"I heard a funny noise last night."
"Oh, eh." Thomas arched an eyebrow at Daisy's comment that came out of nowhere. Even though Mr Carson wasn't in the room, he refrained from saying anything further.
"What did you hear, Daisy?" Anna enquired, looking up from her spot beside Mr Bates at the table.
She took a few seconds to reply, an expression of uncertainty on her face. Whatever it was, it surely couldn't have been that bad.
"I don't know exactly…but it sounded like bells."
Thomas did a terrible job of covering his sniggers of laughter, while at his side Miss O'Brien charged into life.
"I long for the day when I don't have to hear bells," the lady's maid exclaimed, "that sound will haunt me to my grave, and dare I say far beyond it."
"It weren't like those bells," Daisy replied quickly, her voice more timid and uncertain than moments before, "I came downstairs to check."
"You must have been very quiet," Mr Bates said, looking up from his book.
"I stayed for about ten minutes or so, just to be sure, but I couldn't hear anything. They were very quick, like a little rattle. But really clear, and they happened a few times. Did nobody else hear it?"
Nobody responded in the affirmative, which made Daisy look all the more worried.
"I'm sure it was nothing," Anna said after a moment or two, to be reassuring, "it was probably just the furniture creaking, there is so much of it."
"Maybe it was a ghost," Thomas added, unhelpfully.
"You don't think…" Daisy answered, hands clutching onto her apron.
"Well, I wouldn't be surprised," Miss O'Brien followed, "not with how far this house goes back."
"And we know at least one person who's snuffed it under this roof," Thomas quipped, plucking another cigarette from his pocket.
"Don't start that," Anna said, a note of warning in her voice.
"You're probably right," Daisy addressed Thomas, "oh, I should never have said anything."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Mr Bates said, calmly, "if there is any such thing as ghosts, they're not liable to harm you."
"Of course, you can fight them off with that stick of yours, Mr Bates."
Anna shook her head at Thomas, though he didn't notice or would be bothered in the slightest. She then looked at Mr Bates, who caught her looking and smiled warmly at her.
"What's all this?" William said as he came rushing into the room.
"Daisy thought she heard some bells," Thomas supplied, "in a house that's full of them."
"Never mind, it was silly of me," Daisy said, and then paused to consider, "unless, did you hear them too? Last night, about one o'clock?"
William frowned. "No, I can't say I did. I believe you, though."
"You'd better keep your wits about you," Miss O'Brien said after a few moments had passed, "it is the time of year for spirits. Ask Mrs Patmore to spare you some salt, a cupful should do the trick, and keep it outside of your door."
Both Anna and Mr Bates rolled their eyes at such nonsense, as Daisy set off on her heels, hopefully not to raid the cupboards for that purpose in particular.
"Well, that were no good. I heard them again," Daisy exclaimed, "just the same as before, but a bit later this time."
"Heard what?" Mrs Hughes asked, not being there the previous day.
"Bells," Daisy said, just as Thomas swept into the room.
"Oh, not these bloody bells again."
"Mind your language, please, Thomas," Mr Carson, ever-omnipresent, cut in.
"I don't know what's happening," Daisy said, "I'm getting a bit worried."
"I tell you what's happening," Thomas replied curtly, "your ears are going. I think someone should let Mrs Patmore know, so she can ask for a replacement."
"I swear, I heard them!"
"Now, let's not get ourselves all in a bother," Mrs Hughes came in, acting the referee and going towards Daisy, whose cheeks were glowing. "If you're not feeling well, Daisy, then you know that you can say so. We wouldn't begrudge you, even now."
"I'm fine, Mrs Hughes, honestly. It's only at night I've been hearing them. I can't believe nobody else has."
"I should say we're all dead to the world once the clock strikes midnight. Or perhaps it's because I'm of a certain age."
"I'd say it was," Thomas commented, not quietly enough to avoid the housekeeper hearing and fixing him with a steely glare.
"We'll have to keep our ears out," Anna said, offering a gentle smile to Daisy.
"That we will," Mr Bates replied, looking towards the kitchen maid and then catching Anna's eyes once more.
She had gone into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water, and it was only coincidence that it was around the time that Daisy had remarked of hearing the mysterious bells. They had been working so hard that if it wasn't for the carols earlier that night she would have forgotten that it was Christmas Eve entirely.
She wouldn't stay down for long. It probably wasn't anything. Not that Daisy couldn't be trusted, it was just that she did work longer hours than any of the rest of them, so for her to be hearing things wasn't outside the realm of possibility.
A couple of minutes and nothing but silence. Time to go back to bed.
Then she nearly ran into him, his footsteps so quiet but his figure unmistakable.
"Mr Bates," she said in a hushed tone of voice, though she wasn't exactly sure why given that there was nobody else up and awake. "I was just getting some water."
Even in the shadows she could distinguish the curve of his smile; perhaps she had been looking for it for too long.
"Not to investigate the source of the unknown bells?"
"Well," she began, feeling a little sheepish, "seeing as I was down here anyway, I thought there was no harm in hanging around to check. But no joy, I'm afraid."
"That's a shame," he replied, his voice low and warm, "perhaps it will take a cup of tea."
At this hour, she thought at first, but quickly found that she couldn't refuse, especially not when it meant being in the company of Mr Bates with no one else around.
They stayed up to finish their cups, Anna struggling to fight off her yawns. It was always lovely to talk with him but she felt like she wasn't giving her best, and not too long afterwards they agreed to return to their respective quarters, else they were liable to miss out on the morning's festivities.
"Mr Bates?" she called, as he headed in the opposite direction, towards the door.
"No harm in checking," he said, and so she followed his steps, shivering slightly as she felt the chill of the wind creep through underneath, even though it was shut tight. "Do you believe?"
"In what?" she replied with curiosity.
Another smile. "Father Christmas."
She felt like laughing, but instead composed herself to look completely serious. "Of course. Do you?"
"Most certainly."
His reply made her feel fuzzy inside, as earnest as it sounded.
"Perhaps that's what it was."
"But it's only Christmas Eve tonight," she said.
"I would say that he has to do a few test runs. I'm sure Yorkshire is the perfect place to do so."
She did let out a giggle then.
"Perhaps you're right."
They said their goodnights fondly, almost like they were sweethearts reluctantly parting at a station. Such a silly thought, and she scolded herself for thinking in such a way. She crept quietly back into the room, being cautious so as not to wake Gwen. Her roommate was fast asleep, as was usually the way.
It was only a few seconds after she got back into bed, barely having rested her head on the pillow, that she heard them, sounding as if they were right outside the window.