Chapter 3: A Chat with Mary
Sybil and Tom quickly unraveled from their embrace at Mary's appearance. "Mama sent me to fetch you, Sybil," Mary said calmly and tonelessly, although her face had a look of surprise and disgust on it at the sight of her sister and the chauffeur. "Matthew and Cousin Isobel arrived for dinner and she wondered where you'd gone."
"Of course. I was just….talking to Branson about taking the motor to Ripon on Wednesday to order a dress for dinner with Larry Grey." Sybil could tell from the look on Mary's face that her sister didn't buy her feeble excuse. "Yes, it is really wonderful that you will soon be a gentleman's bride."
Sybil closed her eyes in exasperation at Mary's callous remark. Nearly everything Mary said had a surplus implication attached to it, and in this case, Mary was pointing out how unsuitable Tom was for Sybil. A gentleman's bride. Although Sybil loved her oldest sister, she sometimes felt a strong urge to slap her for being so cold.
"Do return to your work now, Branson," Mary said quite pointedly. "Goodnight, Tom — I mean Branson." "Lady Sybil," Tom nodded at her longingly. The barriers between the two lovers were once again up.
The two Crawley sisters walked toward the house in silence for a time, each unsure how to approach the other. Mary was the first to speak. "Darling, I think I must be blunt about what I witnessed back in the chauffeur's garage." "How much did you see?" Sybil asked shakily, dreading Mary's answer.
"So you're not going to deny it?" Mary was taken aback. "You know I don't like deceit, Mary. Besides, I haven't done anything wrong!"
"Sybil, you were kissing the chauffeur!" "As I've told you before, Mary, Tom is a person too, and quite a wonderful one at that! He has a name!" Sybil was exasperated with Mary's elitist mindset. "Never mind that. To you, he should be Branson - not Tom! Granny was right about the war breaking down barriers inappropriately," Mary declared. "I should have told Papa when I first found out about the two of you, and I am certainly going to tell him now."
"Mary! Tom will lose his job if you do that!" Sybil protested. "A chauffeur is highly replaceable. You, my darling sister, are not," Mary quickly countered. "I am only concerned about your well-being — and Downton's well-being — here. Besides, the only reason I didn't tell Papa is because you promised me that you wouldn't do anything stupid. But now you've gone and kissed the chauffeur when you are about to be engaged to Larry Grey!"
"Well, you kissed Cousin Matthew when you were engaged to that vile Sir Richard and when he was engaged to a woman dying of the Spanish flu! Plus, that Turkish diplomat died in your bed! Really, Mary, you aren't any better than me!" Sybil challenged, and she knew that she had played her trump card when Mary's face paled dramatically. "How did you know about those?" Mary asked, horrified. "I heard you and Cousin Matthew talking about the kiss and Edith told me about you and Mr. Pamuk," Sybil responded.
"Of course Edith told you, the snake that she is," Mary muttered. "Mary, you have been in my situation before. You were engaged to a man you completely and utterly loathed — all to save the name of the Crawley family. Of course you had your little dalliance with Cousin Matthew on the side. I've seen how happy the two of you are together. And now everything has worked out for you. Please try to understand where I'm coming from," Sybil pleaded desperately. Mary had to understand the connection that Sybil had with Tom and the dreadful position she was in.
Mary suddenly softened a little. "Sybil…trust me, I do understand your position better than anyone." Sybil relaxed, happy to see the less ferocious side of her older sister for once. "I won't tell Papa…as long as you promise to go through with his plan for you to marry Larry Grey. Matthew and I need the estate to thrive, not to mention the rest of the family does too. This concerns everyone's futures - including your own - here. Besides, I don't want to have my wedding in the register's office rather than at Downton," Mary finished, waiting anxiously for Sybil's response.
Sybil sighed. "All right, Mary. I will marry Larry if he asks me to do so — but I can't guarantee that I will give up Tom for good." Mary relaxed visibly, no longer uncertain about her own future. "No, of course you won't. And I won't be a hypocrite and tell you not to. But it must be kept quiet — and be careful to ensure that Larry never finds out about you two, or I would fear for Tom's life."
Sybil chuckled and flung herself into a surprised Mary's arms. "Oh thank you, Mary, thank you." Mary awkwardly hugged Sybil back. "Darling, I will always stand by you. You are the only sister in this family that I actually like, so the two of us must stick together." Sybil laughed again, appreciative of Mary's support. "Now I suppose we should go to dinner before Granny has a conniption fit about Mrs. Patmore's duck getting cold."
A/N: I know, another chapter so quickly! I do hope you enjoy this chapter - please review or follow/favorite! I would love to have more of each. If you like this story, please spread the word about it to fellow Tom/Sybil writers and fans!
Thanks! -cxe128
