Disclaimer: I do not own Downton Abbey.
Chapter 7 – The Birth
Lord Grantham said nothing when his youngest daughter asked to be taken home so soon after arriving, assuming the pregnancy was making her too emotional to handle dealing with Matthew's injury. Mary knew better. She told her father that she would stay for awhile and immediately went to see Matthew.
"What did you say to Sybil?" She asked, taking enough care for his condition to keep her tone level.
"Only what she already knew." He replied. Mary waited, clearly expecting him to elaborate. "I told her that my inability to be a husband to her would free her from her marriage vows and that I would not hold her to them.
"Oh, Matthew!" Mary explained in obvious disappointment. "I cannot believe you would say such a thing. Actually, I do believe you would say such a thing, but I do not believe you would mean it."
"Of course I meant it."
"That is your injury talking, not you."
"But I am my injury now." He said forcefully. "This is my life now; lame and useless."
"Your hypocrisy astounds me." He looked somewhat shocked by her words. "How many times have I heard you say that the men returning from war having given limbs, and nearly their lives, for their country were heroes? Heroes who were not useless and deserved our support after all they had done? Heroes who should not be ashamed of their injuries? And yet here you are ashamed of yours, calling yourself lame and useless." He clearly wanted to argue with her but thought better of it. Seeing at least that he had conceded this much, Mary softened and reached over to grasp his hand. "It is going to be hard, very hard, there is no doubt about that. But you will get through this, we will all help you. We will support our family's hero." That managed to get a smile from him though it quickly left.
"Sybil shouldn't have to deal with a lame husband. I can't ask it of her." Mary raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think she is going to be asking for your opinion. She may be uncharacteristically upset, having run out of here in tears, but that is the baby's doing. Once she has calmed down I've no doubt that Sybil will dig her heels in and carry on as if you had never said anything. Well, that or she'll do a very good impression of Granny and call you on the carpet as if you're a naughty child. She's gotten very good at that these last few months."
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Sybil decided on a combination of the two. She returned later that day as if nothing had happened and continued on like that for the next couple weeks until Matthew was released from hospital to return to Downton. He'd been given a wheeled chair and now that he was healed enough to go for walks in the garden Sybil took this opportunity to push his chair far from the house and have a chat in private.
"I never want to hear you say such things again, Matthew." She said, looking him in the eyes after she'd parked his chair next to a bench and taken a seat herself. "You are my husband and I love you. I promised to stay with you in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, and though I did not love you as a wife should love her husband when I said those words, I still meant them, and I mean them even more now." Matthew opened his mouth to speak but Sybil wouldn't give him the chance. "I don't care what argument you have for why I should divorce you, I don't want to hear it! You are not getting rid of me, Matthew Crawley, not now not ever so you had better get used to our life together as it is now, because this, us, together, is your reality for as long as you live." Matthew looked at her silently and she waited for him to say something. "Matthew!" She said sharply when he didn't speak fast enough for her liking.
"Oh, I'm sorry, were you finished? I didn't want to interrupt." The amusement in his eyes was clear and Sybil wasn't sure if she liked it and was upset that she didn't know. Usually she would take it as a good sign, but being pregnant her hormones were making her out of sorts so she wasn't sure if she liked him making fun of her.
"Matthew…" She settled for growling.
"Sybil," He replied, reaching over and taking her hand. "I love you. And I love you all the more for how you have stuck by me these last weeks."
"Of course I stuck by you! You're my husband and I love you!"
"I know." He said, placating her before she could work herself up, as she appeared to be doing. "But as I was, as injured as I was, I thought you would be better off without me. I was convinced that no matter how much you may love me, you would quickly come to resent me."
"I could never resent you, Matthew. Especially not for something like this." He smiled softly.
"I see that now. I'm afraid in the shock of it all I couldn't. All I could see was what I would be putting you through."
"And now?"
"And now I see that I did not give you enough credit. Your sincerity has shone through, Sybil, as always and for all the doubts I had previously…they are gone." It was the right thing to say if the happy tears in her eyes were anything to go by.
Things got better for Sybil and Matthew after that. They were, of course, still dealing with navigating their new life with Matthew unable to walk, but they were making it work for them. As the last couple months of her pregnancy passed, Sybil grew more and more uncomfortable and more and more unsteady on her feet before finally giving in to her husband's, and Doctor Clarkson's, request to stay in bed and rest until the baby came. However, there was one day where she refused to stay in bed, and understandably so. At 11:00am on November 11th, 1918, the entire household gathered in the main hall to mark the end of the war.
"I think while the clock strikes, we should all make a silent prayer to mark the finish of this terrible war and what that means for each and every one of us." Said Lord Grantham, addressing them all a mere minute before the clock struck 11. "Let us remember the sacrifices that have been made and the men that will never come back, and give them our thanks." As the clock chimed silence reigned, lasting a full minute. "Thank you everyone." The Earl spoke when the minute was over. "Remember, this is not just the end of a long war, but it is the dawn of a new age. God bless you all." Very little changed in the daily lives of those at Downton in the coming days save that they no longer opened the paper with trepidation, thinking to find news of another thousand or more men killed on the battlefield. The house was still open for the recovering soldiers, who would certainly not be turned away simply because of the end of the war. However, as the weeks passed more and more men left for home as they recovered until only a few remained. It was within this much quieter house that Sybil went into labour in early December. Lord Grantham had asked a renowned obstetrician, Sir Philip, who had delivered many royal babies and future peers of the realm to deliver his first grandchild. Doctor Clarkson had been a bit put out, though did not complain too much given there were still wounded soldiers in his hospital. Still, with each soldier recovering well and the nurses having things well in hand, Doctor Clarkson was able to accept Lady Grantham's invitation to be present as well. It was there that the cordiality between the village doctor and Harley Street obstetrician ended. Sir Philip proclaimed Sybil in perfect health and that there were absolutely no concerns, though Doctor Clarkson was not so certain.
"Lady Sybil's ankles are swollen. She seems…muddled."
"What sort of muddled?" Asked Lady Grantham.
"Not quite there, not quite in the present moment."
"And what do you think it means?" Asked Mary, the entire family, sans Sybil and Matthew, being present.
"It means she's having a baby." Sir Philip scoffed. "A word, Doctor Clarkson." He said pulling the doctor aside, who relented under the titled man's stern glare for a couple hours, until he could no longer do so in good conscience.
"I believe that Lady Sybil is at risk of eclampsia."
"What is that?" Asked Lord Grantham.
"A rare condition from which she is not suffering." Sir Philip tried to assure them, shooting Doctor Clarkson a withering look.
"Tell him why you think she may be." Lady Grantham was having none of Sir Philip's posturing.
"Her baby is small, she is confused, and there is far too much albumen, that is, protein, in her urine."
"Doctor Clarkson please!" The Earl snapped. "Have you forgotten my mother is present?"
"Please," The Dowager clearly didn't believe herself as delicate as her son did. "A woman of my age can face reality far better then most men."
"The fact remains, if I am right, we must act at once."
"And do what?" Mary wanted to know, nor sure which doctor she should trust.
"Get her down to the hospital and deliver the child be caesarean section."
"But is that safe?" Asked Edith.
"It is the opposite of safe. It would expose mother and child to untold danger." Said Sir Philip. "She could pick up any kind of infection in a public hospital."
"An immediate delivery is the only chance of avoiding the fits brought on by the trauma of natural birth." Doctor Clarkson stressed. "It may not work, but-"
"Honesty, at last!" Sir Philip interrupted. "Even if she were at risk of eclampsia, which she is not, a caesarean is a gamble which might kill either or both of them."
"I think we must support Sir Philip in this." Lord Grantham decided.
"But it's not our decision." Mary insisted. "What does Matthew say?"
"Matthew has not hired Sir Philip. He is not master here, not yet at any rate, and I will not put Sybil at risk on a whim. If you are sure, Sir Philip?" Lord Grantham gave him a hard stare, practically daring him to be anything but certain.
"I am quite, quite certain." He tried to be reassuring.
"You're being ridiculous. Obviously, we have to talk to Matthew." The Countess agreed with her daughter. Lord Grantham turned to his mother for help.
"Don't look at me. Cora is right. The decision lies with Sybil's husband." The Dowager's words amounted to a final decision, as they often did, and so they went to see Matthew.
"Could we get her to hospital?" He asked after being told what was going on. He seemed to be on Doctor Clarkson's side, which Sir Philip didn't like at all.
"To move her now would be tantamount to murder."
"Sir Philip, admit it. You're beginning to detect the symptoms yourself. You can see her distress." The doctor tried to reason with him.
"Can you?" Asked Lady Grantham.
"Yes, Lady Sybil is in distress." Sir Philip said slowly, as if patiently explaining something to an ignorant child. "She's about to give birth!"
"Lord Grantham, Captain Crawley, time is running out, we should be at the hospital by now. If we'd acted at once the baby would be born." Said Doctor Clarkson.
"If she has the operation now do you swear you can save her?" Asked Edith, not sure who's side to take.
"I cannot swear it, no." The doctor said hesitantly. "But if we do not operate, and if I am right about her condition, then she will die!"
"If, if, if, if." Sir Philip waved off Doctor Clarkson's concerns. "Lord Grantham can you please take command?" Robert turned to his son-in-law
"Matthew, Doctor Clarkson is not sure he can save her. Sir Philip is certain he can bring her through it with a living child. Isn't a certainty stronger than a doubt?"
"No." Matthew said simply with no hesitation. "It is not. If the war taught me anything it is that there are no certainties in life. The fact that Doctor Clarkson admits as much instils more confidence within me then any certainties Sir Philip promises."
"Matthew-"
"I don't mean to insult Sir Philip, but Doctor Clarkson also knows Sybil. He's known her all her life, and I know she trusts him implicitly, especially after working with him these last years." No one could argue with that. "Carson, please send for the car." He addressed the butler who had been standing unobtrusively in the background as usual. "We're taking Lady Sybil to the hospital."
"Should we not wait for an ambulance?" Asked Lady Grantham as Carson all but ran off to do as asked.
"The ambulance will take too long to get here." Said Doctor Clarkson, taking charge now that Matthew had essentially given him permission. "It will be an uncomfortable ride, but far better than to wait." Sybil was delirious during the ride over, continuously claiming that she wasn't on duty and begging Doctor Clarkson to forgive her for lying down on the job. She was immediately rushed into surgery when they arrived and then it became a waiting game, which was the hardest part for her worried family. After awhile, no one knew how long, the baby's cry was heard. They waited for several long minutes before Sir Philip, whom Doctor Clarkson had allowed to assist in an effort to keep the peace, came out.
"It's a boy." He said. "A healthy boy." Smiles, happy little laughs abounded as congratulations were heaped on Matthew, who after taking a moment to rejoice in the news of a son turned his attention back to his wife.
"And Sybil?" Sir Philip turned hesitant.
"It is unclear, just yet." He said. "Though it appears that Doctor Clarkson was right to have been concerned." He sounded in pain saying so, though it didn't take a genius to figure out why. If Sir Philip was admitting he was wrong then the signs of eclampisa must now be quite obvious, so his reputation was at risk should it get out that he missed, or ignored, such obvious signs. However, if he admitted he was wrong now he could pass it off as the signs not having been so obvious and not having caught it as early as the village doctor because he didn't know Sybil or her medical history as well as the doctor, as the future Earl of Grantham himself had pointed out.
"So she's still in danger?" Lady Grantham asked, understandably concerned.
"Yes." Sir Philip said simply. "As I said, a caesarean section is quite dangerous and can leave both mother and child, though especially the mother, open to infection. The child seems in perfect health, neither I, nor Doctor Clarkson, have concerns on that front. However, Lady Sybil's recovery is not yet certain. We are doing all we can for her, I assure you." He left it at that and went to re-join Doctor Clarkson. Thankfully before the family could work themselves up into a panic, a nurse brought out a bundle swaddled snugly in a soft, white blanket. She immediately went over to Matthew and handed the baby over, leaving the new father appropriately in awe of his son.
A/N - No way Sybil was going to accept Matthew wanting to release her from their marriage and with her stubbornness I think he would realize it pretty quickly. Only one more chapter left!
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