A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, etc., for the last chapter. All of it is, as always, greatly appreciated. Thanks to those who reviewed for the first time. I hope that you choose to review again.

I want to especially thank my wonderful betas: Tripp3235, mswainwright and _livingfree (on Twitter) (in absentia for this chapter due to school work). Without these wonderful people, who listen to me gripe and have the patience to slog through chapter after chapter despite their busy lives, the quality of every aspect of this story would be much poorer indeed! :)

To provide a time reference for the weekly readers, we pick up in this chapter the morning of Sunday, May 18, 1919.

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

Chapter 30

The next day, Tom came extra early to pick up Sybil and his mother for church. British Summer Time started that day and with the first banns being read, Mrs. Branson did not want to miss it. As they arrived early, they were able to find an excellent seat. During the community announcements, Pastor Whelan looked at Tom and Sybil and said clearly,

"I publish the banns of marriage between Sybil Patricia Crawley, daughter of Robert Crawley, retired colonel of the North Riding Volunteers in the Parish of Grantham and Tom Quinlan Branson, chauffeur, of the Parish of Dublin. This is the first time of asking. If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be joined together in Holy Matrimony, you are to declare it."

Tom and Sybil looked at one another with love in their eyes. This was it. The first official step to becoming man and wife. Beside them, Mrs. Branson could be seen with tears in her eyes.

After another thought provoking sermon, this time on forgiveness, Pastor Whelan approached them. "Mrs. Branson, how lovely to see you again. I take it you were in attendance to hear the banns read this week."

"Yes, Pastor Whelan and good to see you again as well," said Mrs. Branson with a polite smile. "I'd not heard you speak from the pulpit before and as Tom and Sybil have both told me, you have quite a unique interpretation of God's words."

"I believe in making people think about His words, not just to passively listen to them," said the pastor. "If I can make you think, you will remember it better than if I told you what you should know."

"Quite so," said Mrs. Branson. "Excellent sermon."

Pastor Whelan turned to Tom and Sybil. "And how are Mr. Branson and Nurse Crawley this fine Sunday?"

"A little nervous," said Sybil truthfully, glancing briefly at Tom. "Part of me has been wanting this a long time and another part is thinking, will I be able to live up to being Tom's wife?"

"I'm told that it's quite natural to feel a little nervous and so long as you're doing your best, I'm sure that Mr. Branson, here, will appreciate your efforts." Pastor Whelan smiled encouragingly.

"I will indeed," confirmed Tom with a smile. "May I ask a question, Pastor?

"Of course."

"I was wondering how long the meeting will be next week?" asked Tom.

"Usually, these things take about an hour, possibly an hour and a half depending on how much you wished to cover," said the pastor. "Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if we might meet after lunch at say two o'clock in the afternoon," said Tom. He didn't want to have to rush lunch.

"Yes, of course," said Pastor Whelan with a smile. "I believe my diary is clear for that afternoon at present. I'll put you in for two."

"Thank you very much."

"See you next Sunday," said the pastor before moving off to one of his other parishioners.

"See you Sunday, Pastor Whelan," said Sybil before they left the church for lunch.


Tom and Sybil took Mrs. Branson to lunch at the public house they had been frequenting in past weeks and Mrs. Branson asked how the flat was coming along after their order had been taken by the waiter.

"Well, we now have a bed, a table, eight chairs, a welsh dresser, a desk and desk chair there," said Sybil. "The rest of the bedroom furniture is on order as is the pantry and worktables for the kitchen."

"Where are the linens going?" asked Mrs. Branson.

"I had presumed that they would go into the wardrobe for the time being. Neither of us brought many clothes with us," said Sybil. "When we have a little more saved up, we'll make an addition to our furniture."

"Have you thought of starting your pantry yet?" asked Mrs. Branson. Seeing Sybil's expression, she continued. "Would you like some help with it?"

"Yes, please," said Sybil. "I wouldn't know where to start."

"We can work on that next week when we go out for food shopping. Did I mention that Marni can take your washing from my place until you've fully moved in?" said Mrs. Branson. Seeing that both Tom and Sybil shook their heads, she continued. "She gave me a separate sack for your clothes and such. Ask me for it before you go home tonight, Tom."

"Yes, Ma," said Tom. "I asked Cousin Fergus about his chimney sweep on Friday night and he said that he'll ask the fellow to do ours when they come next week."

"Good, good," said Mrs. Branson. "I know that you got milk and coal delivery sorted out because Sybil and I went to the offices when I paid for this month. Have you gotten a dustbin yet?"

Sybil bit her lip and Tom said, "Would it be wrong if we said, we hadn't thought of getting one?"

Mrs. Branson smiled at them. "You should be able to pick one up at the ironmongers."

Sybil finally spoke up. "Thank you, Mrs. Branson. We thought we had been so good with getting together a wedding, getting banking set up, getting a flat and setting it up, looking for a job, and we're still forgetting so many things."

Feeling sympathy for Sybil's plight, Mrs. Branson said, "It's a lot of work to set up home. It's much more work to set up home on a budget in six weeks in a different country while organizing a wedding. I wouldn't be too hard on yourselves. I think you've done an admirable job."

"We couldn't have done it without you, Ma," said Tom. "We appreciate your help and support very much."

"Give me some grandchildren and we'll call it even," said Mrs. Branson with a smile.

Tom and Sybil looked at one another and blushed at the implication. Before they could respond, their food arrived and the discussion turned to the sermon they heard earlier that morning.


Though busy with more gifts arriving, a pantry to start and a gift and two dresses to finish, the following week was more routine than all the weeks previous. Aside from an angry note declining to attend "Tom's wedding to an Englishwoman" from his aunt and uncle who lost their son in the Rising, the remaining responses were mainly positive, if not then at least neutral. Tom was family and they should celebrate his marriage especially since his mother was quite positive to the match.

Meanwhile, Sybil was finally getting the hang of several dishes and could purchase the right ingredients in the right amounts and make them from start to finish without asking too many questions. So Mrs. Branson taught Sybil how to make Tom's favorite cookies which Sybil took like a duck to water. Baking really was her forte. Mrs. Branson also suggested that Sybil start purchasing pantry items that don't spoil like tea, salt, sugar and a few spices as a start, so that in the couple of weeks remaining, she wasn't purchasing it all at once.

Sybil also wrote her weekly letter to her mother and to Edith. From the descriptions in her mother's last letter, Lady Grantham had envisioned the wedding breakfast at the scale of the annual garden party at Downton for the hospital. While the courses all sounded good in Sybil's mind, the more exotic foods her mother had placed on the menu were probably over the top. While Edith's letter still seemed rather melancholy, she did say that she was looking forward to the trip to Ireland. So Sybil cautioned her mother to consider foods requiring only the basic pieces of cutlery for the wedding breakfast while trying to cheer Edith up with the possibility of a visit to Ireland after she and Tom were married.

Sybil also completed three of the four handkerchiefs she had been embroidering for Mrs. Branson. They had Mrs. Branson's initials, RQB, and a small rose on each side as well as a few stylized curlicues radiating from each rose. Cathleen had procured the embroidery thread colours she didn't have and had encouraged Sybil along the way.

The week also saw the final fitting for Sybil's wedding dress. It was a white, long-sleeve, floor length dress with a fitted bodice and over fifty tiny buttons down the back held by button loops and some fine embroidery work on the dress itself. The bodice and sleeves were very simple with a lightly patterned gossamer to accent it. The train was five feet long and could be buttoned up at the bustle after the wedding ceremony to allow Sybil to walk around without the aid of a bridesmaid. The veil was borrowed from Mrs. Branson in the end. They simply could not find silk tulle at a reasonable price so soon after the war was over. It was simply a piece of tulle that was large enough to cover the bride from the top of her head to just above the elbows that had been edged and had a pin to fasten it to the headdress, which was a mobcap with fabric roses sewn around the edges.

On Friday, a letter arrived from Edith but not from Lady Grantham, which was surprising, but with Cathleen's seventeenth birthday the next day and Sybil having offered to make the entire dinner, she simply did not have the time to think too much about it. Edith's letter seemed more cheerful than the last, but Sybil felt that there was something Edith wasn't saying, but with limited time on her hands, she had no time to ponder.

Saturday was a very busy day for Sybil. She had planned the dinner over the last week and it was time to do the work. The morning was spent on the baked goods, first, she started the bread and while she left it to rise, she worked on one of Mrs. Patmore's cakes for dessert. With the late morning mail came a letter from her mother that Sybil simply slipped into her apron pocket before she punched down the bread dough for the final rising that afternoon. After a quick bite to eat, Sybil took Mrs. Branson with her to purchase the fresh food. When they got home, Sybil only had time to season the roast she chose under Mrs. Branson's guidance before it had to go into the pot to cook.

After browning the roast, she then started peeling the potatoes for potato pie while the roast simmered. The potato pie took especially long as she managed to burn the first pan of onions, so she was especially careful with the bacon, then boiled the potatoes. While the ingredients cooled, Sybil peeled some carrots and potatoes that would go into the pot with the roast just before it was ready. After the potato pie was assembled and in the oven, Sybil then fried up the potato pieces for the pot roast so that they wouldn't disintegrate when it went into the pot with the carrots. Once the potato pie was out of the oven, Sybil put the potatoes and carrots into the pot as she waited fifteen minutes for the oven to cool before putting the bread there. As the bread baked, Sybil iced the cake and added a few small candles. The only reason Sybil remembered to do all these tasks was because she had written it all down in a list grouped by course and in watching her, because he was not allowed to help, Tom thought she consulted that list more often than she cooked. Sybil was so busy and focused, she didn't even notice when Ciaran, Aileen and Maeve arrived after Mairin and Kevin's brood.

In the end, the dinner was edible. The pot roast was slightly on the bland side and the potato pie was slightly saltier than normal, but if you didn't butter the bread, it all evened out. Sybil was exhausted. She had done parts of meals in the last few weeks, but this was the first time she did all the work for a dinner and it felt good. When Cathleen blew out the birthday candles that night and hugged Sybil for baking her such a nice cake, Sybil felt for the first time that she belonged in Tom's family and thought how nice it was to have Cathleen there to take the sting from missing her own sisters.


Sunday found them at the church again for the second reading of the banns. As Pastor Whelan intoned the words,

"I publish the banns of marriage between Sybil Patricia Crawley, daughter of Robert Crawley, retired colonel of the North Riding Volunteers in the Parish of Yorkshire and Tom Quinlan Branson, chauffeur, of the Parish of Dublin. This is the second time of asking. If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be joined together in Holy Matrimony, you are to declare it."

Sybil felt excitement this time and she looked over at Tom with love and squeezed his hand. He smiled back at her and made her feel as though she could take on the world.

After the service, Pastor Whalen came up to them. "Would you mind meeting at half past one instead? We had a parishioner pass away suddenly last night and the family wanted to meet at three. As no parent is involved, I'm sure that we can sort it all out in an hour."

Sybil looked at Tom, who said, "Not at all. We're free all afternoon."

"Excellent," said the pastor. "I'll see you then."


Lunch found them at their picnic spot as it was sunny and they wanted to take advantage. After quickly eating their sandwiches, Sybil relaxed against Tom whose back was against the tree trunk. He pulled her closer by her waist and took in her scent of lilacs. They had another hour before they had to head back to the church. Sybil looked thoughtful and quiet on such a nice day which was rather uncharacteristic, so Tom asked, "A penny for your thoughts."

Sybil turned to look at him. "I was just thinking about the wedding ceremony, since we're to see Pastor Whelan shortly to discuss it. It's probably something I should have asked you before this, but you wouldn't be offended if I didn't offer to obey you in my vows, would you?"

Tom looked at her relieved. "This is what has you so pensive on such a beautiful day?"

"Be serious," said Sybil. "Would you mind?"

Tom stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Sybil, love, I never expected you to promise to obey me. I want our marriage to be one of equals. One doesn't obey the other in such a marriage."

"Oh, Tom," said Sybil with a smile. "That lifts a great weight off my mind."

"I'm glad because I didn't encourage you to be independent and to fight for women's rights for all these years so that I could make you subservient to me," said Tom. "Wouldn't you think that I'm a hypocrite in that case? I told you that you were a free spirit years ago. I wouldn't cage that for the world."

Sybil moved her free arm about Tom's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. As their lips touched, the feelings of love alone were conveyed between them. When they broke apart, Sybil felt the need to be held and laid her head upon his shoulder. Tom's arms came about her and held her protectively.

After a minute or so, Sybil, playing with one of the buttons on his waistcoat, said in a voice barely audible, "I love you very much you know."

Tom kissed her hair and stroked her back. "I know and I love you, too."

They stayed like that until they had to pack up to go see Pastor Whelan.


When they were shown to Pastor Whelan's office, he was sitting behind his desk writing something down in a notebook. He held up his finger to let them know he wanted to finish his thoughts. Once he put the pen down and closed the book, he stood up and held out his hand. "Good afternoon, Mr Branson and Nurse Crawley. Prompt as usual."

"Good afternoon, Pastor," said Tom on their behalf, shaking the pastor's hand. Sybil nodded her greeting.

"Thank you for coming earlier," said Pastor Whelan. "I saw the two of you as I read out the banns. I try to look for the couple the banns are being read for in the congregation. I find it helps connect with them as they tend to be paying attention then."

Tom and Sybil smiled at him.

The pastor smiled back and took out another notebook. "So we are here to discuss the wedding ceremony, how it proceeds and the music to accompany. As well, it's a chance for me to get to know the couple so that when I write the sermon for the wedding, I can make it appropriate for them and to understand who will be involved."

Tom and Sybil nodded at the right places.

"So firstly, how many guests are we expecting to attend this wedding?"

Sybil spoke up at this juncture. "We're expecting between forty and fifty guests."

Pastor Whelan jot something down in the notebook. "Yes. How many are in the wedding party?"

Tom answered. "I've asked my brother, Ciaran, to be my best man."

"There is at least one, but up to three bridesmaids," Sybil added. "I haven't asked my sisters yet. My family is arriving on Wednesday, so I will be asking them then and I've asked Tom's sister, Cathleen."

"Any flower girls?" asked the pastor, looking at Sybil and Tom after he wrote something else.

Tom looked at Sybil and said, "We could ask Mairin to have her oldest girl, Brigid, fill in, if you'd like. She took a shine to you the other night."

"Is she the one who asked me to read her a story?" asked Sybil.

"Yes, that's her."

Sybil smiled and nodded.

"I'll talk to Mairin on my way home tomorrow," said Tom.

"All right then. One possible flower girl named Brigid," said Pastor Whelan, writing it down. When he looked up, he asked, "Nurse Crawley, I presume your father will be giving you away."

"I presume so," said Sybil. "He hasn't indicated otherwise."

"Good," said Pastor Whelan. "Have you thought of what music you would like for the ceremony?"

"How many pieces do we have to choose?" asked Tom.

"Well," said the pastor, counting on his fingers. "There's the two processionals and a recessional. Then there's the hymns for the congregants to sing."

"One of my favorite hymns is 'Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee'," said Sybil, looked at Tom. Though they had discussed music, they'd never discussed hymns. "I'd like to have that."

Tom nodded his agreement. "One of my mother's favorites is 'Holy, Holy, Holy'."

"I like that one as well," said Sybil with a smile.

"Then it's agreed," said Pastor Whelan, writing down their hymn choices.

"Well, for the processional and recessional, we have a choice of seven songs for which we have the music and the organist knows: Bach Air on the G String from Suite #3 in D Major, Bach Arioso from Cantata #156, Handel Air from Water Music Suite, Handel Hornpipe from Water Music Suite, Mendelssohn Wedding March from Midsummer Night's Dream, Wagner Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin, and Verdi March from Aida"

Tom looked over to Sybil. "I may know them when I hear them, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the names."

"I do know most of them," said Sybil excitedly. "I've always loved Handel." Looking at Tom, she asked, "If you don't mind …"

"Not at all," said Tom. "Especially since you know them."

"All right then. I'd like the Handel Air for the Bridesmaids processional and I'd like the Handel Hornpipe for the Bride's processional. For the recessional, I'd like to go with Verdi March."

Pastor Whelan nodded as he jotted Sybil's choices. "Now for the two readings. The two most popular choices are Genesis 2, verses 15-24 and 1 Corinthians 13. I have them bookmarked in this bible. If you wish to read them and decide."

Tom took the bible from the pastor and they both read through the passages. Sybil looked at Tom and Tom said, "These are good passages."

"Very well," said Pastor Whelan jotting these choices.

Sybil spoke up as Pastor Whelan was writing. "I was wondering if we might have a poem read on top of these bible readings."

"I'm sure that we can work something out. What poem did you have in mind?"

"Would you happen to have Sonnets of the Portuguese among your books?" asked Sybil.

"Why indeed I do, I believe that Mrs. Barrett Browning's poetry transcends nationalities," said Pastor Whalen with a smile.

"I was hoping to include Sonnet 43 as a reading," said Sybil. Turning to look at Tom, she added, "It has special meaning to us."

"'How do I love thee? Let me count the ways," quoted Pastor Whelan from memory. "An apt poem for a wedding. We could perhaps place it in between the two readings."

Sybil looked at Tom for affirmation then turned to the pastor. "That is a fine idea."

"Do you have readers?" asked Pastor Whelan.

Sybil looked at Tom. "Do you think we can ask Mairin, Connor and Niamh to read one each? If my sisters will be bridesmaids, they will be too occupied and I can't imagine Papa or Mama reading a passage."

"I'm sure that Mairin and Connor would have no problem, but I don't want to burden Niamh when she's travelling all the way from Athalone and back in a half day. What about one of your sisters if they don't choose to be bridesmaids?"

"Perhaps the final reader will be sorted out after my family arrives."

"I think that's a good idea." Tom nodded.

"Now, we will need to discuss the vows," said Pastor Whelan, pulling a piece of paper from a pile on his desk. "Here are the standard vows we use here at Rathgar Christian Church. Do either of you have any objections to what's in them?"

Tom and Sybil read the page in front of them and when Sybil got to the word obey, she spoke up. "I would like to omit the word obey from my vows. I do not wish to promise God that I would obey Tom when there may be opportunity in our marriage where I may have to break that vow if I were to disagree with him."

Pastor Whelan took in what Sybil had to say, turned to Tom. "What do you think of this?"

"I never expected Sybil to vow to obey me," said Tom with conviction. "I want our marriage to be one of equals and that doesn't include the vow to obey for her."

"Um-hmm. Very interesting," said Pastor Whelan. "So you believe in women's suffrage as well then, Mr Branson?"

"Indeed I do."

Pastor Whelan turned back to Sybil. "What's your view of all this?"

"Of women's suffrage?" asked Sybil. "I think it's high time women got the vote and be equal to men."

"I don't know if you're aware," said Pastor Whelan. "But the local women's suffrage league meets in the church hall on the last Tuesday evening of the month. You're both probably too busy to attend their next meeting this Tuesday, but possibly in June."

"Thank you for letting us know," said Sybil. "I didn't see it in the church bulletin though."

Pastor Whelan smiled. "There are parishioners who may object to the use of the church bulletin in that manner and to allow the league some place to meet, the church council agreed not to publish their use of the hall."

"I see," said Sybil.

Glancing at the clock on the mantelpiece above the fireplace, Pastor Whelan said, "Now if you need to make arrangements to decorate the church or the hall or get access to the hall for the reception, please speak to Miss Wilson on the way out. Did either of you have any questions?"

"No," said Tom.

"I do," said Sybil. "My family arrives in Ireland next week. I expect that they will be in attendance next Sunday and there is a chance that my mother will wish to make changes to the wedding ceremonies."

"Say no more," said Pastor Whelan with his hands up. "I've had my share of meddling mothers before. If it is your wish to keep the ceremonies as is, I can ensure we will do so."

"It is," said Sybil. "Thank you, Pastor Whelan."

"If there's nothing else, we'll see you next Sunday," said the pastor as he held out his hand for them to shake.

Tom and Sybil both shook the pastor's hand, nodded to him and left.

A/N2: What did you think of the banns and Sybil's cooking? I thought Sybil did marvelously with about 5-6 weeks of practice. What about the wedding ceremony itself? I have to say that I borrowed heavily from my own wedding years ago. :P Next up, Lady Grantham's letter and the aftermath. Even though it's the same afternoon as the discussion on the wedding, I didn't want to try to cram it into this chapter.

As always, please feel free to point out any typos and grammatical errors. Sometimes no matter how hard you or your betas look, these things get missed. As always, I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter good or bad, so please do review. :)