Much to Sybil's annoyance the cloudiness of the gray sky had given way to an unrelenting rain just as she had finished her lessons for the day so now she'd have to find something to do inside the house. Sybil scampered down the corridor to her sister's room hoping to find a willing companion for some fun. There had been a time when Edith could almost always be counted on as a playmate but those days had become too few and far between. In Sybil's eyes, Edith was now more concerned with being a lady than having fun.
Although she had been told by Edith that she should knock before entering her bedroom, Sybil blithely ignored Edith's admonishment and proceeded to open the door albeit she did so quietly rather than in her customary whirlwind fashion. Barely in the room, her hand still on the doorknob, Sybil's eyes widen as she took in the sight of the chaos in the room.
Everywhere she looked, dresses were thrown about the room covering the bed and much of the floor. Edith, standing in front of her full-length mirror, was holding a dress up against her body and looking thoughtfully at her reflection in the mirror as she tilted her head one way and then the other while her free hand moved the dress' skirt to and fro. She was so deep in thought that she didn't appear to realize Sybil standing in the doorway.
"Whatever are you doing?" Sybil called out after watching Edith for a moment or two.
Startled at the sound of Sybil's voice, Edith actually jumped causing Sybil to giggle and Edith's face to flush even redder.
"Well?" Sybil demanded as she made her way into the room careful not to step on one of the dresses scattered on the floor.
Edith's face retreated into that put upon look that Sybil thought she had perfected and, sighing, she finally responded "I'm going to the dress maker's tomorrow and I'm just trying to decide on what style and color I want my new dress to be."
"Is it for a special occasion?" Sybil wondered if there was some planned event that once again she'd be excluded from due to her age.
Edith finally stopped playing with the dress in her hands. "Not really … just something to wear for paying social calls or going to tea."" She glanced at the dresses scattered about the room, some were day dresses and some evening wear that so far she'd only wore for dining with the family. "It needs to be a bit fancier than these" she lifted the dress she was currently holding "but not like those" she pointed to several evening dresses lying on the bed.
Sybil turned from Edith and focused her eyes on the array of dresses closest to where she was standing.
"Green" Sybil blurted. "Or maybe purple but not that pale color Granny or Mama wears but something bright."
"Green?"
Sybil nodded her head. "You look very pretty in green." It was also on the tip of her tongue to say that Mary didn't wear green but she didn't want to get entangled in the friction that flowed so easily and readily between her older sisters.
Edith blushed at her sister's compliment. "Do you really think so?"
"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it Edith." Sybil looked around the room at the various dresses. "And get something stylish … not these heavy old ruffled things that Granny likes."
"Now that that's settled" Sybil continued "let's do something fun."
A minute later, Sybil was walking alone down the corridor feeling disappointed.
xxxxx
Mary had never been one to get involved in what Sybil called her adventures. No, Mary was the one Sybil went to for more sedate activities like reading stories or playing games, sometimes ones they made up, but usually board games like the box of draughts Sybil held in her hands.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Sybil asked her eldest sister since she found her wearing her silk dressing gown, sitting on her bed reading a magazine.
Without looking up from her magazine Mary sighed. "I was out riding and got caught in this rain."
Sybil glanced at the window but the heavy drapes were pulled tight shutting out the weather. She had never understood why Mary liked this cold and dark room that always seemed so gloomy.
"Well, since it's raining how about we play a game of draughts?"
The pleading in Sybil's voice caused Mary to lower her magazine to her lap and look at Sybil who stood there beside the bed. Although she had no interest in playing draughts, for a moment Mary almost waivered because of how hopeful Sybil looked. "Not now Sybil. I'm rather tired from my ride."
"But …" Sybil began as Mary looked back down to her magazine.
"I said not now Sybil" Mary cut in before Sybil finished speaking.
xxxxxx
Afternoon tea was usually a bright spot for Sybil since she now joined the rest of her family in the library. Normally she was quite bubbly and chattered on racing from one topic to the next stopping only to take a bite of food or a drink of milk but this afternoon she was quite subdued. Sitting away from the family, on the floor next to Pharaoh, Sybil gently petted the lab's silky coat.
As Edith talked excitedly about her plans for her new dress, Mary watched Sybil's whose attention was solely on the dog. It also didn't escape her notice that Sybil hadn't taken anything from the food arranged on the side table. She was about to say something when Carson came in with the afternoon post.
He handed all of the post except one letter to his lordship. Holding that one letter he announced in his deep baritone "this is for Lady Sybil" and all eyes turned to Sybil as he offered her the letter.
It was so rare for her to receive mail, that Sybil could barely contain her excitement which only grew when she read the return address. Her family continued staring at her as she slowly and carefully read her letter. When she giggled for the third or fourth time, Robert couldn't help but ask who the letter was from.
"It's from Imogen" Sybil replied. "She's in New York visiting her grandmother."
"Ah!" Robert, turning towards Cora and Mary, quirked his eyebrows and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.
As the rest of her family resumed their conversations, Sybil read the letter for a second time then sat staring unseeingly out the windows as a plan ran through her head. When she was sure of her plan, she rose from the floor and made her way over to stand in front of her mother.
"Mama" Sybil commanded the attention of her mother.
xxxxx
Her mood grew darker as she sat in the nursery and ate her dinner in solitude. It was hard enough when Mary and then Edith got their own bedrooms but at least they'd still eat dinner in the nursery. Now both her sisters were considered old enough to dine with Mama and Papa and Granny in the dining room leaving only Sybil, at eleven, eating in the nursery.
xxxxxx
Dressed in her nightgown, Sybil left her bed and walked across the hall to the room she and her sisters used for their lessons. Unlike her bedroom this room had windows and Sybil took advantage of one of the window seats. From here, Sybil gazed at the cloudless sky which was bright with countless stars. She often sat here and tried to pick out the North Star or one of the constellations as illustrated in her book.
But not tonight. Sybil pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around them and resting her chin on her knees. The letter from Imogen was in one hand but the light wasn't bright enough to read it which didn't really matter because she had practically memorized the entire letter. Oh what fun Imogen was having! Sybil remembered doing some of the same things on her last visit to New York almost three years ago. Oh how much fun would it be to be in New York while Imogen was also there!
That had been her plan … what she had proposed to Mama at tea. If they left in a week or so she'd still have almost a month with Imogen in New York. But Mama said it was too little time to get ready. Really, Sybil thought, how much time does it take to pack a suitcase. And Grandmama was talking about coming to visit later in the year as if that prevented them from going to visit her.
"Sybil what are you doing here in the dark?" Mary stood in the doorway silhouetted by the hall light.
Sybil quickly brushed away the tears on her cheeks although Mary couldn't see them from where she stood. She turned to look out the window.
"Sybil" Mary moved into the room. "Is something bothering you?"
When Sybil didn't reply, Mary continued "Are you upset that Mama didn't accept your plan to go to New York?"
"It's not just that but …" Sybil sighed deeply.
"But what?"
"Don't you want to do something more than ride horses or do needlework? Sybil glanced at Mary before turning back to the window. "Shouldn't life be more than learning how to curtsey or pouring tea?"
"But those are the things we do. That is our life."
"Don't you ever wish your life was different?" came Sybil's response.
"Different?" Mary was perplexed and totally unprepared for Sybil's question.
"Don't you ever wish we lived in London?" Sybil asked.
"Why ever would I want to live there?" came Mary's reply.
Sybil slightly shook her head although she still kept facing the window. "There's so much to do there and we could have friends we'd see all the time and maybe I could go to a real school and …" she nibbled on her bottom lip as the tears started falling despite her efforts not to cry.
Mary knelt beside Sybil and gently ran her hand up and down her back. "Are you feeling lonely?"
Shaking her head yes, Sybil murmured "Sometimes I get tired playing by myself. You and Edith never have time for me anymore."
"Oh sweetheart" Mary reached out to hug her little sister. It was true she didn't spend as much time with Sybil as she once had but the age gap between them which once didn't matter now did.