A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I admit, I really like posting yesterday´s chapter. Here´s today´s installment!
Chapter 21
July 1917
´Still, I don´t think it means anything,´ Matthew tried to reason with his excited wife. ´Vera Bates isn´t that much of an uncommon name.´
´But the dates match, Matthew,´ Sybil cried, walking up and down the guestroom energetically. ´Both the date of her birth and the date of her death. She would have died when Mr Bates was still in prison, or just gotten out of it.´
´But how did she end up in New York?´ Matthew asked doubtfully, shaking his head. ´Admit it, Sybil, it´s all too much of a coincidence.´
´Exactly,´ Sybil replied, unmoved. ´Far too much of a coincidence. Don´t you think it´s odd that Vera Bates – if it is indeed Vera Bates, turns up in Downton after ten years in search of her husband?´
´How do you know all this?´ Matthew asked bewildered.
Sybil shrugged. ´Remember Catherine? She´s a nurse at Downton. She likes to gossip. A lot.´ With a determined glint in her eyes she continued, ´I really want to get to the bottom of this, Matthew. Something doesn´t sound quite right with this business.´
Knowing full well that there was no stopping his wife once she had decided she wanted something, Matthew sighed deeply. ´What do you want to do then? You can´t very much ask Vera Bates – either of them.´
´I´ll ask Anna what she knows of Mr Bates´ wife,´ Sybil said thoughtfully.
´Oh, please be careful Sybil,´ Matthew said, a worried expression crossing his face. ´Do think before you start to meddle in that girl´s life.´
´I will be careful,´ Sybil answered, not looking the least bit taken aback. ´But think about it, if the woman who is now with Mr Bates isn´t really his wife, shouldn´t she want to know?´
´It just…´ Matthew ran his hand through is hair, still looking thoroughly unconvinced. ´Sybil, it´s almost impossible that the woman who is now staying with Mr Bates isn´t his wife. He would have known. Wouldn´t you know if someone else claimed to be me?´
´Of course I would,´ Sybil replied, looking a little doubtful now herself. ´But our circumstances are very different. I don´t know what´s going on and I agree it´s a very odd business… but I need to find out. I owe it…´ her voice halted and unfinished sentence hung between them.
´Who do you owe?´ Matthew asked, ´why do you care so much, Sybil?´
´They love each other,´ Sybil told him quietly. ´Mr Bates and Anna… I think they´ve been in love for a very long time. And ever since his wife has returned Anna has been terribly unhappy. And- ´ she paused for a moment, searching for the right words. ´You might find this silly, but a year ago she saved my father´s life. I promised her then that if there was anything I could ever do to repay her I would. Maybe I´m seeing things that aren´t there, but if there´s a chance I can help them, I want to take it.´
Wrapping her in his arms, Matthew kissed the top of her head. ´It actually makes perfect sense. And you might say that in the same way I owe Bates for sorting me out the way he did.´ He drew back a little, a small glimmer appearing in his eyes. ´I´ve been thinking. There were flowers on the grave, so that means someone is still looking after it and perhaps mourning the death of Vera Bates. Maybe this person can tell us more.
Watching her face in the reflection of the mirror, Sybil realised once again how deeply unhappy Anna was. Her face was gaunt and had gotten terribly thin over the past months. She went on with her duties quietly, her cheerful chatter and attentive questions gone.
´Anna…´ she started tentatively. ´I´ve been wondering. Do you happen to know the name of Mr Bates´ wife?´
Before the confusion appeared, a look of such great pain and sadness swept over her face that Sybil could feel her heart clench, making her even more determined to find out the truth.
´It´s Vera,´ Anna replied in a quiet voice. ´Her name is Vera Bates.´
´I was actually wondering about her maiden name,´ Sybil pressed on, though hating to pry into something that was obviously so painful for the other woman.
Anna thought for a moment. ´It was Harris… Before she married Mr Bates her name was Vera Harris.´
´Thank you, Anna,´ Sybil replied softly. They were quiet for a while until Anna spoke again:
´Milady, I- I heard your sister is looking for a new Lady´s maid.´
´Why, yes she is, ´ Sybil replied frowning. ´Apparently her previous maid ran off to get married. Why do you mention it?´
´I have made it clear to Lady Mary that I am interested in the position. She said she would take it up with you and I wondered if she had done that already.´
Sybil´s reaction was very similar to Mary´s. She whirled around in her chair and looked at Anna, surprise clearly written over her face. ´You want to stay here?´
´Yes Milady,´ Anna answered calmly. ´I like New York and I would like to become a Lady´s maid. And Lady Mary will need the support with her baby due shortly.´
´But… but…´ you don´t want to return to England with us?´ Sybil asked bewildered.
´I don´t,´ Anna sounded gravely and very, very determined.
´But… you belong at Downton,´ Sybil´s mind was still reeling, desperately thinking of a way to make her change her mind, especially in the light of what she had discovered - and hoped to discover. ´Wouldn´t you miss it?´
´I – I would,´ Anna´s voice faltered momentarily. ´But I think the change would do me could.´
´I need to think about it,´ Sybil replied eventually, trying to buy more time. ´I´ll let you know later what I´ve decided.´
´I understand, Milady,´ Anna answered evenly. ´Goodnight then.´
Once Anna had returned to her own room in the servants´ corridor the severity of her decision hit her. She would remain here, when Mr Crawley and Lady Sybil would return to England in little more than a fortnight. She would start anew here, trying to paste the pieces of her life back together somehow.
Unbidden, the memory of her goodbye of Downton came to her mind. They had left early that evening, their ship leaving at nine ´o clock from the harbour. The entire household had lined up in front of the terrace of the main entrance. She had already said her goodbyes to Mrs Hughes and Mr Carson, feeling the lump in her throat tighten as she moved on.
He was last in line. When she finally reached him their eyes met. It was the first time they had looked at each other probably for months. His eyes had searched her face, a pained expression on his. ´Enjoy New York,´ he had told her softly, taking her hand in his for a moment.
´I will,´ she had answered, her voice quivering. Pulling her hand from his grasp she turned around, walking to the waiting car, feeling his eyes burn in her back and the tears in her eyes.
Crawling into her bed she covered her eyes with her arms and started to cry uncontrollably. It had been a final goodbye after all. She would never see him again.
Matthew had taken it upon himself to try and find the person who´d been leaving on Vera Bates´ grave, or anyone who could tell them more about this woman. In the end, when his inquiries met with very little result, it was luck that helped him out. One day as he was walking on the cemetery, having just finished his talk with the groundkeeper in order to obtain more information, when he spotted a figure bended over Vera´s stone. Quickening his pace, he tried to calculate his movements so that he would come across the man by the time he had risen and was about to leave. He stepped up next to him and said in sympathetic voice: ´Was she your wife?´
The man next to him turned his head, shocked out of his reverie. He paused for a moment and then shook his head. ´No… not really. But I loved her a great deal.´ There was an unmistakable Irish accent detectable in his voice.
´What about you?´ the man asked then. ´Is your wife here too?´
A sudden feeling of dread wrapped around his heart and Matthew shook his head vehemently. ´No… not at all. Thank goodness. Some family members of mine are buried here…´ he turned fully towards the man and held out his hand. ´I´m Matthew Crawley.´
´Jeremy O´Malley,´ the man introduced himself. ´You haven´t been here long, have you?´ he asked. ´You´re accent is still very British.´
´I´m not from around here,´ Matthew answered smiling, ´to tell you the truth, I´m here on my honeymoon.´
´Oh…´ the man solemnly tipped his hat. ´Congratulations.´
´Thank you,´ Matthew acknowledged before he continued. ´Mr O´Malley, I would like talk to you about a rather pressing matter. Would it be alright if my wife and I called on you later this day?´
Jeremy O´Malley looked visibly taken aback at the odd request. ´I suppose so…´ he answered hesitantly. ´I´m not in any kind of trouble, am I?´ he asked suspiciously.
´Not at all,´ Matthew assured him. ´Quite the contrary, it seems that you can provide us with some very valuable information. Shall we say around four this afternoon?´
O´Malley gave a still somewhat reluctant nod, but gave his address nevertheless. ´I must say, you´ve gotten me very curious, sir,´ he said as they parted. ´But come by and I try to help you anyway I can.´
Jeremy O´Malley lived in an apartment on the third floor of a five-story building in Brooklyn. Once inside Sybil discreetly, but curiously looked around. The apartment was soberly furnished, with little knick-knacks or decorateion, making a obvious just a man lived here. They sat down around the table and O´Malley poured them strong coffee. Once he was seated as well he looked at his guests expectantly.
´We were wondering if you could tell us a bit more about Vera Bates,´ Matthew started carefully.
´Why do you want to know?´ O´Malley asked, obviously still not trusting them completely.
Matthew and Sybil shared a glance between them. They had anticipated this question and had agreed on what to tell the man. ´We know some relations of Vera Bates,´ Sybil explained. ´Apparently she disappeared from London around ten years ago and no-one has heard from her since. These relations are worried about her. By coincidence we came upon her grave a few days ago and we hope you can tell us what has happened to her. `
´It was eight years ago,´ O´Malley replied. ´Vera came to New York eight years ago. We met on the boat.´ He smiled softly as the memories flooded back at him. ´She looked like she had been through hard times, but she never told me much about it. I liked her… she was Irish as well and a friendly face among strangers. And we were all in the same boat… literally, on our way to a new future. We stuck together, even after we arrived on Ellis Island. We both found jobs, I as a gardener, she in a shop. But money was tight, so we decided to find a place to live together.´ His smile turned a little rueful. ´She wasn´t very good with money, but I suppose we all have our deficiencies. We managed and after a while things got easier.
Vera and I really got along well. When I first met her she was nervous, almost afraid of her own shadow. But as time went on she became more at ease. She liked New York, she… well, she liked me and I liked her. We were happy together.´
´Did you ever marry?´ Sybil asked softly.
O´Malley shook his head, a look of regret passing over his features. ´No… we couldn´t. She was still married you see. Her husband was in London, but he was in prison. She´d come to New York to get away from him.´
Sybil opened her mouth to make a reply, to set the record straight, but under the table Matthew took hold of her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, so she closed it again. Instead Matthew asked: ´Was Bates her maiden name then?´
O´Malley shook his head. ´No… it was her husband´s name. She always said the best thing her husband did for her was to give her a new name. Her maiden name was Harris… or at least that was how she was called. She grew up in an orphanage you see. She was abandoned after she was born.´
´How terrible,´ Sybil whispered. Suddenly she felt a little ashamed of herself. She had pictured Vera Bates in her head as the culprit, but now she realized she knew very little of the life of the woman that had been John Bates´ wife once. Looking at Matthew she saw him nod, almost unnoticeable. In any case, the woman buried on Cypress Hills National Cemetery was indeed Bates´ wife beyond any doubt.
´Did she tell you anything else about her past?´ Matthew asked, trying to get as much information as possible. ´What orphanage did she grow up in?´
´That I do know,´ O´Malley replied. ´It was East London Orphan Asylum. But I´m afraid that´s all I can tell you. Vera didn´t like to talk about the past, she´d come to New York to start over. And I´m not one to ask many questions…´ A small grin appeared on his face. ´Unlike yourself.´
Matthew chuckled before replying: ´You must pardon me all this questioning. But I think that these relations I spoke of earlier will be glad to hear she found happiness here.´
A small cry from the back of the apartment startled all three of them. ´Excuse me,´ O´Malley said, getting to his feet. ´I will be back in a moment.´
When he returned a few minutes later he was carrying a small girl on his arms. She had dark brown, curly hair and a sleepy face. Upon noticing the strangers she hid her head in the crook of O´Malley´s neck and clung to him. ´She´s a little shy,´ O´Malley explained, sitting down again.
´And before you ask… Maisie is our daughter, she´s five years old now. Sadly enough Vera died giving birth to her.´
A heavy silence descended on the room. Sybil´s mind was reeling with all the revelations and she gazed at the little girl on O´Malley´s lap. Curiously Maisie peeked at her, but when Sybil smiled she hid her face again.
´Well..´ Matthew´s voice ended the silence and Sybil could tell he was as shaken as she was. ´We´ll have a lot to tell them when we get home.´
Still holding his daughter, O´Malley rose and walked to the china cabinet. Opening one of the glass doors he took out a small picture and handed it to Sybil. ´Maybe these relations would like to see what she looks like,´ he said by way of explanation.
The photo showed Maisie, smiling prettily, her dark curls shining.
´Thank you,´ she said softly, ´I´m sure they will appreciate it.´
Not long after that they took their leave of Jeremy O´Malley and Maisie, who even dared to smile back at Sybil a little. Once back in the car, Sybil moved close to her husband, who wrapped his arms around her instantly. ´It does answer one question,´ she said softly, still gazing down at the small photo in her hands.
´But the question that remains is: who is the woman back in England who claims she´s Bates´ wife?´ Matthew finished for her.
Thanks for reading!