I have come close to posting this twice now, but chickened out every time (I'm such a huge baby). Today I was hit with such wonderful angst-y Chelsie updates that I gathered my courage once more. This started as an Anna/Bates story for one of terriejane's tumblr challenges a few weeks ago but morphed into a Mrs. Hughes story.
I don't own 'Downton Abbey' or the characters. Probably a good thing.
She couldn't understand why things were taking so long. She used to be a very patient woman, and when it came to some matters, Lord knows she had to be. But every day that passed since they hauled Anna away in those cursed shackles as if she was some kind of dangerous fiend, Mrs. Hughes was less and less patient. It seemed that the wheels of justice turned mighty fast when falsely arresting someone but tortuously slow to rectify the matter.
Every day she had to tell herself to remain steady, to move on through her day as though all was well for the sake of her work, the staff, and for Mr. Bates. Especially for him, the poor man. She knew he was doing the best he could, but he was so lost, so incomplete without his wife.
You have the wrong person, Inspector Vyner. If you took even a single moment in your investigation to try and see it, you would know that Anna Bates is incapable of the crime she's been accused of committing. I've known her half her life and can say as her witness that she has never wanted harm on a single creature. She has only wanted to be with the man she adores, serve the family she loves and exist in peace with everyone she has ever met. I'm sure in your work you have been jaded to think no such person exists in the world, but I assure you that Anna is just that.
Mr. Bates came back from his last visit worse than she had ever seen him, worse than that awful day he made her tell him what had happened to Anna. She was leaving her parlor just as he was walking through the servant's entrance and she instantly asked after Anna. She should have given him time to take off his coat. The way she sprung up on him and pushed the question nearly shattered him. She quickly pulled him into her room and shut the door. She guided him to a chair and muttered something about tea mostly as an excuse to leave him so he could gather himself.
When she returned a few minutes later, not much had changed except his ability to speak.
"Mrs. Hughes, I can't take this anymore. It's killing me. She doesn't belong there."
"We all know that, Mr. Bates."
"No, I mean… she doesn't deserve to be anywhere that is like that place. Ever." She nodded. "My wife is goodness and light. She is the purest soul I have ever known and in there she is surrounded by nothing but evil. How can they not see it? How can they not see that she doesn't belong there?"
"I wish I knew what to tell you-"
"If she's there much longer," he paused, his voice rising with an edge of anger. "I can't bear to think about how she will be."
"Anna's strong, Mr. Bates. We both know how much."
"Ah, but I've seen it happen, Mrs. Hughes, I know! Everything that makes her special, everything that makes her the divine creature she is, it will die inside her…" His voice trailed off for a moment, then he swallowed and continued. "You didn't see her today. It has already started."
"She won't be convicted, Mr. Bates. There is hope. And for Anna's sake we cannot give up."
"I have very little hope left in me when it comes to the law," he answered spitefully, adding before she could protest. "But you are correct, Anna won't be convicted." The way he said it sent a shiver through her. She saw it, the desperation turning into determination.
Mrs. Hughes knew that Mr. Bates had not made the wisest choices when he was pushed into a corner during that ordeal with his first wife and this was a hundred times worse. He went to jail for that woman and she almost ruined his life. For Anna, the one who gave his life all meaning, he would willingly hang.
"Mr. Bates, listen to me very carefully," she said, her voice a serious whisper. "You must keep Anna's future in mind. And yours. She will be released and she will need you. She needs you now, and she'll need you then. More than anything." She leaned closer to him and looked at him pointedly. "She cannot live without you." She sat back and watched him fall apart again. "Mr. Bates, she will be free. And you will be together. And this will be finally over. Believe."
"You sound like Anna," Mr. Bates softened and gave her the smallest smile releasing a shaky sigh. "I just miss her so much."
Mrs. Hughes just nodded sadly. She reached for him, patted his knee gently and stood up. He did likewise and made his way to the door, turning the handle before stopping. He turned a sad eye toward her.
"Thank you, Mrs. Hughes."
"Don't thank me, Mr. Bates. Just think about what I've said. Anna will need you when she comes back. And she will come back." He nodded and then left.
If you believe in the cause of justice, Inspector, you'll try a bit harder to verify her alibi so you can know that she was not the one who pushed Mr. Green into the road. Mr. Green. If ever there was a man whose death demands less attention and pity, I do not know who it would be. The real crime, in my opinion, is that time and resources have been wasted on that sorry excuse for a human being at all. You've done your work, sir, and you know what he did. Have you no wife, no daughter? If you've concluded that his death was for vengeance, surely you see how incredibly tragic that someone has to pay twice for that man's sins!
Mrs. Hughes kept an extra eye on Mr. Bates after that. He was always a man of secrets and he hid his feelings quite well. But she had known him long enough to see the anger raging behind his brooding eyes, to hear the despair in his few but well spent words. Back when she had dared to suggest that Anna's ordeal could be put behind them, he answered her with a frightening calm that was thick with a promise that someone would indeed pay for what was done to his beloved wife. She still feared what lengths he would go to get Anna free.
None of that compared to the chill she felt when one day a week later he came to breakfast walking a bit lighter. He spoke to everyone, even with Thomas. He stood taller. Her fears were confirmed when he interrupted her and Mr. Carson in the butler's pantry discussing the cottage they were considering purchasing together.
"Mr. Carson, I need to have a word if I may," Mr. Bates said as soon as they turned to see who was at the door. Mrs. Hughes made to leave so the conversation could be private, but before she could pass Mr. Bates in the doorway he continued. "I've cleared it with his Lordship, so it is just a matter of letting you know. I'm going to London on Friday. I need to settle some things and it will take all day. I won't be back before dinner." He hesitated before looking into her eyes.
"Settle what things, Mr. Bates?"
"The sale of my mother's house as well as some other matters," he said with a slight smile, but offered no other information. Whatever he was planning to do in London, it seemed to give him much relief. "I just thought you should be informed." He quickly bowed his head and stepped back into the hall. Mrs. Hughes stood with her mouth open, confusion slowly giving way to dread as he walked away. At that moment she knew that Mr. Bates had made a decision that would likely free his wife, but at a very high cost. Both she and Mr. Carson hear him say that he was going to London, but only she knew he didn't mean to come back.
"Well, that's that," Mr. Carson said, dismissing the momentary intrusion and hoping to get back to the matter of the cottage. "So shall we take a look at it? Mrs. Hughes?" She looked down at the papers in her hands and snapped out of her daze.
"What? Oh, the cottage," she sniffed a small sigh and looked up into his puzzled face. "Mr. Carson, I… would it be possible to put this off for now. I have so many things on my mind, and… I can't seem to focus on it at the moment." She pushed the papers back into his hands. Mr. Carson dropped into his chair and sighed heavily.
"Mrs. Hughes… Elsie," he finally said, his voice barely a whisper. "I don't have to explain why we can't keep putting it off." Without realizing it, his gaze dropped lower to her left breast. Mrs. Hughes nervously crossed her arms over her chest while he looked away apologetically.
"I know," she answered sadly. "And the last thing I want is for you to be hurt-"
"I'm already hurting, Elsie," he replied, but there was no resentment in his voice. Only truth.
"I know," she exhaled. "And I'm sorry. I just don't think it is a good idea now." She glanced at his face only long enough to see the sad confusion. "It's the timing, Charles. Poor timing has been the mark of our entire life together. It was a lovely thought and it means the world to me that you wanted… that you wanted this for us, but…" Unable to say more, she left him alone.
All I wanted to do was protect that girl. And I couldn't bear to see her suffer any longer. I couldn't stop the nightmares or the constant fear. All I could do was watch her fight her way back slowly, sometimes in great strides and sometimes in very small ones that didn't seem worth the struggle. It didn't matter, though, not when that man could show up again and again, wrecking her all over again.
That argument he had here at Downton, Inspector, was not with Mr. Bates. It was with me. Not once did you consider that, did you? I cornered him like the rat that he was and told him to watch himself or I would do it for him. I was the only one who knew what he did, you see, and I simply wanted him to know that I did.
Finally, Mrs. Hughes' patience paid off. She had just finished checking on the morning chores and was in the kitchen discussing the store cupboard when a bell rang to alert them of someone's presence at the back door. She hardly noticed a hall boy running to answer it, nor did she give it a glance until she heard Mrs. Patmore gasp and grab her wrist.
She finally looked up to see her, her darling Anna, standing in the hall, wide-eyed and trembling. She was escorted by officers and the Inspector, but her hands were not bound.
"Anna? Oh, my god… someone go find Mr. Bates," Mrs. Patmore hollered shoving the hall boy and Mr. Molesley toward the stairs. "And find Mr. Carson!"
Mrs. Hughes took a step toward her, looked at the Inspector briefly, and then took Anna's hands in her own. "You're back," she said, tears shining in her eyes. She reached a tender hand to the young woman's face and caressed her cheek. "I'm glad. I'm so very glad." Anna could only nod. She looked around at all the faces, clearly desperate to find her husband.
"What is going on, may I ask?" Mr. Carson bellowed moments later as he broke through the small crowd that had gathered. Anna jumped, but not at the butler's booming voice; it was the sight of her husband making his way to the bottom of the stairs right at that moment. She ran and threw herself into his arms, uttering words no one could hear. Lord Grantham had followed his valet after hearing Molesley inform him that his wife was standing in the servant's hall. Both were shocked to find the information to be true.
"Can someone please explain?" the Earl demanded more than asked. "Has Mrs. Bates been freed?"
"Yes, Lord Grantham," the Inspector stated evenly.
"I take it that you found proof of her innocence?"
"Hmmm," Vyner mumbled before squaring his shoulders. "Someone else has confessed to the murder. Mrs. Bates has been cleared." The servants started to offer up a cheer but Lord Grantham quickly turned toward his valet, his face thundering. Clearly Mrs. Hughes was not alone in her worry about Bates rash tendencies.
"Bates, what have you done?!"
"Oh, John, please tell me you didn't!" Anna gripped his jacket and buried her face in his chest, pleading frantically for him not leave her. Mrs. Hughes watched it all with a deep sense of sadness.
"I… I don't understand," Mr. Bates shook his head, nearly unable to speak. Mrs. Hughes watched his eyes dart between the Inspector and his wife. "Someone… who?"
Every eye turned to Vyner for the answer to the great mystery of Mr. Green's death, everyone except Mr. Carson. Mrs. Hughes could feel the burn of his gaze as he stepped to be beside her.
"Oh, Elsie…" his voice choked in a hoarse whisper. She dared a watery glance at him, anguished at the suffering in his eyes.
This letter is my confession. I, Elsie Hughes, hereby confess to the murder of Alex Green. I pushed him into the street and watched him be crushed to death by a bus. I wanted him to suffer and die for what he did because I know the law would never touch him. I confess. I did it and I'm prepared to answer for it.
She said nothing as they placed her wrists in the cuffs. She looked at Mr. Carson and opened her mouth but knew it would jeopardize everything to speak. She had to hope he understood.
Before they took her away, Mrs. Hughes gave Mr. Carson—Charles- one last look. He simply nodded to tell her that he would love her forever. And that he did understand.
Because he knew this time the lump was cancer and he knew Dr. Clarkson told her she had less than a year left. She had planned to give those months to him, to spend the last of her days with him in their cottage, but instead, she gave them to Anna so the young woman she loved like a daughter could come home.
Now I shall go to my corner and remember why I don't write Downton Abbey fanfiction.