Terrified, Anna pled with Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) to keep the assault a secret from everyone and most particularly from Anna’s husband, Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle). Beside feeling guilty and, as she put it, unworthy of Bates, Anna also feared her loving husband would seek revenge against Mr. Green and land himself back in jail where, as a reoffender, he’d likely be sentenced to death.
A week later, during the January 19 episode, the situation hadn’t improved with Anna drawn so far into herself she could barely stand to be around her husband. In fact, she decided to pack her things and move back into the Abbey, leaving Bates baffled at the sudden change of events.
The distance between one of Downton’s most beloved couples only looks to grow wider during the January 26 show. In a scene from the episode, Anna enters the downstairs dining room but after Bates’ warm welcome, flees in despair. Mrs. Hughes makes a hurried excuse on Anna’s behalf and follows the lady’s maid out into the dark hallway. Here, she answers a question we couldn’t help but ask after the attack: Is Anna pregnant with her rapist’s child?
“I don’t know why you must be so hard on Mr. Bates. At least you know now there’ll be no baby,” Mrs. Hughes says. We sigh in relief.
Still, Anna cannot see a way forward. She wants to tell her husband what happened, but is terrified of the potential consequences. “I can’t risk his future,” she tells Mrs. Hughes. We’ll see what Bates has to say about that, however, as he’s overheard the entire conversation while standing hidden at the end of the hallway.
Source: PBS on YouTube