Passages

It had been decided that Downton Abbey would be used as a convalescent home for as long as needed and the staff was in a flurry of activity moving furniture and setting up beds. Being so close to Sybil all day was both pleasure and torture for Tom. He couldn't get enough of watching her at her work and at the same time he longed to pull her into his arms and kiss her until she couldn't breath. It wasn't long before the convalescing officers began to arrive and the house was a hive of activity. Sybil was now assigned to the Abbey and the need to see to her lunch was ended.

A week had passed since the convalescents had arrived when Tom was awoken yet again by someone moving about downstairs in his residence. This time Sybil was moving the kitchen chairs about and mumbling under her breath.

"How in the devil did you get out of that house full of people?" he questioned.

He went to stand beside Sybil and gently touched her back.

"it's time for bed," he whispered.

"Company is coming. I can't sleep now," she mumbled in her dream state.

"Not right yet, you need to sleep."

"Tom, do you regret marrying me?"

Tom Branson did a double take. Was she talking to him in her dreams or another man she had met?

"I would never regret it," he said softly. "I love you. I always have."

He slid his arms around her and held her loosely. Sybil relaxed against him and curled her head onto his shoulder. He couldn't carry her back to her own room this time through a house full of officers. He didn't quite know what to do with her. Finally, he picked her up in his arms and carried her up the stairs to his own bed. She curled in a ball as soon as he laid her down and fell into a deep sleep.

Tom looked at her for a moment and ran a hand through his hair. What the hell was he going to do with Lady Sybil Crawley fast asleep in his bed? He went downstairs for a minute to think things through and clear his head. He stood by the basin for a bit and looked out the window before he headed back upstairs to wake her up. There was no way he could ever get her back to the house undetected.

"Sybil," he said quietly while he shook her shoulder. "Sybil, wake up." She groaned and rolled over but didn't wake up. "Sybil you have to wake up. You can't stay here all night."

Finally her eyes fluttered open.

"Branson, what are you doing in my room?" she demanded.

"More like what are you doing in my room," he replied. "You've been sleepwalking."

Sybil sat up and looked around the darkened room. Her hands flew to her cheeks in embarrassment.

"How did I get here?"

"I'm not sure how you got out of the house with all the people in it. This isn't the first time you've done this. I've always managed to get you back without anyone noticing, but I didn't know how this time."

"I haven't… We haven't?"

"No. Nothing's happened. You were walking in your sleep. You show up and I carry you back. That's all." It was only a slight lie. How do you tell someone they were snogging you like mad in their sleep?

"Oh, I'm so embarrassed," Sybil said into her hands.

"There is nothing to be embarrassed about. I can't figure out how you got out this time."

"I think I know. I'll show you so if this ever happens again you can send me back. Please, please don't breathe a word of this to anyone."

"I won't tell a soul. I wouldn't have woken you if I could have figured out a way to get you back."

Sybil had crawled out of his bed and was waiting for him to lead the way out of his quarters. Tom grabbed a dark jacket and stuffed on a pair of boots by the door. He gave her a long dark coat to cover her nightdress.

"No use attracting more attention than we have to," he said.

They headed across the lawns and stopped by a tangle of bushes beside the abbey.

"There is an old secret passage that opens near here," Sybil told him. "The other wall was built later so there is a space between the wall of the original building and this wall."

Behind the bushes was a narrow door that was standing slightly ajar.

"I haven't been through here since I was little," she said.

"You must have come out this way tonight."

Sybil slid in through the door and reached for a candle and matches just inside the door.

"Come on, I'll show you how to get back to my room, incase this ever happens again."

Tom slid in through the narrow door. He was packed in incredibly tight with Sybil and the proximity was making him flush. She headed up the narrow stairs. In spots he had to turn sideways to get through. After what seemed like a long time of climbing they came to a narrow passage. They followed the passage for a minute and turned a corner. Sybil set the candle on a small ledge and showed him where to press on the brick to get the door to open. A small door popped open at knee height.

"It comes out behind the drapes in my room. Promise me you'll never use this unless you absolutely have to."

"I promise. Lady Sybil?"

"Yes, what is it," Sybil was impatient to extricate herself from an embarrassing position and return to her room. She turned to look at him and saw that same pleading in his eyes she had seen a hundred times before.

"Goodnight"

"Goodnight." Again she could hear the unspoken darling behind his statement. Sybil quickly ducked down and went through the door clicking it shut behind her.

"Lie to yourself all you like," he said into the passage. "One day you will admit it."