I hadn't planned on continuing this particular story, but all of your reviews have been so heartening, I thought we at least deserved an epilogue! Thank you all for your kind encouragement.

Repairing the Ruins – Epilogue

If my years on God's green earth have taught me anything, it is certainly to expect the unexpected. Just when everything seemed lost beyond hope, the fates turned down to smile on us from above. Mr. Bates would be spared, not entirely mind you, but quite enough to allow us to breathe again. Anna won't be leaving us, ever determined to rightfully clear his name and reclaim her happiness.

I dare say that we're on our way.

For now, it's business as usual. The sun continues to rise. Daisy knocks her way down the bedroom doors. Mrs. Patmore fixes our breakfast. I travel the halls, making sure everything is ship shape and in Bristol fashion. Charles tinkers with the new technology that continues to come into our lives. Thomas and O'Brien… well… nothing has greatly changed there either.

What of Anna? She has kept herself quite busy, making it her personal cause to take the new girls under her wing. She continues to do what she does best, standing up for the weak, discovering and determining the truth in things, and always finding the good.

Her smile has returned, bit by bit, every day becoming a bit easier than the last.

She visits with Mr. Bates regularly. This we make sure of. It does both of them good, as well as eases the rest of us. His absence is so palpable in the house; we are all determined to do whatever it is we can to get him home where he belongs.

Lady Mary has had quite the impact, pressing fast against the class boundaries in a way I never imagined she would ever entertain. Anna has never lost sight of her place or her work, as I knew would be the case, but they continue to spend a great amount of time together. For once, and I can hardly believe it myself, I am glad for it. They are good for each other, especially now.

It is hard to be grateful for such tragedy, but through this trial of heartache, a new sense of love rose between us. For having such a full and giving heart, Anna is not foolish or loose with her feelings, another shared trait between us. Most goes unspoken but never fails to exist. We both know, and that itself is quite enough.

There is truth to the old saying, mind you.

It is always darkest before the dawn.

THE END