Hello me lovelies! This is something I've been hoping to see for a while now, and while I'm sure there are plenty of writers who could handle it much better than I could, nobody has done it, so I thought I might as well give it a shot. My Mary is terribly rusty – you have been warned! Packed full of angst, naturally (I am such a stickler for it) but I daresay we can hope for some improvement over the coming chapters! Enjoy!

Prologue

"What will you do?"

Anna breathed deeply and squeezed her husband's hands. "Lady Mary's going to America. I'm to go with her." She wouldn't cry. Not now, not before him. He had troubles enough.

He gave her a little smile. "Will you like that?"

"Under other circumstances I would." She'd done it now. And they had so little time. They'd been beyond lucky to scrape this half an hour, and she knew she had to say goodbye, but she couldn't. She couldn't let him go.

He turned her hands over in his. The guard was eyeing them particularly closely, but that didn't matter now. She tried to smile.

"I think you will enjoy it. A whole new life." There was a horrible tenderness to his tone. Anna recognised it. Their time was running out.

"I don't want it." Her voice caught. No. She would not cry in front of him.

"Anna…" It was barely a breath, or less than a breath, but it broke her heart. "You'll try to?"

She couldn't let him feel any worse. She managed a smile. "I'll try."

"Because I want you happy," he pressed, and there was such an eagerness and anxiety in him that she felt she must oblige him however she could. "I want you well taken care of. You'll have the money, of course – you don't need to give me that look, I know it will help – but if somebody…"

He stopped, and looked down, and Anna realised with a shock what he was saying to her. "John," she whispered, and he looked up at her. "Never," she said firmly, fixing her eyes on his and making sure he knew she meant it.

"Just humour me," he said, and if there was a little hollowness in his voice it resounded with sincerity. "Don't let my memory hold you back. If you ever find yourself loving again, or just in need of somebody, don't be afraid to take a step. I want you safe, I want you happy."

Anna gave him a smile and kissed his hand and promised to try and be happy. "I'll always love you," she said, a little brokenly. "No matter what happens, I'm yours."

They said their last goodbyes with tears, a tender kiss and a long, heartfelt embrace. Last time, just after the verdict, Anna had felt the full weight of his fear and unhappiness when she held him. He had been so afraid. Now, it was different, and he stood a little stronger. He had come to terms with his fate. She knew she never would. But this time he leaned on her support a little less, and they took care of each other.

That was the last time she ever saw him.

~0~

"You're really going."

"I really am." Mary gave Matthew a smile. It was the kind of smile she gave when she wanted to mask unhappiness, and that look in his eyes said he recognised it.

"Mary, I..."

"Yes?"

Matthew was trying to find words. There weren't any. He said nothing.

"I'm sure America will be wonderful," Mary said. Her chest tightened. She would not allow a man who didn't care for her to upset her in this way. They didn't need each other. "I dare say I'll write from time to time. You must promise me faithfully to do the same."

"Of course I will." Ceremony. Mary knew she wasn't going to write.

"Well, then. I suppose I must be going." She turned. He always disappointed her in the end.

"Mary-"

She turned, half-expectantly. Did she expect anything much of him now?

"I'm so sorry things couldn't have... well, worked out... with everything we... that is, I..."

She couldn't let him go on like this, it was unbearable. "Stop," she said, and he obeyed. Like a puppy, he always seemed to obey. It was like there was no fire left.

"I wish things could have been different," she said. If he wasn't able to speak clearly, she would do it for him. "I wish it was all simple. But it's not. I won't stay here to become some kind of exhibition. There's nothing to keep me here, and all I want is in America. Things aren't different, Matthew, and we only have the choice to learn and live with it."

There was accusation in her tone. He ought to have tried to keep her here. He wasn't going to. She tried to soften her tone, but she wasn't at all sure of her success. Matthew looked rather like a kicked puppy. He would get over it. No harm done.

"I'm sorry," she found herself saying. Why? She had nothing to apologise for.

"So am I," he said. He reached for her hand, and kissed it before she could stop him. "I hope America does give you everything you want. And make sure you do write. I know you don't mean your promise, but I wish you would."

Her heart softened more than she had intended. A genuine smile slipped through. She hadn't meant to let it out. She was going to miss him so very much.

"I'll try," she said, and fixed her mask. "I must go, Matthew. The train's about to leave."

She would not be so weak as to run from him, but she was never so relieved as she was when the train finally pulled away.