He first saw her waving at the train station. Just a bobbing head in the distance with an enthusiasm he suspected was for some relative she had not seen in quite some time. He barely had a chance to give her anymore thought as he boarded his train, shuffling past some dairy farmers working their canisters onto the platform.
With all the hustle and bustle of the platform it was a miracle he could make his way through the crowds at all with his cane and his bag. A few people turned up their heads at the distinctive click on the concrete but most moved on to their business. He liked it that way. Appreciated when people paid him very little mind.
He found his seat, sitting as comfortably as possible on the older cushions that dug into his backside. This pain was nothing compared to what he endured on a daily basis. That aching throb in the thigh and the lock in his knee when the muscles spasmed and seized on occasion. Even worse when his leg twitched of its own accord and forced the shrapnel deeper into his muscles.
The train jolted and he moved a little in his seat. As he readjusted the seat across from him filled with the bobbing girl from the platform. He stared at her and could not seem to form words.
He had never seen someone so flamboyantly obnoxious. She wore a jacket of a material he could hardly identify, her hair was colored and cut short and jagged all over her head, her wrists were absolutely decked in bracelets and bangles, while her eyes were lined in kohl so dark he could only imagine seeing something similar at an exhibit he once glimpsed at the British Museum for Ancient Egypt.
"Whew," She removed her jacket and he gawked at her bare shoulders, ripped sleeves, and the multi-layered nature of her clothing. "I thought I wouldn't make it and be forced to hunt you down the old fashioned way."
She leaned forward, "Not my favorite way. Feels a bit like a cheat now that you have trains and motors."
"What?"
"This," She pointed around them, "This is a miracle. I used to follow people in flaming chariots and orchestrate love on horseback. Nightmare."
He did not have any idea what to think. He rubbed at his leg, more searching for something to do then actually needing the soothing pressure on his muscles. She pointed to it.
"War injury?"
"Yes."
"Boer War?" Her confidence in the question had him skeptical.
"Yes."
"Got it saving someone's life right?" She winked at him and he turned over his shoulder, looking at the mostly deserted train car.
"How would you know that?"
"The same way I know you're John Bates, most recently of London, and traveling to Downton in Yorkshire to take on a position practically thrust at you by your former army commander." She folded her arms over her chest, looking rather pleased with herself, "You're my new assignment."
"Excuse me?"
"You," She pointed at him, "Are about to fall in love John Bates and I'm going to make sure it happens."
John laughed, "As much as I appreciate the kindness I'm sure you mean in the gesture, you don't know what you'd be biting off if you even thought about trying that."
"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, "And why not?"
"Because I don't deserve nice things."
"That's just something you British men say when you want to self-flagellate. Martyrs, the lot of you. It's why I normally refuse the requests on behalf of you idiots." She blew out a puff of air that sent a strand of blue hair floating off her forehead a moment, "You're just so damn convinced that no one could love you or that you're beyond saving. No wonder you broke with religion in a general sense. Hard to convince you lot that anyone might actually want something good for you."
"And you want something good for me, is that it?"
"I'd like something good for you, yes." She put her elbows on her knees and leaned forward so all the necklaces dangling around her dark throat swung in time with the train. "That's why I'm here. To tell you to open your eyes."
"Are you an angel?"
"Pfffft," She waved a hand at him, "I wish."
"Then what are you?"
"I am a goddess. Little 'g'." She pointed toward the roof, "In reality I'm a pale imitation of something bigger and better than you've ever experienced but I want to give you a taste of it."
"Something bigger and better eh?" He laughed, "What could I have done to get something bigger and better?"
"Nothing." She smiled, "That's the beauty of it. This is not the sort of thing anyone deserves. It's a gift."
"And you want to give it to me?"
"I do. Very much so." She sat back again, "I want to allow you see that you, yes you John Bates, in all your beautiful brokenness, are worth loving. Someone out there, besides your dear and lovely mother, loves you."
"That can't be true."
"It can be. It will be." She shook her head, "It's a little bit of a trial, on my part, because she doesn't know quite yet either but she will."
"Who is this 'she'?"
The woman smiled, "You'll see Mr. Bates and you'll enjoy it."
She put her coat back on, struggling a second in a sleeve and stood. "This is where I get off."
"The train's still moving." John tried to stand but she put a hand on his shoulder and forced him back into his seat with a strength that surprised him for the willowy arms she had.
"I know. It's not a bother for me, remember? Little 'g' goddess." She clapped her hands together, "I look forward to us meeting again, this was fun."
"Will we meet again?"
"Very likely. I've got a feeling you might still succeed in mucking this all up and needing my help with it." She clicked her teeth, "But that's the way with you mortals, always getting yourselves into trouble. We still adore you though, for all your short-sightedness."
"What are you?"
"You know already. Goddess with-"
"A little 'g' yes," John shook his head, "I guess I mean more, who are you?"
"Haven't you guessed?" She smiled and brought a hand up, "I'm the goddess Aphrodite."
She snapped her fingers and in a flash she was gone.
She pulled the covers tight with a snap and paused a moment to wipe her forehead with the back of her hand before helping gather the bedclothes for the laundry.
"I just don't see why they're all in a tizzy. They still have Lady Mary to take over the estate."
"But she's a woman. She can't inherit the title." She helped her fellow maid pick up the dropped pillow cover. "That's the way of it Gwen."
"It doesn't seem fair."
"No it's not."
They walked toward the servants' stairs when a voice rang out, "Anna?"
The petite blonde stopped, urging the ginger Gwen to leave her behind. "Yes Mrs. Hughes?"
"Have you checked all the guest bedrooms?"
"I did last night."
"Could you check the Princess Amelia again? I think they want their guest to stay in there tonight."
"Of course. I'll just run these to the laundry and be right back up with the clothes for Lady Mary and Lady Sybil so I'll check it on my way."
"Thank you dear." Mrs. Hughes touched her arm, "What would we do without you?"
"You'll never have to know Mrs. Hughes." Anna smiled and opened the door to the servants' staircase as Mrs. Hughes disappeared down the hall. As Ann turned to the stairs she stumbled back a moment, surprised by the woman leaned against the bannister there.
"Can I help you?"
The woman looked up and pulled at her peculiar jacket before smiling, "Probably not as much as I can help you."
Anna looked over the hallway and then into the stairwell. "What I meant, miss, is can I help you find someone?"
"I already have," She pointed at Anna, "You."
"Not sure it's me you're looking to find. But if you'll excuse me I need to get on." Anna tried to move past the woman in the tight turn of the stairs and felt an instant of gratitude that the woman moved slightly out of her way.
"It is you I'm looking for." The woman sat on the bannister and slid herself along after Anna. The peculiar part was, she just sat there and moved without controlling her speed with her hands. She just glided. "I'm looking for Anna May Smith, head housemaid."
"And why would you be looking for me?"
"To make sure you're ready." The woman jumped off the end of the bannister as Anna stopped at the bottom of the stairs near the servants' dining room.
"For?"
"Love."
Anna stopped, still holding the sheets in her hands. "Love?"
"Love," The woman flicked the end of Anna's nose and Anna recoiled slightly.
"I think you mistook me for someone else."
"No, I didn't." The woman smiled, "I'm here to make you see, in the first second, what some people never see in their entire lives."
"What's that?"
"The potential in another person to make you unbelievably happy."
"And why should you show me that?"
"Because you, Anna Smith, have spent your life convinced you couldn't have something like that." Anna took a breath and tried not to react to the woman's statement, "But I'm here to tell you that you can have a life full of love. Something different than what you see for yourself right now.
"In fact," The woman raised an arm, a cacophony of jingling noises bringing Anna's attention to her bedecked wrist as the woman stared at something there. "He should be about here."
"Who should?"
"That'd ruin the surprise." The woman lowered her arm, pulling at the jacket made of a material that crinkled and groaned as she moved. "Just be aware that who you're about to see is fantastic… even though he doesn't see it right now."
"Who?"
"True love." She winked, "It's my job."
"Your job?"
"Yes, I am the goddess of love after all." She looked herself over, "I don't exactly look like the drawings but this is me."
Anna raised an eyebrow. "Goddess of love?"
"Yes, Aphrodite the one and only." The woman made a face as the sounds of Gwen's voice came from above them, "Well, got to dash, been a pleasure, and I'll probably be around."
Anna barely had time to speak as she watched Aphrodite vanish before her eyes. She huffed as Gwen joined her at the bottom of the stairs and another woman, with a pinched face and sour expression, came from the dining area.
"Are you going to stand there gawking all day?"
"No Ms. O'Brien I was distracted a moment and lost my hold on the sheets." Anna made a show of arranging the bedclothes in her arms, "I'd hate to ruin them."
"See that you don't."
Anna wanted to say something back but a clacking sound in the hallway drew her attention. A man walked toward them, leaning a bit on a cane in his right hand and holding a satchel in the other. He set his bag down to remove his hat nodded to the three women.
"I knocked at the door but no one answered."
"So you just decided to let yourself in then?" Ms. O'Brien practically sneered at him. "What business have you got here then?"
"I'm John Bates, the new valet."
Anna looked him up and down, feeling almost giddy for reasons she could not explain. She met his eyes and it was as if time slowed. She blinked and saw Aphrodite standing over John Bates' shoulder, pointing down at him with marked energy as if to say, "this is him."
Anna gathered her wits, cleared her throat, and arranged the sheets in her other hand so she could extend her right. "I'm Anna, head housemaid."
As she stepped toward him she realized he would have to move his cane to shake her hand and wanted to kick herself for being so thoughtless. But he moved with a graceful motion that transferred his cane to his other hand and gripped her extended one in a smooth glove. There was a discernable jolt that kept Anna's focus on John Bates as they seemed to explore eternity in one another's eyes in that brief second.
He released first and Anna stepped back as Ms. O'Brien's voice filled her ears with a definite grating sound. "You'd better come this way then and see Mr. Carson."
John took his cane back in his right hand, grabbed his hat and bag with his left and went to follow Ms. O'Brien. Anna sucked her bottom lip in and followed Gwen to the laundry, not breaking eye contact with John Bates until he left her physical sight.
What Anna couldn't know was the moment John walked down the hallway and caught sight of her, Aphrodite stood right behind her in a display pose as if pointing to the exact object John needed to buy at the market. John tried to ignore her as the woman with a dour face and equally oppressive voice spoke at him.
He answered politely and noticed the not-so-subtle way the woman stared at his cane. He wanted so badly to have a reason to respond to the unasked question just itching at the tip of the woman's tongue but he did not get the chance. At that moment the most beautiful voice he ever heard wafted toward him like a dream.
"I'm Anna, head housemaid."
The angel standing tall, with her arms full of bedclothes, and her eyes brighter than any sky he ever saw, stepped toward him with an outstretched hand. He did not even hesitate to move his cane to the grip of his other hand to shake hers. His grip was firm, his touch light, and her hand felt perfect wrapped in his.
He could not help but stare at her and only forced himself to break contact with her when he heard someone clearing their throat. He wanted to glare over this perfect woman's- Anna, yes?- shoulder at the pursed lips of a judgmental Aphrodite but he broke contact. He heard the tones of the other woman, face like a Scottish sky, and hurried to follow her.
He did notice the way Anna continued to stare at him and he watched her disappear as well. When he turned a corner, following the less desirable woman, he felt a nudge in his ribs and saw Aphrodite looking all too pleased with herself.
"What did you think?"
"Think of what?"
"Of her."
"Her?" John motioned toward the sour woman now speaking to a man with the most formidable eyebrows he ever saw.
"No stupid," Aphrodite slapped a hand on John's shoulder, "Anna."
"I-" John could not find the words to describe what he felt but in that moment he knew he would never have words for her. There just weren't any beautiful enough for her. Language failed to describe perfection.
"Just what I want to hear." Aphrodite beamed, "This is why I love my job. Love at first sight is so rare and beautiful I wish I could bottle it and sell it."
John could not respond as Anna returned, joining a gathering group in the dining room as John stood almost at attention before the eyebrow-ed man with a deep voice made for the bass section of a local choir. He caught her staring at him and wanted to focus on only her delicate features but the man- Mr. Carson if he heard correctly over the distraction- was asking about the duties of a valet.
"I can manage." John said politely, pulling himself off the cane slightly.
"'Course you can."
In three words this angel floored John. No one stood up for him so quickly, knowing so little about him, and with so much conviction it dispelled the line of questioning. John wanted to thank her but the room soon filled with the other servants looking to eat before they went about their other duties.
"See?" Aphrodite pointed across the table as Anna took a seat. "She already believes in you."
"Maybe she shouldn't."
"Don't be a spoilsport." Aphrodite pushed him, "The seat next to her is empty. Take it now."
John fretted a moment but Aphrodite pushed him with more strength, "Take the seat John Bates or I will sit you there myself."
John moved around the table and took the seat as Anna smiled at him. "Thank you, for standing up for me there."
"If you think you can manage then why should anyone else think differently?" She took her cup and sipped at it.
"They could be the ones in the right."
"I doubt it." She shook her head, "I think you know what you can and can't do and it's no one's business to say otherwise."
"That's very wise." He stopped himself, "You introduced yourself as Anna but I assume you have a last name."
"Smith," Anna hurried to put her cup down, "Anna Smith."
"Well, Ms. Smith, I shall have to work to put your faith in me to good use."
"I've no doubt you can Mr. Bates."
If only either of them had seen the way Aphrodite leaned over the table, head firmly in the crux of her palms, and sighed with happiness watching them, they might've felt embarrassed by the audience. But they were so wrapped up in each other they didn't see her… and that's how she liked it.