Dear John,

I'm afraid you'll be rather disappointed to learn that your doting wife doesn't care much for Rudolph Valentino and never has. Nor does she believe you in any way to be as mysterious as Sherlock Holmes; for he is not mysterious so much as the one solving the mystery, which, last I checked, was a process that could only be performed by the reader himself - so, ergo, our beloved detective appears to be more of an open book than he realizes. So I'm sorry to say Mr. Bates but you'll have to do better than that if you wish to embrace your newfound selfishness...

And, in addition to that, I suppose I'll also have to apologize for how late this letter is - the wedding certainly kept me on my toes! It took me nearly all morning the day before just to pack Lady Mary's cases for the honeymoon and all night long for the household servants to clear away the decor. But not to worry, all ran smoothly (although not without a few shouts and screams here, and a few broken hearts and tears there) and the newly weds are now happily preparing to leave for their London sojourn with Lady Rosamund just until they get used to each other before departing for the South of France.

So, to answer the question I'm sure you will have on your mind while you read this - Yes, I am, in fact, still mad with you for convincing me to leave you during your great time of need in order to accompany them on their trip. But I am, admittedly, also very excited to see a bit of the real world. I feel like one of those glamorous young foreign girls who boldly brave the storm of modern life that you hear about in the papers.

But perhaps I'm too old and too dull a creature these days to be able to compare myself to the likes of them am I not? And I suppose I have you to blame for that as it would seem our marriage has altered me - and not for the better. So I'm afraid we'll have to consider getting a divorce Mr. Bates, for you're becoming just too heavy of a burden to carry around all day and to lie awake with all night. So this is farewell then! But don't worry about me, I'm sure someone with looks as fair as mine can easily do better than the likes of you.

But, before we proceed with what I feel is an amicable split, I believe I owe you a more detailed account of the panic that struck on the very eve of the wedding. (I shouldn't be telling you this really - I don't think it's very polite to Lady Mary to be gossiping about her like this, even to you. But I suppose you must require something to entertain you while you're "away", (Mr. Carson's word not mine) even if that something is as uninteresting to you as the trials and tribulations of the aristocratic life that Lady Mary leads.

It seems she told Mr. Matthew about his Lordship's current financial pridicament in an attempt to persuade him into rescuing both the estate and the family from ruin by using the substantial amount of money he received from the will of Mr. Swire. However, he appeared to be quite adamant to do as she asked of him due to what I've gathered to be the guilt he still feels over Miss Swire's death. They fell out the night before and came perilously close to calling things off, but were each swayed by Mr. Branson (who, by the way, I discovered to be our mystery groomsman!) and myself to patch things up - and in the nick of time too! I have a distinct feeling that this marriage will certainly be an interesting one, so at least we can be assured that they won't ever get bored of each other as I'm sure they'll give each other plenty enough to do.

As much of a pleasant day it was, I can't say I'm not too sorry that it's all over. However, I must admit I really did enjoy myself. I might even miss some of the relatives! And I suppose that comes from working and living under the same roof for the same family for almost ten years. Even Mrs. Levinson was a treat these past two weeks! And if you haven't yet witnessed a conversation transpire between her and the Dowager than prepare to be thoroughly entertained; because I promise you, they will not disappoint.

However, I confess without any hesitation that I won't miss the Grays, especially Larry. I heard he was renowned to be quite the meddlesome adolescent but had thought that he would have gained at least a little bit of maturity by now. He played an awful prank on poor Mr. Branson during dinner one night by contaminating his beverage with a pill of some sort that caused him to appear intoxicated. Thankfully though Larry was exposed by Sir Anthony - who appears to have taken up with Lady Edith once more, so I expect we'll be hearing some "news" in the next few weeks to come.

It's like you said, it's a lonely life that Mr. Branson has married into. So to have been victimized like that must have made an awful impression on the family's distant relations. But I suppose they'll get over it sooner or later, I should think they'd have to at some point anyway - I mean it sure isn't the most shocking bit of gossip this family has been scandalized with. I think it's safe to say that either the juvenile exploits of Lady Mary or the choice Lady Sybil made for a husband far exceeds the embarrassment they faced that night. I probably shouldn't have said that... perhaps disposing of this letter would be a wise decision once you've read it so that the chances of either Lady Mary or Lady Sybil reading it are slim to none.

To answer you question, Alfred, the new footeman, is fairing well enough under the stringent supervision and instruction of Mr. Carson. Although he has managed to get himself into more than one scrape during his time here so perhaps he is just as much of a young hobble-de-hoy as you'd so unkindly predicted... He's doing alright though. His work isn't too shabby, however, he does rather beg to be teased - but I suppose that comes from being Miss O'Brian's nephew (and yes, you read that correctly). Miss O'Brian has a nephew - and he's actually human! But he is as every bit as grim-faced as she is, but perhaps of a little more generous soul. Still, I have a feeling thay Mr. Carson wouldn't fight the idea of a second footeman. But, as you know well enough of course, his lordship has put his foot down as far as taking on anymore employees goes for obvious reasons.

I hope that my account of the goings on at the Abbey was vivid enough for you to paint a picture of it in your head or to feel as if you had never left - whichever comes first. In the meantime I think I'll take a moment of air to enjoy my time away from all the drama so that I have plenty of memories to share with you for when I return. And while I'm away, I beg it of you to stay out of trouble. I don't know about you but the "menacing" and "probably murderous" glances you've been exchanging with your cell-mate don't seem to make me any better in the least, however few they were. So please, for my sake, watch your back like a hawk.

And, for you information, I don't believe I've ever so much as pretended to be faithful to you... and now that I'm tagging along with the new Mr. and Mrs. Crawley on their european voyage, perhaps I'll attract an admirer or two while I'm there that I can bring back for you to meet - I'm sure you two will hit it off just fine...

Yes, yes you can wait your turn. And wait your turn you shall Mr. Bates, for the long line-up of admirers I have simply refuses to cease growing and I've not yet had my whole way with you. Not in its entirety...

All my love,

Anna

So sorry for the wait! I swear I'm not doing it on purpose... Even though Downton is pretty much a part of my daily life, I can't for the life of me remember if Anna actually went with Lady Mary on their honeymoon. I remembered that Bates tried to convince her to go since she was going to miss out on Mary's American voyage but I just can't remember if she actually did go. So if anyone can tell whether or not she did then I can re-write this letter to make it as accurate as possible.

In the mean time, I truly hope that this letter has made up for the delay and that your guys are still enjoying the story. Also, I've been considering a title change since publishing this story but can't think of anything. So if anyone has any suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments!

And I'm sorry if this letter stopped making sense somewhere in the middle... keep in mind this isn't edited and I'm practically half asleep when i write these.

Thanks to silly-beggar, Jamesluver, and Alice's Abbey for the reviews and to MesserTurnerBates and Hopeformore for the favorites and follows!

Thanks so much for reading and there will be more to come soon!

-birdywings