As the final preparations got underway for the trip, things became pretty hectic. Robert practically locked himself in his library as excited squeals and lost hats became more frequent. He thought his daughters had grown up over the last few years, but they were behaving as if they were ten year olds again. Staff were scurrying around trying to find the array of items that were missing. Anna and Miss O'Brien had the double task of packing for themselves as well as for Lady Grantham and the girls. Mrs Patmore was busily baking an assortment of treats for the journey. The ladies were going by train, breaking the journey in London, then going on to Dover to catch the ferry. Branson would follow them in the car.

They boarded the ferry in the evening, settled into their compartments and dined. After dinner Mary and Edith both made their excuses and hurriedly returned to their cabins. Anna went with them. Miss O'Brien had never reappeared after dinner. Cora, Sybil and Branson stood on the deck watching the waves roll past. They stayed there for some time before Branson broke the silence.

"Your Ladyship, I was wondering if I could have a day off while we are in France."

Cora smiled at him "May I ask why?"

"Well, there's something I've wanted to go to since I was little. The date this year happens to coincide with your holiday. I would have asked you sooner, but I only saw the article when I was waiting for you at the station."

"Is it a particular day then, Branson?"

"Yes, your Ladyship. The 25th."

"I'll see what I can do." He nodded gratefully to her before looking back at the water.

They returned to silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Sybil wrinkled her nose, trying to remember what he had been reading earlier. She gave up trying and instead began to wish that her mother had not been there so she could have asked him more about it. If it had been any other young man stood there she was sure her mother would have made some excuse to leave them alone together. That started her worrying about other reasons her mother had for bringing them, apart from Mary's wedding. She was 25 and had shown no interest in getting married. True Mary was older than her but now she was settled Sybil might receive more unwanted attention. She sighed into the darkness.

Branson was thinking about previous journeys he had made on ferries. There were not many. The first time was when the whole of his family had travelled from Ireland to England for his sister's wedding. It had been the first time he had been abroad. He had been very excitable and, looking back, probably very annoying to everyone around him. The wedding had been enchanting although everything sounded strange to a little Irish boy. He didn't remember the ferry back; he had slept most of the way according to his parents. The only other time was when he left Ireland for Downton.

Cora, on the other hand, had been a regular sailor. After she had met Robert she seemed to spend more time on various ships than she did on dry land. To start with these trips had been new and exciting. Soon they had become a chore, trying to prevent her own mother from invading Downton too often. She enjoyed the swell of the waves. As a young girl she had often gone sailing in New York. She smiled at the happy memories. Then she turned her attention back to her daughters. Sybil, she noticed, had a slight frown plaguing her features and the other two had gone inside.

"Sybil, darling, are you feeling alright?"

"Quite, mama." Her short answer was rather uncharacteristic.

"I was going to go and check on your sisters. Would you prefer me to stay?"

"No, mama, I'm fine. Please go if you want."

Cora walked down the corridors which led to their compartments. She tapped gently on Mary's door and went in. Her eldest was sitting on the edge of her bed, whilst Anna brushed her hair. Mary was very pale. Her usual demeanour shattered by seasickness.

"Mary, dear, are you okay?" Cora was met by a reproaching glare. "Anna, how are you? I hope you are not in the same predicament as Mary."

"No, your Ladyship. I'm perfectly well. Thank you." Anna tied a piece of ribbon around Mary's dark locks. "Was there anything you wanted, your ladyship?"

"No, thank you." Cora sat next to her daughter on the bed and smiled at Anna, who left to give them both some privacy. It might have been the three of them together again or simply curiosity that prompted Cora's next question to Mary. "Did you ever tell Matthew, about...?" The shock was evident in Mary's eyes as she looked at her mother, before trailing her eyes to the floor.

"Kemal. Yes." Mary nodded slightly. "When he came back, and proposed again, I told him. I had to. I refused him before because I couldn't tell him, not because of the...current situation. I couldn't lose him again."

"How did he take it?" Cora encouraged her daughter.

"He said he wasn't surprised. He was just glad I could finally tell him the truth." She sighed, remembering the whole encounter.

Cora left Mary to her thoughts and knocked on the next door. There was no answer. She knocked again. "Edith?"

She heard the door being unlocked and then opened. Cora had expected Edith to be in a similar state to Mary. Instead Edith looked completely unaffected by the sea; her dress was neat as was her hair. However her eyes were obviously red from crying.

"Mama," she said shakily.

Cora pulled her into a hug. Edith was slightly taken aback by this and another sob escaped her.

"Hush," Cora tried to comfort her daughter "could you tell me what's wrong."

"Patrick." Edith muttered. More tears escaped her.

Cora knew Edith was one for storing her emotions but that shocked her. "But that was almost ten years ago!"

Edith pulled violently out of her mother's arms and turned to face the window. "But, to think that he… he's down there, somewhere. Oh mama, it's horrible!" Cora had nothing to say to that. She stood there a few moments more, when Anna came in.

"Sorry, your Ladyship. I was going to ask if Lady Edith wanted me to do anything."

"Anna, before you attend to Lady Edith, could you possibly run down and tell O'Brien that I've gone to my Cabin."

"Yes, milady." She quickly left the room. Cora turned around again to find that Edith was once again facing her. The expression on her daughter's face was enough to know she was no longer welcome.

"Goodnight, darling." With that Cora left the room, and found her own compartment. Within a few minutes Anna was knocking on Lady Grantham's door. "Come in."

"Your Ladyship," Anna curtseyed "Miss O'Brien, I'm afraid, is in a worse state than Lady Mary. I can help you now, Lady Edith said she would rather read for a while and I haven't yet seen Lady Sybil."

"Thank you Anna. When you do see her, can you bid her a goodnight from me?"

Sorry this took so long in coming! Please review.