For Bates, the London season combined moments of hard, quick work, with large periods of inactivity, whenever the family was entertaining on calling on acquaintances. It suited him well, now that he had started with the very unpleasant mission of having to find his wife.

Until that day it had proven to be a dull, pointless endeavour. And a painful one. She had not answered any of the letters he had sent to all the possible addresses he could think of. Revisiting the places that she could still go to was, sometimes, reliving some of the memories of one of the darkest times in his life. All for what? He had not met a single soul that could tell him where she might be.

And then the letter arrived. A short missive by one Miss Malone, with whom she had worked some years ago. She had answered Bates's request; she might have an address and she would look for it.

He was on the process of re-reading the short note. The possibility of an address was much better than nothing. Although he would scold himself for doing something as foolish as hope, he could not stop it. Maybe, maybe he would be able to find the elusive Vera, and then maybe...

Steps climbing down the stairs stop the thought right when it was getting dangerous, and he hastened to hide the letter inside the book he had been reading.

Anna entered the servants' hall looking tired but not unhappy. "Could you help me with something, Mr Bates?" She asked, taking a seat next to him.

He put his book aside. "Of course."

"It's this address." She pushed a piece of paper in front of him. "Lady Edith's perfume is almost finished and she'd asked me to get her a new bottle this afternoon. Only... I don't really know where this place is."

He took the paper in his fingers. Was it possible that he could really be this lucky? Would he dare?

"Well, this is near Tottenham Court Road."

"That's what Lady Edith said."

"But from there it could be a little tricky. You could take the bus, and then walk for a bit... or," he just had to do it. This sort opportunity might not present itself ever again. "Or I could accompany you."

"Really? But isn't this your free afternoon. Don't you have plans?"

Mr Bates shrugged, sure that the museum would still be there for another century or more. "I was going to walk around anyway," he lied. "Get myself some things. I could very well take you there and carry on with my errands."

"Would you?" The way she smiled at him then was more than enough, let alone considering the perspective of spending some real time with her. Just the two of them.

They met after luncheon. Bates waited for her at the back door and barely suppressed a sigh of content when she arrived, having changed from her uniform, and smiled at him.

"This is so very kind of you," she said.

"Nonsense. I shall enjoy it."

Without deciding it out loud, they started to walk instead of taking the bus. Not for the first time Bates wondered if it coasted her effort, or if it was annoying, to adjust her usually quick steps to his slow, heavy limp. He would not ask her, though. It would feel a lot like casting a shadow on themselves.

While they were talking about the family and what had happened in both houses during the time they had been apart, he was sure Anna was committing the road to memory. Her bright eyes were darting from one street to the other, from one house to the next, glancing at the signs in the corners.

"But you've been in London before," he remarked at one point.

"I have, but I've never had much time to go about. This is my very first errand."

"Is that so?" he chuckled.

"There's no need to be all sophisticated on me, Mr Bates," she scolded, but she was grinning and he knew her enough for not to take it seriously. "Not all of us have had the chance to live here."

He shrugged. "I didn't really like living here, to be honest."

"And yet, there's something about London that suits you." He looked for any sign that she might be joking, but there was none.

"How come?"

"For a start, you seem to be on a very good mood," she finished.

"Am I not always?" He chuckled. Was it so evident?

"Not really," Anna said. "You're not exactly grumpy, mind you." Her eyes were bright with mirth and he could not help but mirror her smile.

"Well... I just may have gotten some news. Good ones. Trust me, if I am in a good mood it has nothing to do with London."

She smiled but did not replied.

"What about you?" He spoke again. "Don't you see yourself living the fancy city life?"

"Me? No…" she said thoughtfully. "I don't think I would like it very much." She looked around again, as he pointed towards an intersection. "Still, for a fortnight it's quite enjoyable."

They kept on talking all the way to the shop. She mentioned her hopes of becoming a lady's maid. He said how much he liked his position only because it felt strange to let her do all the talking. If she had wanted to ask more questions, he could not tell, but he was glad she did not. He would interrupt their conversation from time to time to point out a particular building or landmark.

"How far are we from Kensington Gardens?" she asked at some point.

"Not terribly far. You could walk there from here, although it's a tad tiresome."

"I'd like to go there on my free afternoon," she said with a wistful smile.

"When is that?" He asked, suddenly feeling his mouth very dry.

"Next Thursday."

If he wanted to speak, he had to do it quickly. It would not be terribly difficult or strange, would it?. Just unusual. And she seemed to be enjoying this walk so, what was keeping him from-?

"Would you like some company? That is, if his Lordship doesn't need me that afternoon."

She beamed and looked at him, her eyes sparkling. Not for the first time he felt he could stare at those eyes forever. "That would be lovely," she said.

The next moment she was looking at the tips of her shoes. From his higher point of view, Bates noticed she had blushed. What a beautiful sight.