Mr and Mrs Bates were ushered into the library at Flintshire House, to find it well occupied. Lord and Lady Flintshire were present, as was Lord Grantham and the Dowager Lady Grantham.

"What's all this, then?" Vera blustered. She was confused when John had told her they needed to go into the fashionable part of town, and suspicious when he stopped the taxi at the Flintshire's London residence.

Lady Flintshire replied, "Yes, I do recognize her." She turned to the others. "This woman was hired as my maid last winter, but I fired her after a couple of months." She turned to speak to Vera. "And now I hear you're making threats against the Grantham's family, where your husband works. That won't do at all."

Vera paled. John's words came back to her. He'd been trying to warn her, she realized, but as usual, he'd bungled it. Instead, he'd led her into this trap.

"I can guess where you heard it, but why take my husband's word? I've done nothing."

"I take your husband's word, because I know him, madam." Lord Grantham spoke up. "And as to your claim that you've done nothing, blackmail is a crime in this country. We simply wish to make sure you continue to 'do nothing', with regard to your rumor-mongering."

Lord Flintshire spoke up, explaining the consequences if she spread the story any further.

"All right, you can keep your dirty secrets, then!"

"I think the rest of this discussion can take place in a more private setting." Lord Flintshire gestured towards a smaller office.

"Oh, I hate to miss the drama, after I've come all this way." The Dowager spoke for the first time.

"You've had quite enough drama, Mama, and you must resign yourself to missing the occasional second act."

Lord Grantham and the Bates' entered the office, and he closed the door.

"I'm not entirely unsympathetic to your plight," he began.

"No? I was expecting more threats."

"Hear his lordship out,Vera," John said, testily.

She nodded.

"Very well, then. Bates came to me with a proposal, and I've had my agent write it up as a contract. He's going to rent you his mother's house, for a year, for one pound, with my London agents acting as your landlord. You can sub-lease it, if you should give you time to find employment, or a husband."

Vera glared at her husband. "Very generous, John, but who's saying I'll divorce you?"

"You don't have to. I have evidence that allows me to divorce you, and I shall, as soon as the courts allow."

"You've been talking to your mother's tattletale friends, I know. That doesn't mean anything."

Lord Grantham interrupted, to Bates' eternal gratitude. "There is one more thing I'd like to say, before you leave." He pulled out his wallet, with a flourish. "To aid in starting your new life," he pulled out a handful of banknotes, "I'm giving you fifty pounds. This is far more than you could have gotten from any publisher, and without the trial for libel. Now," he put the lease that his agent drew up onto a table, " if you sign this, we'll be done."

"And what if I don't sign?" Vera complained.

"Then I'll lease it to someone else, and you'll have to find another place to live." John replied.

She snatched up the pen Lord Grantham offered, and scrawled a signature. Bates signed it in turn, and returned the paper to Lord Grantham.

"Thank you. I'll be returning to Downton in the morning, Bates." Lord Grantham left the unhappy couple alone.

"I'll see you safely home, and then return here," Bates said to Vera.

"You will not! You're abandoning me, and I want none of your pretense that it's anything else."

Bates took her arm in a firm grip, and began walking out of the house. "I need to pack my bags, as well."

Vera continued her abuse of him as they left the house.

John gathered his meager belongings rapidly, filling the single case he had. Vera had stormed out, and he was hoping to escape before she returned. The door slammed again, signaling her return. "Abandoning me, after fifteen years of marriage! You must have been planning this all along. And the nerve, calling me out, when you've been just as bad, you and your trollop. Does his high and mighty lordship know what you're about? I bet he'd send you packing in an instant. What if I were to tell him how you've carried on?"

"Vera, look, we haven't been together for years. I think it's better if we admit that it isn't a real marriage, and be done with it. You can marry again, maybe have a better life."

"Oh, thank you very much for the permission. The bastard says he won't have me."

Bates hesitated. "I - I'm sorry. Perhaps you can still find someone-"

She picked up one of his mother's figurines, and threw it at him, striking his forehead.

"To hell with it, then, and to hell with you. I don't care anymore." And with that, he grabbed his bag and cane, and left the house.

Anna stood on the drive, as the cars came in from the station. William emerged first, opening the door for Lord Grantham, and smiling ear to ear. Lord Grantham stepped down, and then she saw Mr Bates. He had a mark on his forehead, a recent cut, but he looked happy enough. He gave a her quick smile, before following Lord Grantham into the house. William began picking up luggage, and she helped him.

"Nice to be home again," William said.

"Mr Carson will be that glad to see you," she replied. "They've had me serving at dinner, and you know how he hates that."

An hour later, she finally caught Mr Bates in an upstairs hallway. "What's happened, then?"

He smiled, catching her hands. "It's done. It's all done, I think. Honestly, I'd rather go to the front in France than ever experience a day like yesterday again, but it was worth it, to be finally free. Vera can stay in the house for a year, and my lawyer thinks I can be divorced by then. His lordship gave her some money, not as much as she'd like, perhaps, but enough to last a long time, if she's careful."

"Which she won't be."

"Probably not. But that isn't our problem, not anymore."

Anna put a hand up to his forehead. "What's happened to you?"

"She was very angry with the way things have turned out. But it's not a problem, it will heal."

Evening came, and Anna met Mr Bates out in the yard, after dinner, and all their chores were done.

"You should go to bed, it's late," he chided.

She smiled back at him. "And if I did, instead of coming out here, you'd be left waiting for me. It's just as late for you."

He smiled. "You have me, there."

"Tell me, about Vera. I know you don't like to talk about her, but now I've met her, and you spent over a week down in London because of her, I'd like to know."

"Know what?"

"Who she was, how you met. Even why you parted."

"That's a long story, but I suppose you've a right to know about her. I was quite young when we met. I was working for her father. She had a younger sister, quite a nice girl, but very quiet. Vera was used to getting all the attention, she always had a half-dozen lads swarming around her. I didn't even try to get a look in. Instead, I made friends with Moira. I think when Vera noticed that, it stung a bit, that her sister could have a friend of her own. Not that I understood it at the time, but looking back, that's what got her attention, I think."

"Sounds a bit like Lady Mary and Lady Edith, sometimes."

"I wouldn't know. So, all of a sudden, Vera was ignoring her admirers and paying attention to me, instead. A pretty girl like that, she could have had the pick of the lot, and she wanted me. It was very heady, and I fell, head over heels, before I knew what I was thinking."

"Poor Moira."

"Well, I hadn't been thinking of her that way, but perhaps she had, I don't know. After Vera left, she found a nice bloke, and settled down, so I think she got the best of it. My father told me Vera was nothing but trouble, and he was right, but I was a young hothead, so I left home. At first, Vera wouldn't come with me, but then she did. I found out later that she'd fought with her father, as well. He disowned her, so we were really on our own. We married, of course, and I enlisted, right away, so that I could support her.

"I was daft for her, and hardly noticed at first, that she couldn't settle into our life. She always wanted more than I could give her. Her father was a pub owner, he had a good life, and I couldn't provide for her, the way she wanted. By the time I shipped out to Africa, it was a relief to be away from her. We spent so much time arguing, and I hated it. I think she enjoys a good fight, maybe I did at first, too, but sometimes I wanted some peace, and Vera is not a peaceful person. We were wrong for each other. She brought out the worst in me, and I think I did the same for her.. When I returned, I ignored her, really, so as to avoid trouble, but of course, that didn't work. I started drinking, then, as well. I was a bad husband to her. We grew apart, instead of growing together. When they came to arrest her for the silver, I told them to arrest me instead. I felt like she had done it because of me, because she hated being poor, and having a drunkard of a husband. But I told her that our marriage was done. I couldn't live with her, knowing what she'd done. It didn't occur to me to get a divorce, but when I got out of prison, and she was nowhere to be seen, I was relieved. And then I came to Downton, and a very pretty, very wise maid introduced herself and welcomed me into the house."

"So, what will become of her, now, and what will you do?"

"I told you about her being unfaithful to me, and that means I can get a divorce. Lord Grantham helped, his agent in London is going to be her landlord, and I expect she'll find another husband. I hope she can, that she can be happier, and not just spread her misery, but that's not my concern, anymore . And of course, once the divorce is final, I'll be able to marry again." He pulled her close.

Crisis Averted! OK, I admit that Bates was a lot more forthcoming about his problems and willing to ask for help than his character allows, but he's not going to go to prison, and with a bit of luck, Mary will not find herself tied to Richard Carlisle.