#cobert anon

(6) In his fevered state, all he'd wanted was Cora. And now here she was. He cleared his throat, knowing it was selfish to wake her but suddenly desperate to talk to her. When that failed to rouse her, he called her name, his "Cora" sounding gravelly and strained after days of coughing. Her eyes blinked open in slow recognition. Before he could manage another word, she was on the bed, feeling his forehead, asking what he might need. "Only you," he murmured. "Only you."

[12] But he WAS very entertained by the prospect of teasing her, so he thought very carefully about how he could relay his meaning – or rather, HER meaning, and slyly told her, “Well, I think it began with something about kneeling on the floor of the carriage if only I would let you.” He paused to gauge the impact of his words: with her eyes she was wincing, but she was also biting her lip and granting him something that seemed like half of a guilty, knowing smile. [end]

[11] Cora pressed her eyes shut, giving a dreadful groan. “Oh, no, no, no.” Robert laughed. “Don't worry. They were all quite delightful threats.” “God, Robert, what did I say?” If he hadn't been so entertained by the prospect of teasing her, Robert would have put an end to the conversation right then, for it occurred to him that the very words Cora had used were ones that she would never dream of saying sober – and which he would find absolutely uncouth to utter in her presence.

[10] Robert grinned, suddenly gleeful, and rolled toward Cora, kissing her soundly before settling comfortably beside her, one hand rested on her waist. “Let's just say that you were very eager to get me into bed.” “Which I didn't, though, did I?” “Only in the most literal sense. You were entirely too drunk to fulfil any of your promises.” He pressed a playful kiss to her cheek and amended – “Or threats, as they may have been.”

[9] “Yes, I remember that part – or mostly, I do. My friend Alice – you met her early in the evening, the very tall one – was telling me the story – no, a story I won't tell you, as I'm sworn to secrecy, but at any rate it was very sad, and we – well, I know we finished a bottle of wine and started drinking scotch.” “Well, that would explain it.” “Explain what, though, exactly?” She inquired, with a look on her face as if she had smelled something particularly distasteful.

[8] “What?” Cora wondered, indignantly. “Are you alright, my dear?” “I think so, excepting a piercing headache.” He settled his head back into the pillow. “Good.” And then, gradually, fragments of the night before starting coming back to her. “Robert,” she started, tentatively. “Yes?” “What did I DO last night?” He grinned mischievously, and she knew there couldn't be a good answer. “Besides get terribly drunk?”

[7] “Robert?” Cora asked groggily, her cheek wedged unceremoniously against the pillow, as she woke up the next morning. No answer. She sighed, closing her eyes again lazily, and rolled over to find him still peacefully sleeping. She winced suddenly, though, having realised just how much her head ached when her eyes remained open for longer than a second. It was this pained expression which Robert saw first when he woke, and which prompted him to start laughing.

[6] Robert called for Cora's maid to undress her, asking the butler to explain the situation to the surely unsuspecting woman. By the time he went into her room, she was, as he had suspected – and hoped, rather – fast asleep, though spread across much of the bed much more haphazardly than usual. When he crawled in next to her, she latched on to him much as she had in the carriage, but mercifully remained asleep.