Anna was the next to arrive to breakfast after Mary and Matthew began, and Mary couldn't help but notice a different aura about her. The poor woman had been so changed by her time in prison, with a hardness to her eyes and severity to her movements that broke her heart to see. But now, while they weren't gone completely, she was much more recognizable as the sweet, kind woman who Mary had known before all the unpleasantness happened.
Mr. Bates came in shortly afterwards. There wasn't much change in him, but then he'd always appeared much more contented with his lot in life and current doings than Anna. Suddenly, Mary had an idea what the explanation was, though neither of them said anything about it. But were they a little too anxious about showing each other tenderness during the meal? Mary thought so, and smiled to herself. It was their business what they wanted to share about their private lives, and for now she was just glad two in their group had taken the opportunity for a little happiness in the middle of all the darkness that had consumed them.
She briefly considered the situation of herself and Matthew. She still hadn't worked up the courage to talk to him about whether their phony marriage could become something real, but now she felt much more that she should get it over with, if those two could do it with such fine results.
Matthew opened the morning paper, and sighed. "That Queen Mab is at it again. This time a whole family nearly lost their lives."
Hearing the name seemed to snap a connection into Mary's head, so quickly did a fully formed idea arrive in it. "She's still after English in Ireland, is she?"
Bates shook his head sadly. "There's so much blood on every side in that country. We'll probably be dealing with it for decades more."
Matthew, though, was now giving Mary an intrigued expression. "I know that look in your eye. What's the new idea?"
Mary's smile widened. "I think I know what story we should have Mr. Gregson write."
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Gregson looked both confused and horrified. "If it gets out that I fabricated a story like this, it will be the end of my career!"
Bates nodded. "Which is why my associates and I are going to do our best to make sure none of this comes back to you. You can at least trust that we want to protect our investment."
This didn't seem to make him feel any better. "And worse, what if this seriously affects what's happening in Ireland? The place could erupt into total war at any day, and a story like this might be what tips it over. I don't think I could live with myself."
Bates cringed inwardly, as this was the exact same issue he'd had when Mary revealed her plan. Still, it wouldn't do at all to have Gregson know that, so with a great effort he forced all emotion from his face and presented himself at his most intimidating. "Then it seems you have a choice to make. Do you care more about your conscience, or your wife?"
Gregson went pale. "You wouldn't…please don't do anything to hurt her!"
Bates felt like he'd been slapped. He hadn't meant to imply anything of the sort, and was only referring to his earlier threat to reveal the man's secret. And that he could be so easily thought capable of such an act chilled him deep. But once again, if he let Gregson see any of that, the whole game was up. So he summoned up all the acting talent he'd amassed over years of this sort of work, and loomed over him so that he seemed to shrink into his desk. "It's all up to you. I'll leave you to your decision."
It wasn't until leaving the building that Bates allowed himself to feel the full weight of what had just happened. He came close to weeping openly, and it was only the sudden thought of how conspicuous it would make him that stopped it. As it was, he still had to lean against the wall, and breathed hard as he waited until he felt up to the walk back to the station.
He was still waiting when he heard a sharp "Ahem!" from behind him. He turned around and was dismayed to recognize two of the thugs Vera had hired when they first started their rivalry. She'd apparently paid them well, as they'd remained loyal to her all this time, and they currently bore identical expressions of hatred towards him.
"You actually had the stones to come back here," said the larger one (Bates had never bothered to learn their names). "Lucky us."
The smaller one simply giggled. Bates couldn't remember ever hearing him talk; he left that to others until it was time for more physical work. Belying his size, the man was a fearsome knife fighter, and Bates doubted he would be able to survive this encounter even if he'd had his old physical prowess.
The one thing he had going for him was that it was midday in a highly populated area, but he knew quite a few areas nearby where someone could find privacy, and it was too much to hope that they didn't. And sure enough, the larger one patted his coat pocket that clearly held a gun, and gestured with his eyes to get moving.
Bates considered trying to fight them off, but that was where the same situation fully turned against him. If he won, everyone around would be talking about the man with a cane who beat up two people in the street, and inevitably the authorities would trace him back to Haxby Park, and that would be the end of their whole escapade. So he turned around, and tried to prepare himself as best he could. He'd done this one last thing, and maybe it would be all they needed from him. But as soon as he started making peace with that, he remembered Anna. The woman had been through so much in her life already, and this might break her completely.
He'd made an effort to retain his dignity, the last thing left to him as he was marched to his death. But that final thought left him unable to go on without grabbing one last chance as they entered a dark alley where they were all alone.
"I didn't kill her. I didn't even touch her. I swear, I was going to stick by our arrangement." Neither of them even responded, and Bates' bad leg was the only thing keeping him from dropping to his knees. "You can have anything you want. Take over all my territory yourselves, even. Just, I'm begging you, let me go."
"Yes, I'd listen to him." It was a woman's voice, and she stood at the alley mouth. Bates' attackers both turned in surprise.
The larger man laughed. "This is no business of yours, missy. Just beat it and let the men work."
The woman copied his laugh mockingly. "It so happens that was the exact wrong thing to say. I'm not stupid enough to enter a neighborhood like this unprepared." She dug in her purse, and the two men started toward her while Bates still remained frozen by this unexpected intrusion. Then they both stopped dead in their tracks, and Bates saw she'd pulled out a sizable revolver. She laughed again. "You were expecting a Derringer? No 'woman's gun' for me, I'm afraid."
The smaller man started moving again, seeming to bet on her not actually having the guts to use her weapon. She promptly shot the ground at his feet, and he stopped again. The larger man said, "What the hell are you doing, butting into our business? I've never seen you before, which means you're not in any racket in these parts, so what's in it for you?"
She gave a predatory smile. "Perhaps I just like rescuing people in distress. It doesn't really matter, does it? Because if you stick around any longer, I can't guarantee you'll get out of this with your lives. Look in my eyes and see if you think I'm bluffing."
Bates was a bit too far away to see, but they apparently believed her, as without any further words they both slunk away. The larger man started to say, "You'd better not…" but was shut up as the woman took a step toward him.
Once they were gone, Bates wiped the tears from his eyes and said, "My profound thanks, madam. You've saved more than you know."
She put the gun away. "I've never been able to abide bullies. Any day where I can show some what for is a good one."
Bates' heart sank a bit at what she'd think of how he'd just treated Gregson. But there was no need for her to know. "Well, I'd certainly be glad to count you as a friend. My business will likely take me back to these parts a few times in the foreseeable future."
"I'd like that." Bates was bemused to see her stick out her hand sideways for a masculine handshake, rather than holding it to be kissed. "I'm Sarah Bunting."
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Mary had many fond memories of the summer flower show from her childhood. She loved seeing so many flowers, all beautiful in their own way, and her grandmother's inevitable triumph each year provided a grand celebration into the night where she and her sisters had been allowed to stay up later than usual. Well, Edith's betrayal had spoiled that part of it, but she still found herself enjoying the show itself.
But she never lost sight of the real reason she and Matthew were here, and kept her eyes peeled for Patrick and Edith. It wouldn't be a total loss if they couldn't play their part before Gregson's story was released, but it would certainly help steer any possible suspicion away from them. At last she spotted her cousin across the lawn and started making her way over, but just before she reached him, an announcer called out, "And now, making their annual return, I'm delighted to again introduce The Cheerful Charlies!"
Mary initially paid this no mind, but was brought up short when she heard a familiar voice coming from the stage. Yes, it was actually Carson, singing and dancing! There was another man with him she didn't recognize, but she paid that no mind. After all, she was right next to one of the best people to ask how this came about. "Oh my, Sir Patrick!" she said, remembering just in time to use her accent and even slipping in a mis-titling just to get under his skin a bit. "You'd never hear singing like that in the States! Are they famous or something?"
Patrick sniffed haughtily. "I suppose you could say that. The bigger chap used to be the butler at Downton. Like I told you, he left to stay with the former Earl. You'd never catch him dead doing something like this when I first knew him, but after the change he got back in touch with the other fellow about doing an old stage act once in a while. I suppose he figured there was no use standing on ceremony anymore, and I can't begrudge him taking happiness where he can find it."
Mary was disturbed to find herself agreeing with all that, and forced herself to not actually shake as she forced her mind back to the business at hand. "I suppose you read about the trouble in Ireland this morning?"
Edith's voice came from behind her. "Terrible, isn't it? All we've done for that country and now this is how they tell us it's enough." Mary hated how she jumped, but quickly got back under control. It helped to think how annoyed her sister still was every time she spoke in her current role.
"Well, my husband just decided to take action. He says the way this Queen Mab is going, she'll soon be coming after all our money, and it's not safe keeping it in the bank anymore. So he's been making some withdrawals, not enough to raise attention but it'll give us something to fall back on if they do make the system go under."
Patrick chuckled. "Well, all our money is safely invested in this country, so I don't see how that could happen to us."
That was exactly what Mary was hoping to hear. "Oh, you do whatever you want, and it won't make no never mind to me. Now I just have to hear more of the singing butler. It's like something out of P.G. Wodehouse!"
Sometimes reactions like the ones she got to all of that made a scheme worth it all by themselves.
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"God in Heaven!" Edith hadn't yet reached the dining room for breakfast when Patrick's shout echoed down the hall. She raced the rest of the way, and he shoved the newspaper at her. "Maybe we should be taking that woman's advice after all."
Michael Gregson's article was an alert from a source in Ireland that Queen Mab was about to expand her operation into England.
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"We're not going to England, are we?"
Sybil was quite taken aback at Kieran's question. "I wasn't planning on it. Why?"
"Some of my sources say the papers over there have gone a bit mad about Queen Mab coming over for some nefarious purpose."
Sybil couldn't help smiling a bit, and said with an ironic twist, "You hear that, Tom? I'm in the papers!"
Kieran gave a brief unsettled look at the warm look that passed between them. Even with all Sybil had done to help their cause, he still wasn't happy with his brother taking up with an Englishwoman. At least he'd learned by now not to make a fuss over it.
Tom said, "Still, it makes you wonder what exactly they're on about. I mean, after a while it's going to become clear that none of it was true."
"Oh, I'm never surprised by the English press anymore. But yes, this does seem a bit oddly specific for one of their panic stories." She paused in thought. "Maybe we should make it a bit more true."
Kieran laughed. "What, go to England and blow up Parliament?"
"As fun as that sounds, I was thinking just finding out what exactly was behind this. We need to know what was the first paper to say anything about it before the others picked it up, and to do that, we need to be in England." Her smile grew wider. "This should be a quite special homecoming."
