A/N Thanks to everyone who read the first chapter. I've had a go at a second chapter and will hopefully have a third one up later in the week. We finally meet Mr Bates in this chapter!

Second Chances

Chapter 2 - An Interview

"Mum, I'm bored, can I pleeeease have my phone back?" Holly begged for at least the thirtieth time that day.

"Holly I've told you, I'll get you another one just as soon as I've got some work sorted out," I promised, still feeling a little guilty that I'd taken it off her but knowing that it would be far too easy for Peter to contact her and find out our whereabouts if she had access to it. He'd been calling my mobile incessantly for four days until I'd finally given in and texted him to say that I'd left him and that unless he wanted me to go to the police and have him convicted for assault then he should stop calling me. It seemed to have done the trick for the time being and I'd not received any other messages begging me to go home on my voicemail, but I wasn't confident that he wouldn't try any other tricks to find out where we were if he was able to contact Holly.

Holly and I were at least on speaking terms although she was still resentful towards me for uprooting her from Guildford. Despite my initial belief that I should protect her from what had been happening between me and her father, she seemed to have gained some sense of what had been going on between us. I don't know if I was stupid to believe she could remain totally oblivious to the violence in her own house, or if Gwen had had a quiet word with her to explain that she needed to go easy on me, but her attitude over the past day or two had been considerably softer.

"What are you doing?" she enquired, leaning her head in her hands against the breakfast bar I was sitting at, twiddling her long, dark hair around her finger; she'd got that from her dad – that and her height – everything else about her, from her eyes to her figure, was a carbon copy of me.

"I…" I paused dramatically, "am looking for a job."

"What kind of job?" she meandered around my side of the breakfast bar, slipping her arms around me from behind and resting her chin against my shoulder to view the newspaper.

"Something that requires no experience and lets me spend lots of time with you," I turned my head to kiss her cheek and smiled as she fought hard to contain the withering look she'd normally give me for such a sentimentally uncool display of affection.

"What about that one?" she pointed towards an advert for a receptionist in a law firm.

"I need at least two years' experience and an admin' qualification."

"Oh… that one?"

"Holly, since when I have had an HGV license and experience in the haulage industry?"

As much as she was being silly it was a relief that she seemed to be speaking to me again.

"Hey, look at that one!"

"No more jokes Hols,"

She reached over my shoulder and pointed, "No seriously, look, I think you could do this."

I followed her finger and read the advert more closely.

"Housekeeper required," she read purposefully, "Downton Abbey requires a live-in housekeeper to co-ordinate domestic staff and ensure the smooth running of the property. No particular experience necessary although good organisational and domestic skills would be valuable. Please telephone or email John Bates at the following number/email address for more information."

"Hmm, that might be a possibility," I nodded, "Downton Abbey's not far from here."

"What is it? Is an abbey not a place for monks or something?" she seemed confused.

"Well, sometimes yes, but this is a big fancy house. I think it belongs to Lord Somebody but I doubt he'll live there anymore. I think it's open to the public to visit – it was when I was at school anyway, I remember we went for a visit when we were studying the Victorians. They had some of the rooms set up so you could see what life was like then. It was really cool."

"Wow, sounds exciting," she deadpanned, "and not at all lame and old and boring."

"Well, my dear," I patted her cheek teasingly, "if it doesn't work out then you won't need to worry, and if it does, then it's all your own fault because you pointed it out to me!"

Three hours later I was in the car heading towards Downton Abbey after having spoken to a somewhat gruff man on the phone, enquiring about the job. He'd sounded vaguely irritated to have been interrupted from whatever he'd been doing but had conceded that I should come for a short interview later that day to see if I'd be suitable. From the sound of his voice I didn't think he'd received many enquiries although he didn't sound particularly hopeful that I'd be what he was looking for.

After a short panic that I had nothing to wear to an interview, we'd bundled Holly and Lucy into the back of the car and found ourselves in the changing rooms of Primark; Holly and Gwen casting a critical eye over the various sensible outfits I could find to put together for under twenty quid.

"Too long,"

"Too frumpy,"

"Too I've-not-had-a-job-and-had-to-run-to-Primark-to-find-something-to-wear."

I rolled my eyes and settled on a knee-length black dress which fit snugly without looking too tight, adding a smart black cardigan and a pair of sensible black heels. I couldn't be choosy, it was Primark and I wanted to spend as little as I could get away with. If the job didn't come off we had plenty of other things I needed to save for.

As the car bumped up the long driveway towards the house I could feel my stomach churning at the thought of the interview. I'd never had any experience in the world of work, and the thought of explaining to a random stranger why I'd come to Ripon and why I was applying for the job was fairly daunting. Not to mention the fact that even if I was offered the job he might have second thoughts when I told him I had a daughter in tow.

Smoothing my black dress down and taking a deep breath I found the main trade entrance to the building and rang the bell marked 'enquiries' beside what looked to be the reception desk. I had waited several minutes and was contemplating whether it would be rude to ring the bell again when the noise of uneven footsteps against the tiled floor alerted me to the presence of a man from the corridor behind me.

"Good afternoon, you must be Miss Smith," (I had found myself providing my maiden name on the phone), a voice from behind called.

I turned to be greeted by the man I had spoken to on the phone.

"Yes," I smiled nervously, reaching out to shake his extended hand, "pleased to meet you Mr Bates."

He nodded and coughed somewhat uncomfortably as I smiled at him, making eye contact briefly.

"Follow me please," he offered, gesturing towards the direction he'd come from and leading me back towards his office. I took the opportunity to glance at him once he had started walking; he was a tall man, broad-shouldered – maybe in his mid-forties though clearly still powerfully built. He used a cane to support his walking and had a slight limp though it didn't detract from his air of authority. Dressed smartly in a suit with his dark hair combed neatly back from his forehead, he gave off an air of calm respectability yet his face remained quite impassive and stern.

"Please come in, take a seat," he gestured through the door which he held open for me as I tried my best not to gawp at my unfamiliar surroundings.

"So Miss Smith," he began, carefully lowering himself into the chair on the opposite side of the large oak desk which seemed to fill the whole office.

"Anna, please," I interrupted, still a little uncomfortable that I'd not been entirely forthcoming about my surname.

"Anna," he sounded a little uncomfortable calling me by my first name, there was just something endearingly old-fashioned about him. "I'll tell you a little about the job and then you can tell me some more about yourself. You'll be working for Lord Grantham; Downton Abbey has been in his family for generations, although he and his wife spend the majority of the year at their home in London whilst I manage the Abbey for them in their absence. It's technically a housekeeper position but the job is quite varied depending on the time of year and what's going on in the house. You'd be responsible for any of the seasonal workers we have; organising gardener contracts, cleaning staff and guides during the tourist season. We also have a lot of corporate events which take place within the Abbey and you'd be the point of contact for customers with enquiries regarding this type of thing; we also have quite a lot of weddings during the summer."

"That sounds interesting," I tried to sound as enthusiastic as I could to mask my worry at the thought of managing so many different things at once when my main experience was cooking and cleaning for a family of three.

"It's a varied job Miss Smith," he'd reverted to protocol again and I couldn't help but smile, "Our current housekeepers Mr and Mrs Carson are both to retire; they've worked here for many, many years but it's time for them to enjoy their retirement now. There would be a small period of over-lap time if you're successful, just for Mrs Carson to show you the ropes."

"Do Mr and Mrs Carson live in the Abbey?" I was keen to find out if the mentioned 'live-in' part of the advert still held.

"Yes, as do I. You'd be expected to live at the Abbey as well if you're to take the position. Much of the work which goes on here can take place at any time of the day or night so we're all on-call as it is for whenever we're needed."

"I didn't mention it on the phone but I feel I should now. I have a daughter and obviously she'd need to be with me. Would that cause any difficulty for me to take the job?"

"How old is she? We can't very well have small children running around while you're trying to work."

I shook my head, "Oh she's eleven, she'd be at school during the day anyway and she's quite mature for her age."

He nodded thoughtfully, "That sounds fine, an older child shouldn't prove a problem. There would be boundaries she'd be expected to keep to obviously, but I trust you'd be able to explain these to her."

"Certainly Mr Bates," I agreed, wondering how easy it would be to tame Holly's rebellious streak in such a location.

"Well…" he paused, "Miss Smith, I'm a plain-speaking man; I do not wish to deceive you into thinking there are several other applicants and that I need time to consider your application. You seem like a nice young woman, you're well-spoken and presentable and frankly I'm not in the position to take my time over this decision. Mr and Mrs Carson plan to leave at the end of the month and I'm anxious to fill the position as quickly as possible. I would therefore like to offer you the job."

I couldn't help but give a little yelp of excitement at being caught so off-guard. I'd been sure he'd have several other people to consider. His serious demeanour flickered just for a second at my excitement and just for a moment I thought I saw a hint of a smile crinkling at the corner of his eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes then?"