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.”

“Thirthy 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.”