he didn’t find it in himself to succumb to the land of dreams as he had Cora advised to do. On its own accord, his hand found its way into Cora’s hair. His index finger was wrapping a tress of her soft hair around itself with a circular motion. Cora stirred in her sleep when he didn’t stop and the curl around his finger was getting rather tight. He loosened it and repeated the process with a new strand of hair and in a fashion a bit more careful.

It was a great reassurance to be this close to her. She was a great reassurance. Feeling her, and every part of her, not only her skin and her warmth pressed to his body. Not only her heartbeat and her respiration projected onto his chest. He wanted every part. The cold soles of her feet glued to his shins. The sound of her light snores in his ears. And of course, the silken texture of her hair between his fingertips.

[ohtobealady]

Hello! I loved your latest drabble, drunken Robert is hilarious! I've been enjoying going back through your lovely collection of drabbles, and I was wondering if you intended on continuing 'Women's Stuff'? No pressure of course, but I was quite intrigued with where that was going. Anyway, I love everything you do and I hope you're having a wonderful day/night/timezone 😊

This request is years old. But I did something! It plays way more in the headcanon arena rather than a good Drabble arena. But it makes tons of room for more! Follow up to this one.

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Women’s Stuff 2

March 1913

Cora noticed she’d wadded the cotton blanket in her fist and, taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax. Now that she was here, there was nothing to do but go through with it. And besides, the worst outcome, she knew, would be that there was nothing to be done, or that she was now much too old to hope for anything to come of her appointment today. Indeed, the worst outcome—she reminded herself—was that nothing would change, which in many ways was a comfort to her.

Nevertheless, the gravity of the moment—the reality of the moment—had only just manifested itself for her. It was as if up until this point she’d been in a dream; but now, with half her body bare beneath a cotton blanket, she realized what she’d decided.

“Now then, Mrs. Levinson. I see that your appointment is for a physical examination. Is that correct? You have inquiries as to your ability to still conceive?”

“Yes,” Cora swallowed away the tightness in her throat. She straightened her shoulders.

“And may I have your date of birth, please?”

“20 July 1870.”

“Thank you. Which puts your age at 43 years–”

“--42,” she corrected, and when the doctor, a young and rather handsome fellow, glanced at her, she added a small smile. “As it’s only March.”

“Oh, so it is.” She was relieved when he chuckled. “I apologize for adding unnecessary months, madam.” The doctor stood and went to a large cupboard from where the sounds of glass bottles tinkled about the room. “Have you brought a maid to help you dress again?”

Cora shook her head; though she trusted O’Brien implicitly, there was no one at home she trusted with this secret. Only Rosamund, of all people, knew. And Cora had not asked to borrow a maid. She’d dressed simply, and purposefully.

“I see. I can send someone in to assist you when we’ve completed the exam, if you so require.”

It was now that the nurse who’d shown Cora in entered again, quickly and quietly. Cora looked down into her blanketed lap, avoiding the other woman’s gaze. She wasn’t sure why, but her presence made it seem all too much. A witness to her crimes. Was this a crime? Oh, she didn’t know.

The doctor, Cora noticed, was peering at her as he closed the cabinet, and as if he could hear her thoughts, he glanced over at the nurse and then back again. “Nurse Wilson will remain with us, by your permission.”

She smiled, her good manners a practiced second-nature, and she found herself nodding. “Yes, of course,” she lied. And her stomach turned.

“Very good.”

It was at this that Cora felt the examination table jostle beneath her. The sound of wood scraping and metal locking into place sounded strangely out of place in such a well-appointed room, and she had to remind herself of the purpose of this visit. She peered up and saw stirrups she supposed had always been there, and between the two imposing things, shone the young doctor’s face. “Please lie back, Mrs Levinson. I will inform you of everything I mean to do before I’ve done it.”

She nodded. Cora leaned back into the thin pillow that had been provided for her at the head of the table. A pin that O’Brien had stuck hastily into her hair that morning at Rosamund’s scraped against her scalp, mockingly, and she winced slightly. The doctor, meanwhile, spoke on, his voice coming from between her knees. And though she didn’t dare look, and though she had no clue what he was saying, she sensed the nurse turn on the lamp near her left ankle and adjust it as the doctor sat on a wooden stool.

“It is noted that you and Mr Levinson have had children. How many? You’ll feel my touch here.”

Cora swallowed, his touch and his question simultaneously working against her mental faculties.

“I—“

“—or the number of conceptions since you’ve married.”

“Oh.” She could see the light reflecting from his head mirror dance quickly across the room as he moved. “Yes.” She swallowed. “We’ve been married 23 years. Last month.”

“And the number of conceptions and children? You’ll feel pressure as I palpate the abdomen here. Feeling for the womb, madam.”

“Four conceptions.” She paused and waited until he was finished. “Three children.”

“Oh,” the doctor’s voice was quieter. “Indeed?”

She had tried to avoid this, but she heard the question the doctor was perhaps too polite to ask. Three children. Three. So then why was she here?

“Three daughters,” she amended, and even from where she laid upon the table, she could sense the way the doctor hesitated in his movements. It sounded ungrateful. It sounded odd. She had three daughters.

“All…living?”

Three beautiful, living daughters. “Yes.”

“I see.” He paused, and in the pause, Cora’s fingers felt again for the edge of the cotton blanket, and she wadded it into her palm.

“Now, Mrs. Levinson, I am going to insert the speculum to help me see the neck of the womb, if that’s agreeable. I understand that you may not be familiar with such a tool, or feel they’re outdated, but I feel strongly that examinations require sight and cannot be relied upon touch alone. Do I have your permission?”

She wished he’d just get on with it. “Yes, of course,” she answered, prompting the nurse to come and stand closer to the doctor. Cora tilted her chin up, letting herself examine the ceiling as he did what he’d said he would do. But to Cora’s surprise, instead of feeling any sort of discomfort, she found she wanted to suppress a small laugh.

Oh. Oh how stupid this was. How stupid and silly she was. Why hide it? Why hide any of the truth from this man who was at that very moment seeing parts of Cora’s own anatomy that she’d not ever seen herself. And at that thought, the thought that this man between her legs didn’t even know her name, she did laugh, once, before pressing her lips together.

“Mrs. Levinson? Are you in pain?”

“No. Not at all. It isn’t that.”

“Please, if you feel any—“

“—Doctor Ryder, I’m afraid I haven’t been completely honest with you.” She exhaled, and feeling less guilty already, she spoke. “I’ve used my maiden name.”

She could feel the doctor gently complete his exam, and she didn’t feel embarrassed any longer as he stood to look over her blanketed knees at her, his head mirror still before his right eye.

“Might I sit up?”

“Yes, apologies, yes,” he nodded, and the nurse was at her elbow as the doctor wiped his hands.

“The thing is,” Cora explained, “I’ve been afraid word would get around about my coming here. My mother-in-law detests a scandal,” she admitted, feeling lighter and lighter as she spoke. “You see, my husband is the Earl of Grantham.”

“Oh. Yes. That is—“

“—and therefore you can appreciate my discretion.”

She waited until the doctor’s smooth, unlined features fell into what she finally considered was the countenance of comprehension before she went on.

“As for my history, I had a difficult birth with our youngest. She was malpositioned and overdue. Labor was prolonged. There was likely…well, I don’t know precisely. But there was a great deal of bleeding and healing was very slow. I wasn’t well for weeks. And, since 1895, there hasn’t been another conception.” It was at this moment that she realized her feet were still fitted awkwardly in the stirrups, though she’d closed her knees, and flushing a little now, she let her feet come free to dangle off the edge of the table as she spoke. It allowed her to break her gaze from his wide and unblinking one, and she was grateful. “My first pregnancy was a loss—a miscarriage at three months—but I conceived my elder two daughters in quick succession with very little difficulty. My youngest did come later than expected, but this—.” Again, Cora exhaled. “There seems to be no reason. I still have my courses fairly regularly, at least for my age. Marital intercourse is likewise quite regular. And I would very much like to…” And, pushing down the sharp edge that had suddenly risen in her throat, she let herself speak freely, in spite of her returned embarrassment. “I would like to….I—“

“A son.”

She looked at Doctor Ryder, and she had to blink away a sudden threat of tears. Now it was real. And overwhelming. “Yes.” She nodded. “I used my maiden name because Lord Grantham doesn’t know I’m here. He hasn’t asked me to do this. If it’s even possible.”

“It can be.”

She felt her mouth fall open, slightly, and she closed it again.

“There’s one small matter. You say your youngest was malpositioned? Might I ask, was it shoulder dystocia?”

“Shoulder…”

“Were the shoulders, for lack of a better word, stuck? During your labor?”

She furrowed her brows. “You can tell that? From my exam?”

Doctor Ryder nodded. “You have heavy scarring at the opening of your cervix—the neck of the womb. It’s evidence of a large tear which can take place when the shoulder becomes stuck during birth. I’m sure that your daughter was positioned poorly, as you say, and was also too large. Indeed, you yourself were likely positioned poorly during labor. The proper way to proceed with such a complication is to turn the laboring mother on her hands and knees.”

Cora looked around her, feeling a little like she was being shown a magic trick.

“Furthermore, while you’ve noted that your courses have continued, the scarring is significant enough that I’m sure it prohibits any emission full access to the womb.”

She felt color rise in her cheeks, but dipped her chin, proceeding. “But it’s…able to be mended?”

“It will mean a small operation—well, more of a procedure. Quick, and while not altogether painless, healing time is minimal. Your age may play against you, but then,” at this, the doctor’s young face brightened, and the embarrassment, guilt, and jagged emotion that choked her moments ago were replaced by the warmth of love she felt for her husband, and the overwhelming desire she felt to make him happy. As happy as he’d made her. “I don’t see any real reason you can’t conceive another child.”

And Cora nodded, smiling.

[barris-ftw]

I wrote a conversation between Sybil and Tom about Thomas, set in series 2, and thought I might share it here :]

“How is it with Thomas? I hope he’s not making things too difficult.”

Sybil raises an eyebrow. “It might surprise you, but he isn’t being difficult at all. He’s very efficient, thanks to his training, and seems to genuinely care about the needs of the injured men.”

Tom rolls his eyes. “You do know he only signed up for the medical corp so he wouldn’t have to actually fight on the front lines? I heard many men tried taking the same route, but it sounds like the plan backfired. It’s probably more dangerous for them than it is for those who at least have a gun in their hands,” Tom snorts.

Sybil shoots him a glare. “I wouldn’t think you’d be the type to judge a man for something like that.”

Tom shrugs, “Oh, I don’t. I just thought you should know. I also thought to mention how lucky he is to have received a shot so perfectly aimed at his hand, so he could be sent home with minimal injury,” he continues, Irish brogue dripping with sarcasm.

Sybil’s resolve only hardens. “You might see him as a coward, Tom, but I don’t. He still survived out there, trying to save other men for two years. You can’t pretend to know anything about the horrors they face over there. Besides, he’s working here now, still doing his bit. Have a little respect for him.”

Tom crossed his arms and leant against the car. “I would, if I thought he deserved it. Don’t forget the bastard was insufferable before the war. Always pickin’ on the other servants. Bullying poor William to the point the lad threw himself at him. He certainly deserved that.”

Sybil sighs and lets go over the anger in her voice, tired of arguing. In a softer tone, she says, “I know about that. And I’m not saying he’s perfect. Just that now, if not in the past, he’s trying to do the right thing when it matters. Try and see that, please.”

Tom pauses for a while as he meets her eyes. With some reluctance, he murmurs, “I will try, if it’s what you want.”

“It is. Thank you, Tom.”

Don’t get me wrong, Thomas is still cruel to the other servants in this series, but I think his one saving grace is the work he does, when he’s not flaunting his title of Sergeant. And this is shown clearly in his interactions with Edward.

[adoracora-elizabeth]

Drabble - Anniversary

"Mary?" Robert hurried down the great hall to catch his eldest daughter before she left the house.

"Papa?" Mary turned around with a surprised look on her face. "I was about to go to the stables."

"I know, I know," Robert said apologetically. "This will not take long." He stopped and checked if they were alone. When he made sure nobody was listening he continued. "I have a request for you. You know your mother and I will have our anniversary soon."

"Thirty nine years, can you imagine." Mary answered.

"Since your mother is feeling better, I want to do something special. Taking her out dancing, and I want to make it even more special by arranging a new dress for her. But there comes my problem and where I need you." He smiled at Mary. "I do not know where your mother buys her dresses and how that all works. Can you help me with that?"

"Oh, Papa. That is so romantic. Tell me what you want and I will make sure Mama has a new dress."

Robert felt his cheeks colour. "I hoped you would want to take me to get a dress. I would love to be the one who picked it out for her."

"Papa, I have to run now. But we will talk about this later. I do not think you understand how it all works. But I will help you get Mama a perfect dress."

"Thank you." Robert turned around to go back to the drawing room.

"What was that about?" Cora's voice sounded suddenly, making Robert jump. He looked in the direction the sound came from. Cora came walking towards him. She was wearing a dark skirt with a white blouse on top. The blouse was decorated with black flowers. He was glad to see colour on her cheeks again. The last months had been rough, especially for Cora herself. The treatment she was receiving was far from pleasant, but Cora hardly complained. There had been days when she could not get herself out of bed. On those days, Robert carried her to her settee so she would not have to stare at the ceiling the whole day. He had not left her alone during those days. She constantly dozed off but he had stayed in her room. Bates had placed a small table in Cora’s room, so he could work, while she was sleeping. The last couple of weeks, she was starting to feel better and every afternoon she came downstairs to join the family for afternoon tea.

"We were talking about the estate, nothing special." He stepped closer to Cora so he could kiss her cheek. "Good to see you downstairs."

Cora hooked her arm in Robert’s mostly for stability, but she also took every opportunity to be close to him. "Did I hear correctly that Tom and Lucy are visiting today?"

Robert's face lit up, that visit meant his favourite grandchild would come too. His darling Sybbie. "They will be here tonight, Tom said they would join for tea."

"Does Mrs. Patmore know? I know she likes to make something special when they visit."

Robert padded Cora’s hand. "She knows, do not worry about that."

Cora lowered her eyes, it was not easy, not being in charge of everything. Her eldest and husband were taking over where she usually was in charge. The months she had spent upstairs in her room, she had not been aware of it. But now she moved around in the house again, it was apparent and hard to get used to.

"You will be running everything yourself soon." Robert padded Cora’s hand again.

Cora looked up and leaned against his shoulder. "Mary will take over one day, maybe it is time to let go now and give her the chance to be the lady of the house."

"As long as you and I are Lord and Lady Grantham, she will not take over from you."

Cora pressed a kiss on his cheek. "I think I can get used to having some more time with you."

Robert stopped walking. "Do you think you have enough energy for a short walk?"

"But it is snowing?"

"That will make it even better. We will stay close to each other for warmth. And when we come back, we will ask for some hot cocoa and warm ourselves in front of the fireplace."

Cora saw the childlike excitement in Robert’s eyes and even though she was not having the best day pain-wise, she could not deny him anything when he looked like that.

+++

"Will you be home tonight?" Cora asked with a sleepy voice. Robert woke her up early this morning.

"We will, I promise to be home tonight. I asked Mrs. Hughes and Baxter to look after you today. Try to sleep some more, my love." He bent down and kissed her forehead.

Cora sighed. "I wish I knew what you were going to do in London."

"Some business, nothing special. Now please go back to sleep." He pressed his lips on Cora’s.

+++

"I like this royal blue colour." Robert was standing next to Mary in an atelier in London. Mary had explained to him, that all Cora’s dresses were made for her. Robert had expected to go to a shop and buy a dress off the shelve. He never had realised how much work there was in her clothes. Everything had to match and was thought out.

Mary and the dressmaker explained everything that was needed for the dress. He had to make decisions about the colour, the shape of the dress and the type of buttons. Baxter had handed him one of Cora’s newest dresses so they knew her measurements. Without so many words, Baxter said that Cora had lost a lot of weight. Something he had noticed too. This dress should fit perfectly since there was no opportunity to get her fitted in.

After what felt like a lifetime there was finally a dress on paper, all choices had been made and Robert was content. He could picture his wife in it already. He had opted for a looser fit, especially around her waist. He knew how uncomfortable it was for Cora to wear clothes that were tight around her waist and stomach. The dress would be delivered at Rosamund’s, so Baxter could pick it up on the night of their anniversary.

+++

"Do we have to go today?" Cora asked a bit annoyed.

Robert turned around, Cora was still sitting at her dressing table, Baxter had made her ready for the day. She had gone down to put the suitcase in the car, and Robert made sure Cora would not notice that. "We do, Rosamund is expecting us and we cannot cancel this late."

Cora sighed, did Robert forget about today? Why were they going to London and visit Rosamund on this day? There were so many other days they could do that, but Robert had chosen this special day. Had he been too occupied with everything to remember? Had it been her illness that made him forget? Another sigh left her before she got up. "I hope we can have some alone time tonight." She said while walking past Robert towards the door.

Robert did not stop her, something that surprised Cora. "The car is waiting outside, we should go. Did you say goodbye to Mary, George and Caroline?"

"We will be back tonight?" Cora gave Robert a surprised look.

"I know, but you never know. Why do we not go and say goodbye real quick? George loves to see his grandmother."

This brought a smile to Cora’s face, she adored her grandchildren. "If you say so."

Mary came to the front door to wave them goodbye.

+++

Cora had dozed off during the car ride. Robert had hoped to sleep some himself. He had not slept last night, he was nervous about the dress. What if it did not fit her? Or even worse, she would not like it? When they came closer to London, Cora woke up. There was always so much more noise, Robert loved being in London, but at the same time he missed the peace and quiet from home.

"Where are we going? This is not the way to Rosamund’s house?" Cora said, while looking outside.

"Is it not?" Robert acted surprised.

Cora's head whipped towards Robert. "What is going on? You cannot tell me you forgot how we go to your sister's house?"

"Maybe the driver is taking a different route?"

"What is wrong with you? Since last night you have been acting off, are you feeling alright?" She raised her hand to feel his forehead. Then she put the back of her hand against his cheek. "You do not feel warm, that is good."

"Nothing is wrong." Robert saw the worry in Cora’s eyes and decided to not play this game any longer. "We are not going to Rosamund’s?"

"What? Why not? Where are we going?"

"The driver will take us to the Ritz."

"Oh no, Robert. I have not brought a dress with me to dine in the Ritz."

Robert smiled. "Yes, you have."

"Robert, you do not understand. I need a different type of dress to eat at the Ritz than I need to eat at your sister's."

"Do not worry about the dress, Baxter has the right one for you."

Cora gave Robert a puzzled look, but before she could argue again. The car stopped and they stood infront of the Ritz.

"Let us go up to our room," Robert said with a cheeky smile.

Robert hoped the dress would be there. Baxter and Bates had left the house earlier, so they could stop at Rosamund’s for the dress.

The door was opened and Robert let Cora go in first. She walked inside but stopped walking and froze. Robert tipped the staff member and quickly closed the door. He stepped towards Cora and put his hands on her shoulders. In the middle of the room, was a mannequin with Cora’s new dress on it. The dress was stunning, and he could already see Cora shine in it.

Cora turned around to face Robert. "Where did this dress come from?"

"I asked Mary to help me design a dress for you. We went to London to your favourite dressmaker and they made this dress for you. So you can shine tonight when I take you out dancing." Robert took Cora’s hands in his. "Happy Anniversary my darling."

"You did not forget," Cora said softly, she wiggled one of her hands out of Robert’s and laid it against his face. "I thought you forgot. Oh my darling, I love you." She got on her tiptoes to press her lips against his.

"I love you too." He murmured.

The kiss was a long, tender kiss and once they broke the connection, Robert kept Cora close to his chest. "We have no appointments this afternoon, if you want you can rest."

Cora lifted her chin. "I will only rest, if you rest with me. You have not slept much last night."

"You noticed?"

"I can see it in your eyes. We can lie down together. If I want to dance the night away with you, I will need to take some rest now.

+++

After dinner, Robert guided Cora towards the dance floor. The dress fitted perfectly on her. The blue of the dress made her blue eyes shine even brighter. Cora turned towards him and placed one hand on his shoulder and the other in his hand. Robert moved his hand to the small of her back and pulled her a bit closer. "Tonight is our night."

"I remember our first dance vividly." Cora started. "Many men had waltzed me over the dance floor, but when you took my hand and placed your hand on my back, I knew. I instantly knew that I belonged to you."

Robert slowed his movements so he could look her in the eye. "You belong to nobody, my sweet darling. But I count myself lucky that I can call you my wife. Thirty-nine years ago, you made me the happiest man alive." He leaned his forehead against Cora’s. He suppressed the urge to kiss her tempting lips. They were curled up in a smile.

When the song ended, Cora suddenly got on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. They were still in the middle of the dance floor, but the room around them faded away. Cora's warm and soft lips, made his mind go blank. She pressed her body against his and murmured. "I want to dance our private dance."

Robert was surprised, they had not done anything like that since they came back from France. Cora had not been well enough to do more than share a kiss and a cuddle. "Are you sure?"

Cora bit his lip. "More than sure."