It was a few more weeks before Robert could find the time to get down to the prison along with Anna. The poor girl was so slight and pale as she got into the car and upon entering the building, he was not entirely convinced that Anna was not going to faint.
"Anna, are you feeling alright?" Robert asked.
"Yes, my lord. It's only…I'm anxious to see him."
"You're sure you feel up to this?"
"Yes, your lordship. I'm fine."
"As long as you're certain."
"I am, m'lord, I am." Anna gave a feeble smile.
Robert nodded and led Anna to the room that he and Bates had met in before. It still only contained the two chairs and he offered one to Anna.
"This is going to be far more trying for you than it will be for me. Please."
"Thank you, my lord."
The door opened and Bates was ushered in, his eyes focused on the floor. He sat down and finally glanced up.
"Hello, Mrs. Bates." He said quietly, an irrepressible smirk on his face. Anna's face brightened instantly at the sound of her married name.
"Hello." She replied, smiling.
Bates tore his eyes off of Anna, looking at Robert briefly, before returning his gaze to his wife.
"Hello, my lord."
"How are you, Bates?"
"I'm doing better than the last time you were here, I think, my lord."
"Has Murray been in contact with you?"
"Yes. He seems to think…I don't know how hopeful we-I should be but he says that my case will be easily defended. I'm afraid I'm my own foil. My history isn't very helpful in proving my innocence."
"It shouldn't matter." Anna said, obviously irritated, "You've…," she sighed, "you're not the man you were."
Bates chuckled and reached for Anna's hand. "It does matter, though. I know it never has for you, Mrs. Bates, but the rest of the world isn't so willing to believe me."
Anna sighed, laying her other hand in his free one. They sat there, in a heavy contented silence that Robert was not privy too. Being unintentionally excluded from the affection radiating in the room, he felt his face grow warm. And then, more surprising than anything, the smallest hint of jealousy slipped into the back of his mind. Robert attempted a smile; one that he was sure was transparently false.
"I suspect you both might want some time alone with one another. Anna, when you're ready to leave I'll be waiting out front. Goodbye, Bates. I'll see you soon."
"Goodbye, my lord."
Once the door was open to him Robert rushed from the cell, the feeling of envy growing with every step. It was not until he was outside, the cold wind encompassing him, that he finally acknowledged it. With a sigh he realized exactly why he had become suddenly envious of his lame, imprisoned valet.
It hadn't been so long ago when he and Cora had been as close as Bates and Anna. He wondered if his and Bates' situations were reversed if Cora would be as true as Anna was. He vaguely thought that he may not even want her to be. Robert sighed and leaned propped himself against the wall. They had both changed and it pained him to acknowledge that his alterations had been for the worse. Cora had taken the inconveniences of war in stride and had become stronger because of them. And he had…well he wasn't quite sure where or when he had let his life get beyond his control but it had and more than that he had not attempted to rein it in. He had seen it all slip past him as he looked on with indifference.