One Third of Adolescence:
Sybil sits in Edith's room, watching as a housemaid assists Edith in dressing for dinner.
"Of course Mary and Patrick love each other," Sybil says.
Her sister doesn't want to say too much in front of the staff, but she disagrees. "Patrick loves Mary, Mary loves having status, and Patrick will have status when Papa and James have both died."
Sybil cannot believe her sister's harsh words. "Edith, that's terrible," she says honestly. "And on the night of Mary's first ball! I hope no one is as unkind to you next year when you come out for your first season."
Two Thirds of Adolescence:
"I can't help it if she's jealous, Mama," Mary insists.
"I'm only saying that you needn't rub your engagement in Edith's face," Cora pleads with Mary. Cora hates to see one of her daughters acting cruel, especially when another of her daughters is the victim of said cruelty.
Mary frowns. She had expected Cora to want her to be giddy with joy at the news of her engagement to Patrick, but alas, Cora seems to want Mary to show no joy at all.
Of course, Mary isn't entirely sure she feels particularly joyous about her engagement to cousin Patrick, anyway.
Three Thirds of Adolescence:
For the first time, all three Crawley girls are attending a ball as eligible young ladies. Sybil's eighteenth birthday means that she is allowed to be courted (casually, of course; she'll not be married off ahead of her sisters).
Much to Mary and Edith's dismay, Sybil is asked to dance far more than either of them. Adding to Edith's continued misery, Mary is asked to dance by no one more often than Patrick, whom Edith feels certain Mary does not love, despite their betrothal.
Edith watches with pangs of sad jealousy as Mary and Patrick spin around the dancefloor together.