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A/N: Thank you to SashaElizabeth for reviewing the last chapter.
Cora sat at the dinner table, a distant glaze covering over her eyes as she stared at her face, looking but not truly seeing it. Sybil had told Mary that she had suddenly come down with a bug of some sort, and that she was certainly not well enough to attend dinner, and that she would retire for bed early that night.
Though she had apparently said that she did not wish to cause a fuss, the woman could not help the feeling of curiosity mixed with worry that had overcome her mind, in regards to the health of her youngest daughter. She had seemed fine only a single day ago, and any illness that had taken root that quickly was certainly something to cause a fuss about. Or it was for her mother, at least.
Finally, she could stand not knowing no longer, and so excused herself discreetly from the table, truthfully saying that she was going to check on the young woman, to make sure that she was alright. Of course, she could have sent Anna or even Mrs. Hughes to go and check on the young woman, but she would rather do so herself. It was not that she did not trust them, as she would trust them to the ends of the earth, but it was an instinct of the mother to have to go and help her child herself.
When she reached Sybil's door at long last, silently cursing the amount of stairs in the grand house she called her home, she knocked quietly, recalling the time when the young woman had done the same for her, just after the loss of her darling boy. Though the memory was painful, it was good to remember that she had a family around her with whom she could share any burden, and she wanted to make sure that her youngest knew that as well.
"Sybil?" she called out, her tone almost as soft as her knock had been. "Sybil, it's Mama. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright, to see that you didn't need Dr. Clarkson to be called."
For a few seconds, she was met with only silence, bar the slight movement of something extremely heavy being pushed very quickly across the floor, and the springs of the bed moving a little before a weak voice came from inside, beckoning for the woman to enter.
When the wood of the door no longer stood between them, Cora was quite shocked by what she saw before her, though she did not know why, as she had been partially expecting such a sight. On the bed, Sybil lay, tucked beneath the blankets, though she was fully dressed in the simple clothes she had been wearing for that day. There was a thin sheen of perspiration on her forehead, although her face was pink, and not chalk white, as her mother had feared it would be, and the girl's breathing seemed to be a little laboured, her breaths far more heavy and sighing than usually they were. In fact, if she had not known her daughter to always have been quite truthful, she would have said that the young woman had only just returned to her bed, and that she was not ill in the least.
"How are you feeling, my darling?" she questioned nonetheless. After all, she was not about to give away her secret, as she did not have any idea whether or not her suspicions were factual, and she did not wish to go around making accusations when her daughter could very well be ill, as she claimed to be.
"I have to confess, Mama. I've felt better." the young woman sighed, with only a hint of the usual humour that would have laced the words. It was clear that she was either too ill to think of using more, or her acting skills had increased tenfold since the last time she had attempted to lie to her mother, when she had come to ask her opinion on a friend of hers who was beginning to care for a servant, far more than she should have done. Unfortunately, and though it made her extremely guilty to think it, she suspected that it was far more likely to be the latter, as it would explain a great deal more.
"Well, I don't doubt that, my darling. You look dreadfully ill." the dark haired woman told her daughter, laying the back of her hand across the girl's forehead, which she found to be a little heated, though that was not surprising for her, as she had now all but guessed the reason for the symptoms of her youngest child. "When did this happen?"
"It just appeared, really, this afternoon. It was a couple of hours before dinner, I think, and I returned from my walk in the garden, when my head began to ache terribly. That was when I came to lie down, after I asked Mary to inform you all." The explanation, to anyone who was not as suspicious of Sybil as her mother was, seemed to be perfectly acceptable, and it was clear even to Cora that the girl had thought it through very carefully, in case anyone should come knocking at her door. It was a sensible precaution to take, as someone was bound to do so, given the inquisitive, bordering invasive nature of the family, particularly of her own mother in law, Violet.
"Oh, that's terrible." the woman sighed, the sympathy in her voice quite clear. "Well, I suppose that you will want to rest, so I'll leave you alone, darling."
As soon as she had said this, the woman pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead, the temperature of which seemed to have decreased a great deal since the last time she had checked, and left the room, shutting the door firmly behind her.
It was as simple to Cora as the colour of the sky that her darling Sybil was planning to take a step with Branson. She could only hope that she was not going to do anything foolish.
A/N: Please review!