Lady Mary was sitting in front of her mirror, gazing into it absently. Anna would not have found this strange, but for the look on her face.

"Are you alright, milady?"

There was no reply as Lady Mary continued to stare into the glass, her eyes unblinking.

"Lady Mary?"

"Hmm?" Lady Mary turned around slowly until she finally registered the maid standing by the door. "Anna! Sorry, I didn't see you come in. How has your day been?"

"Not bad, my lady. How about yours?"

"Oh, you know. No complaints." Lady Mary smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Anna had been going to tell Lady Mary about her mother's visit, but she sensed that now it was better to focus on her. "Are you alright, did something happen?"

"Something very good happened, actually. I had a letter from Sybil. She's blissfully happy, apparently! It was so sweet to read it."

Anna smiled. "I'm pleased to hear it."

"She's one who really deserves happiness."

"Are you jealous, my lady?"

Lady Mary raised an eyebrow, and gave a genuine smile this time. "Absolutely!"

"Me too."

"Are you now?" Lady Mary laughed.

...

Anna looked up as John entered the visiting room, and she gave him that smile. No matter how bleak things got, her smile never faltered. No matter how depressed he felt, that smile always picked him up. He even managed to smile back this time.

"How are you?" she asked, her eyes twinkling.

"Alright. How are you?"

"Oh, good in some ways, bad in others."

"Well, I'm bad in all ways, so you're doing alright!"

Anna sighed. "Have they told you?"

"Yes."

"January's a long way away."

"It is."

"But we'll make it."

John was silent, marvelling at her optimism. He needed it so badly.

"Though it does make me very angry that this means that they can unjustly imprison you for months and months before even attempting to assess whether you're guilty. I've asked Mr Murray to petition for an earlier trial date."

John realised with a jolt that Anna was convinced he would be released after the trial. She hadn't even considered the alternative, that an earlier trial would mean an earlier death for him. "Anna…" he began.

"And now to my good news."

"Good news?"

"I had an impromptu visit from my mum the other day. I hadn't told her anything because I thought she wouldn't understand, but she did!" Anna grinned. "She said she wants to support us! I really enjoyed talking to her as well, it was a really nice afternoon."

John wasn't sure what to say. With Anna being an independent woman who lived many miles away from her parents, John had managed never to think about them very much. He had said a cursory, "What would your parents think?" when she'd fervently proposed getting married in secret, but she'd said it didn't matter and he'd accepted that, as he'd accepted all her other ardent declarations, because they were what he wanted to hear, when he knew that surely, if her parents were asked, the would not approve at all. They wouldn't approve of someone like him going anywhere near their daughter, especially not in his current state.

"How much did you tell her?"

"Well, Mrs Hughes told her everything, actually."

"Mrs Hughes?"

"I know, my jaw fell to the floor when I found out. I was out when she arrived, you see, and I got back to find them both having tea in Mrs Hughes' sitting room, and Mrs Hughes calmly announced that she'd 'explained everything'! You could have knocked me over with a feather, I can tell you."

"Had you been trying to keep your parents in the dark?"

"Basically, yes. I couldn't think of a way to explain it – not in a way that they'd approve of, anyway. But Mrs Hughes must have explained it very well, because Mum didn't react badly at all. I should have had more faith in her, really, because she is a wonderful person – she's rough round the edges sometimes, but she has a heart of gold, and I should have realised that she would support me if I needed it."

"Good." John gave a half-hearted smile. "That's what mums are for."

"Yeah. It's been so long since I've needed her help, I really didn't think to ask."

"What about your father?"

"Um. She didn't really mention him. Less supportive, I imagine. But, then, Mum is very persuasive, so maybe… She invited me to go to the farm for a couple of days, and two things are stopping me; one, I'm very busy, and two, I am a little worried about Dad. He's one of those men who's afraid to talk about emotional things, so he'll probably just clam up and not know what to say to me. Either that or he'll say things I don't want to hear."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

John shrugged awkwardly. "I should have asked his permission."

"Oh no, no… I don't think that applies in this situation."

"It's the polite thing to do. When doesn't it apply?"

"Oh, I don't know, when it's 1919, and when my father hasn't supported me for years! I don't even support him anymore, the farm's self-sufficient."

"That doesn't mean that the rules of propriety don't apply."

"Well, you did ask his lordship."

"I suppose so. He's your head of household now."

"I always thought it was a silly rule anyway. Who I marry is my business, not anyone else's."

"Well, and mine."

Anna smiled. "It's our business."

"Exactly."

"Now, I have to ask you something, and I must stress that the answer is entirely up to you."

"OK."

"My mum said she wants to meet you. And I said, 'Are you mad? Why would you want to come to a place like this?' but she said that the place doesn't matter, she just wants to meet you."

"OK."

"Well, think about it, you don't have to make a decision now."

"No, I've made a decision. That's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! She has a perfect right to meet me, and I'm a little curious to meet her."

Anna nodded cautiously. "Alright."

"And you should definitely go to the farm for a few days. You deserve a break."

...

Anna still didn't like to ask. She'd already been given so much time off to work on Mr Bates' case, and that was only likely to increase. So she put the idea on the back burner for a few days, throwing herself into her work as usual. The following Tuesday evening, she was sitting in the servants' hall with Miss O'Brien, each of them doing some mending. Neither was talking.

Mrs Hughes poked her head into the room and asked if she could have a word with Anna in her sitting room. "Certainly," said Anna, looking up, but then she saw Miss O'Brien's face.

"I hope you come back this time," said the lady's maid, referring to the evening of Anna's mother's visit, when Anna has spent rather a long time in Mrs Hughes' sitting room and not accomplished any mending at all. "I won't do your mending if you can't finish it."

Miss O'Brien was precisely whom Anna had been considering when she'd been thinking that she shouldn't have any more time off. She'd already made it clear that she thought Anna spent far too much time "elsewhere" and too little time working these days.

"Of course she'll finish it, Miss O'Brien," said Mrs Hughes sharply. "When does Anna not finish things?"

"It's the principle in general, Mrs Hughes," Miss O'Brien continued. "You can't give one staff member more time off than others, it isn't fair."

"It's alright, I'll take it with me," said Anna, picking up her sewing and walking over to Mrs Hughes.

"And in what way can coming to talk to me in my sitting room, when I, the housekeeper, have asked her to do so, possibly be considered to be time off?"

"That's not what I meant, Mrs Hughes. It's just the principle of the thing. It was only a passing comment, don't worry about it." Miss O'Brien turned back to her mending.

Mrs Hughes waited until they were out of earshot before muttering, "The amount of time she spends complaining instead of doing work, you could be given a whole week off, quite fairly."

They stepped into Mrs Hughes' sitting room, and she closed the door, asking Anna to take a seat. Anna did so, and immediately picked up her needle and thread.

Mrs Hughes rolled her eyes. "Don't let her get to you, you know what she's like."

"It's alright," said Anna. "I need to do this, anyway. I am behind."

"The ironic thing is, you getting time off is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."

Anna's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, I -"

"No, no – in a good way, Anna, I'm not telling you off! The amount of work you do compared to Miss O'Brien, it would not at all be unfair to give you more time off than her – unfortunately I can't do that, but what I can do is bring forward part of the time you'll be owed this year, and combine it with what you didn't take last year."

Anna hadn't sewed one stitch. She was too surprised. "Why?"

"Well, I received a letter from your mother today. She pointed out that you haven't been to visit your family home for more than a year and a half."

"I'm sorry, she shouldn't have -"

"She also says that you promised her that you would ask me for leave. Why haven't you?"

Anna sighed. "Because Miss O'Brien is right."

Mrs Hughes raised her eyebrows.

"I have had too much time off recently – anything I didn't take last year has been more than made up for by -"

"You haven't had time off, Anna! You've taken time to go and do things for Mr Bates, but you haven't had time off."

"Well…doing things for Mr Bates is hardly productive for Downton Abbey."

"He is! I know Mr Carson would like him back."

"The thing is, I've already been absent at least three days this year, and I'd like the option of doing so again, if things arise, so if I went holidaying on the farm as well, it wouldn't be fair to the other staff."

"Anna, Lord and Lady Grantham are kind employers who understand that sometimes personal matters come up which need your attention, but they will not begrudge you your precious little leisure time in lieu of that. Even Mr Carson recognises that if you continue on without a break for too long, you're liable to collapse, and then you'd be of no use to anyone, would you?"

Anna nodded.

"And I don't mean to offend you, but you've been looking tireder and tireder recently. Have you been sleeping?"

"Not really."

Mrs Hughes sighed. "Maybe fresh air on a farm for three days is just what you need."

"Three?"

"Yes. You can dress Lady Mary and Lady Edith on the morning of the first day and then go, you'll be there by lunch time. And I don't mind what time you come back on the third day."

"And you're sure the other staff won't mind? I mean, Miss O'Brien will, obviously, but everyone else?"

"If Miss O'Brien takes issue with it, I'll send her away from three days too, just to get rid of her! But everyone else, no, they will not mind. They all love you and they know you've been under a lot of strain and you deserve a break. I think Mr Bates would agree too."

"He does, he…he said I should go."

"Oh, well, for heaven's sake, don't go against what your husband says, girl!"

"Alright."

"You'll go?"

"Yes."

"Good."