They were having luncheon in the servant's quarters when Anna first noticed it, she had been nudging his foot with hers when she moved it up a little and he had hissed a little at the pain.
"Are you alright Mr Bates?" Mrs Hughes asked as people started to look at him, the room growing quiet. She looked down at her plate, partly confustion, partly embarresment. She hadn't ment to hurt him, she didn't think she had but clearly something had bothered him.
"I'm fine Mrs Hughes, just my knee. I think I'll go take a walk outside if you don't mind?" He asked and Mrs Hughes waved him off. She was even more confused, her foot had been no where near is knee unless it was that, but that would have been too much of a coincedince. She sat there, barely touching the rest of her food as she waited for everyone to finish; it would have looked too suspicious to go out after him straight away. When they were done she stood up and walked outside, quietly calling out his name.
"Mr Bates? Mr Bates are you out here?" She walked a little further on and found him next to the stack of boxes they normally met by.
"Anna, what are you doing out here?" He asked as he spotted her walking towards him.
"How's your knee?" She asked and he shook his head as she moved closer to him.
"It's fine," he told her and she nodded before looking down at his leg were she had been rubbing her foot.
"What's actually wrong Mr Bates?" She asked and he sighed before looking up to meet her eyes.
"You really want to know?" He asked, even though a better part of him knew he shouldn't tell her. It wouldn't go down well and he knew that, but he didn't want to keep it a secret from her and he was partly revealed when she nodded. She moved closer as John lifted up the bottom of his trousers revealing deep red scars and marks that seemed to be a part of the skin. She gasped before her hand went to her mouth and he quickly dropped his trouser leg, covering the marks.
"Oh my, what happened there?" She asked and he managed a small wrangled smile before turning to look at her.
"I was a fool, I thought I could change my leg, make it better. I couldn't, and I learnt I shouldn't have tried," he told her and she breathed out, her eyes wide.
"Why? Why would you do that? You didn't need to change anything," she told him and he nodded before taking her hands in his.
"I know, I know, shh. I've learnt from my mistakes," he told her and she nodded before jumping back guiltily as someone banged on the door that led outside.
"Come inside," she told him, leading the way for them to go back inside and join everyone else. "First, promise me you'll never try anything like that again?" She turned to him and stared at him, forcing him to nod.
"I promise, nothing like that ever again," he told her and she nodded before turning to go back insde. At the door she turned to look at him, a smile on her lips.
"Because Mr Bates, I like you just the way you are."