A/N: Well, here we go with the second chapter. It's not a direct continuation of the first, sorry to say. We zoom forward in time to another Valentine's Day and discover what a difference 20+ years of marriage makes. This chapter is also an answer to Robert's dumbfounded question of what they did differently. ;) **this story is now rated M**

14 February 1914

"That will be all, thank you," Robert spoke to his valet absentmindedly as he inspected his own reflection in the mirror. He did not have much eye for his appearance, however, as his mind was more engaged with the development of another little plan he had concocted for the evening.

The family had only just arrived in town for yet another season, this year to bring out Lady Sybil, and it was with a small amount of cunning on Robert's part that he had managed to arrange things so that all three girls would dine with Rosamund on their first evening. This meant he would have his wife all to himself.

As if on cue, just when Robert had barely become conscious of Bates having exited the room, he heard a soft knock on the other door that joined his dressing room to Cora's chamber. A smile appeared on his lips as he bid her to enter, vaguely reminded of another time so many years ago when she had come to his room on this very same date just as he had finished dressing for dinner. That night all those years ago was, in fact, still his favourite Valentine's Day memory - and they had made many since then. It had been the first time, he was quite sure, that they both had enjoyed the love-making, and the memory of Cora's face from the moment he had entered her to the moment she had gasped out his name in ecstasy as they entered their climax together would always remain vivid in his mind.

"Darling?" the object of Robert's thought spoke in a questioning voice, bringing his mind back to the present.

"Yes?" Robert asked, stepping forward to meet her halfway as she approached him. He smiled fondly as his eyes settled on the woman who to this day inspired the same passions in him that she had first ignited so many years ago. She too had finished dressing and Robert was pleased to find her wearing red from head to toe. He stood back a little to better appreciate her appearance before breathing out his simple and honest approval: "You look beautiful."

Then Robert's eyes were drawn to Cora's lips and he noted they seemed a particularly fierce shade of red this evening.

"Is that a new colour?" he asked, brushing a thumb gently near her mouth, mindful enough not to mess the carefully applied colour.

"Do you like?" Cora asked, arching an eyebrow. "It's new," she added with a playful wink, touching the collars of Robert's dinner jacket. "It reminded me of one I had many years ago."

Robert smiled, his mind shooting back to that night he had just been reminiscing about. He thought he remembered that colour too. "I like it very much," he replied, pulling Cora closer. "But I don't think I can judge properly before I have had a little taste." Without waiting for a response, Robert leaned forward and laid a teasing kiss on the corner of Cora's mouth. Then he pulled back, a mock thoughtful expression on his face.

"Well?" Cora asked, tilting her head while trying to hold back her grin by biting her lower lip. The familiar action, while perhaps helpful for her, did little to help Robert remember they were supposed to have dinner first.

"I think I will need a more thorough investigation before I can be sure," he replied, attempting to maintain a serious expression even though the spark in his eye was quite hopelessly giving him away.

Cora, however, was happy enough to play along.

"Well, then, if you say so. I think you should definitely continue the investigation," she replied, this time instigating the kiss by pulling Robert's lips to hers. At first he could only murmur a sound of approbation in response, but soon enough Robert's tongue, after carefully tracing Cora's lips, found its way deeper into her mouth while his hands began roaming the back of her dress to find the means of undressing her.

"Darling," Cora breathed between the kisses as she perceived his intentions, "Surely not before the dinner?" But even as she spoke, her own hands sought to undo the buttons of Robert's dress shirt.

"Maybe we should just skip dinner."

"But what will the girls say?" Cora whimpered as Robert briefly moved his attention from her lips to her neck with such passion that was sure to leave a most unladylike mark on the spot. Amidst her pleasure, Cora made a mental note to ask for a high-collared dress for the next day.

"They will say nothing," he managed to respond after releasing Cora's neck. His voice was triumphant as he had just managed to locate a knot that seemed to be the undoing of his wife's dress. The ribbons having been undone, the whole ensemble began to slide down, revealing more skin for Robert to explore with his hungry mouth. "I've sent them to Eaton Square to dine with Rosamund," he explained while continuing his ministrations. "It's just us tonight."

"You naughty man," Cora replied with a grin, swiftly removing Robert's dinner jacket before turning her attention to the strings of her own corset that now were troubling her husband to the point of vexation.

"I don't think I'll ever master this," he muttered grumpily, trying to loosen the strings while still laying kisses on Cora's skin where he could reach it.

"Shall I ring for O'Brien?" she asked teasingly, knowing it was the best incentive to get Robert to manage on his own.

"No!" he cried immediately in response, suddenly pulling at the strings so vehemently that it made Cora gasp. Before she could recover her breath, she caught another triumphant look on Robert's face as he removed the corset that had finally broken loose at his rough treatment.

"See? I'm not so hopeless," he said, returning to Cora's lips now that the most demanding part of the undressing was finished.

"Well done," she murmured approvingly against his mouth while her hands returned to the task of relieving Robert of his white shirt.

With the biggest obstacle removed, the rest of the undressing was a quick and hurried business. Robert's clothes and Cora's undergarments were soon scattered all over the bedroom floor while the Lord and Lady themselves had, in the heat of the moment, discarded the bed and opted for a rather more frenzied encounter against one of the sturdy looking walls.

Robert's face was buried deep into Cora's hair as he thrust into her with everything he had in him. Her legs were firmly wrapped against his waist and with each thrust her back would thump against the wall in a way that was sure to be heard all over the otherwise quiet townhouse.

"Oh, God…" Cora moaned, panting between her words. "Robert" Thump. "...please..." Thump. "...don't..." Thump. "...stop."

Robert, who had no intention of stopping, could only grunt out an unintelligible response as he continued to thrust into his wife harder and faster, almost ready to black out from exhaustion but determined to carry out what had been started.

"So close," she sighed, desperately gyrating against Robert's hips, and almost bringing him over the edge in the process of seeking her own release.

"Cora," he mumbled warningly, tasting the drops of his own sweat on her skin as his lips briefly grazed her collarbone. Knowing he could not hold on much longer, Robert's hand found its way between Cora's thighs. She gasped sharply at the touch. "Come with me," he whispered into her ear as his fingers found the spot he had been looking for. "Please."

Two more thrusts and he could feel her inner muscles clench. As Cora's breathing grew loud and uneven at her climax, Robert finally allowed himself the same release and he let his seed spill inside her before stumbling them both towards the bed on his shaky legs.

For several minutes they both laid panting on top of the sheets, naked and uncovered, still wrapped up in each other's embrace without either of them saying a word.

Finally it was Cora who first recovered her breath enough to speak:

"Wow," she sighed, rolling over to lie on her back, reaching for a sheet to cover them both before the cooling sweat would make them shiver. "I don't think we've done that since…"

Robert laughed, rolling on top of Cora again. "Since Sybil was born," he completed her sentence, smirking at her with boyish glee.

"And I imagine by tomorrow we'll remember why we haven't," Cora replied, chuckling as she ran her hand through her husband's damp hair. There would certainly be aching backs and muscles enough to remind them.

"Perhaps," Robert replied with a grin, seemingly unconcerned about the prospect.

Eventually he rolled back on his side, leaving only his arm to rest over Cora's body. For a moment he was lost in his thoughts.

"Do you remember that Valentine's Day, many years ago, when we had just gotten married?" he finally said, voicing his thoughts. His finger was now drawing a lazy circle on Cora's belly.

She looked at him quizzically. "Of course I do," she replied eventually, smiling warmly at Robert. "I could never forget how happy you made me that day."

"I did?" he asked hopefully.

Cora nodded, placing a sweet kiss on his cheek.

"And have I kept the promise I made you then?" he asked after a short silence, his hand now resting protectively where it had moments ago been drawing the circle. "To endeavour to be a worthy husband?"

"You have far exceeded it," Cora replied simply, snuggling closer to Robert.

He sighed contentedly as he pulled her towards him, wrapping them both in the sheet she had covered them with.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he whispered into her ear before laying a gentle, loving kiss on her lips. "Love of my life," he murmured softly before they both drifted off to sleep, exhausted, happy, and blissfully unaware that under Robert's warm hand, a new life had just begun to form.