Author's Note: Welcome back! Please enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Downton Abbey.


Chapter Two

Morning came too quickly, and Anna could sense the day would be bustling and demanding as it usually tended to be with three young ladies to dress and a large estate to tend to. Sitting up, with a tiny groan, Anna tossed back the covers and put her feet on the chilly floor. Her long blond hair had made its nightly escape from her carefully styled braid and her thick nightgown was looking worse for the wear. Pushing frivolous thoughts aside of a new nightgown, Anna quickly dressed into her maid's uniform and headed downstairs to the servant's halls for a spot of breakfast before conquering the undone tasks that awaited her.

It was barely 6:30 in the morning but she could already hear Mrs. Patmore laying into Daisy, the new kitchen maid. Mrs. Patmore's bark was worse than her bite, Anna would know after having worked near her for many years, but Daisy a sweet young girl who only wanted to do the right thing, so this reaming would certainly spur her work ethic harder.

Anna swept past the kitchen and into the servant's hall for a bite of toast and a cup of tea. In her haste, she didn't see the person in her way and barreled into their back causing them to drop their bags on the floor.

"Oh, heavens! I am sorry, I didn't see you there," Anna bent down to gather up the dropped items, placing them back into their owner's arms. The bag belonged to a good-looking man with brown hair and nice eyes. He smiled gently and took the bag back, politely declining her apology with a wave of his hand.

"Anna! Do be more careful," Mrs. Hughes gently chastised her but gave her a sweet smile to make up for it. "This is Mr. Alex Green, Lord Grantham's new valet." Anna's eyes moved from Mrs. Hughes' back to Mr. Green's.

She stuck her hand out, "I'm Anna Smith, head housemaid. It's good to meet you." She flashed him her sweetest and most welcoming smile.

Mr. Green took her hand, "It's nice to meet you as well, Miss Smith. I'm honored to be here, this is the biggest house I've ever worked in." He shifted his eyes around to address both women but couldn't help but to draw his gaze back to Anna.

Anna paid his attention no mind because she didn't even realize he was slightly leering. She simply continued to smile and told him if he needed anything to let her know. She'd been at Downton Abbey for a few years now and had come to be seen my many of the staff, and family, as a loving, kind, and caring woman to everyone.

"Mr. Green is going to take the day to get used to the house and then will help Lord Grantham with dressing this evening," Mrs. Hughes informed Anna. She opened her mouth to continue on but a loud clang and harsh voices came from the kitchen. Mrs. Hughes closed her eyes and took a deep breath in and out. "Poor Daisy," she shook her head at Anna and excused herself to deal with the first brawl of the day.

Anna and Mr. Green were left standing in the servant's hall with the last of the other staff trickling out to attend to their daily duties. They exchanged a look after Mrs. Hughes. Anna assured him, "Mrs. Patmore's bark is worse than her bite. But if you're on her good side, she'll love you fiercely."

He nodded, "I'll keep that in mind. You must know everyone and everything here." His voice took on a flattering tone but, again, Anna overlooked it. She chalked it up to kindness and first day jitters.

She smiled again and sat to pour herself a cup of now lukewarm tea. "Don't worry, Mr. Green, you'll pick everything up in no time. Where were you before here?" She gestured for him to sit down next to her and he did, setting his bag by his feet.

He poured a cup of tea for himself, his hand slightly brushing hers as he reached for the teapot. They shared a little smile before he answered her question. "I was in a small house in London, but my employer has passed away."

Anna gave him a kind, sympathetic look, "I'm so sorry to hear that. Were you with him long?"

"Almost ten years," Mr. Green took a sip of his tea and placed the mug back on the table. "His death was certainly unexpected. He was a miser of a man at times but he wasn't totally lacking compassion."

Anna was about to respond when the bell rang for Lady Mary. She looked up at it and back to Mr. Green. "That's Lady Mary. I've got to go," she got up from the bench and Mr. Green politely stood up with her. "It was nice to meet you. Let us know if you need any help."

Mr. Green smiled and thanked her again, "You're my go to now." He shook her hand again and watched her rush upstairs to wait on the Grantham daughters. He kept his smiling façade in place for as long as he could but he let the mask slip a little as soon as he was alone in the hall. Anna Smith, he thought, was just his type.


Once upstairs, Anna set straight away to dressing Mary, Edith, and Sybil. All three young ladies were coming into their own and all three were beautiful and elegant in their own unique ways. Mary was strikingly beautiful with dark eyes and sharp wit. Edith and Mary fought like cats and dogs. The tension between them thick at the best of times but Edith held her own when it mattered. She had blond hair, pale skin, and lovely blue eyes. She was a kind soul, really. Sybil, the youngest, was sweet and had a lovely long, round face. Her eyes were gentle, but she wasn't a shrinking violet. Lord and Lady Grantham were lucky to daughters like them.

Anna finished putting the finishing touches on Lady Mary's long hair. Edith and Sybil were dressed, waiting for their sister to finish. Edith gave a quick roll of her eyes when Mary fussed a little bit about how her hair was setting. Anna merely gave a patient smile and fixed what displeased Lady Mary.

"Anna, you don't always have to do what she wants you to," Edith said with a smirk. "Your work is lovely. Mary's just fussy." Mary rolled her eyes at Edith, preparing a barb that was lingering on the tip of her tongue.

Anna jumped in and gave a knowing smile to Lady Edith. "I want you all to look and feel like your best selves, milady." Anna swept back and pinned the last bit of Lady Mary's hair, "Besides, it's no trouble at all." She set back and looked at her handiwork while Lady Mary performed the inspection.

"Don't mind her, Anna" Lady Mary drawled. "She's only upset that she was passed over. Again." Lady Mary smirked in Edith's direction only to be met with an eye roll and a gentle scolding from Sybil.

"Mary, please. Not today," Sybil chastised. She closed her book and stared between her sisters. "Let's be civil today."

"I am nothing if not civil," Mary quipped back, "tell it to Edith." Mary waved her hand in Edith's direction as if she was a frivolous nothing. Sybil sighed, she'd get nowhere with them. At least not today. She collected her book again and stood up to head downstairs for breakfast.

Anna bid the Ladies goodbye and gathered up their old nightclothes to take to the laundry. She'd come back up and do their beds once she had stored their gowns from the previous evening. It was simply another day of hard work and little rest, but she didn't mind at all. Anna enjoyed staying busy and feeling accomplished. She set off for downstairs hoping to run into Gwen, her roommate and another housemaid. Doing the bedrooms would be faster with her so she was hoping she'd be able to wrangle her help.


The evening came quickly, even dinner had passed by in a flash and Anna had no idea how exhausted she was until the clock rang out at 9 PM. The girls would surely want to retire soon but until then, Anna needed to try to salvage a pair of Lady Sybil's shoes. They had been horribly covered in mud which was suspicious as Gwen's maid shoes were also filthy. Anna paid no mind to any potential connection and collected the shoes and headed over to the boot room. Inside was all the shoe cleaners and lots of space to spread out. Besides, it was not done to clean shoes at the dining table.

Anna set the shoes down on the work bench and began to gently and carefully, so as not to rip or disturb the fabric, brush off some of the caked-on mud. Then, she readied the cleaning solution and got a wet rag. She found herself in a rhythm and had one shoe cleaned when the door to the boot room opened. Coming out of her daze, Anna looked up to see Mr. Green. They exchanged pleasantries and Anna noticed that Mr. Green had a few pairs of Lord Grantham's more clever looking shoes in his hands.

"Those'll take some time. Want me to help? I'm almost finished with Lady Sybil's shoes," Anna gestured to the nearly clean twin of the pair. "It's no trouble at all," she affirmed when Mr. Green gave her a skeptical look.

"If you insist," he chuckled. He set down a pair across from her and began to wax a black pair of loafers. "It's true what everyone says about you," he said with a smile after some time had passed.

Anna stopped her ministrations on the shoes and gave him a confused look. He chuckled at the face she made. "Everyone has only the nicest things to say, don't worry."

Anna blushed a little bit. While it was true she was kind, she didn't do it for herself. She was kind because the world needed it and it was in her very nature to be helpful and compassionate to anyone who needed it.

Mr. Green hoped his smile would help her relax a little bit. He noticed that, whenever he saw her during the day, she seemed to be too serious and tense. He wanted to help her loosen up. It seemed that laughter was doing the trick. "It just makes me glad to have a friend like you."

"Mr. Green, you're a regular flatterer you are," Anna laughed a little bit and went back to cleaning Lord Grantham's riding boots. They were worse for the wear after a long day of riding and Anna knew how long it had been since Lord Grantham had a proper valet, so she wanted everything to be ship shape for him as he was a most generous employer.

"Just telling the truth, that's all," he placed his hands up in a self defense type of way and shrugged his shoulders. "But can I ask you a question?" His tone turned a little serious and it sounded like he needed to discuss something.

"Of course, Mr. Green," Anna had finished cleaning the riding boots and was putting them away for safe keeping. Locks of Anna's hair had begun to fall out of her expertly styled bun, framing her face just so. She had a slight look of exhaustion but the glow from the dim lights in the boot room made her look ethereal.

Mr. Green simply stared for a few moments before managing to collect himself. "Uh, what? Oh yes! Now, I've only been here a day but what is there to do for fun? London was full of fun but here it seems so boring." He dropped his voice a little conspiratorially, certainly hoping to find Anna in agreement with his feelings about Downton.

Anna prickled a little bit as she loved working at Downton and living in the countryside. "Downton is what you make of it, Mr. Green." She gave pointed, albeit good-natured look, "And I happen to love it here. Besides, the county fair is coming up next week, so we will be plenty busy with that. Lord and Lady Grantham let us all go out in the evening to enjoy it."

Mr. Green could sense he stepped over the line a little bit and had reached out his hand to hers by way of apology when the door to the boot room suddenly opened and looming Mr. Carson stood in its doorway.

"Anna," Mr. Caron's deep voice addressed her, "the young ladies are ready to retire for the evening." He delivered the message and stood up straight. Anna looked at the clock in the boot room but didn't realize how late it had gotten, almost 10:30 PM!

"Yes, Mr. Carson. Thank you," Anna bowed her head and bid goodnight to them both. Her blond hair bobbing out of site down the corridor.

Mr. Green watched her go and Mr. Carson watched him. "Mr. Green, since you are new here, it is my duty to remind you to be respectable and that there is to be no fraternizing whatsoever." Mr. Carson gave Mr. Green a stern look hoping it lacked any subtlety.

"Certainly, Mr. Carson. We were simply having a friendly conversation," Mr. Green lightly defended. "She was only showing me the ropes."

"And that is all you will see from her, Mr. Green," Mr. Carson turned on his heel and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Mr. Green sneered at the door for a few moments, contemplating the old man's behavior. Alex Green would do what he wanted when he wanted, Charles Carson be damned. Anna Smith needed a little fun in her life and he was just the man for it.

Mr. Green cleaned the last pair of shoes in silence before heading up stairs to undress Lord Grantham. He'd just to have to find a way to get Anna alone. He slipped back on his mask and went upstairs, ideas for Anna swirling in his head.


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