AN: All places, characters and part of the dialogues are property of J. Fellowes.
"Anna?"
She looked up from the elaborate bun she was finishing, to find Lady Mary's eyes piercing her from the mirror.
"M'lady?"
"How is the new valet settling in?"
Anna frowned a bit and pretended to be engrossed with a pin for a second. What a strange question for Lady Mary to ask; she had never before had dealings with their fathers' valets.
"Mr Bates? Very well, I'd say."
"Really?" Lady Mary's voice was loaded with incredulity. "Because Mama was saying she heard he had been causing troubles downstairs. With the rest of the servants."
"I've never seen any of that!" Now Anna had to fight indignation off her voice. "He's quiet and respectful, and I haven't even heard him complain to the others."
"He wouldn't, if he wanted to keep his job." Lady Edith prompted from a chair nearby. Trust her to say things like that.
"Perhaps… she misunderstood." Anna added tentatively.
"No, it was quite plain. O'Brien told her Bates can't do the job properly. Why was he taken on?"
"Oh." Of course O'Brien would say that! "He was Lord Grantham's batman, when he was fighting the Boers."
"I know that, but even so…"
"I think it's romantic." Lady Sybil said. Anna smiled at her, although it was not really helpful.
"I don't. How can a valet do his work if he's lame?"
"He's not very lame," Anna tried to smile, to take the seriousness off the conversations, but an involuntary sigh escaped her. "There." She said after finishing Lady Mary's hair. "Anything before I go down?"
"No, that's it. Thank you."*
Anna closed the door as quietly as she could and, making sure the corridors were deserted, she leant against the wall, Lady Mary's clothes clutched against her chest. Why, why did O'Brien had always the need to stir up trouble? She could see there was some loyalty of sorts between her and Thomas, even though for the life of her, she did not understand how or why. But even so, it did not entitle her to talk behind Mr Bates' back about things that were not even true to begin with!
Standing up straight, she sighed again and started walking towards the kitchen, her hands still trembling with boiled up indignation.
She suspected she had not made a very good argument with the girls that could possibly match whatever O'Brien had said to her Ladyship. Lady Mary at any rate seemed to have her mind settled and if she and Lady Grantham were agreeing on Mr Bates' uselessness, Anna could not see very good prospects for the new valet. But what could she possibly do?
She was about to open the door to the servants' stairs but somebody was faster.
"Allow me," Mr Bates was smiling lightly, carrying his own, albeit smaller, bound of clothes. He had hung his cane on his wrist in order to open the door for her.
"Thank you," Anna said, hoping that none of her previous thoughts could be read on her expression.
He smiled, closed the door behind them and, with a swift movement, got hold of his cane again. Mr Bates started climbing down the stairs and Anna followed him, realising she did have to slow down her pace for it to match his limp.
"Are you settling in all right, then?" Anna asked, and a second after, she could have hit herself hard with one of Mrs Patmore pots. Wasn't this a way of asking if he could do the job? He would surely think she doubted his abilities, just like everybody else.
If he did, it did not show. "It is a great house. I like it. And the job."
"I used to get the rooms confused when I first started." She said, hoping to steer his attention somewhere else. "I used to fall asleep reciting their names in their proper order at night, so I wouldn't make mistakes."
She heard Mr Bates chuckled softly in front of her, and she wished she could see his expression.
"When was that?"
"Oh, ages ago," she shrugged. "I've worked here my whole life."
"Surely not ages." He had reached the landing and was turning around to see her.
"It feels like ages… but I like my job. I do." She hastened to add.
Mr Bates smiled and turned around to keep on going down. Anna wished there was something else she could say, but she did not know exactly what or how. When they reached the bottom, he nodded at her and started walking towards the laundry.
"Mr Bates," she called him, not exactly sure of how to tell him what was on her mind, or even if she should.
"Yes, Anna?"
She looked around. Thomas was upstairs, helping with dinner. O'Brien was no-where to be seen. As a precaution, she stepped into the corridor and signed Mr Bates to follow her. He seemed curious.
"I… I wouldn't like you to think that I'm speaking out of place but…" she shifted the bundle of clothes from one arm to the other. "It's just that… you might want to be careful." The last words came so fast she doubted Mr Bates had properly heard them.
"Careful?" he repeated.
"Please, don't think I make a habit out of talking ill of other people. Because I don't."
"I would never think you would."
Anna nodded, half registering his words. "Of course. Well. It's only that Thomas wanted you job, and I think he was almost sure he had had it before you came. So… what I'm saying is that he's not going to have your best interests at heart. I very much doubt he will even try to be nice. And Miss O'Brien… they are quite chummy, and you've already seen how friendly she can be."
There, she had say it. And whether he'd believe her to be a gossipy maid or take her seriously, it seemed to be a risk worth taken.
"Why are you telling me this?" he squinted his eyes.
"What do you mean why?" Anna was genuinely surprised by the question. "You should be on your guard, shouldn't you? I'm just giving you some fair warning. Because I think they'll try to prove you can't do the job." As a matter of fact I happen to know at least one of them is doing exactly that.
For a moment he did not say a thing and Anna found herself torn between self-consciousness and exasperation. Maybe she was a gossip, but he was certainly taking his time to grasp the concept.
"What if…" it seemed as if Mr Bates was struggling with something to say as well. Whatever it was, he never finished and suddenly he was smiling. Anna realised this was the same smile he had had some days ago, when Lord Grantham had come downstairs to greet him. A sort of half-grin that reached his eyes and made them sparkle. "Thank you," he finally said, "for telling me this."
She smiled back. "Not a problem."
"I'm very glad you did."
* Dialogues from S01 E01.
AN: Thanks very very much for reading and reviewing!
