I own none of the characters of Downton Abbey.

To Have and to Hold

Chapter 4

Without a doubt, life had certainly changed very much for Anna and John over the last few short hours. And yet to Anna, her previous existence as Miss Anna Smith already seemed a life time away. Now she felt like a proper woman because she'd experienced things that only a married woman could, so now she was part of that exclusive club that knew the realities of a man's 'needs', things that could only be hinted at before. But what had really surprised her was the discovery of her own 'needs' – no one had so much as hinted at that before. No, the general consensus had been that a wife should 'lie back and think of England' while her husband satisfied his carnal needs with his wife's unresponsive body. Maybe if your husband was ignorant and knew no better, that was indeed how it was. Anna smiled to herself as she thought how lucky she was to have a lover like her husband. Of course she was very curious to find out just what he'd meant earlier about 'different ways and different positions'. All in good time, she supposed, there was so much for them to learn in their new married life together.

Now as they sat having their first breakfast together in the kitchen of their little cottage, Anna reflected,

"This time yesterday…"

"This time yesterday, I hadn't yet married the love of my life," John told her, holding her hand across the table, as he smiled happily at her…

xXx

It had started in much the same way as any other day for Bates. He attended to Lord Grantham to help him dress, just as usual. However, the conversation between the two men differed somewhat from the normal exchanges between them, which recently had invariably concerned the latest news about the declaration of war.

"So Bates, last few hours as a single man eh? Still time to change your mind, if you felt so inclined," Robert joked, as Bates helped him on with his jacket.

The wedding was at two o'clock that afternoon, and Bates was working until midday, before getting ready and then making his way over to the village church.

"I don't think it's me you need to worry about changing their mind, My Lord," Bates replied, with a wry smile.

He still found it almost impossible to believe that Anna had agreed to marry him. Maybe she would come to her senses; maybe all the snide comments from certain members of staff would finally get to her. These, and other unpleasant thoughts, had been running through his head in the early hours of the morning when he'd been unable to sleep. In the cold light of day though, he'd told himself not to be so ridiculous; Anna wasn't like that, and she had shown no signs at all of any lingering doubts. If fact she'd seemed really excited and happy when they'd said good bye the previous evening when she'd left to stay at her parents' home - everyone knew that it was bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the ceremony on the day of the actual wedding.

"Oh come now, I was only teasing; I'm sure no one is going to change their minds, and that you'll do very well together. Nice girl, Anna, you're a very lucky man, Bates," Robert reassured his valet.

"Yes, I'm extremely fortunate, of that I am only too aware My Lord. And I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Your Grace for the extreme kindness and generosity that you have extended to us, both in letting us continue in our positions, and in granting us one of the Estate cottages. We consider ourselves to be most fortunate."

"Yes well, enough said, old chap. And anyway, the cottage was all Cousin Matthew's doing; I've been letting him run that side of things."

"And I also wanted to reassure you that you will notice no difference whatsoever in the completion of our duties, no one will ever be aware that we are a married couple while we are at work. You will never have reason to regret your decision, My Lord."

He and Anna had agreed that they would not risk giving anyone the chance to make trouble for them by reporting any kind of unsuitable behaviour – displays of affection would have to wait until they were behind the closed doors of their own little cottage.

"Quite so Bates, quite so. Well I wish you both all the best, hope all goes well with the wedding, certainly a lovely day for it, looks like the sun is going to shine on you," Robert pointed out, as the sun was pouring through his window on this September morning.

xXx

Bates managed to ignore the latest round of pointed comments in the servants' hall. O'Brien was still muttering about how she'd 'never seen the like, servants marrying and being allowed to stay in service, whatever next? However, since she knew that Lady Cora had given her blessing to the marriage, she couldn't risk stirring things up too much, especially as she still felt so guilty about the recent miscarriage that Her Ladyship had suffered.

Now that Thomas had handed in his notice, he really wasn't bothered any more about events at Downton, but he still couldn't resist making a jibe at Bates, out of earshot of the others,

"You're nothing better than a dirty old man are you? Sweet, innocent young girl like Anna, bet you can't wait to get your grubby paws on her can you? She's only marrying you cos she thinks she's been left on the shelf, and with all the young men going off to war for cannon fodder, guess she thinks she'll make do with an old cripple like you. She must be desperate, that's all I can say."

Even though Bates knew that Thomas was only trying to goad him to make trouble, it still took all his self control not to respond by smashing his nasty smarmy face into a pulp, as he could so easily have done. If Thomas had even an inkling of the fighting skills that Bates had acquired just in order to survive, first during his army career, and then more recently during his spell in prison, he would certainly not have risked provoking the seemingly crippled older man. However, they were not skills that Bates was proud of, nor did he want them to be common knowledge at Downton.

"You can think what you like Thomas, I really don't care. But the sooner you leave, the better it will be for everyone here," Bates growled at him through clenched teeth. Determined not to let that obnoxious trouble maker spoil his day, he managed to walk away to continue with his duties.

A bit later on in the morning, Bates was pulled aside by Mr. Carson.

"I suggest we leave Downton to walk over to the church promptly at one o'clock, Mr. Bates. Wouldn't do to be late, that's the bride's prerogative I believe. And if you require any assistance with your attire, I shall be only too delighted to offer my services."

Mr. Carson had been very honoured and had proudly agreed when Bates had asked him to be his best man, and was taking his responsibilities very seriously, having been given permission to take the time off to attend by His Lordship - luckily it was a very quiet day at Downton with no extra guests to see to. A mutual respect had grown between Mr. Carson and Bates – both had skeletons in the cupboard that had been disclosed, and both respected how the other had handled the situation.

Mr. Carson was now entrusted with looking after the wedding ring. A trip into Ripon with Anna on their afternoon off – it had been agreed that they could have the same half day off a fortnight from now on - had allowed Bates to buy a simple gold wedding ring for Anna. It had cost him the best part of a month's salary, but he wanted her to have the best that he could afford. Luckily he had hardly spent any of his wages over the past two years, so he had some savings to draw on. The only thing that he had wasted money on was the stupid 'limp corrector', which was now resting at the bottom of the lake. At least it had taught him a lesson - as Mrs Hughes had so wisely pointed out,

"We all carry scars Mr. Bates, inside or out, you're no different to the rest of us, remember that."

xXx

Waiting for Anna in the front pew of St Giles Church, the same church where he had proposed, he felt the calm atmosphere of the church start to work its magic on him again, as he started to relax a little. Of course this time the church was filled with people, not empty as it had been when he'd proposed to Anna. He leant on his cane as he stood to look round while he waited, having been at the church very early indeed, thanks to Mr. Carson. A lot of the time he didn't use his cane these days, but he didn't want to take the risk of stumbling today of all days – even if the person who had knocked it out from under him previously was not attending their wedding.

Sitting behind him was his mother, who had caught the train up from London, determined not to miss this auspicious occasion, very happy indeed that her son was marrying a decent girl this time. She firmly believed in trusting her gut instinct, and she had liked Anna straight away when she'd called round to see her that time in London. Mrs Bates was staying the night at The Dog and Duck pub in the village, John having booked her a room.

Anna's family filled most of the other side of the church – her sister Ruby was one of her bridesmaids, along with Gwen, but her other sister, Rose was heavily pregnant and so was sitting with her husband Stan and their mother. Her three brothers Alf, Harry and George were also there, with their wives and children, as well as some other cousins and family members. It was a large family.

John was surprised to see Lady Sybil in the congregation, sitting with young Tom Branson. Ah yes, of course, any excuse for them to be together, now there was trouble brewing, the young man was clearly besotted with Lady Sybil, it was plain for all to see. Lady Sybil always had to be the rebel. The rest of her family would not consider attending a servants wedding, but Lady Sybil didn't see why she shouldn't go as she considered Anna and Gwen to be her friends, much to Lady Edith's disapproval. She would never even consider befriending her maid in such a way, it simply wasn't the done thing. She'd given Anna what she considered an appropriate gift of a set of linen napkins, so that was all that was required as far as she was concerned.

Also in the church was Matthew Crawley, with his mother Isobel. Both had been so kind in helping set up their cottage. Matthew had proved himself to be a decent man, who would make a very good job of things when he eventually inherited the estate. If only Lady Mary had had the courage to accept him when he'd proposed instead of dithering…

Bates' attention was then caught by Daisy, as she gave him an excited little wave from one of the pews to the back of the church, where she was sitting next to William. They'd both been allowed to come to the wedding, much to the disgust of O'Brien and Thomas, but as it had all been agreed at the highest level, there was little they could do about it except grumble between themselves. William was a good lad, always willing to lend a hand, and Bates was more upset than he cared to admit at the thought of William going off to war, having become quite protective towards him when he'd seen Thomas bullying him, something that Bates couldn't abide. At least Daisy seemed to have come to her senses about Thomas anyhow, realising that good looks aren't everything. Of course, naïve young girl that she was, she had no idea of the true nature of Thomas' 'inclinations', but Bates had quickly worked that one out. He'd even joked with Lord Grantham about the fact that Thomas had cheered up when he'd seen the handsome young man Kemal Pamuk that he was to act as valet for.

And then Bates heard the music as the organist started to play, heralding the arrival of his bride. He turned to look, and was mesmerised. For him, no one else existed at that moment as he saw Anna enter the church, and start to walk slowly up the aisle towards him on her fathers' arm.

Anna looked radiantly happy as she now smiled up at him.

xXx

Anna took a deep breath as she walked into the church on her proud father's arm ahead of her two bridesmaids, carrying a beautiful bouquet of flowers provided by Mr. Brocket, the Estate Head Gardener. She looked ahead of her, straight up the aisle, not looking at any of the guests; all she focused on was John, as he turned to look at her when the organ music started.

His face lit up as he saw her, and she smiled up at him as she took her place beside him in front of the altar.

And so the Wedding service began.

'Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this Congregation, to join together this man and this woman in holy Matrimony…'

Bates let the sound of the vicar's voice wash over him for a moment as he glanced sideways at Anna. He knew that Lady Mary and Lady Sybil had taken it upon themselves to provide her wedding outfit, and they had certainly done her proud, she looked so beautiful in her cream silk dress, with a short cream lace veil over her face. She was also proudly wearing the little pearl necklace that his mother had given her. It had belonged to her mother and she was passing it on as the 'something old' part of the tradition 'Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue'.

'…is not by any to be enterprized, nor taken in hand, unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly, to satisfy men's carnal lusts and appetites, like brute beasts that have no understanding; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the fear of God; duly considering the causes for which Matrimony was ordained…

Anna stole a sideways look at John, wearing his best suit, with a new tie and shirt given to him by Lord Grantham. He looked very smart and proud, standing tall and upright, such a big strong man, despite carrying his walking stick.

'…therefore if any man can shew any just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace..

Thankfully the response to this was a hushed silence, broken only by a few coughs and shuffling of feet, so the vicar continued.

'John Betram Bates, wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together in the holy bonds of matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her so long as ye both shall live?'

"I will," Bates responded in a loud and clear voice.

'Anna Elizabeth Smith, wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded husband, to live together in the holy bonds of matrimony? Wilt thou love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him so long as ye both shall live?'

"I will," Anna answered in a quieter, but still clear voice.

'Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?'

"I do," replied Anna's father. The vicar took Anna's right hand from her father, and put it into John's right hand, as they repeated their vows.

'I, John Bertram Bates take thee, Anna Elizabeth Smith to my wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth.'

'I, Anna Elizabeth Smith, take thee, John Bertram Bates, to my wedded Husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I give thee my troth.'

Now it came to the giving of the ring, so Mr Carson produced the wedding ring that he had been keeping very securely in his waistcoat pocket and placed it on the bible that the vicar was holding out, which he then passed to John.

'With this Ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.' John repeated the words.

'The wedding ring is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, signifying to all, the uniting of this man and this woman in holy matrimony'

The vicar joined their right hands together as he said,

'Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder. Forasmuch as John and Anna have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and thereto have given and pledged their troth either to other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving of a ring, and by joining of hands; I pronounce that they be man and wife together, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.'

'You may now kiss the bride,' the vicar instructed John, with a little smile of encouragement.

John carefully lifted Anna's veil back, gently kissed her on the lips, and then tenderly wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face.

"Hey, what's all this? You're not meant to be crying," he whispered to her, his voice shaking with emotion too as he struggled not to cry himself.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm so happy!" she whispered back.

Had John looked round at the congregation, he would have seen that there was hardly a dry eye in the building, both his and Anna's mother had their hankies out and were quite overcome with emotion. Even Mr Carson was blowing his nose loudly and clearing his throat.

Hymns were sung, prayers were said, and then the register was signed.

Finally they were free to walk back down the aisle as husband and wife. John proudly took Anna's arm through his, keeping his cane in his other hand.

As they posed in the arched church doorway for a picture to be taken, a peal of church bells started ringing in the background.

It was the happiest moment of both their lives. Now all they had to do was get through the reception that had been organised for them, despite their protests that they wanted to keep everything very simple and quiet.

xXx

At the village hall afterwards, there was a simple reception and Wedding buffet that Lady Grantham had insisted be provided for them. Mrs Patmore and Mrs Hughes had organised it and it was ready and waiting for everyone after the service. Daisy and William both went and helped, Daisy with the food preparations and William with the serving.

Both Anna's father and Bates felt much happier once they'd got their speeches out of the way, gladly thanking everyone concerned and raising their glasses in several toasts, before Anna and John cut the wedding cake. It had been hastily prepared by Mrs Bird, decorated cakes being her speciality and with Mrs Patmore being kept busy dealing with the rest of the catering arrangements. It had been barely a month since John had proposed, they had got married as soon as they could after the church Banns had been read for the required three consecutive weeks.

Bates watched a lot of the guests getting merry after imbibing a few drinks, in particular Anna's three brothers seemed to be putting away a fair few pints of beer. Even though they kept offering him drinks, Bates didn't touch a drop, it had been water in the glass that he had raised for the toasts. He hadn't had an alcoholic drink since the day he'd left prison, when he'd pledged to continue the rest of his life as a teetotaller. He certainly wasn't about to break that pledge now, on this the most important day of his life. However he couldn't help noticing that Mr. Carson had had a few pints to drink, and had become considerably more relaxed than normal, much to everyone's amusement.

"Do you think he might be persuaded to treat us all to a performance from his 'Cheerful Charlies' days? Now that really would be something!" John whispered to Anna, and they giggled together at the memory of the shocking discovery they'd made about Mr. Carson.

Later on, as a band played music, and having circulated round and talked to as many people as they could, John pulled Anna to one side and urgently whispered in her ear.

"Do you think we can sneak away sometime soon now, we could just let everybody carry on and enjoy themselves without us, couldn't we?" He didn't drink, couldn't dance, and all he really wanted was to finally be alone with Anna.

"We could try!" Anna whispered back.

But Branson was under strict instructions that he was to transport the couple back to their cottage, so when he saw them trying to sneak off, he shouted over,

"Hey not so fast, your transport awaits!"

Of course then everyone followed as they made their way out, to a car decorated with ribbons and trailing horse shoes for good luck.

Once they'd been dropped off at Jardine Cottage and had gone inside, with John managing to carry Anna over the threshold despite his bad leg because she was so small and light, that was when it really sunk in that they were now man and wife. Alone together. Ready to take the next step, to consummate their marriage. And that had been when Anna's nerves had really started to kick in. There was to be no going back. She had promised to obey her husband – whatever he asked of her.

xXx

Now, as they cleared away their breakfast things, they smiled happily at each other. Anna knew that she wouldn't ever need to be nervous of John in that way again, even if things were a little strange and awkward at the moment, while they got used to being together, living together, sleeping together.

Then there was a knock on their kitchen door – it was Anna's mother, visiting under the pretext of bringing them some milk and eggs. Anna had taken her looks from her mother, she was a petite fair haired woman who looked just like an older version of her daughter. In actual fact they had more food than they knew what to do with, Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore had loaded up the car with plenty of left over food for them to bring back from the wedding reception.

It soon became clear to John that actually it was 'women's talk' that Anna's mother had come for. No doubt she wanted to check that her daughter had survived his attentions last night, so he decided to leave them to it and wandered out into their garden to look over it.

It was a good sized garden, not very wide but stretching back quite a long way. Just as he was wondering how he was going to manage to dig it over in order to plant some vegetables, he heard a voice calling from the garden next door.

"Hello there, Mr. Bates isn't it? You just got married to Anna the housemaid didn't you?" It was Freddie Biggs, he was the first under gardener from the estate.

"Hello there. Yes, I'm John Bates, that's right."

"Well I'm going to be your new neighbour, soon as this cottage is finished, me and my wife Alice will be moving in. I've just came to check over the garden, see what I've got to work with. 'Fraid you'll have to speak up, I'm a bit deaf since the Boer war, a shell blast damaged me hearing. Luckily it don't matter too much out in the gardens, flowers don't chatter much anyhows, and it don't bother Alice, she's hard of hearing too, but she was born that way," he explained.

"Ah right, shell blast damaged my leg in the Boer war too," Bates replied loudly, tapping his bad leg with his cane. Actually his leg was playing up today, probably due to all his marital 'activities'…

"So how are you going to manage with digging this lot then? It's good soil, seems a shame not to make the most of it and grow some vegetables," Freddie asked sympathetically.

"I'm not too sure, I was just thinking about that myself actually," John confessed.

"Well, I could help out if you like, I'm good in the garden even if I say so myself. Not much good for anything else, mind."

"Oh I couldn't expect you to do that…"

"Look, you any good at writing? Keeping records that sort of thing?" Freddie enquired hopefully.

"Well I have a reasonable hand, I can write and I can tot up figures…"

"Ah now you see, that's my worst nightmare. And I have to keep records of what we've planted, where we planted it, how many we planted, how they're doing, all that kind of thing. Maybe if you could help me out with that, in return I could dig your garden and keep it going like?"

"Well that sounds like a fair exchange, I'd be more than happy to help you out. Thank you."

With that, John looked up to see Anna's mother now leaving, so he raised his hand to wave her off, made his excuses to Freddie and then walked back up to the cottage.

"Alright? Was your mother reassured that you managed to survive the night with your big brute of a husband?" he asked as he put his arm around Anna's waist and kissed her cheek.

"You silly chump, of course she doesn't think you're a brute!" Anna slapped his arm playfully. But it was true, her mother had wanted to check that she was alright, and Anna had been able to happily reassure her that all was well, and that she was fine.

"Hmm, well I did wonder if she'd heard reports of her daughter shouting out last night…and then again this morning," John whispered in her ear cheekily, with a big silly grin on his face.

"John! Stop it, I'm already embarrassed enough..." Anna replied, blushing furiously.

"Well, I've just met our new neighbour, and it turns out that both he and his wife are rather deaf. So you'll be relieved to know that you can be as loud as you like in our bedroom and still spare your blushes," John teased his new wife, with a twinkle in his eye.

Anna shot him a rueful look, knowing only too well John's wicked sense of humour, usually sharing it, but this time being the butt of it.