Sybil felt so lost and alone. No one to talk to. No one to share her work with. No one to cry with over the horrors of the day or laugh with over the good outcomes. Her father thought her nursing was just a phase that she would soon grow out of. While her mother had helped convince her father to let her attend nursing school in York, Sybil knew that if she discussed her work with her mother she would be horrified and demand that Sybil do more activities becoming a Lady as Edith was doing with the soldiers convalescing at the Abbey.
Sybil could still feel Tom's presence in the cottage. It was the only place of warmth for her. So she started coming to the cottage, making a cup of tea, and then talking aloud of her day. It wasn't the same of course. He wasn't there. But just talking aloud in what had been his cottage made her feel he was close. She could imagine his smile, the warmth of his eyes, the comfort of just being around him.
But these secret visits to the cottage always ended the same. In tears. Tears because of the realization that he wasn't there and never would be again. Tears that she had lost her best and dearest friend. Tears that she had lost the man she loved.
In the past two weeks, Mrs. Hughes had noticed Lady Sybil going into or coming out of the cottage on a couple of occasions. At first she couldn't imagine what Lady Sybil would be doing in the chauffer's cottage especially since there was no longer a chauffer there. Then she thought that maybe Lady Sybil was looking for something Mr. Branson had left behind. But she knew there was nothing there. She herself had inspected the cottage after Mr. Branson had left.
To satisfy herself that she hadn't overlooked anything, Mrs. Hughes decided to make one more visit to the chauffer's cottage. Looking around the sparsely furnished cottage, Mrs. Hughes was shocked to see Lady Sybil curled up on the well-worn sofa. Creeping forward, Mrs. Hughes realized Lady Sybil was asleep although there was no mistaking her tear stained face.
Mrs. Hughes had only seen Lady Sybil a couple of times since Mr. Branson had been so unexpectedly, and in her opinion harshly, dismissed but the changes in her were so obvious. She didn't think she had seen a smile on that lovely face since.
It broke Mrs. Hughes heart to see Lady Sybil like this. She had always been fond of the young woman. Lady Sybil had been about six when Mrs. Hughes came to Downton and had quickly won over the new Lady's maid. She was so different from her sisters the haughty Lady Mary and sullen Lady Edith. Unlike her sisters, Lady Sybil was very sweet-natured. Lady Sybil was so carefree and adventurous much to the horror of her parents and especially her nanny. It was clear to Mrs. Hughes that the child longed to break the bounds of what was expected of a daughter of the house. The delightful child had turned into the sweetest and kindest young woman. She had never lost her taste for adventure. It was no surprise to Mrs. Hughes that Lady Sybil was the one who wanted a role in the war and became a nurse.
Not sure if she should quietly let herself out or wake up the sleeping young lady, Lady Sybil suddenly stirred and gasped at the sight of Mrs. Hughes.
"I … I … just need … I" the young woman stammered apparently not sure what to say.
"It's alright my lady. I know you greatly miss him."
Looking as if she'd break into tears again, Lady Sybil sighed. "I do miss him so. Why … why did Mary do it?" surprising Mrs. Hughes with her anger towards her sister.
"I think she did what she thought was right. She wanted to do so before it was too late"
"Too late for what?" Sybil spoke with disdain. "Before the chauffer and I became friends. Well she was too late. He was my friend and … and" with that she suddenly broke into tears again.
Mrs. Hughes did the only thing she could do. She sat next to the crying woman and hugged her. While Lady Sybil continued to cry, Mrs. Hughes eyes watered just a bit. It really was a shame that society forbid such a romance since she felt Mr. Branson and Lady Sybil would be a good match. Mrs. Hughes was haunted by the words she had uttered to Mr. Branson so long ago, "you'll end up with no job and a broken heart." She never dreamed the young lady would also end up with a broken heart.
While Mrs. Hughes had noticed the changes in Sybil most of her family did not. Robert didn't seem to notice the absence of his daughter at meals although that did not escape Cora's attention. She told Robert that she thought Dr. Clarkson was working Sybil too hard. Cora knew there were plenty of nurses and Sybil shouldn't have to work so much especially not at the hospital. If Sybil was working at the convalescent home rather than the hospital then she could eat meals with the family but it seemed Sybil was hardly ever working at Downton anymore. Cora thought Dr. Clarkson was taking advantage of Sybil and she intended to talk to him about it when she had some free time.
The one that did notice was Mary. After all it was Mary's actions that had caused her father to fire Branson. She had told her father of Branson's attraction to Sybil and that he had asked her to run away with him. Mary knew that she had promised Sybil she wouldn't tell but as the weeks went by she saw that Sybil hadn't been completely honest with her. After Sybil's confession of Branson's feelings for her, Mary had watched Sybil more closely and realized that Sybil was attracted to Branson too - it was obvious in the way Sybil's face lit up when she talked to him. She saw that Sybil would sneak out to the garage. Mary thought it was only a matter of time before Sybil did run off with Branson. She couldn't let her beloved baby sister ruin her life and so she did what she thought she had to do to save her.
But nothing had prepared Mary for Sybil's wrath.
It wasn't unusual that Sybil did not attend dinner with the family since she often missed dinner depending on her nursing schedule. So Mary was not unduly alarmed when she went to Sybil's room late the evening that Papa had fired Branson. Mary wasn't even sure if Sybil knew that Branson was gone since she had waited for a day when Sybil was working at the hospital all day to tell her father. But as soon as Mary entered Sybil's bedroom she knew Sybil knew. She guessed that Sybil must have gone by the garage on her way home for the hospital and found it empty.
Sybil was curled up in her bed and it was obvious she had been crying. When Mary entered, Sybil turned her body away from Mary.
"So you know Branson is gone. He should never have…" Mary spoke quietly.
"Stop it Mary. I know he's gone because you told" Sybil quietly interrupted Mary. "I saw him this afternoon before he left. He stopped by the hospital and told me papa had called him to the library and fired him for making untoward advances to me. We know it was you that told papa. Why did you do it?"
"Sybil, I know you said you didn't return his feelings but that wasn't true was it. I know it was only a matter of time before you did something foolish. I couldn't let you ruin your life. I..." but Sybil wouldn't let Mary finish talking.
"This was a good job for him. He made so much more money here than he did in Ireland. Did you know that he sent home half of his pay? He wanted his younger sisters to be able to stay in school. He didn't want them to end up working at 16 like he had to after his father died." Sybil said so softly Mary could barely hear her. Then Sybil surprised Mary by finally turning to face her and with such venom in her voice that Mary didn't know Sybil was capable of she told Mary to get out. It was then that Mary realized the enormity of what she had done.