The new chauffeur had not driven them to school, Matthew had, but the chauffeur was in the car now to pick them up from school. Mary was already sitting in the back, and Edith plopped herself down one seat away from her. Sybil, not wanting to sit in between the two, opened the passenger door and sat down in front.
"Sybil! Sit in the back!" Edith hissed, but Sybil buckled her seatbelt and turned around.
"Relax, Edith! I just don't want to be in the middle of your upcoming brawl," she rolled her eyes and turned back around, then realized the new chauffeur was sitting next to her. Sybil turned her head to look at him, and was surprised to see he was young. His blue eyes had a glint, and there was a hint of a smile on his lips.
"I'm Tom Branson, your new chauffeur. Where do you need me to take you to, ladies?" he asked with an Irish brogue. Sybil turned to face forward, slightly blushing.
"The Lindward Mall, Branson," Mary said, staring directly at the back of his head. Edith groaned loudly and slumped down in the seat as the car started moving.
"I went there on Sunday with Levinia!" she complained, and Mary turned to Edith, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms.
"You went to the Lindward Mall with Levinia?" Mary asked, her voice cold.
"She asked to go, so I went! There's absolutely no problem with that,"
"Don't do it again, Edith." Sybil felt bad for the chauffer, having to listen to her crazy sisters bicker on his first day. But when she glanced over at him, he seemed completely focused on the road. Branson was different than Lang- he kept both hands on the wheel, and didn't look back at the girls to make sure they were behaving well.
The rest of the ride was spent with Edith and Mary arguing over whether to go to the Lindward Mall or the Belleby Shopping Centre. It was finally agreed on that they would still go to the Lindward Mall, but Edith was only staying for two hours, and then going home.
When they arrived, Mary and Edith hurriedly got out of the car, but Sybil grabbed the bottom of her purse, causing all the contents to fall out. She groaned and began to pick the things up.
"It's okay, go without me. I'll catch up," Sybil said, and Edith started off.
"We'll be in Cromwell's," Mary said, then turned and followed Edith.
"Need some help, m'lady?" Branson asked.
"Please don't start that. I hate it. I'm fine, thank you,"
"What, offering help?"
"No, the m'lady. It's old-fashioned and I hate it. Just call me Sybil, but not around my father. He's all for the old-fashioned, as is granny," by now, Sybil had put everything back into her purse, and was ready to get out.
"Oh, and one thing: Mary and Edith will probably argue every time they get into the car, just to warn you," she smiled and Branson and slammed the door shut, walking towards the entrance closest to Cromwell's. Sybil could have sworn she saw a smile on Branson's face.
"He's cute," Edith said, lifting a teal sequined dress, "what about this?"
"Edith, that is the most hideous dress I've ever seen. And he's okay. Matthew's more handsome," Mary said, holding a navy dress up, contemplating whether to try it on or not.
"What about you, Sybil? What do you think? About the chauffeur, not the dress," Edith asked. Sybil looked up from the plum dress she was glancing at and blushed.
"He's… nice looking," Sybil said, turning red.
"I think Sybbie fancies the chauffeur!" Mary teased, hooting. Edith laughed, too, and Sybil turned redder, looking back down at the dresses.
"It's not funny," she mumbled, flipping through the rack to find her size. Sybil just thought he had nice eyes, and that it was kind of him to offer to pick up some things.
After trying on multiple dresses, Mary and Sybil both settled on the dresses they had first saw. It took another two hours to find a dress for Edith, since all the dresses she picked out were horrid, according to Mary.
"Really, Edith, I wonder how and why you are so popular at Heathergate when you've got nothing going for you," Mary said as they walked to the car, where Branson had been waiting three hours for them. He got out and took the bags from the girls as they got into the back seat. Sybil was squished between her older sisters, but they didn't argue the whole ride- they actually got along amiably.
"I don't understand why they made our break start so late. I mean, we have another week off into January, but I'd rather start break earlier," Edith complained.
"It is silly. You missed a hilarious luncheon today- Granny saw me and practically died. She thought I was pregnant."
"Are you?" Edith hissed, hoping her sister would bring them disgrace. It would mean she would be the sister focused on, instead of Mary, and that was really all Edith wanted.
"No! Of course not. I'm bloated. I got my period last night, and I was wearing a tight shirt. Granny made me change so other people wouldn't get the idea. Have you seen the ad for the new line of dresses at Beeham?" Mary had a habit of changing the subject when she wanted to. It happened so often that most people went along with it, as long as the previous topic wasn't important.
"Not yet, but I'd like to see!" Edith said, leaning over Sybil, and Mary produced a magazine from her oversized purse. Flipping through it, she settled on an advertisement with an emaciated girl in a dress that showed half of her somehow large chest.
"What a horrible ad!" Sybil groaned, pushing it away.
"What? I think the dress is really pretty!" Edith said.
"No, the dress is fine, it's the girl. They're turning her into an item to sell a dress,"
"And since when have you cared about this sort of thing? I remember we were looking at an ad a week ago that looked just like this, and you didn't say a thing!" Mary said.
"Oh, like it even matters, Mary!" Sybil said, crossing her arms.
In the rearview mirror, Sybil could have sworn she saw the blue eyes staring at her.
A/N: Okay, I know this is only a day after posting chapter one... but I had already written the first three chapters before posting the first one, so..
Thanks for the positive reviews and the 3 follows (whatever they're called), it's really awesome since I'm new to this site!
Disclaimer: I do not own Downton Abbey or any of the characters. Cromwell's, Lindward Mall, Belleby Shopping Centre, and Beeham are all fictional places.