Her Sister's Keeper

"Lady Edith, you are needed immediately," Mr. Carson said as he came into the drawing room where Edith was seated writing letters. Edith stood and accompanied Carson to the front door where William was waiting with her hat and coat. Ten days had passed since Edith had received word of her fiancé's death and she was functioning somewhat better although still despondent.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"The chauffeur has collapsed while he was waiting for your father out front," Mr. Carson said. "We've gotten him into the car. You're needed to drive to the hospital in the village."

Edith went outside. Her father was waiting for her. William followed her outside and got into the back of the Renault with Branson who was out cold and propped up on the seat.

"Do you think you can managed the motor?" her father asked.

"As long as I don't shut it off, it should be fine," Edith said. The Renault was notoriously difficult to drive and even harder to start. Robert got in the back with William and Branson. Edith climbed into the driver's seat, let go the hand brake and started off down the drive. She managed to get the car up as far as third gear. They weren't moving at top speed, but they would still get there. Once they arrived at the hospital, William ran inside to find help. In a few minutes a nurse and an orderly came outside with a wheel chair to collect the chauffeur.

They had a hard time getting him out of the car, as he was dead weight. While Branson wasn't a particularly tall man, he was muscular which added weight to his slack form. Robert Crawley went inside to speak to Cousin Isobel. Edith stayed with the motor as she didn't dare turn the engine off. It was going to take everything she had learned about driving to get the Renault turned around and back to the garage at Downton. After a few minutes her father came back outside and stopped by the driver's seat to speak to her.

"Edith, do you know anything about Branson having a wife?"

"No, not a thing. Why?"

"When they removed his gloves he was wearing a wedding ring. I will speak to Carson about it when we return. He's got pneumonia. Apparently the reports from the front are full of cases. There is an outbreak in London as well. He must have contacted the disease when he was there."

"I didn't know it was contagious," Edith said with a worried expression. "Oh goodness, Papa. He's been driving you and Mama about. I hope you don't get it."

"Dr. Clarkson seemed to think everyone would be fine as long as we stay warm and don't allow ourselves to get a chill. I will speak to the staff as well about taking precautions."

William was waiting to hold the door for Lord Grantham. Once he was settled and William had taken the seat next to Edith up front, she pulled the car away and did a series of turns around the village to get them pointed back in the direction of the Abbey.

Over the next two weeks, Edith did a lot of the driving around the estate. Pratt, one of the groomsmen could drive, but wasn't very good at it and knew absolutely nothing about maintenance. Her days were taken up with running her grandmother and mother about and answering letters of condolences from friends. She had taken the ring off her finger and placed it in a box with the rest of her letters and items from her engagement in the bottom drawer of her wardrobe.

The afternoon Sybil was expected home, Edith drove to the station to fetch her. Edith was glad Sybil was coming home as she had always been like a breath of fresh air in the house and was the one family member who didn't treat Edith as though she were a nuisance to be tolerated. Sybil had been her usual outgoing self until she received the news of Branson's collapse and insisted she be taken to the hospital. Edith felt somewhat intimidated by her sister's take charge attitude with the stricken man and was further shocked when she learned that her sister was in fact the missing wife.

Edith's first reaction had been one of disbelief, but watching her sister's concern for her husband and anguish over his illness gave Edith a new sense of connection with her. Sybil was trusting her with her secret and turning to her for help in a way no other family member had done in the past. On the trip back to Downton with her barely conscious brother-in-law in the back seat with her sister, Edith resolved to help Sybil in any way she could. Sybil had taken a step that few in their world would ever attempt in marrying away from title or wealth. During the trip and the ensuing struggle to get Branson into the house, up the stairs and into a bedroom, Edith realized the depth of feeling her sister must have for the man to do something so drastic.

Later that evening once the house had settled, Edith went to check on Sybil.

"How is he doing?" Edith inquired.

"Not well," Sybil said. "He has a heart murmur. Normally, it wouldn't be an issue but he is so weak, it will take everything he has to fight the pneumonia. It's in both lungs."

"You need rest," Edith said.

"No. I have to stay with him," Sybil said. Edith could see the fatigue around her mouth and the stress in her body.

"Let me help you. Tell me what to do. I can take care of him for a few hours at least. You won't do him any good if you get ill. It's not like I can sleep anyway."

"Is the grief very bad?" Sybil asked suddenly realizing she had been so wrapped up in her husband's illness she hadn't acknowledged her sister's loss since she returned.

"Bad enough," Edith said. "I need something to do."

"Very well," Sybil agreed. "You're going to need an apron or you will ruin your cloths."

Sybil gave Edith instructions as to how to care for Tom. The most Edith could do was to prevent him from laying flat, keep the steam from hot water close to the bed and wipe down his face, neck and shoulders in an attempt to bring down the fever.

"If he tries to take off the bandages I've put around his abdomen don't let him. He needs to cough but the excessive coughing can tear muscle tissue and that will lead to more problems," Sybil said. "I've given him medication and the other treatments won't need to be done again until five in the morning. If his fever gets worse or anything happens, call me right away."

Edith nodded her understanding and agreed to have Sybil woken at four. As Edith sat on the side of the bed and methodically wiped her brother-in-law's face and neck with a cold cloth she thought how strange it was to be with him like this. He had always been just another facet in the running of the estate to her like the rest of the employees. She recognized how hard it must have been for him to be here performing his duties as chauffeur never acknowledging any type of family relationship while waiting for her sister's return. Edith didn't understand how the two of them could have found the strength to defy convention as they did, but it was done and she for one had accepted it.

It wasn't long and Branson went into a fit of coughing. She retrieved a rag from the pile on the bedside table and gave it to him. She felt a little queasy when she saw the amount of mucus he had coughed up, but disposed of the rag as Sybil had directed and washed her hands. Once she had changed the water in the basin, she came back and began wiping him down again. His chest and back were raw from the mustard plasters that had already been applied, and it made Edith cringe. His eye's opened slightly and he looked at her without moving.

"What are you doing here, Milady?" he wheezed. "Where am I?"

"You're in one of the bedrooms at the Abbey," Edith said. "Sybil and I brought you back this afternoon. She's resting for a bit."

"She's here? I thought it was a dream."

"You have to fight Branson. You've got to get better for Sybil."

His eyes fluttered shut before he lost consciousness again.

Over the next few days everything blurred together for Edith. She spelled Sybil off so she could go for short meals and periods of sleep. Edith never let on about Sybil's marriage even when their family made comments about how Sybil was making much too big a fuss over a servant.

"I would like to think she would make that big a fuss over anyone who was gravely ill under this roof," Edith said at dinner one night.

"You can't mean that," Mary said. "He's a married man as well. It isn't proper."

"I do mean it," Edith said. "I would want to be taken care of if I was ill, even if it was by a perfect stranger. Who's to say what is proper?"

"Edith!," her mother scolded, "You know very well it isn't proper to be alone with a married man in his bedroom. We are making allowances due to the severity of Branson's illness. Once he is able to care for himself this will have to end."

Seven days after Edith and Sybil had brought Branson back from the hospital, Edith had gone to check on Sybil. Branson had taken a turn for the worse. Every breath was labored and his skin was burning up. Sybil had a large bucket of ice and was desperately packing it around him as he lay on a sheet in an attempt to bring the fever down.

"Sybil, why is he worse?" Edith questioned. "He seemed a little better the last time I saw him."

"This sometimes happens," Sybil said. Edith could see the tears running down Sybil's cheeks as she worked. "If the ice doesn't work…! Oh, Edith!" Sybil turned and threw herself into her sister's arms. The stress of keeping Sybil's secret, her own grief and the prospect of someone else dying who was so healthy and full of life only a few short weeks ago were too much for Edith. The sobs broke from her lips and the tears streamed from her eyes as she held her sister. The grief poured out of her into the room until the tears wouldn't come anymore. When the two sisters finally stopped crying and wiped their red blurry eyes, they heard a slight rustle come from the bed.

"What's all the noise?" Tom Branson rasped out. "The bed feels wet." He sighed and fell asleep.

"The fever has broken," Sybil said, while wiping the tears from her cheeks. "He's going to live."

"And your going to have to tell father," Edith said to Sybil with a grin.

Both sisters started to laugh as they began scooping the ice off of Sybil's husband and finding some fresh sheets for the bed.