Hi everyone, sorry for a long time without updating. Some minor inconveniences got in theway of my writing, such as *work*, *kids* and that sort of things. I hope to be back on a more regular schedule now. Enjoy, and please review ;)

May 1920

Anna, my beloved,

I am crying with relief, because I have finally understood why you've been kept away from me, and why I haven't received any letter from you for so long. I know now that it had nothing to do with you, and I will have to apologize to you when I see you next time, for having doubted you. I was so afraid you had given up on us… I assume that while I haven't heard or read from you in all this time, you must not have received any of my letters either, and you must have been prevented from visiting. I'm so sorry for the pain and worry it must have caused you. It turns out that it was Craig's doing, with the complicity of one rogue guard, Mr Durrant. I will spare you the details of this sad business, but the thing is now I have to thread carefully to overturn that situation, so that you can receive all my letters, and come see me next Monday. I am so looking forward to seeing you again.

I hope Johnny has been alright for all this time, and I long to read everything you had to tell me about what's been going on at Downton. We have so much to catch up on. I know you won't read this letter until I have sorted all of this out, so I am going to do my best so that things can go back to normal as soon as possible. I love you with all my heart, and my son too.

John Bates.

x x x x

My dear John,

I really hope I will one day get an explanation as to why you've suddenly stopped writing to me, and why I've been prevented from visiting. I am missing you so much. But you know me, I am your stubborn wife. I did not give up until I got us married a little more than a year ago, and right now I will not give up until I've gotten an answer.

After a very harrowing week, and a horrible series of sleepless nights, Johnny is finally getting a little better. His breathing has improved a little, and he is starting to nurse a bit better. All this time Leslie and I have been feeding him my milk with a spoon, which was keeping us busy all day long. He still needs to nurse about every hour, because he's so tired he can't take more than a very small feed at a time. But Dr Clarkson saw him today, and he seemed a little more confident. He stopped losing some weight since his last visit, so that's a good point, the doctor says. I have been so worried over him. I feared that we might lose our son, and no way to know if you've even been informed, or if you care at all, no word of support from you… It's been a difficult time, and I wish I could snuggle into your arms to warm my heart.

In other news, Mr Branson has arrived unannounced a few days ago. It has made quite the scandal upstairs, since Lady Sybil was not with him, and it seems he's been fleeing Ireland for fear of being arrested for his seditious activities… We thought Lord Grantham was going to eat him alive. Fortunately, Lady Sybil arrived safely after him, and everyone was much relieved. But it appears Mr Branson will not be able to go back to Ireland anytime soon, since he's on the run from the police there. So they'll be staying here at Downton for the time being, at least until the baby's born. I think Mr Branson isn't so pleased about this, but he doesn't have much of a choice now…

We've also had a new arrival among the staff: a new footman had been hired, named Jimmy. The maids are all over the place, damning themselves over his good looks… I've not yet made my opinion of him.

So, this is pretty much all the news from Downton. I still hope, foolishly maybe, that I will hear from you soon. I love you still, more than ever, and I miss you more than words can tell.

Your wife, Anna.

x x x x

My dear Anna,

Oh what pure joy I felt when the guard delivered me a thick package of all your letters earlier today. So it really was that bastard Craig who plotted all this, and made sure we were kept apart from each other. I am so, so relieved to know for sure that it wasn't your decision to let go of me… But I am also so very sorry that you had to endure all this suffering, because of me, once again. I hope you got all my belated letters too, or you will very soon. Craig has been removed from my cell, so I am alone for the time being, and I spent my whole evening reading and re-reading all your letters. Some parts made me smile, and others made me want to weep in sorrow. I was so sorry to read about Johnny being ill. So sorry that you had to go through this without me. If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have taken that wretched trip to London, during which he caught this god-damned cough. From your last letter I understand that he is doing a little better, so I hope it has gone on that way since you wrote it. I can't tell you how bad I feel for being away from you both during this difficult time. You say you were afraid we would lose him, oh God, please have mercy on us and do not take my son away when I have met him only once… You know I am not the most pious of men, but I will pray for his welfare and for yours too. I hope he gets better, and you can relax and rest a bit. I'm sure Leslie and Mrs Hughes will have been a great support to you, and Lady Mary will have been careful that you can get some time off. Please, please, keep me updated soon, so that it can ease my worries a little. Things will go back to normal now, so I hope you'll be coming to visit next Monday. However, if Johnny's health isn't good enough so that you can leave him for the duration of the visit, I'll understand that you'll need to reschedule. I can wait. Our son's needs should always come first.

I hope everyone else at Downton is fine. I must say your description of the maids' infatuation with that new footman made me smile. I know I needn't worry about that, I know you better than to believe you'll fall for a good-looking lad (it seems your taste is more for not-good-looking older men, so good for me, although I don't really get why…). Anyway, I hope this new boy will bring no trouble with him and will fit in alright. I hope Mr Branson and Lady Sybil are settling fine too. Mr Branson must be devastated to be exiled from Ireland… I do hope the cohabitation with Lord Grantham doesn't go too roughly.

My beloved wife, I hope to read from you very soon, I'm looking forward to getting fresh news from you and Johnny, hopefully good. I long to see you as soon as possible. I love you and our son so very much. Don't forget to take care of yourself (for I have no doubt about you taking good care of him.)

Yours faithfully, until the end of times,

John Bates.

x x x x

Oh John, my love,

I've been weeping over and over, since Mrs Hughes handed me a stack of your letters, that had just been delivered. I wondered at first if there had been a problem with the post office, but that wouldn't have explained why I've been turned away from the visits. Then I read all of them, and I understood there has been some scheming against you inside the prison! I hope everything is settled now, and that man Craig won't be bothering you anymore. Please my love, keep safe, do what's needed not to get into any trouble, keep your head down if necessary, I'm so afraid for you, so afraid something really bad could happen to you. I can't express how relieved I am that it wasn't your decision to keep me at a distance. I doubted you for a while, and I couldn't understand why you would give up on us when we have our son. I'm sorry for that. I'm so happy I was wrong, so glad that you love us still. I'm longing to see you next Monday. I will be coming for sure. Johnny is finally getting better, he's started putting on some weight again, and Dr Clarkson promised me yesterday that we are out of the woods now. I also feared that God would be so cruel as to take our little boy away when we are already kept from each other, but I'm so grateful He took pity on us. As you rightfully assumed, Leslie and Mrs Hughes have been at my side all through those terrible days, and I'm very lucky to have them. They've been wonderful support, as has Lady Mary. She was so worried about our baby too, the dear Lady. I think she's longing to have one of her own.

The dust has now settled after Mr Branson's and Lady Sybil's dramatic arrival. Lady Sybil is very close to giving birth. Lady Mary told me His Lordship has summoned a very fancy doctor from London to look after her, and that Dr Clarkson wasn't best pleased about it. I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to care for me when I had Johnny, except you by my side of course. I wouldn't trust a doctor I've never met before. Anyway, this is not for me to have an opinion… I only wish everything goes well for Lady Sybil when her time comes, just as it did for me.

Jimmy seems to have settled down well, that lad surely has some self-confidence, more than poor Alfred, but I sense that he might lack a bit of humility though… Anyway, Thomas seems to have taken a liking to him, which is rare enough to mention. I hope he doesn't drag him into another one of his plots.

I've been thinking over and over again about my meeting with Mrs Bartlett, and I can't see how we can make out anything useful of what she told me… I haven't received any other replies to my letters, or none that would be relevant anyway… This is a bit disappointing I must admit.

I hope you are alright. Have you got a new cellmate now that this Craig has been removed?

Until we meet again next Monday, I am sending you the sweetest of kisses and all our love.

Your loving wife, Anna.

x x x x

Anna's heart thumped madly as she walked down the prison's corridor to the visiting area. It was only a few weeks since she and John had last seen each other, but she felt it had been a century. She'd been through so much in that length of time. She couldn't help her bright grin when she finally got a glimpse of him, sat on his usual stool. He sent her a wide smile back as she sat down across the table. He felt as if a ray of sunlight had finally torn through the darkness.

- Oh my darling, I'm so happy to see you.

His eyes were shining bright with love and relief, and she couldn't force her hands to remain still as they crossed the space between them, and met his in the middle of the table. Fortunately, the guard seemed to look elsewhere at that moment, on purpose or not. They kept their fingers intertwined for as long as they dared, before separating. Their eyes met and they silently acknowledged all the pain and longing they had suffered for the last months.

- I'm so happy too, she replied softly. I've been so worried. I hope you're well, and this situation is truly over.

- It is. I'm so sorry for that. I've been worrying too. Is Johnny better?

- Yes, he is. Not quite back to his usual state, but he's getting better every day.

- Thank God.

- Yes, indeed. What happened?! I don't understand how Craig could manage to keep me away from you for so long?

- He had complicity. But it doesn't matter. Whatever the reason, it's over. The point is, I've been thinking on what you wrote over and over again, and someone has to question Mrs Bartlett. You wrote and said she saw Vera on the evening of the day of her death.

- That's right. She went for a walk, the door was open and she went in.

- She saw Vera was cutting pastry from under her nails?

- Yes, I wrote that because it was such a strange detail for her to remember…

- She was making the pie that she ate that night when I was on the train back to Downton.

There was a short silence between them, until realization dawned into Anna's eyes.

- So Vera planned this?! She meant for you to be imprisoned, she meant for you to be hanged for her suicide! It was her revenge…

- And what a revenge… For both of us.

Anna's mind was whirling with this new information, trying to make out how they could possible prove it. That could finally be the key to make the accusation against John unravel.

- But they'll say you poisoned the milk, or the flour or something, to catch her after you'd gone!

- They tested everything in the kitchen, they said it was in the pastry, where I couldn't have put it!

It took a quick moment for Anna to let sink the depth of Vera's malevolence. She couldn't believe she would have been ready to give up her life to wreck hers and John's. How could one be so full of hatred…

- Oh I hope she's burning in hell!

Her voice trembled with hardly contained anger.

- Don't go down that road, warned John. Once you do, there's no way off it.

- I'm sorry, but… What kind of person would kill herself and disguise it as a murder to get at someone?!

- Someone who think they have nothing left to lose I guess, he replied with a shrug… Anyway, we mustn't brood on that. We must focus on proving that she did kill herself. We must have Mrs Bartlett issue an official statement to testify of what she saw.

- Yes. Oh God, finally we have something tangible to work on. I'll go talk to His Lordship as soon as I'm back. See what we can make of it. Oh Jesus, finally, there's hope. Oh God please let it work, she added nervously, twisting her fingers.

- Yes, finally, he agreed. Thanks to you and your persistence.

She smiled brightly at him, concluding:

- You know I said I wouldn't rest until I had you out. I meant it.