Getting Away

Sybil Crawley rushed to meet her fiancée on a train platform on a Wednesday afternoon in April 1919. She almost couldn't believe she was here. At times it had felt as though the doors to her gilded cage at Downton Abbey would never open, she would never be able to be with the man she loved and her days would stretch on to eternity playing the part of the dutiful daughter. Now she was about to embark on a trip from which there would be no turning back. Once she set foot on the train and traveled with a man without a chaperone her reputation in the aristocratic world would be shattered beyond repair. She couldn't care less what people thought of her. She was getting on with her life.

She was excited and frightened at the prospect of traveling to a new place, and an entirely different way of life to the one she had always known. At the same time she felt the tiniest bit apprehensive. Her old doubts still lingered. "Would his people accept her? Would the scene when she arrived at his family home rival the one with her family when they revealed their engagement? Would her father ever fully come around?"

"Courage, Sybil," she had murmured to her self more than once this last week.

Her father had given his blessing two days ago, and Sybil had been happy beyond belief. But he had been distant when he kissed her goodbye and she knew she had hurt him and fractured his ideals of what was right and proper. She just couldn't be what they wanted anymore. Tom was the love of her life and there was no way she could live her life to please someone else. It was time to move forward, and here she was about to board a train into the unknown.

She spotted Tom Branson moving towards her down the platform through the billowing clouds of steam. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he lifted her up and twirled her around.

"Are you ready love? This is it. No turning back."

"I've had enough waiting to last a life time," she said with a slight laugh.

He set her down and moved her towards the first class carriage.

"Tom what are you doing? We are not traveling first class are we?"

"Yes we are, the entire trip. I will not have my intended traveling in third class. It just isn't done."

"Tom…"

"No arguments. I booked passage on the Coast Lines Ferry. Its a ferry. Nothing fancy like an ocean liner. I registered the tickets as man and wife. I thought it would stop the gossips' tongues from wagging. I hope you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind. Why should I? If we hadn't been stopped we would have been married two months ago."

"Good, now where are your bags?"

As the train steadily chugged south-east on the first leg of the their journey Sybil's mind turned to her last few hours at home. While she was in her room Anna had approached her with a small notebook with a satin ribbon tied around it.

"Mrs. Patmore asked me to give you this."

Sybil untied the ribbon and opened the notebook to find a collection of recipes neatly written out in Mrs. Patmore's handwriting. The tears had sprung to Sybil's eyes. This was the first true gesture of acceptance she had received since her and Tom's announcement of their pending marriage. Sybil had stood, hugged Anna and headed for the door. Anna had been taken aback for a moment, as employers did not "hug" servants. Then this was Lady Sybil and she did things her own way.

When Sybil reached the kitchens she composed herself before approaching Mrs. Patmore.

"Lady Sybil, what a surprise to see you here on your last morning."

"I wanted to thank you myself Mrs. Patmore for all the support you have given me over the last few years."

For once Mrs. Patmore was speechless. It didn't last long.

"I haven't done anything. I was just doing my job."

"You have done more than that and I wanted to thank you for this." Sybil held up the notebook. She reached and took Mrs. Patmore's work roughened hand in hers.

"It was nothing, just go and be happy."

Mrs. Patmore gave Sybil's hand a squeeze as her face broke out into a smile.

The motion of the coach combined with the stress of the last week was making Sybil sleepy. They had the compartment to themselves and it wasn't long before her eyelids were drooping. Tom put his arm around her to pull her into his shoulder. Sybil's hand slid to his thigh. She felt a tingling sensation that reached deep inside her whenever she touched or looked at him. It made her anxious with anticipation and a little scared at the same time. "I have a surprise for you, Tom Branson," she thought to herself. "But it will wait till later." She curled into his side and allowed herself to drift.

Tom had had his doubts that this day would ever come. There had been so many hurdles to over come and so much pain mixed with joy in their relationship. In the back of his mind he had doubted Sybil's commitment until the evening they had confronted her family in the drawing room. Her fire and determination as she faced down her father finally convinced him that her feelings were as deep as his own. Together they could face anything.

Tom put the paper he had been reading to the side. He had not told Sybil that he was worried about his family's reaction. He wasn't the same person who left Ireland. So many there had a black and white view of the English. He had not been much better when he was young. He had been so idealistic when he first arrived but his experiences and life in England had changed him. He was an adult and he expected his family to respect and accept his decisions even if they didn't agree with them.

He leaned his head back and wondered how much Liverpool had changed in the six years since he had come to England. The Great War had brought about many changes. One of them was in transportation. The train trip now took six hours instead of ten. The latest steamships advertised the crossing to Dublin as reduced to twelve hours with the very latest ship making the crossing able to do it in eight in good conditions. How different it all was. How different he was from when he traveled east the first time. He closed his eyes and allowed his memories to wash over him.