Sorry for the lack of S/T time in the last chapter. I originally intended for that one and this one to be one chapter, but as I got to writing it, it got insanely long, which is why I broke it up. This one picks up right where we left off. I'm coming up on a busy time, so the next few chapters will not come as quickly as these two did.
Regarding the scenes in the last one there is a method to my madness. (1) Tom has to figure out his place in Matthew's new world in a way that allows him to remain loyal to Matthew while keeping true to his socialist principles, and Moseley is a symbolic figure in that, so I wanted to flesh him out a bit. He and Tom will come to a compromise in their own way eventually, but it was important that Matthew establish himself first. (2) Violet and Cora will play key roles how the family sees/accepts Tom now and when they learn his background, so I wanted to lay the groundwork for that. Also, if you haven't noticed, Tom is the smartest guy in every room in this story (I believe Canon Tom was very smart too, just not formally educated like he is here), and the entail question is how Cora and Violet see that first hand. (3) The evolution of Mary with regard to Matthew is very important to how Sybil sees her own interaction with Tom, so the final scene in the last chapter just sets that up.
But the Sybil and Tom goodness is all here, to make up for the absence before ;)
By the way, I know the last chapter mentions Matthew needing to hire someone to replace Jarvis. I'll do away with the suspense now. I am NOT planning on making Tom estate agent. I have a special surprise brewing for that, but that's a way's down the line yet.
Thanks for reading and all that stuff :)
Sybil entered the drawing room just behind Mary and saw that they were the last of the family to arrive. Matthew, Isobel and Edith were sitting on the sofa, and Violet and Cora were across from them in armchairs. Her father was at his usual spot by the hearth. Next to him was Tom.
Sybil was about to walk over to them when her mother gestured to her. Sybil went over to Cora, who extended her hand and took Sybil's into hers.
Turning to the sofa, Cora said, "Isobel, I do hope you will all join us for Sybil's birthday celebration next week."
Isobel perked up at the invitation. "We'd love to come."
"We'll be inviting some family friends as well as Robert's sister, Rosamund," Cora went on. "Not a big to do, but enjoyable, we hope."
"How old will you be?" Matthew asked.
"Seventeen," Sybil answered quietly.
There's that mystery solved, Tom thought to himself, smiling. She was slightly younger than he'd thought, but no less interesting for it, if their first conversation—and her apparently voracious appetite for books—had been an accurate indication.
"What a delightful age," Isobel said, "though I suppose a bit frustrating, too."
"Oh? How so?" Violet asked with a skeptical expression.
"Old enough to be aware of the adult world but still too young to have it within reach yet," Isobel responded.
"An accurate description, to be sure," Sybil said with a smile.
Mary sat down in the spot vacated by Matthew, who had moved to join the other men at the hearth, both steering well clear of each other in the process. Notice of their interaction did not escape Sybil.
Isobel, who had been discussing the possibility of helping at the hospital to Cora and Violet before Sybil and Mary had walked in, continued the conversation, giving Sybil the opportunity to walk over to the other side of the room, to the chaiselong by the window to sit down. She'd not been there but a few minutes when Tom sauntered over to her.
"You will notice that I let you see me as I approached," he said jokingly, leaning against the window sill next to the chaise.
Sybil smiled. "Thank you for that."
"So have you chosen a book? I noticed that you left the library yesterday morning without having done so."
"I am still thinking about what topic to start with." She paused for a moment, then asked, "What interests you?"
"History and politics, but that shouldn't enter into your decision."
"Why not?"
"This is about you. You should learn about things that you like."
Sybil felt herself blushing ever so slightly at the pointed way he'd said 'you,' punctuated by a nod of his head.
"That's an advantage you'll have in an informal education," he continued. "You are not at the mercy of your professor's scholarly inclinations. So what does interest you?"
She thought for a moment. "I will risk sounding flighty in saying so, but I'm not sure. I think I would know what would interest me if I saw a topic in front of me, but I don't know that I've ever been prompted to vocalize it just generally."
"Nobody has ever asked you what your interests are before?"
She furrowed her brow and looked down, realizing the truth for the first time. "I don't think anybody has." She looked back up at him. "I suppose I should thank you."
He smiled. "You're welcome."
She thought for a few minutes more. "This is harder than I thought. I feel as if I am thinking of everything and nothing at the same time."
"OK, what do you like to do?"
"I like riding, and walking through our gardens here. When I was a child, I enjoyed pretending my dolls were sick so I could cure them. All of that said aloud and at once makes me seem very silly—I'm afraid there is no serious subject in any of it."
"Nonsense. You have sport, botany and medicine—three terribly interesting subjects. I'm sure your father has stocked plenty of volumes on each. And I know Aunt Isobel would be happy to recommend a starter in the subject of medicine."
"That's quite a parlor trick."
Tom looked out the window, smiling, as if embarrassed. Watching his profile, Sybil considered how boyish he looked. He was several years older than her, obviously, but younger than his intellect made him seem.
"I also liked what you said yesterday about women being better informed as to how the world affects us," she added, bringing his attention back to her.
He smiled widely. "Women's rights—a topic also available in your library, though it's one your father would probably prefer you steer clear of."
"If you think that disqualifies my interest, you're wrong."
His eyes widened in delighted surprise.
"How does a young man like you engender such an interest?" She asked, surprising him again.
She didn't know it, of course, but it was a loaded question given that his answer was the plight of widowed and working women like his mother, the housekeeper.
Feeling a bit hypnotized by her sweet and sincere charm, he opened his mouth slowly to speak, not sure what would come out. Before he had a chance to say anything, though, Carson called them to dinner.
"A topic for another day," he said, extending his hand to help her up. She stood, and side-by-side they followed the rest of the party to the dining room.
No one had heard Sybil and Tom's conversation, but as she stood up, Cora briefly wondered about the reason for Sybil suddenly making an effort to look her best. Then, Cora's eyes went to Mary, who was looking at Matthew warily. And just like that whatever thought had been forming in the back of the mother's mind about the youngest daughter evaporated into worry about the eldest and was forgotten.
XXX
Once everyone else had filed into the dining room and sat down, Robert, still standing behind his chair, cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
"I have an announcement to make, a celebratory one that even now I can scarcely believe I am making."
Mary looked over to her mother, a question in her expression, but Cora shrugged her shoulders slightly, making it clear she didn't know what was coming.
Robert continued. "Thanks to Matthew's generosity and Tom's sharp mind, in a month's time we will be leaving this house to return to our home at Downton Abbey."
The collective gasp that went around the room was a mix of joy and disbelief.
Cora, tears in her eyes and not able to contain herself, stood and walked around the table to hug her husband, whose eyes were red with emotion. After, she did the same with Matthew and Tom. Violet tsk'ed at this outward show of effusive emotion, but happiness was visible behind her eyes. Sybil and Edith laughed with joy, happy for their family's turn in fortune, and as they both turned to a stunned Mary, they saw her stoic countenance trying to fight a wave of warring emotions. Mary, in truth, did not know what to think. This is what she had wished for, to go back to the house that she'd always intended to be her home forever, so why was she now unsure as to her place there?
Cora noticed Mary's reaction and grabbed her shoulder in a show of support on her way back to her chair. "This is wonderful news, don't you think, Mary?"
This pulled Mary back into the room, and she smiled. "Yes, very much." She looked down to collect herself, then looking at Matthew with a look that conveyed sincere gratitude if short of sincere affection, said quietly, "Thank you."
Matthew returned her smile and, seeing a quality akin to vulnerability in her for the first time, resolved to let down his own guard as well.
Carson, who'd been standing with Thomas in the back of the room, ready to begin serving, stepped up to Robert, "Your lordship—"
Robert turned to him immediately, "Gracious! Carson, I should have asked you to bring the staff up for the announcement."
"So I may share the excellent news downstairs, milord?"
"You may," Robert said. "We will discuss the move as well as hiring back additional staff for the house tomorrow with Mr. Crawley, here, yourself and Mrs. Hughes."
"Certainly, milord."
Robert added, "And you can also announce a raise in wages to the staff."
Tom grinned, happy to have won that battle.
"Thank you, milord, that is very generous."
"Thank Mr. Branson," Robert said smiling over at Tom. "He made it happen."
"Is this what you were working on in the library yesterday, Mr. Branson?" Sybil asked.
"It was."
Sybil grinned in response, inwardly looking forward to sharing the tale with Gwen.
"So we're indulging in socialism now, are we?" Violet asked.
"Certainly not, mama," Robert said, rolling his eyes. "Don't be silly."
"A fair wage is hardly socialism, your ladyship," Tom spoke up. "Or do you disagree with the notion that we should share in the good times with those who have shared in the bad with us?"
Violet narrowed her eyes at him, as if sizing him up. Finally she said, "An eloquently stated question to which there is no good answer except no," reluctantly conceding the point to Tom but doing so with a smile. She looked over at Cora and nodded slightly, as if relenting to her the earlier point that Tom was the man for the job on the entail.
Cora lifted her glass. "Indeed, very well said, Mr. Branson. Cheers to you both."
The rest of the family joined in her toast and dinner proceeded in the celebratory tone in which Robert had started it. Tom and Matthew felt welcomed and appreciated by people they had, only days before, believed completely alien to themselves. Isobel was beaming proudly and feeling a lump in her throat brought on by the wish that Reginald—and Claire, who at that moment was chatting quietly with Ivy in her small sitting room—could see them now.
XXX
After dinner, when the ladies moved to the drawing room, Tom excused himself to Robert and Matthew, who were continuing their ongoing discussion about the restoration of Downton Abbey, and stole away to the library.
He made it back to the drawing room after about ten minutes, just as Robert and Matthew entered, but he didn't bother to sit or start conversation. Isobel, feeling tired, had asked if they could head home early, and so the whole group made their way to the entrance hall to say their goodbyes.
Sybil was disappointed not to have more time to talk with Tom, but as she walked to the entrance hall, she felt him slip, discretely and unnoticed by anyone else, a small scrap of paper into her hand. She looked over at him as he did so, but he winked at her at said nothing, making her blush and grateful for the low lighting. Not wanting to draw attention to what he had given her, she slipped the paper into her glove to look at when she was alone in her room.
The visiting parties said their goodbyes and headed out to the waiting motors.
Violet, finding herself next to Matthew, ventured a word to him. "Will you be happy remaining at Crawley House when your investment is at Downton."
Matthew smiled. "We will. Downton may be my home eventually, but I see no reason to keep the family away until then."
Violet sighed. "We are all grateful, even Mary. She was quiet tonight, but I know she's been rather sharp with you."
"I doubt cousin Mary and I are destined to be close friends, but she'll be happier home at Downton, perhaps. As for her attitude regarding the situation, I don't blame her. Her father's home and her mother's fortune are to be passed to me. It's very harsh."
Violet, watching Tom as he helped Isobel aboard, asked, "What would you say if the entail was set aside in Mary's favor?"
"I should try to accept it with as good a grace as I could muster."
The answer satisfied Violet. Now, it was just a matter of putting the issue to the test.
XXX
Later that night, after Anna—sadly for Sybil, not Gwen—had come up to help her out of her clothes and into bed, Sybil took a deep breath and finally opened the note Tom had given her.
Wherever I am told I cannot go, that is where I want most to be. Back wall, third bookcase column from the left, second shelf from the bottom, seventh book from the right.
Sybil stoop up from her bed and opened her door quietly. Confident that the rest of her family was in for the night, she tiptoed her way to the library. Once there, she followed his instructions. The book was A Vindication of the Rights of Women: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects by Mary Wollstonecraft. Sybil hugged it to her chest, giddy and grateful to him for having unearthed such a treasure for her.
As she stood from where she'd crouched to reach the book, she noticed her father's ledger and her shoulders drooped. Did she dare sign it out and risk his discovering this new area of interest and meet with his disapproval? She walked over to it and opened it slowly, trying to make a decision. Upon seeing the most recent entry, she let out a laugh. It was this very book, checked out by T. Branson. He'd thought of everything.
Sybil ran back to her room and set herself down on her bed for a long night of reading.
In another bed, not so very far away, Tom was lying awake, thinking about the new course his life was on and wondering whether it would ever have to veer very far away from hers.