Hello, again! Now we're fully into 3x08, version: Sybil lives. A few things to set up this chapter: Nothing has changed about Rose's role in the episode. All of that happens as it happened on the show, with the exception that when she goes back to London with Edith and Matthew, Matthew doesn't go along to secretly see a doctor (and subsequently doesn't accidentally meet Mary there) since that issue was already resolved in this universe. Instead, though we don't actually see him do it, assume he goes to see Murray to finalize his plans for the estate, which Robert is still hemming and hawing about. As happened on the show, Robert fights Matthew and Tom on it, and Tom is the one to convince him (although in this case, as we know from the last chapter, Robert doesn't ask Tom to play cricket in return for agreeing, since Sybil takes care of that). I won't rewrite the trip to London or that scene between Tom and Robert but there will be references to them both.

What we will see is a scene with Edith and Sybil in which Sybil weighs in on Edith's situation with Gregson (this is when Edith thinks he's flirting, but then finds out he's married and in a second trip to London confronts him about it). Edith also fills Sybil in on Violet's plan for Ethel to get a job somewhere other than Downton, and on what happened with Rose (remember that she snuck off to sleep with and party with a married friend of her father's in London, got caught by Matthew, Edith and Rosamund and returned to Downton with the promise from them that they wouldn't tell as long as she behaved, except Violet figures it out and punishes her by sending her to Duneagle with "Aunt Agatha"). Rose and Sybil also have a brief exchange.

Lastly, I'm not going to get into the whole Thomas being almost outed by Jimmy (goaded by O'Brien) storyline, but assume that all of that also happened as it did on the show.

After this chapter, there will be two more before we get to the Scotland trip and its aftermath. So happy times and then very sad times. Hope you enjoy them all!

Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think!

"Where are you off to?" Sybil asked Edith as the two passed one another in the hall outside the library.

Sybil was holding Sybbie, and Edith was dressed for travel.

"Not off," Edith replied. "Just returning."

"Oh, from where?"

"London," Edith said with a sigh. "I left early this morning to meet with Michael Gregson again."

Something about the way Edith said the man's name made Sybil take notice. Earlier in the week, when Edith had gone to London with Rose and Matthew to meet with Gregson and share some of the first columns she'd written, she'd seemed excited. She'd returned with news, equally exciting, that her first column would appear in The Sketch the following week. Now, however, her demeanor seemed altogether different.

"Are you still in line to publish next week?" Sybil asked. "I'm looking forward to reading your article. Tom thought it was finely written, though he wouldn't disclose the topic so it would be a surprise."

Edith offered a small smile. "He's too kind, but I did appreciate his help."

"Well, Sybbie and I are going outside. Matthew is teaching Tom how to play cricket, and Mrs. Hughes has been kind enough to lay out tea and a blanket for Sybbie so we may watch. Would you like to join us?"

Edith hesitated, so Sybil added. "It's a lovely day. I'm sure the fresh air will feel good after being cooped up on the train."

Edith smiled. "I'll be down to join you after I change."

Sybil smiled and watched Edith march quietly up the stairs until she was out of sight, before proceeding out the door.

About ten minutes later, Sybbie gurgling happily on the blanket while Sybil made faces at her, Edith joined them.

"How is Tom doing?" Edith asked while helping herself to tea from the table that had been set up just a few feet away.

"Not very well, I'm afraid," Sybil said. "He's being a good sport, but not likely to be a difference maker on the pitch come Sunday."

"Will papa ever forgive him if the house loses?" Edith asked, teasingly as she sat on the blanket next to Sybil.

"Papa was desperate the he play just so the house could field a team and I had to work hard to persuade him, so after all that fuss papa can't possibly complain no matter how he does."

Edith smiled a knowing smile. "I doubt the persuasion part of it bothered you all that much."

Sybil looked at Edith in surprise at her innuendo.

"Don't look at me like that," Edith said. "Just because I'm doomed to be an old spinster doesn't mean I don't know what marriage is supposed to be like."

Sybil's smile softened. "I wish you wouldn't talk like that. You don't know what's going to happen."

"Neither do you, Sybil, so there's no sense in pretending things are going to be better than they have been."

Sybil bit her lip and watched Edith closely as Edith's eyes looked over the yard to where Tom and Matthew were standing behind a net and makeshift wicket that Matthew had set up.

"Did something happen?" Sybil asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" Edith responded, looking back at Sybil again.

"It's only that just a few days ago you seemed very happy with your writing and going to London to see the editor, and today . . . I suppose I just wonder if something changed."

Edith sighed. "It did—well, sort of. I'm probably making too much of it."

"What?"

"When I was there on Monday, I . . . well, he was very kind—too kind. Not in a bad way, just . . . it seemed like he liked me. More than one should like someone who's just an employee."

Sybil's face brightened. "Maybe—"

"He's married."

"Oh."

"He was flirting with me. He admitted as much today. But even before I spoke to him again, I knew it wasn't all in my head, so I thought I'd check up on him, just to make sure. That was how I found out that he was married."

"Is that why you went to see him again today?"

Edith nodded. "He explained his situation, such as it is. His wife is in an asylum. Apparently, her mind has not been whole for some time, so he all but considers himself a bachelor."

"Except he isn't."

"No," Edith said quietly. "He wasn't flirting out of malicious intent. He is a nice man, not trying to take advantage like some."

At the last, Edith rolled her eyes, which Sybil wondered at. "Are you talking about someone specific?"

Edith looked at Sybil, realizing what she'd said. She sighed, then added, "Well, there's no harm in telling you I suppose. The trip to London with Matthew and Rose was eventful for reasons other than my being flirted with. That was on the more harmless end of the spectrum."

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you only if you promise not to say anything. Aunt Rosamund, Matthew and I have sworn ourselves to secrecy for Rose's sake."

Sybil smirked. "Are we talking about the supposed 'surprise' she was planning for Susan?"

"It was a surprise, all right, though not one Susan would like in the least if she ever finds out."

"I promise to keep it to myself, although, as sweet as Rose can sometimes be, I dare say keeping a secret is not a favor I would ever trust her with."

"You're probably right," Edith replied. "In any case, she snuck off from Rosamund's without a word, spent several hours doing God knows what at the home of one of Shrimpy's friends with his wife conveniently absent."

"Good heavens! But are you sure that they—"

"Trust me, Sybil, I saw them with my own eyes. Not even youthful exuberance may excuse Rose from this."

Sybil gasped. "You saw them?"

Edith's eyes widened, practically bugging out of her head. "I didn't see that! She took a taxi from Rosamund to this vile man's house, then asked the driver to wait, which he did for two hours. Then, they went to an underground jazz club. It so happened that Rose left her scarf in the taxi and the driver was kind enough to come back to Rosamund's to return it, which was how we found out. He seemed to know that what he'd been an inadvertent party to was out of bounds, which was what drove him to confess the whole thing. We went to the club to fetch her, and that was where we saw them. Without exaggerating, Sybil, she was acting like a right tart. They were kissing and holding each other and showing absolutely no compunction when they saw us."

"Well, I put the blame on the man entirely," Sybil said. "If he's a friend of Shrimpy's as you say, then he's a great deal older than she is and was obviously manipulating her."

"She was there of her own free will, Sybil, I can attest to that."

"Of course, she was!" Sybil said, "Dancing at a jazz club? I would go of my own free will. But that's what I mean. She wanted to have some fun, and who would blame her for being young and chomping at the bit to come out from under Susan's thumb. He saw an opportunity to exploit that and did."

"I don't think Susan would see it that way," Edith said. "Never mind the fact that Rose lied to all of us."

"I'm not saying she's blameless," Sybil said. "Of course, she should have known better, and I wouldn't excuse her from abusing your trust. All I'm saying is that there are degrees of guilt."

"How very philosophical," Edith responded with a smile.

"He is more guilty than she is, but she is much more so than you."

Edith looked at Sybil with a look of shock.

"You like him, don't you? Mr. Gregson, in spite of his situation?"

Edith looked away, but did not answer.

Sybil put her hand on her sister's shoulder. "Rose cavorting with a man whose wife's only fault is the misfortune of having a terrible husband is not the same as you having an unspoken interest in a man who willingly confessed a marriage to a woman who is not in her right mind after only a bit of harmless flirting."

"A marriage is a marriage, Sybil," Edith said. "There may be degrees of guilt, but there are no degrees of that."

"No, but you've done nothing wrong, and you do nothing wrong in the mere contemplation of doing something. I won't tell you whether you should or shouldn't, only that you shouldn't punish yourself for hoping for happiness, however it may come and however difficult it may be to attain. That you discovered this at the same time that all this business with Rose happened is mere coincidence, but you seem to be associating the two, and you shouldn't."

Edith looked back at Sybil again, this time smiling more sincerely than she had yet that afternoon. "Thank you."

"Besides, our parents have a history of forgiving their daughters' unforgivable sins."

Edith knew Sybil was only talking of herself, and her choice to run away with the chauffeur over her parents' objections. Sybil did not know, like Edith did, that her statement also applied to Mary and that long ago night with the Turkish man. Still, as much as Edith appreciated the sentiment and believed its sincerity coming from Sybil, she couldn't help but wonder whether her parents' magnanimity would also apply to her.

The two sisters, and baby Sybbie, watched Tom and Matthew for several quiet minutes before Edith spoke up again.

"By the way," Edith said, "you'll be happy to know that Granny is doing a good deed for Ethel."

"A good deed?" Sybil asked.

"Before I went to London, she asked me to take an advertisement for a maid or housekeeper looking for work."

Sybil's brow furrowed. "But Ethel has a job."

"Well," Edith continued tentatively, "I believe Granny feels that her past is too close to her here."

"What could she mean?"

"That too many people know of her circumstances in the village, and judge her harshly as a result. Somewhere new, where Ethel isn't known well, she might make a new life."

"It's not a bad idea, though I reckon her real motivation is assuring that a former prostitute is not in the family's employ."

Edith smiled. "I figured you would say that."

xxx

The following Saturday, the family and the staff all walked to the village green together for the annual cricket match. The event had never been of particular interest to Sybil as she was growing up, but in seeing the house team—Tom among them—all mingling together and wearing clothes that, for once, did not immediately reveal their positions, but rather emphasized that on this day they were equal in their pursuit of one goal, winning for the house, Sybil couldn't help but consider this a great tradition indeed.

Soon after they arrived, Sybil settled herself and Sybbie in the family's tent and not one half-hour later, the game was under way. Tom wasn't exactly distinguishing himself with excellent play, but from what Sybil could tell, he wasn't drawing attention to himself with especially terrible play either. He, along with the rest of the team, dropped in on the family tent during occasional breaks in play, always taking a moment to dote on Sybbie before returning to the field.

At one point, after one such break, Mary came over and sat next to Sybil, taking Sybbie onto her lap. Now that she had come to understand her own situation and gone to the trouble of resolving it, Mary no longer felt pressure while holding Sybbie, nor did she fear that she'd never hold a child of her own. The doctor had warned her and Matthew not to expect a child within the month, but he also suggested that it would likely happen sooner rather than later. Merely weeks after her corrective procedure, she already felt like new, and with Robert finally accepting Matthew's plan for the management of the estate, she truly felt as if the life she was meant to live truly was about to start.

"Papa seems to be in a jolly mood," Sybil said, as Mary cooed at Sybbie.

"Indeed," Mary replied. "I haven't been paying the game any mind, but I can only imagine it means it's going well for the team."

"Well, whatever the cause, I'm glad. Tom has said that he's been difficult lately in dealing with Matthew's plans."

"You know him," Mary said, "a tradition may be proven useless many times over, and he'll cling to it regardless. He does want to do right by Downton, though, which is why he's finally agreed to move forward, thanks in no small part to Tom." Mary laughed lightly, then added, "Who'd have thought he's the one who would turn papa's head?"

"Tom does have a way with words," Sybil said, smiling to herself. "But more than that, he understands the challenge and effort maintaining something afloat through hard work."

"So does Matthew, and he didn't have much luck."

"Matthew never worked for papa, so papa doesn't think of him as someone who works."

"I suppose you're right about that," Mary said with a sigh. "So Downton will be saved because you married the chauffeur."

Sybil laughed. "Aren't you glad I didn't listen to your advice and push him away?"

Mary smirked but didn't say anything. Sybil watched her sister for a moment. If Sybil was honest with herself, she'd have to admit that even now Mary, if given the chance to do it all over again, would likely still try to stop Sybil from leaving with Tom. However much Mary had grown and come to see the complexities of the world in the few years since that fateful night of the confrontation at the Swan Inn, she was still sometimes as prone to clinging to tradition as their father—even if she was better able to recognize how aristocratic traditions often hindered progress. Sybil knew that Mary had embraced Tom only for her sake (and because Matthew had done so), but Sybil forgave Mary for this truth because she also believed that Mary wouldn't always feel that way.

"Do you mind staying with her for a moment?" Sybil asked Mary, gesturing to Sybbie. "I wouldn't mind stretching my legs a bit."

Mary smiled. "Go on."

Sybil stood and ambled toward the front of the tent. She was about to step out when a clearly angry Rose pushed past her and sat down on one of the chairs in a huff.

"What's wrong, Rose?" Sybil called out to her, concerned.

"Oh, nothing," she replied sarcastically, "I've just been betrayed is all."

Sybil bit her lip, her mind going immediately to the secret rendezvous Edith had told her about. She stepped gingerly toward Rose and sat down next to her. "I didn't say anything, I promise."

Rose looked at Sybil in alarm. "How did you know?" Rose rolled her eyes and added, "Rosamund, Edith and Matthew have a funny definition of keeping secrets."

"They were only trying to help you," Sybil offered.

"What help? I'd never have been found out if they'd not meddled."

Now it was Sybil's turn to roll her eyes. "You were out in public with a married man and an acquaintance of your father's. Do you honestly think that was going to stay a secret long?"

"Are you honestly judging me?"

Sybil's face hardened slightly and she stood. "I am not judging you, but don't you judge me by conflating our choices, because there is a great deal of difference between what I've chosen to do with my life and what you are letting childish caprice do to yours."

"You needn't be so high and mighty all the time. I don't care about you and your husband. I only meant that you have as much experience as I do lying to your parents—or has marriage made you so sanctimonious that you've forgotten you used to be rebellious?"

Sybil sat back down with a sigh. "I'm sorry. It's hard not to be defensive about him, especially with family."

Rose shrugged. "He seems to be doing fine. I doubt even mummy would guess his background if she didn't already know it. Do bring him to Duneagle next year. It would annoy her so."

Sybil snickered. "I doubt very much he'd want to go, but we'll see." Seeing another break in play, Sybil stood to walk over to where the players were. "Speaking of, I should go see how he's doing."

Rose simply nodded and went back to her fuming, which Sybil couldn't help but smile at. She and Rose were different in how they chose to act out their rebellious instincts—one fostering political interests over her father's objections, and the other by acting out social taboos specifically to spark her mother's ire—but on some level, Sybil did understand what it felt like to live under an oppressive thumb, even if her parents' version of oppression was more forgiving than Susan Flintshire's.

As she approached the players' area she saw Thomas and her father giving some batting advice to a skeptical Tom. Seeing her approach, Tom smiled and said, "I'm afraid I'm a lost cause," and walked over to Sybil.

He leaned down to give her a light kiss on the cheek.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Sybil asked.

"I can think of better ways to spend a Saturday afternoon, but I suppose it would be fair to say I can also think of worse."

Sybil smiled. "Thank you for participating. I know it seems like we're making an awful lot of compromises, but they'll come back to us."

Tom lifted his hand to her cheek and said quietly, "I know."

He was about to bend down to kiss her again when Robert yelled out behind him. "Tom, you're up to bat."

Tom rolled his eyes, and turned to go. Sybil yelled out after him, "I'll make it all up to you."

"Yes, you will," Tom called out over his shoulder.

Sybil could only laugh. She was about to turn back toward the tent when she saw Thomas.

"He's not wrong about being a lost cause, I'm afraid," he said.

"With you on the team, it doesn't much matter does it?" Sybil teased. "I can't say I know much of the sport, but his lordship seems to think you essential."

Thomas looked away. "That's not a word most people would say about me."

"Maybe they don't know you so well as I do."

Thomas smiled but said nothing else.

"I'll leave you to it," Sybil said and turned to leave.

"Lady Sybil?" Thomas said after she'd taken a step.

Sybil turned back toward Thomas.

"I know you'd likely not have chosen to come back if you could help it, but it's nice to have you back."

Sybil smiled. "Thank you for saying that."

As she made her way back to the family's tent, Sybil thought about what had been left behind in Ireland. She missed that life dearly, but she couldn't deny that the one she and Tom had forged back at Downton had its charms. It made her feel confident about the future and their ability to weather whatever it would bring.