Next Steps

Sybil Branson stood by the side door at Downton Abbey watching her husband walk across the lawn towards the orchards. He was the picture of stress as he moved. She could feel his irritation earlier when they had gotten into an argument over the stupidest thing. She could see how tired Tom was and wanted to relieve some of the burden he was putting on himself. She had asked her father's Valet to see to his grey jacket. When Tom had found out he had flown off the handle, ranting about how he didn't want servants seeing to his personal items. It was bad enough they were staying in a place where the servants resented him and the family didn't like him. It had been a bad scene that ended with the tears coming to Sybil's eyes as she had turned and walked out on him.

She wasn't having the easiest time of it herself. The baby had just finished with a summer cold, her parents and grandmother were bristling over the intrusion of a reporter interviewing Mary and she wanted to make some career plans of her own, which was next to impossible while staying here. Top that off with her husband going to London for extended periods on a regular basis and his distance and distraction when he returned was pushing her to a breaking point. She wanted to make some decisions about their future and she wanted to make them now.

This afternoon her parents had offered to take the baby for a walk into the village in his pram. Sybil had gratefully accepted. She collected two blankets from their bedroom and headed to the orchards to find her husband. They had often spent time in the cherry orchard when they were carrying on their secret courtship and she wondered if she would find him there. The cherry orchard was like a secret oasis as it was only busy during the harvest or when the leaves were dropping. Otherwise it was virtually deserted.

Sybil pulled the gate to the orchard closed behind her, locked it and took the key. If Tom was here, they were not going to be disturbed. She found him sitting on a bench in the back corner, leaning against the wall asleep. She dropped the blankets on the ground, went to sit beside him and touched his face.

"Tom, what's wrong?" she said as he woke. "Tell me."

"Sybil," he mumbled as pulled her into an embrace. "We can't go back to Ireland right now. Its not safe. I'm not happy here. You're not happy here. I don't know what to do."

"You're a fine one, always telling me not to fret. You're doing enough for both of us."

"Malachi told me some things about what's going on there. If anyone found out about your background it would be dangerous, worse than it was before. I didn't want to accept it, but a child of mixed catholic and protestant blood in Ireland. Well, he just won't be accepted."

"I didn't want to go back, but I didn't know how to bring up the subject. We're a fine pair. No more of this grumping now. We need to make some decisions." Sybil paused. "I think I know how you feel with my family, it's the same way I feel with yours."

Tom only nodded.

"There is more than enough work for me in London and it looks like parliament will go into special sessions with the disturbances in Ireland and all the labor issues. We can stay in England for the next while at least."

"Why don't I move down to London with you?"

"Where would you stay? London is expensive to say the least, I don't know that we could afford it."

"I've been thinking about this. My family has a house that no one is using," Sybil raised a hand to stop him speaking. "Let me finish."

Tom had stood up at Sybil's suggestion. His irritation was starting to grow again.

"The London house is large but we don't need all of it. We could just open the rooms we need. If we took Katie down with us, the three of us could manage the place on our own and we could pay the expenses of running the house ourselves. We don't need the all the staff my parents would normally employ."

Tom had resumed sitting while Sybil was speaking.

"That could work. We would be far enough away from family but not too far and we would be relatively independent."

They continued to discuss the possibility of moving to Crawley House in London. Mary and Matthew were certainly not attending the season since the Pamuk story had made the papers and Sybil's parents usually stayed with her Aunt Rosamund when they went to London these days. Edith was still away on her wedding trip and wasn't expected back for months.

"I'm starting to feel better about things already," Sybil said. "I've been thinking about upgrading my nursing credentials. I could look into what's available at King's College."

"If it would make you happy, I don't see why not. What did you bring those down for?" Tom said with a nod towards the blankets sitting on the ground.

"The same reason I locked the gate to the garden," Sybil said holding up the key and giving him a slow smile.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Tom jumped up, pulling her behind him and heading for the pile of blankets. They were back on track. He needed to deal with some issues in the Bates matter, but that could wait till later. Right now he needed to pay some attention to his wife.

Over tea that afternoon Sybil and Tom spoke to her parents about the proposed move to London. Sybil did most of the talking as things between her husband and her parents were uneasy and would be until Malachi Rourke published his article and their judgment on the matter was decided.

"But Sybil," her mother said. "You can't possibly manage the London house without a full staff."

"We won't be opening the entire house, just two bedrooms, the dining room and library and the kitchen as well as one maids room. The rest will stay closed unless the family needs it. We managed on a lot less in Dublin."

Lord Grantham gave his permission for them to use the house. He hadn't wanted to say anything but Tom and Sybil assuming responsibility for the London house was actually welcome. The estate had been having some financial difficulties and he had been considering selling the house, although the taxes from the sale would have taken well over half of the sale price. This could be the best solution for himself as well as his daughter.

A day or two later Tom was feeling rested and ready to deal with the Bates issue. Malachi had telephoned the evening before to say his article would be published the day after tomorrow. He believed his editor had forwarded copy to the London Times for publication. Tom headed into Ripon to meet with Matthew.

"Rourke's article should be out tomorrow," he informed Matthew. "Have you had anymore insights into the Bates situation?"

"I want you to know that our wives' family attitudes are not the ones I was raised with. I don't think Rourke's article could make the situation any worse. I do hope for the best though," said Matthew. "As far as Bates, we have all the evidence for a mistrial, but we need a different barrister. One who knows criminal law well."

"I agree with you on the barrister. This is a murder case. There is nothing polite about it. You need a barrister who is, pardon the expression, a real son of a bitch. Someone who is not afraid to ask the hard questions in cross examination and will push for the truth."

"I've realized that but Robert is so resistant to hiring a new barrister."

"He is having a hard time with change, but Bates can't afford to cater to sensibilities. He almost lost his life already. You're going to have to challenge our father-in-law. I'm not going to take the fall for this."

Matthew sighed. He new Tom was right. It was annoying as hell but the man usually was correct in his insights.

"I will speak to him this evening. I've heard of a James Lewis. He is a barrister in London. He has never lost a case, even those others thought he had no chance of winning."

"Sounds like the right type of man for the job. Have you given any thought to who had motive to harm Vera?"

They discussed the case and between them deduced who were the most likely candidates. Anna of course had motive but not the opportunity. John Bates had both motive and opportunity although neither of them felt he had the disposition for murder. Sir Richard Carlisle had motive if he believed Vera would tell the story of Mary and Pamuk to his competitors, as he wanted to protect his own reputation as he was engaged to Mary at the time. He also had opportunity.

"Vera Bates had a secret lover," Matthew said. "But we don't know who it was."

"John might know, and who ever it is could certainly be a suspect if he felt she had done him out of a share of the money she had received from Sir Richard and from Bates for her silence."

"There is a fourth possibility. Vera Bates could have killed herself."

The next course of action was determined. Persuade their father-in-law to engage James Lewis as Bates' barrister, find out who the secret lover was and take a closer look at the files on the crime itself. Maybe Vera did kill herself, although with the information starting to take shape in front of them, it really didn't look like it.

King's College was established in 1829 and contains the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery. It was and still is today common for the large Georgian town homes to be broken down into smaller apartments. From what I've read land transfer taxes for property sales and inheritance tax were one of the drivers that forced many of the older families to loose their estates and town homes in the period of the story.