Ellen thought Tom had changed quite a bit from his time away from them and Ireland. He was as hard working as ever, not only driving for the Shelbourne but also spending time at his cousin's garage on some weekends and evenings when his schedule at the Shelbourne allowed, but there was a heighten seriousness to him now.

Tom had always been studious, he was that rare child that seemed to love school. It broke Ellen's heart when Tom had to quit school at fourteen to help support the family after the sudden death of his father. Of her sons, Ellen had always thought Tom was the one that would make something of himself. Sean was steady and reliable with not an ounce of imagination in him. Like most in his neighborhood, he was married and a father by the time he was 20. A home and loving family with a steady job, all that he now possessed, was all Sean wanted and he was satisfied. Michael was his mother's heartache. While he was generally kind and loving, he was also tempermental, impetuous, and secretive. If he had dreams and aspirations he never shared them with anyone in the family at least not to Ellen's knowledge. Ellen didn't know where Michael spent his time or how he earned his money and quite frankly she was afraid to find out.

Tom was the dreamer. He made it clear from an early age that he wanted something more for himself than what so many sons in his neighborhood were willing to settle for. He immersed himself in books as a way of broadening his knowledge particularly in the area of politics and history and maybe also as a way of escaping the lower middle class life around him.

For all his seriousness, Tom also had a social streak. He was never want for company whether from his mates or girls. But now between work and spending time with her and his younger sisters, Tom did very little socializing. In the first few weeks he had been back in Ireland he had caught up with his mates who were still in Dublin, spending a few evenings out at the pub but there was no hint of female company.

It seemed in the few years before he left for England, Tom had his pick of female companionship. Of course to Ellen, her son was a good catch as he was handsome, kind, hardworking, and fun. There had been a couple of serious relationships, two of which she thought might lead to the altar but she then realized that Tom wasn't ready to settle down, he had dreams to fulfill.

The letters came almost like clockwork every two weeks. Ellen noticed that on the days Tom must of thought a letter would come, he was like a child on Christmas morning. When he received a letter, Tom would never open it in front of her or his sisters instead taking the letter to the privacy of his bedroom. Whatever the letters contained or whoever they were from, they were his to savor alone.

After a couple of months of this and with Tom no closer to talking about the letters, Ellen decided to confront him. She thought from the writing on the envelope the letters were from a female. But if he had a girlfriend why didn't he share it with her? What was he hiding?

When Tom arrived home from work that evening he immediately looked for that days' post.

"It didn't come today" Ellen said.

"What?" Tom tried looking perplexed.

"The letter. The kind that comes every two weeks from London." Ellen replied.

Tom looked intently at his mother.

"What . . . you thought I wouldn't notice?"

Tom sheepishly put his hands in his pockets.

When Ellen thought no reply was forthcoming she continued, "Tom, please tell me. Why are those letters so important to you? Who are they from?"

After a minute of looking all around the room, Tom finally looked at his mother. "They're from Sybil. She's a nurse in London."

"And how do you know this nurse Sybil in London?"

"She's …. She's. . ." Tom stammered. "She's from Downton. Actually she's the youngest daughter of his Lordship. She's Lady Sybil Crawley although now she prefers to be known as Nurse Crawley."

Of the many things Tom could have said, Ellen had never imagined this. "So does this Lady Sybil have something to do with why you lost your job?"

"and all the time you've been driving me about, bowing and scraping, and seducing my daughter behind my back"

Tom looked intently as his mother. She deserved to know the truth. "Aye."

He then proceeded to tell her the story of his and Sybil's friendship, his proposal at York, and then the betrayal of Lady Mary leading to his firing. Ellen listened to Tom without interrupting him.

"I love her mam and she loves me."

"How can you be sure that she loves you, that a rich English lady loves a working class Irish lad?" Ellen was afraid for her son. It was obvious he was in love but did this girl really love him or was it just a phase for her.

"I know I haven't said it before. I haven't been willing to acknowledge what I know is in my heart. I do love you Tom Branson"

"Yes she does. She told me before I left and continues to do so in her letters. Sybil is different from the rest of them. She doesn't want the kind of life her family envisions for her. She's kind and sweet and wants to do something with her life. She's left her family and is working as a nurse in London. She wants to continue nursing after the war."

"I suppose her writing to you every other week is some proof of that" Ellen conceded but not wholly convinced.

Ellen was glad to finally know Tom's story. She knew that there was nothing she could do to change the situation either Tom and this Lady Sybil would get together after the war or they wouldn't. Time and Lady Sybil herself would make that decision because it was clear that Tom was in love, deeply and truly in love. If, in the end, it was Tom's heart that was broken, Ellen would be there to support him.

Although his job at the Shelbourne was not technically one of a servant, Tom thought that it was like he was back at Downton again. He was once again invisible to most of those that he drove. At Downton, other than "good morning" or "thank you", Tom was never acknowledged by those he drove other than Sybil of course. Well now that wasn't actually so, of all people, old lady Grantham did actually converse with him on occasion. She was the only one besides Sybil that had ever asked about his family.

At the Shelbourne most of those he drove were English including government and military officials. However, there were some Irish who visited the Shelbourne although these all seem to be the Irish that favored British rule. Many of this type of Irish had prospered because of their dealings with the British. Regardless of whether they were English or Irish, they usually conversed as if Tom couldn't hear what they were saying. Tom was surprised at the types of things he heard whether it was a military plan or defaming the local Irish population.

It didn't take a long time for Tom to realize that his brother Michael was involved with the Irish rebels. While Tom agreed with Michael on many things and wanted a free Ireland, he did not agree with achieving such freedom totally through violence. But as he saw first hand how the local population was treated by the soldiers and heard those he drove insult the Irish, he realized that some of the information he overhead could be of value to Michael and his cohorts. So while Tom kept his eyes on the road and his mouth closed, he listened and learned.

Just like at Downton, being a chauffeur gave one a lot of time waiting and Tom used this time to write. He wrote rebuttals to British actions and things he heard. He wrote of how the world at large was changing and how things would be different after the war. He wrote of the life of a servant, not just chauffeurs but housemaids and valets and footmen. He wrote of the injustices he saw around him and those he had experienced. He filled notebooks with his writings.

Often his passengers would leave newspapers in the car, newspapers of the sort that he would never spend his precious wages on buying, newspapers that always took the British side. Finally an article in one such newspaper riled Tom so much in what he perceived as there unremitting bias that he spurred him to write a rebuttal to the editor. But he didn't stop there, he send copies to other British papers including the Manchester Guardian a paper that was much more open to the truth than most of the British press.

About a week later Tom received a letter from an editor at the Guardian regarding his recent submission. Much to his utter surprise, the editor was quite impressed with Tom's writing and inquired if Tom was interested in writing more articles for the paper. The paper was interested in running a column on the Irish situation from the viewpoint of the Irish. If Tom was interested, the paper wanted Tom to submit a few other articles to better judge his writing and if pleased with them would ask Tom to come to Manchester for an interview.

Tom quickly reviewed the ramblings he had written in his many notebooks and chose several to submit to the Guardian. After reviewing and rewriting them in what he considered to be newspaper form, he sent them to the paper along with some topics he thought might be of interest to the paper.

It was a week later when Tom received a telegram asking if he was available to come to Manchester the following week. He would be compensated with his travel expenses after his arrival in Manchester.

Tom dipped into some of his savings to buy a suit that he thought would be appropriate for a meeting with newspaper editors. He also bought three new shirts and two ties. While the suit would never mark him as an aristocrat, it was the finest suit he had ever owned and clearly made him look like he was in the middle class. Ellen and his sisters all commented how smart and handsome he looked in it. He knew he had to make a good impression, he had to make the editors see his passion, his knowledge, his ability. This was the chance he had wanted and waited for for so long.

Five months after returning to Ireland, Tom once again found himself on a ferry headed to England but this would just be a one day trip. A one day trip that could change his life.

"I'm a driver now but I won't always be. I'll make something of myself I promise.

"I know you will"

"Then bet on me."