Chapter 5

Footsteps echoed through the hall as Anna came off the bottom step having just finished dressing Lady Mary. Now she needed to get some things ready for their trip into town.

Just as she passed the open doorway, Carson appeared, nearly knocking into her, "Oh, I'm glad you're here so I don't have to look for you. You have a telephone call from Dr. Clarkson that you may take in my office."

"Thank you, Mr. Carson," Anna ducked into the butler's pantry to pick up the phone.

At the greeting Dr. Clarkson replied, "Hello Anna, I am calling to let you know that we have the results of your sample and it indicates that you are, in fact, pregnant."

Anna batted the tears from her eyes when she spoke with a quivering voice, "T thank you for calling to let me know, Dr. Clarkson."

"Based on what you've told me, in addition to your exam, I would say you are about three months gone," Dr. Clarkson added.

When Anna set the phone down, her whole hand shook hard, and she had to fight the sobs from escaping her mouth with her hand. Anna walked out into the hallway without a single word to Carson when she passed him. It made sense; she and John had been sleeping together for three months, but the doctor confirming it only made it feel real.

Anna brought both hands over her middle and felt the small round shape it began to take, which made her clothes feel tighter.

"Anna, whatever is the matter with you? I have been calling you for the past two minutes," Mrs. Hughes broke through her thoughts.

"Sorry, Mrs. Hughes I didn't hear you calling me," Anna snapped herself back to the present only then realizing that Mrs. Hughes stood a foot from her.

The elder woman shook her head with pursed lips, "Are you sure that you're feeling quite all right, Anna? You look oddly pale and tired, perhaps you should take some time to have a lie down?"

"I'm all right, but thank you, Mrs. Hughes," Anna gathered the things she left on the table and hurried past her.

Left with no time to think, Anna managed to finish in barely enough time for her to meet Lady Mary outside. Once they settled in the car, Anna slipped into a far away daze, thinking about the news she'd just received. From the moment she laid eyes on John Bates, she felt a connection that she hadn't felt with anyone else. She wondered about his reaction when she finally got to tell him the news next time she went to see him. They could stay close, perhaps in town to raise the baby and she could continue to work unless unable to.

"Anna, are you sure that you are quite all right, because you look different," Mary studied her as the car stopped.

Wordlessly Amma climbed out from the car grateful that they had arrived at the moment that they did. Mary stole another glance towards her maid who didn't seem to notice as her attention turned elsewhere, 'Anna, you know that you can talk to me about anything?"

"Yes m'lady I know, and I very much appreciate that," Anna turned her head back towards her and offered a forced smile.

They walked a bit. Mary stewed over what might be on her friend's mind that has her so preoccupied. "I only want to stop for a few things at my favorite store, then perhaps we can stop for tea."

Several groups of women huddled together on her way passed in not so quiet whispers and snickers. "That's the girl everyone is talking about going into that older man's room at the inn for hours. The maid said she saw her in his bed with only a cover, so we can guess what they've been up to."

"That's Lady Mary Crawley with her, so she must work at Downton Abbey," another woman spoke pointedly and watched as Mary sorted through dresses. "I wonder if they know that they have a prostitute working for them. "

"I doubt it if they rented an inn to be together, but I also heard that he also worked at Downton until a few months ago. They probably got caught being together, though why he got fired and not her is beyond me," the woman said.

The further in they walked, the more attention Anna's presence attracted. An echo of whispers, including a group not far off from Mary, Mary took out a dress from the rack that she put up against herself, "What do you think Anna?"

She lifted her head to find all eyes staring at her friend in looks of disgust, "Excuse me, but why are you all staring at my maid?"

"You really don't know what your maid has been coming into town for every day for months, m'lady? She's been going into the inn with a man who she's been sleeping with and not coming out for hours," a middle aged woman scoffed.

Another from her group gave an additional nod towards the frozen maid, "You have a trollop as an employee, m'lady. One of the maids at the Inn saw her with her own eyes in his bed with only a sheet to cover. There's no guessing what they'd been up to."

"It isn't right m'lady, or else they wouldn't have to hide away at an inn so he must be paying her or something. Imagine an employee of Downton having to sneak away to sleep with an older man and no one knowing about it," someone to their left added.

Mary turned to hang the dress back up on a rack so it made a loud ringing noise, "And what she does is none of your business! We are going home, Anna."

With her head bowed to hide the patches of red burning her cheeks, Anna followed Mary, saying nothing. She'd been found out, now the entire town knew, but even worse, so did Lady Mary who also stayed silent.

Anna waited until they climbed back inside the car to face Mary, "M'lady, I didn't mean for you to find out this way."

"But I did find out, in the middle of a stop, from strangers, instead of you just being truthful with me from the beginning. Why would you feel you needed to hide this Anna? I thought we were friends," Mary stated.

"We are friends, but I didn't want you to get the wrong impression of me had I told you." With a sigh, Mary looked out the window to the large field of grass that expanses over their large property. "Can you let us off here Branson? I would like to speak with Anna more privately if you don't mind."

"Of course m'lady," Branson hopped and quickly moved to open the door so Anna and Mary could climb out.

They watched the car disappear into the distance before Mary motioned towards the bench under a tree. "Anna, I trusted you with my secret about Mr. Pamuk, so you can trust me with yours. We both have needs, and I don't believe there's any shame in admitting that, in giving in to that. So, I want to know everything."

Anna sniffled quietly, "It isn't what you think or what they're saying at all, m'lady, I swear it. I've been seeing Mr. Bates ever since he parted as his lordship's valet, yes at the inn, but that's only because he has nowhere to go right now.

"We both felt something from the moment he arrived, but he was sacked so quickly that we never talked about it. The day after he left, I went to see him at the inn where he told me he would be. He was drunk after being cast out so quickly, so I brought him back to his room and we made love for the first time," Anna slowly explained.

"I have been coming into town to see him for the past three months, only during my free time and days off. I am sorry that I didn't tell you m'lady, but I just wanted it to be between Mr. Bates and I," Anna choked back a sob.

WIth a shake of her head Mary soothed, "You have every right to want some privacy Anna, just because I told you my secret it was a little different. If you make each other happy, then continue to see each other."

Taking a slow breath Anna croaked, "But that isn't all m'lady, today I received a phone call from Dr. Clarkson. The reason I went to see him is because I have been feeling ill and Mr. Bates insisted that I received an exam. Dr. Clarkson called with the results of my test, and it seems that I'm pregnant."

Mary widened her eyes wordless for several seconds before she managed to speak, "Oh Anna, are you happy about this?"

"I will be when I can tell Mr. Bates and I know that he'll be happy I'm pregnant, but once he finds out I'm the talk of the town, he might not be. I'm also worried the town knows I'm your maid, that it reflects badly on the family," Anna inhaled.

With a knowing nod, Mary took her hands into a gentle cup, "Let's talk to Papa about it so we can get ahead of it. Tomorrow you will tell Bates the news so you can plan ahead, but I can't imagine he wouldn't be happy if you love one another the way you say you do."

That was something that Anna hoped as well, but without a job, he wouldn't have the means to support them. John Bates was a prideful man and that wouldn't stand with him, not for a single second.

There's lots more to come. Looking forward to hearing how you think it's going.