A/N: Thank you so much for all your reviews, alerts and favorites. They make me smile. Many thanks to my patient betas, Tripp3235 and mswainwright.

Disclaimer: Not mine. All Downton Abbey characters belong to Julian Fellowes and ITV. I'm just playing with them.

Chapter 1

Sybil

By the time Edith dropped Anna, Mary and her off at the back entrance, it was already the beginnings of the new day. The birds were already chirping and the first hint of dawn was in the skies. The return drive had been quiet save for Sybil's soft sobbing. She had cried for her parting from Tom and from the look on his face when she left. His words played in her head over and over again. "Go back with them then, if you think that they can make you happier than I will." Add the shift from the emotional high of the failed elopement and Sybil was a sobbing mess. How will I find him? We never talked about what to do if we were stopped.

When Anna escorted Mary and Sybil to their rooms while Edith parked the car, Mary instructed Anna to tend to Sybil first to make sure she was in bed before helping Edith and then herself. While Anna helped Sybil undress, she said a few soothing words and when she helped Sybil to bed, Anna told her that it would all look better in the morning. Though Sybil wasn't so sure, her exhaustion and crying had tired her so that she fell asleep almost the moment her head hit the pillow.

When she woke up the next day, it was already close to noon. She quickly dressed and rang for Anna to help her with her hair. Sybil looked wistfully at the brush in her hand. The same brush that Tom had used to brush her hair the night before. Sybil bit her lip at the thought and tears began to form again. But before she could wallow much in self pity, Anna knocked and came in with a breakfast tray since the dining room must have been cleared hours earlier.

"Good Morning, Anna," said Sybil not feeling much like the greeting. "Thank you for bringing me a tray."

"Good Morning, Milady," said Anna, putting the tray on the bed. "Are we feeling better this morning?"

"Better," said Sybil wistfully with a sigh, looking at Anna through her mirror. "But not best."

Taking the hairbrush from Sybil, Anna smiled at her. "Well then, you may be happy to know that Mr. Branson has returned with the car this morning and has driven her Ladyship to the village for her meeting with Mrs. Crawley."

Turning to look at Anna properly, Sybil said with excitement, "Has he? So Mary and Edith haven't told Mama and Papa?"

"Not that I'm aware of Milady," said Anna with a smile. She had always liked Lady Sybil and thought she should have some happy news. "Neither of them have yet to ring for me," added Anna as an afterthought.

"Thank you for letting me know about Tom," said Sybil, turning back to looking at the mirror with a big smile that came up to her eyes. He came back!

"How would you like your hair today, Milady?"


After she had eaten, Sybil came downstairs with a book clutched in her hand that contained a note for Tom inside. Knowing that her mother was out, she went to the library to ask her father to be excused from luncheon since she had only just eaten her breakfast. Though he disliked eating alone, Lord Grantham couldn't come up with a reason not to give his consent after asking about her health. Once the Earl had determined that Sybil was indeed better, he went back to the papers on his desk. Sybil had one of the hall boys get her spring coat and she escaped the house into the beautiful spring day.

Her first stop was the garage where she left the note for Tom on the tidy tool bench. Looking around, she was immensely glad that he had returned with the car. It had been such a hasty departure the evening before that they had not discussed what to do if they were caught and separated. Before Anna gave her the news of Tom's return, she had been thinking of ways to contact him. She had his mother's address in Dublin, but dismissed the idea of writing him there as it would take too long for a reply. Now Sybil was determined to have a better plan when she next left with Tom. With a last look around, she walked towards the woods behind the garage to the bench by the small stream where she told him to meet her when he returned and started reading the book she had brought with her.


Tom

He had slept very little after Sybil had left with her sisters. He climbed into the bed where she had laid down for maybe an hour before her sisters barged in, but sleep alluded him as his mind replayed their elopement and what had gone wrong.

After the birds started chirping in the hours before dawn, he had gotten up, shaved, packed, paid for the room and left for Downton. As he drove back, he had considered several possibilities for his next step, but eventually, they all led to the same point. He was returning so he could wait for her some more. When he drove back into the garage, he quickly unpacked pretending as if the night before had not happened. He couldn't go find her at the big house, so he changed back into his uniform and started cleaning the car to ready it for the rest of this day's journeys.

When breakfast time came, he walked over to the big house at the usual time. Passing Mrs. Hughes in the hallway near the kitchen, she remarked that he looked rather tired. He just shrugged when she walked on already busy with something else. Just before entering the servants hall, he saw Anna writing something down by the bells. She gave him a look. "Good Morning, Mr. Branson." She looked as tired as he felt. He wondered if she had gone with Lady Mary and Lady Edith on the expedition.

Before Tom could make a reply, Mr. Carson entered the servants hall and everyone stood up. When everyone sat down, Mr. Carson looked over to Tom who was getting ready to take his place at the table. "Her Ladyship is meeting with Mrs. Crawley in the village this morning and may be out until after luncheon. Bring a sandwich with you in case she does. She would like to leave at half past nine, and Mrs. Crawley and Miss Swire will be dining with us again tonight. They asked to be picked up from Crawley House at five o'clock today as they would like to visit with Mr. Crawley prior to dinner."

"Of course, Mr. Carson," said Tom, ooking around the table to see if anyone was suspicious of the goings on last night, but aside from Anna, it appeared not and he figured he probably had no worries on that score. Anna was the most discreet of the lot.


After Tom dropped her Ladyship off at her meeting at the refugee centre in the village, he was told that he would not be needed for at least two hours. So he parked the car and went to the local news shop that carried the papers he wanted, to distract himself from his thoughts, before going back to wait by the car.

Reading an English account of the troubles in Ireland was just not the same, but it wasn't likely that he could find a Dublin paper in the wilds of Yorkshire, so he had to try to content himself with a biased view of the incidents. When he read an account of an attack by the British Military in a town just outside Dublin, his thoughts drifted back to how Sybil would react to living there, which inevitably made him think back to last night and the kisses they had shared in the room before settling down separately and turning off the light. He had respected her wish to wait until after the wedding, but she was certainly testing his patience at times when her fingers played with his hair behind his neck and when she moaned into the kisses.

The horn of a passing car woke him from his reverie. Checking his pocket watch, he realized that it was almost time for him to return to wait for her Ladyship. Hastily, he finished his sandwich and folded up the newspaper before driving to where her Ladyship was conducting the meeting. Tom didn't like the idea of pretending nothing had happened last night since he didn't have a deceitful nature, but this was the only way to remain close to Sybil to determine if she would keep her promise to remain true to him.

When he got back to the garage after dropping her Ladyship off at the front, he noticed a note on the workbench. After hastily taking off his driving gloves, he opened the note and began to read.

Dearest Tom,

I promised to remain true to you. I will await you at the bench by the brook behind the garage until the dressing gong. Come quickly.

With Love,
Sybil

After putting the note in his trouser pocket, Tom took off his hat and walked quickly toward the woods. As soon as he was hidden in the foliage, he sprinted toward the stream.

A/N2: So our lovers are about to meet again. Please review to let me know what you think. :)