"Don't you want to go back to Downton?"
"That's not really the question my dear. The question is, do you?"
They sat in companionable silence for a while. Their sandwiches were finished, the grease proof paper folded neatly in the basket, ready to take back inside for Hetty.
"I'd not really thought about it."
"Not once?"
"Well not since..." Anna's voice trailed off.
"Not since what?"
"Not since you and I talked about buying the hotel. All those years ago."
John fell silent. He and Anna hadn't talked about that plan since that one conversation in the servants' hall. The night when he had asked her to marry him. The night Vera had arrived and blackmailed him to go away.
"You haven't talked about it since."
"Well neither have you."
Which was true.
"It felt... a little like bad luck. After everything that happened that night. What with you leaving." Anna bit her lip, aware of how long this conversation had hung in the back of her memory. She remembered the incredible happiness that had infused her during that conversation, when John had mentioned his plan for the hotel, wanting to have a family with her, to raise their children together. But the memories had been soured with the events which had followed the next day, when he had left her.
"Do you still like the idea?"
Anna looked up suddenly.
"Like the idea? John, I'd LOVE the idea..."
"Then why didn't you say?"
"Well, why didn't YOU? It was your idea in the first place. I thought what had changed your mind."
Anna looked as though she had been suffused with hope.
"Well," John said gently. "I'm saying it now."
"Could we do it?"
"It would take some planning. And we'd need to sell the house in London, release the capital. Then we could start looking for somewhere to buy."
"Would you want to go back to London?"
"After getting used to villages like Downton, and places like this?" John smiled, gesturing about their surroundings. "Besides, you're a real country girl. You like your trips up to London, but you're at home here, really, aren't you?"
Anna smiled, her cheeks pink and glowing, the strain visibly fallen away from her face.
"I do like this life. I thought sometimes..."
"You thought what?"
"Well," Anna settled back, reaching for his hand. "I thought... if we did get our own place in the future, that it might be nice for us to keep some of our own hens. Have our own eggs, perhaps. Maybe even grow some vegetables. Or fruit..."
John was charmed that she had put so much thought into the idea.
"We could put it up on the sign. Fresh local produce for breakfast..."
"Oh my darling..."
"You like the idea?"
"I love the idea. But I love the fact that you love it even more. You look so... alive."
"Have I not been alive?"
"Not like this. Not since..."
"...him."
"But now he's gone," John said firmly, swatting away the dark clouds that threatened to gather over their sunny conversation.
Anna's eyes grew far away for a second.
"How quickly could we do it?"
"Hard to say. We could make a beginning as soon as you like. I'll walk to the village tomorrow, book a telephone call at the post office to the bank and see how our accounts stand. I'd have to go up to London to see about putting the house on the market, but I would write to a couple of estate agents this week, make some inquiries..."
"Do you think we'd have trouble selling?"
"Unlikely. A house that size, in good condition. We could sell it furnished, there's not much in the house I'd want to keep. Unless you'd...?"
Anna shook her head.
"We'd... we'd have to go back, in the mean time."
"I think... it would be better. If I knew we were planning to leave."
"You mean that? You're not just saying that?"
"No... I'm not. I think... part of what's been so … difficult about all this has been the idea that we'd be stuck there. Forever. Neither of us had mentioned the idea of the hotel for so long. I thought you'd given up on it. And … I knew we were unlikely to get another position together, not as Valet and Lady's Maid."
John fell quiet, on instinct.
Anna continued, almost speaking to herself as much as to John.
"I love Downton Abbey. I really do. It's been my home since I left Mum. It's given me everything. A job. A home." She met John's eyes and squeezed his hand. "Even you. I never thought I'd be married. I thought I'd be in service. Maybe become a housekeeper somewhere one day."
"You still could be. If you wanted to."
"But I don't. That's the thing. Meeting you changed all the colour of my life. Showed me what love could be. I never thought... I never thought I'd find someone who made me happy. Who wanted all the same things in life as me. Downton gave me all that. It seemed selfish to want to turn away from it. From Mrs Hughes, who's been so kind. From Lady Mary. Even from Lord Grantham, who's been so kind to you."
"You felt you owed them?"
"Yes. In a way. I think I did."
Her eyes clouded over.
"But, it took so much from me..."
"Oh my darling..."
"I thought it would always be safe. And then it wasn't."
"Come here..."
John wrapped her into his arms, as she cried gently.
"I'm so tired of crying..."
"You've been strong for so long my darling, it's alright. Take your time."
A minute or two later, she raised her head.
"Would you mind about leaving Downton?"
"I've left it for worse reasons."
"Truly?"
"Truly. Downton has given me a lot too. A second chance. A fresh start. A place to finally be free of my past. Rebuild myself into the sort of man I wanted to be. A man half way to being worthy of you." He kissed the back of her hand, stroked a finger over her wedding ring.
"But I would be taking the best part of Downton with me."
"Come now. You don't mean that."
"I mean every word. You were my first friend here. My best friend here. And if you're coming with me, there's nothing else I fear to leave behind."
"But Lord Grantham..."
"...has been a gracious and kind employer. I would miss working for him. But I would rather work with you. For us. For our family, should we be blessed with one."
"When we are blessed with one."
Anna's face radiated kindness and strength. She looked so much like the brave and sparky little housemaid he had first met when he came to Downton, that all at once John was overcome with the need to kiss her. Leaning closer, his fingers gently slipped behind her head, pulling her closer, relishing the feel of her soft sigh as their lips met.
"So it's settled then? Tomorrow you'll book the phone call, set everything in motion."
"If you like."
"Oh, I like. I like very much."
"Would you like to come with me?"
"Alright then. Perhaps we could ask Hetty for a picnic, go for a walk once you've finished the call and find somewhere pretty to sit and eat." Her hand rested on his good knee, and her eyes flared with mischief. "Somewhere private..."
John's blood soared at the look in her eyes. Was she really suggesting...?
"Anna May Bates, you naughty girl...!"
She winked at him, her nose wrinking in such a cute fashion that he had to kiss her again.
"Ahhh, young love!"
Bill's voice sounded behind them, they jumped apart like naughty teenagers discovered together.
"Don't mind me, the pair of you, does me good to see you both happy."
"We are Bill. Very much so."
"I'm headed in for a brew, if you'd like to come in for one? Time for a break."
"Why not?"
Gathering up their chairs and baskets, they headed inside, listening to Bill chat about the morning's work. Overhead, the clouds parted, and the sun truly began to shine.