Here's the second (and last) chapter! enjoy!
They dried off, with Anna refusing to look at John, she slipped a new dress on, buttoning it up quickly. They went into their bedroom and lay down on the bed together. Anna pressed close to John, he could feel that she was scared and he kept his touch gentle.
"What happened?"
Anna buried her face in his chest but spoke, she told him how she had gone downstairs to take a powder for her headache and she'd been drinking it... "then he came into the kitchen." She stopped talking then, shaking.
John rubbed her back slowly, "it's alright." he said quietly, his tone gentle. "You're safe."
Anna seemed to be shrinking in his arms. "He said something, then grabbed at me. I-I tried to pull away."
"I know you did love."
"On bad days, I can still feel his lips against mine." Anna sounded disgusted, she gripped John's arm in fright. John's voice was quiet and soothing, soon she pulled away a little to continue speaking. "He dragged me, by my hair into the boot room."
John could feel the familiar revulsion settling into the pit of his stomach.
"I tried to get away," tears finally crept into her tone and she shook as she cried into John's chest. "I tried so hard to get away John!"
"I know." He kept his voice calm as he rubbed her back.
"You're the only one I want, John."
"I know."
"I swear, I never did anything to make him or anyone think that I was unhappy with you."
"I know you didn't." There it was again. Ever since he'd found out about Anna being attacked he had thought on multiple occasions that it was Green who had attacked Anna, or at the very least that it had been someone new in the house, but he didn't have any concrete evidence. Why would Anna be saying that she hadn't done anything to make him think that they were unhappy if it was a stranger who had attacked her?
"Even when I can't..." She trailed off. "Be intimate with you, you're the only one I want."
"I know my darling, I've never had any doubts," John said, he tried not to remember the time that Anna had been laughing with Green. For a moment before he'd snapped at her in the servants hall, he'd thought that she'd been in love with him, that she'd happier with Green than she could be with him.
"I screamed so loud for someone..." John's heart tore in two at the devastation in Anna's tone. Of course she had, because if someone had needed help, she would have come, and naively, she'd have thought that someone would have come when she'd screamed for help.
"But no one came, and he..." She broke off, crying into John's chest. "When he was finished, he got dressed and..." she broke off again. "He said that my husband had no idea what kind of a shameless woman he'd married and that if he ever found out what I had done, you..."
"How did he know that you were married?" The question came out before John could stop it. There was a long pause, the silence stretched between them and John spoke again. "If it was a stranger, how did he know you were married?"
"I-" John could almost hear the wheels turning in Anna's brain.
"Anna, my love?" He waited until she gave him a murmured "uh huh?" before continuing to speak.
"Who hurt you? I know you know who it is, Anna." He kept his voice soft but pressed her for more information. "I know that you're scared of him and scared of me doing something to him. I won't." Making the promise was difficult, but if it was who he thought it was, there was nothing to be done anyway. "You're so brave, living so well after what happened."
She curled in closer to him, her hand gripping his arm and shirt, "It-" she started, it took her a moment but she continued talking, the next words came out in a rush. "Itwasgreen."
John let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. "I thought so..."
"You didn't like him for good reason." Anna said, she looked up at him. "I should have trusted your judgment."
"Your ability to trust people is one of the many things I love about you."
"My trusting ability didn't work out then." Tears still clogged Anna's voice.
"No," John had to admit that Anna was right about that. "It didn't. But you're so wonderful and brave." Anna let out a sobbing scoff, clearly she didn't believe John.
"You are, when I was fighting in the Boer war, I saw what being attacked like that did to other women." He took in a breath. "It destroyed them, as it should have, but you're much better then I thought you would be when I found out about it."
"Because you've been wonderful," Anna told him. "It's because of you that I'm doing so well. Your strength has made me stronger."
"You are so much stronger then I am, Anna." John kept his voice gentle, she began to weep quietly, and he kept his touch gentle, not wanting to scare her. He lowered his head to her ear and whispered words of love to her, how much he adored her, how strong he thought she was. It was something that he'd done before, and it seemed to help her when she was feeling despondent about what had happened. He'd do it every day if it meant Anna healed.
Anna's tears abated but she continues to press close to John, laying her head on his chest. "You knew?" She finally asked.
"I had no firm proof." John said quietly. "So I didn't do anything."
"So you didn't kill him?" Anna asked, she turned to look up at John, he could see the desperation in her face, she knew the answer without even asking the question, but she needed to hear the words all the same. It was just like when he'd found out about the rape and she needed to know that he still loved her.
"No..." He paused, Anna had been honest with him, so now it was time for him to be honest with her. "I was in London, but I was meeting up with an acquaintance from my time in prison." He took in a breath as he stroked Anna's hair. "He knows of our dream of buying a hotel and he had found a hotel that he thought we might be able to buy. I went to London to look it over. I didn't tell you because I was unsure if it was going to be more then just a possibility. I didn't want to tell you and have you get your hopes up only to have them dashed."
"You didn't..." Anna sounded relieved.
"No, I didn't." John's voice was soothing. I will be happy to give you the letter he sent me, it's still in the desk."
"How did you know it was him?" Anna asked, she didn't want to know, but couldn't help but ask, it was like a bad dream, you didn't want to have it but you couldn't wake up from it either.
"The way he looked at you, the way he flirted with you, the way you reacted upon seeing him again." John said, "But since you had told me it wasn't him, I thought the only possibility was that he went downstairs to get away from the concert, like he said he had had come upon you being attacked and hadn't done anything to stop it."
"You're not mad I didn't tell you?" Anna asked, sounding very tiny.
"No, my darling, I'm not mad." John looked down at her. "I can't think of any words that describe what it must have been like to be attacked like that. But I can easily imagine that you were, are..." he corrected himself "incredibly frightened of him." There was silence for a long moment, as Anna played with a stray thread on John's shirt.
"Horrific." The single word surprised John until she said another one. "Horrid." Then he understood, that Anna was describing what it had been like. Tears clogged her voice again, "dreadful. He was evil, John."
"I know." John kept his voice at a whisper. Anna looked up then, a watery smile forming. The smile surprised him, but he didn't say anything as she whispered another word. She stopped playing with the stray thread and placed her hand on his cheek.
"Incredible." Anna's smile grew at John's obvious confusion. "Now I'm describing the opposite of what he did to me." She took in a breath and her smile became real. "When we make love." She got comfortable in John's arms and began to list words, "Wonderful, pleasurable." Now she moved to kiss him, the kiss landed on his chin and she smiled brightly. "Perfect."
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