A/N: Again I must apologize for the lack of smut. I have a half written second chapter that may or may not contain at least a little smut, so if I can finish it within the next 24 hours, I'll try to post it. If not, well, this is my part of the exchange. I hope it's still enjoyable.

My prompt: Robert is getting ready for Valentines Dinner when Cora finds him in his dressing room to show off her new red lipstick.

14 February 1890

As Robert's eyes mechanically followed the movement of his valet's hands, his mind could not have been farther from the mundane operation of getting dressed for dinner. In fact, he had rarely been more nervous about the prospect of dining as he was at that moment.

It had been a little over six months since he had married Cora and it was a startling realization for Robert that it had been almost equally long since he had dined alone with his new bride. Ever since returning home from their short honeymoon, dinner had been a stately affair in the company of his parents and often with guests. It had required no thought or effort on Robert's side apart from the usual conversation and good manners that anyone with his upbringing could easily produce.

Today, however, that safe routine was about to be broken. His parents had both travelled to town and no guests were expected in the house. To make matters worse, of all days it had to be February 14th – which Robert knew well enough to be considered Valentine's Day. He wasn't sure exactly if Cora would expect something special from him, but at the same time he felt the occasion should somehow be noted, especially with them still being relatively newlywed. At first he had thought of getting her a present but then abandoned the idea as silly and risky too, in case she had not got anything for him and would feel awkward about it. Then he had thought about taking Cora out somewhere, but that idea had come too late for anything good enough to be arranged. A simple picnic, while easy enough to manage, was most certainly out of the question in the drizzling February rain.

Now, with dinner time drawing near, Robert was at a loss for what to do. In the last six months he had come to realize he really quite enjoyed putting a smile on Cora's face, but he was still absolutely clueless as to how to go about arranging such business. It was a rare and blissful occurrence when she would look up at him with those marvellously blue eyes and smile as if no one existed in the world except him, but he had not yet worked out how this miraculous event was to be brought about by anything other than pure luck.

"My Lord?"

Robert's thoughts were interrupted by his valet's levelled voice. As his eyes focused on himself in the mirror, he realized he was already fully dressed.

"Ah, thank you, Gibson," Robert said, nodding at his old valet. "That will be all for now."

Robert had barely sunk into his chair after Gibson had left the room when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said without looking up, assuming Gibson had returned. "Did you forget something?"

The door opened but the voice Robert heard was far more feminine than the deeper voice of his valet that he had expected.

"Excuse me, I saw Mr. Gibson leave so I thought you might be ready."

Robert sprang to his feet as he realized the voice belonged to his wife who had entered the room. Taken aback by his sudden movement, Cora blushed and looked down at her feet, seemingly uncertain of whether to stay or to go.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," she added softly. "I just thought…"

Robert silently cursed himself for the abruptness of his manner. He appeared to have a peculiar talent for making Cora uncomfortable with his own inability to behave naturally around her. He had thought it would get easier over time but instead his predicament appeared to have been getting worse lately. He could barely even look at her now without getting flustered.

"No, no," he quickly said, taking a step closer and then stopping abruptly in the middle of the room, hesitating. "I'm happy to see you. I just- " he paused, taking a look at Cora's confused face only to get distracted by the way she was gently biting her lower lip.

They were such a beautiful shade of bright red, so full and inviting. If his senses had been less hazed by Cora's proximity, he might have noticed the hopeful look in her eyes as he gazed down at her face. He might even have wondered if the new shade of red on her lips was intended for his own pleasure - if she too had wanted to surprise him for Valentine's Day. Robert's clarity of mind, however, was too far lost to enter into any speculation of the sort.

As it were, he was only able to stammer.

"W- what I'm trying to say is…" he began again before trailing off, his face now almost as red as his wife's lips that had begun to inspire indelicate thoughts in his mind. If only he dared to act on those thoughts.

Meanwhile, Cora's face had turned from confused to worried.

"Robert, are you alright?" she asked, stepping closer and pressing a hand against his forehead. The innocent concern in those big blue eyes was almost more than Robert could bear. How shocked she would be if she knew that all he really wanted to do at that moment was undo all the fine work her maid had clearly just put into preparing her for dinner. How he wanted to taste those lips and…

"Cora, I…" he said hoarsely, taking her hand and guiding it from his forehead down to his cheek.

In the six months they had been married, they had never yet spontaneously made love but now Robert found himself wondering whether he would dare to suggest it, or better yet, simply try to initiate it without any questions asked. He knew Cora's sense of duty and willingness to please as a wife well enough by now that he believed she would not deny him, and yet he could not help suddenly wishing for it to be a mutual pleasure born out of mutual desire. He wanted her but he did not want to impose himself on her, not on this day he had wanted to make special for her.

"I was actually just thinking about you," Robert finally managed to say with tolerable calmness, trying to push the improper thoughts aside.

"I hope I've not done anything wrong," she replied, blushing deeply and removing her hand from his cheek as she seemed to misunderstand the forced gravity of his voice. "I know your mother left very clear instructions for how to run the house and I've tried…"

"No, no, nothing like that all," Robert interjected, pulling her hand back and cursing again his hopeless attempts at communication. "And really you should not care so much about what mother says," he continued gently, starting to massage Cora's hand with his thumb in what he hoped to be a soothing gesture. "I want you to feel this is your home, and when my mother is not here, you are the lady of the house. Don't forget that."

"I…I'll try," Cora replied breathlessly, looking down to where their hands were joined.

"Cora…" Robert ventured to say after a moment had passed between them in silence. "The reason I was thinking about you is because I know today is Valentine's Day and I…" He paused to glance at his wife who had turned to look up at him again. "…I wanted to do something special to make you happy but I find I'm not sure what you would like," he finished quickly, almost stumbling over his words. Then it was his turn to look away as he could feel himself blushing.

If Robert had been more bold, though, he would have seen the bright smile appearing on Cora's face, and her beautiful eyes turned to him exactly the way he had moments ago been dreaming about.

"What you just said goes a pretty long way," she said softly and, when Robert still would not look at her, she boldly took his now almost lobster-coloured face between her hands and turned it gently back to face herself.

When Robert's eyes finally met Cora's again, he let out a breath he had been unconsciously holding, and in the next instant he could almost feel his heart turning in his chest. It was an altogether new sensation that began to fill him then, and suddenly he could not even be sure if he had ever truly looked into those eyes before. The warmth and tenderness would surely have captured him months ago if he had ever but taken the trouble to look deep enough.

In later years, when Cora would ask him to name the moment he fell in love with her, this was the moment he would come to recall as the starting point.

"What do you mean?" he breathed out after a short silence, at that moment only vaguely aware that something in him had already changed for good. Presently it was the more physical awareness of Cora's hands remaining on his face that was starting to take hold of him. She did not often instigate touch, but now that she had done so, he realized how much he enjoyed it.

"I mean that the fact that you've thought about it at all is quite enough to make me happy," Cora replied, blushing a little.

Despite the blissful moment he had just experienced, Robert felt a sudden pang of guilt shoot through him at hearing her words. There was no explaining his way around it. He certainly had been a woefully negligent husband in the first few months of their marriage. The worst part was he had even been aware of it himself, and yet done nothing to change his ways.

"Oh Cora," he sighed, hanging his head down. "Can you ever forgive me?"

"Forgive you?"

"I know I haven't paid you all the attention I should have, and I'm sorry," Robert continued in a voice full of regret, looking up at Cora again because he wanted her to know he was sincere. "I don't know what I have done right to be blessed with such a wife as you, but I promise I will endeavour to deserve you from now on."

As he spoke, he kept looking into Cora's eyes, his resolve strengthening with every word that came out of his mouth. There hadn't yet been a moment in their marriage that felt more right than this, and the knowledge of it gave Robert the confidence he had been lacking.

"Now, please name anything you want me to do for you today to make our first Valentine's Day as special to you as you have already made it for me," he spoke again after a short pause, emboldened by the smile on Cora's lips that seemed to suggest she was not repulsed by his words.

For a moment they stood in silence, simply looking at each other as if they had only just met for the first time. Finally Cora's lips moved slightly to make the request he had begged her to name. Two words were all she needed:

"Kiss me," she whispered, her voice so quiet he might have missed it if he hadn't been holding his breath.

"With pleasure," Robert replied, not even attempting to hide his grin before he leaned in to complete the task.

They did not make it down to dinner that evening.