She paced inside the station, hands rubbing over one another as she waited. Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she turned, almost launching herself into the other woman's arms. They embraced one another, only pulling away when the necessity of breathing forced them to do so.

The taller of the two caught her breath and smiled at the first woman. "It's been far too long Anna."

"You're telling me Mary. Three years is far too long."

"I'm convinced if I hadn't told you about this opportunity I don't think I ever would've come back to England."

Anna shrugged, "I wouldn't have had a reason to. I had a good position in Halifax."

"You know it's not as wonderful as people claim." Mary shuddered, "It's more like America than it is here even if they keep the King's face on all their money."

"That's hardly fair."

"It doesn't matter." Mary waved a hand, "You're here now, you've got your luggage tickets, and it's time we were going or else we'll never get there in time."

Anna picked up her handbag and bag, luggage tickets clutched in a fast grip around the handle of her suitcase, she followed Mary out to the queue for the cabs. Mary motioned her around the throng to a car and summoned two of the porters. She handed over the tickets from Anna and then climbed into the back of the car.

"They'll just be a minute and then we're off." Mary settled back into her seat, taking Anna's hand in hers. "You've no idea how happy I am you took the position."

"It was either that or sign a contact to extend my position at the ladies' college in Halifax for another five years and I couldn't do it."

"Did you not like it there?" Mary frowned, "All your letters said you enjoyed it immensely. If you didn't-"

Anna lifted a shoulder. "I loved Nova Scotia and I'd return there in a heartbeat but it didn't feel right any longer." She gestured out the window, "This is home for me and I was starting to lose my accent."

Mary laughed, "Well we can't have that can we?" The driver climbed into the car and Mary leaned forward, "Downton Ladies' College please Pratt."

They drove away from the station and Anna finally studied the car. "I didn't think your father'd ever trust you out with the family motor."

Mary bit her lip, "It's not Papa's."

"What?"

"This is my car."

"Your car?"

"Well," Mary gesticulated with her hands, "Matthew uses a bicycle to get himself from the house to his office in Ripon every day so I use the motor more than he does for work but it's also about how it looks."

"Are the ladies at this college really so judgmental?"

Mary raised an eyebrow at Anna, "I'm surprised your ladies and their insufferable mothers never gave you grief about it."

"I knew there was a degree of politics to it but they were overjoyed to have someone from England come." Anna paused, "There was an English literature instructor in Kingsport that did have a bit of a time of it."

"Really?"

Anna nodded, "She'd been recommended by the head of the board but the socio-political powers that be hated what she represented."

"Small-town values?"

"A threat to their authority and total dominance over everything in Kingsport." Anna sighed, "I only visited there once for an interview after she left her position because they wanted to offer me the post."

"Would you've taken it?"

"I was close to giving them my positive answer when I received your telegram."

Mary gave a self-satisfied smirk, "Then I'm glad my offer was better."

"Your offer was home, Mary." Anna let her face get serious, "Tell me about the girls then."

"Most of them live locally. Those that board, the ones you'll be in charge of in off hours and on the weekends, come from all over. Ninety percent of our student body are upper class, which means they've got the egos between them to fill a ballroom with more hot air than a balloon."

Anna rolled that around her mouth, "How are they about respect?"

"They'll obey. The majority of them are well-bred, manners wise, and the few that aren't tend toward the sarcastic and the petty. The real trouble makers don't stand a chance against the headmistress."

"Why not?"

"She's battle ax, no two ways about it, but she's just." Mary snorted, "There's no mercy to her but she treats the girls there on academic scholarship with the same level of just punishment as she does those with inherited titles."

"What does the board do with her?"

"Nothing."

Anna cringed, "And the families?"

"They've learned to accept it." Mary nodded her head to the side, "Some of the mothers take a bit of umbrage to their precious angels getting the strap or being treated like pedestrians but you'd be surprised how many of the fathers believe their children are right brats and needed someone to strike some sense into them."

"I guess the governess and the tutor aren't what one would want anymore."

"Pfft," Mary batted the thought away, "All one learns from a governess is poor French and prejudice. And most of these girls, if they want to be understood by a foreigner, shout."

"Those are the girls we're supposed to educate."

"Those are the girls you'll teach. Whether or not they leave with an education is entirely dependent on their own interests." Mary sighed, "Ah, there it is."

Anna leaned slightly over Mary, smiling at the sight of the veritable castle raising its turrets to the sky. "I think I forgot how beautiful it was."

"How long's it been since we lived in those dormitories and tried to sneak back inside without Matron knowing?" Mary pulled at Anna's arm and they giggled before settling. Mary sighed, "How'd have seen us back here, helping a new generation?"

"Not me." Anna smiled at the sight of Downton Ladies' College. "Not me."

"Well," Mary took a deep breath, "We're here now and we're going to do marvelous things together."

"I certainly hope we will."

They came to the front doors, the gravel spitting a little in the motor's wheels on the drive. Mary opened the door, leading Anna out, and opened her arms at it. "Welcome back to Downton Ladies' College."

Anna smiled, "Welcome back indeed."