Chapter 6
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Grantham House
London
Summer of 1886
...
For an hour or so each day, just as the cool evening breeze began lazily making its way over London, an unlikely pair stole away from their respective lives to meet with one another, not secretly exactly-for one could hardly say that there was anything too illicit or improper about their frequent meetings- but...quietly.
Sybil hurried down the street, an easy smile on her face as the heels of her shoes 'clickity-clacked' against the concrete pavements.
She thought of her first few weeks in London and sighed contentedly.
However, her happiness was not for the reasons that her family may suspect should they notice her discreet smiles.
It wasn't the glamorous balls or the dances or the conversations with suitors over glasses of red wine and expensive champagne that had made her first season out in society so utterly memorable thus far.
Instead, what stood out most in her mind were the moments that she had yet to tell a soul about...those precious borrowed hours that Sybil had spent sneaking out through the servants entrance and disappearing down the street to find a certain young Irishman.
'It feels natural', Sybil mused silently, in that moment finally admitting to herself what she wouldn't dare admit to anyone out loud. 'It feels natural and nice to spend time with Tom Branson.'
Sybil's confession caused her stomach flutter, a reaction that she tried desperately to convince herself (with a voice that sounded rather like her sister Mary's) was nothing but silliness and childishness.
Tom Branson had become, most certainly, a dear friend and acquaintance to her over the last couple of weeks but nothing more could be said about the nature of their relationship with any kind of certainty.
(Despite what her heart so adamantly told her and what her eyes had seen shining back at her in his on so many occasions)
Sybil hadn't even told Tom that she was the daughter of the Earl of Grantham yet...a revelation that she was sure that her new friend wouldn't take all that well, especially considering his own steadfast political views...not to mention the fact that she had stayed silent on the matter for so long.
For as long as it had lasted, it had felt nice just being Sybil Crawley to someone... especally when that someone listened to her, challenged her, questioned her and argued with her without thinking it improper to behave in such a way with a lady.
No titles, no social formalities, no concerns about property or etiquette...just pure companionship.
Sybil sighed distractedly, feeling the familiar pang of guilt that she had come to associate with keeping the truth about her background from Tom.
Despite how uncomfortable it may be between them afterwards, she knew that she had to tell him who she truly was...Goodness knows, she felt she owed him that much.
Suddenly without any kind of forewarning, Sybil felt a hand reach out and engulf hers.
She was taken completely and utterly by surprise when she felt herself being steered into a gap between two of middle class looking houses that lined the streets.
The alley was a little darker than the bright evening streets and there was no one else around.
Panicking for a split second, Sybil instinctively began to start thrashing in an attempt to pull away but relaxed when she glanced up, coming face to face with the very man who had been in her thoughts.
Tom Branson.
"Jesus Christ, Tom", she shrieked, swatting him hard on the chest. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack!"
In that moment, Sybil ignored her fleeting considerations about how her grandmother would scowl vehemently if she saw her granddaughter, who was barely of age, acting so familiar with a man that the family knew nothing about.
Sybil took in the sight of the young blue eyed politician standing before her, dressed in the usual grey-green suit and slightly scruffy frock coat that he wore on his days in parliament.
He had that smile on his face; that same smile that Tom always wore when they first laid eyes on each other after being apart...it didn't matter if it had been hours or days, it was was always the same smile.
Sybil could feel her heart pound and stomach somersault. 'How on earth does he do this to me?', she thought to herself, trying to control the red hot flush in her cheeks.
(After all, she really was standing very close to him...closer than she ever had with any other man, even when dancing.)
"I'm sorry, love", Tom said, eyeing her sheepishly, a look that made him appear far younger than his twenty four years.
Now that she was standing so close to him, Sybil could almost feel the excitment radiating off of his person.
The initial shock and annoyance that she had felt faded slightly when she saw the satisfaction and pure glee that was shining in his eyes.
"Tom, what's happened?"
Wordlessly, Tom reached into the pocket of his coat, presenting Sybil with a copy of the morning paper.
The infectious grin on his face reminded her of a child on Christmas morning.
'Gladstone and Parnell currently in talks for Irish Home Rule Bill'.
Sybil looked up at Tom, surprise at the contents of the announcement coloured in her features.
She knew that Home Rule wasn't quite what he and the other more radical members of the Irish Parliamentary Party were after, but surely it was nothing if not a step in the right direction.
"This is fantastic, Tom!", she exclaimed, feeling genuinely pleased for the cause that meant so much to him. "Do you think Parliament will pass it?"
Tom shrugged. "Probably not", he replied, his smile not faltering as Sybil began reading the article.
"The blasted House of Lords would never let it through since most of them are bloody Land Lords themselves. No, it won't pass but it just shows that we're making progress."
Sybil sighed deeply, glancing up at him over the paper. Considering the thoughts that she had been having just before she met with him, Tom's words made her feel very cold.
"You know they're not all that bad", she said frostily, feeling rather defensive at his jibe at the expense of the land owning classes.
After all, Sybil was certain that her father had always treated the tenant farmers at Downton very fairly. Whenever she had met any of them, usually Mr Drew or Mr Mason, they had never had anything but words of respect and praise for her family and the decades long partnership between the Crawleys and the farming community who worked on the estate.
"I know that we're not at our best in Ireland but surely you know that some Land Lords treat their tenants very well", she informed him hotly, her cheeks flushed.
This didn't feel like one of their lively debates where their opinions clashed. This time their disagreement felt an awful lot more serious. The air around them crackled with intensity.
It was as though there was trail of gunpowder in her veins and Tom Branson held the only match.
Sybil knew that she was only seconds away from telling Tom the truth about her family. She could feel the words burning in her throat and pooling together thickly right on the tip of her tongue.
Tom frowned, raising his eyebrows in surprise. He was just a fiery as she was about her beliefs, if not even more so. "Treat their tenants well?", he challenged in utter disbelief. "Is that why over a million people died of starvation back in the 1840s? What did the Prods do when another famine threatened to break out only few years ago on the west coast? Absolutely feckin' nothing that's what. They forgot about us!"
Sybil folded her arms determinedly over her chest, the next words that left her mouth chosen in a totally haphazard fashion and coming out impulsively.
It was the make or break moment of their relationship.
"Well I can assure you, Tom Branson", she said, her nose held aloft in a way that did nothing if not betray the nature of her heritage to anyone with eyes to see. "My family has had nothing but good relations with our tenants for centuries. My father would never purposefully stand by and let them come to harm."
With eyes wide and searching, Tom looked dumbfounded...almost as though the reality of their situation had hit him like a runaway carriage. "You're...you're an aristocrat!"
As always, a little bit of history...
The Government of Ireland Bill 1886,commonly known as the First Home Rule Bill, was the first major attempt made by a British government to enact a law creating home rule for part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was introduced in 8 April 1886 by Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone to create a devolved assembly for Ireland which would govern Ireland in specified areas. The Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell had been campaigning for home rule for Ireland since the 1870s.
The Great Famine , or the Great Hunger, was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1849. During the famine, about one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland,causing the island's population to fall by between 20% and 25%. Many Land Lords began clearing the poor tenants from their small plots, and letting the land in larger plots for over £4. In 1846, there had been some clearances, but the great mass of evictions came in 1847. According to James S. Donnelly, Jr., it is impossible to be sure how many people were evicted during the years of the famine and its immediate aftermath. It was only in 1849 that the police began to keep a count, and they recorded a total of almost 250,000 persons as officially evicted between 1849 and 1854.
The Irish famine of 1879 was the last main Irish famine. Unlike the earlier Great Famines of 1740–1741 and 1845–1852, the 1879 famine (sometimes called the "mini-famine" or an Gorta Beag) caused hunger rather than mass deaths
Slang
Prods: slang for Protestant.
thank you all so much for your encouragement and patience. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. For everyone waiting out for some Mary and Matthew, I promise they will be making an appearance in the next chapter.
Anyways, in the meantime let me know what you thought of this chapter? Leave me a review! Tell me what you liked/didn't like/ would like to see more of.
Also, who's really freaking excited for the Downton movie coming out this week cos I know I am!
Talk soon!
Pearlydewdrop xx
