Sybil felt a mixture of pride and annoyance as she watched Matthew struggle to process what she'd just told him.
Pride in the fact that she'd managed to startle him. He'd always been so steady, even when he allowed his emotions to run wild. Where others would rant and scream he would grit his teeth and snap off quick little comments before forcing himself to calm down. Where others would be reduced to crying wrecks he merely brooded and asked for solitude. When compared to all the other adults (and she still thought of them all as 'adults' compared her herself, even after she had managed her own home; it was only worse now that she looked in the mirror and found her child-like features looking back at her once again, the hard-earned signs of maturity wiped away by her travels into the past) he was more like Granny and Papa than her mother of Isobel, who allowed their emotions to lead them to strange paths and stranger decisions. And he certainly was better than Mary and Edith (and while she still saw herself as not being an adult when compared to her parents when it came to her sisters she truly felt her exra years and though her body didn't reflect it she was now their big sister). Matthew, though passionate, was reliable.
So being able to surprise him and leave him at a loss for words was a thrill for Sybil.
Except as the seconds ticked by and Matthew kept staring at her without speaking the annoyance piled up. She wanted her question answered, to find out what had happened to Tom and the baby, as well as the rest of the family. Even if it had only been a year that Matthew could provide answers about it was a year more than she had been given and Sybil was thirsty to find out all she could.
'I only got to see her once,' Sybil thought again, her mind clinging to those few seconds she'd managed to hold her baby, Tom by her crying with joy. It ached that, after all she'd done, all the good she'd achieved, her reward had only been a few moments of happiness with her little family before it was all sent crashing down. It had haunted her, after she'd slowly come to realize that somehow this wasn't a dream and she was truly trapped in the past, to wonder what had happened to her daughter and to Tom. How had they managed without her? Did the family rally around them or were they cast aside? Her greatest fear was that her mother and father would look at her baby and blame the little one for her death and thus drive Tom and the child away, left to fend on their own. She'd thought that she'd never know the truth, never know what had happened to her family…
…and then Matthew had come to Downton and Sybil realized that she wasn't the only one to travel back.
"Matthew," she finally said, hoping to snap him out of his shock. "Matthew, come on now, say something." He stood up and began to pace, Sybil watching him with bemusement that was still wearing away quickly as he remained silent. "Matthew-"
He turned suddenly and walked around the table, stopping dangerously close to her before kneeling before her. "Sybil?" he whispered.
"Yes," she said, her voice taking on the same slightly exasperated tone Mary's did when someone said something she thought was terribly obvious.
"…my Sybil?" Matthew asked, his voice soft and trembling as he reached forward and clasped her hands in his.
Her annoyance dissolved away and she found herself crying though she truly didn't understand why. And yet despite her tears she smiled. "Yes."
There was no warning. One moment he was just kneeling there while she sat at the table and the next he had her in the air, swinging her about as he hugged her tight, laughing in utter delight. Sybil let out a squeal as she was spun about, finding it her turn to be startled. It was so wrong, so improper, something that if anyone in her family had seen they'd have gone into shock. But as Matthew finally set her down at stared into her eyes, a massive grin on her face, she couldn't blame him. The thoughts that were racing through his head must have been the same that popped into her mind as she gripped his arms and yanked him into a bone crushing hug.
'I'm not alone.'
She still remembered how this had all begun. She'd been lying in bed, her body hurting so bad that it made her unable to bend, unable to relax, unable to do anything but lay there like a board even as her family shook her and cried at her, telling her they were there. She'd tried to yell 'I know! I know it's you Mary! I'm not a bloody idiot, now HELP ME!' but she couldn't even let out a gurgle, let alone shout. Her head had ached, like railroad spikes were being driven slowly through her temples. She'd hear Tom begging her not to leave him and even as her throat seized up and her lungs felt as if they were packed with cotton she wanted to tell him she was there, that she wasn't leaving, that it sounded as if he were the one going because his voice was growing quieter and it was so hard to hear him. The same with Mama, who'd been clinging to her arm but then she couldn't feel her… couldn't feel anything really. Even the pain had been gone, fading away into the ether leaving her floating, light and free but also so sad because she could hear people crying…
~A~O~O~O~F~
…and then the sun was in her eyes and she could hear quiet footsteps along the hardwood.
Sybil blinked, startled to find it so easy to do when before even twitching her eye had felt as if it were a Herculean task, and slowly came to realize that she was in her old room and Anna had entered. Sybil rose up slowly, shifting up against the headboard, brow furrowed as she stretched.
"Good morning, my lady," Anna said with a smile. "Did you rest well?"
"Very well," Sybil said, still confused. "What… what am I doing here?"
Anna looked at her, smiling the smile of one who was confused and didn't know how to react to a question. "Sleeping, it would seem. Unless you were suppose to be doing something else?"
"I meant how did I end up here?" Sybil asked. "Who brought me in here?"
"No one did," Anna said, standing at attention, waiting for Sybil to rise so she could help her up and begin preparing for the day. "You came in here yourself."
"I did?" Sybil asked, surprised. "I don't remember that."
Anna smirked at that. "Slipping wine during dinner when no one was looking? Normally Thomas lets us know when you do that."
"Dinner?" Sybil said, confused. "Why would I…" she shook her head. "Sorry, things are a bit foggy, I suppose." She looked about. "Where's Tom?"
"Thomas?" Anna asked, confused once again. "He's downstairs, most likely. Why?"
"Not Thomas, Tom." Anna just stared at her. "Tom Branson?" No recognition. "Anna, you're scaring me."
"Lady Sybil, you're scaring me. Are you sure you are alright?"
"I'm fine! I just want to know where Tom and my baby are."
"Baby?" Anna said, setting down the dress she'd gathered for Sybil to wear for the start of her day. "What baby?"
Sybil was in no mood to be pleasant. She was confused, disoriented, and felt as if she'd stepped into a play that was already two acts in. So instead of acting properly, as was expected of her even if she no longer truly considered Downton her home, she snapped. "My baby. The one I forced out of my damn body last night!"
"Lady Sybil, I think you are confused."
"Oh, I'm confused alright!" Sybil snapped, flapping her arms. "I don't know what game you are playing but I don't appreciate it! And why are you up here, anyway? I can dress myself, I've done it plenty of times!"
"You… you have?" the blonde woman said, backing away nervously.
"Plenty of times. There aren't many ladies maids in Dublin." She paused and, for the first time, saw just what Anna was wearing. Rather than the dark dress that Anna had worn ever since Mary had married Matthew she was once more in her maid's outfit and looking as if it were natural for her to do so. "Why are you in that? Did Mary have you demoted? Or is this just some sort of game?"
Anna's went wide and she rushed forward, grasping Sybil by the shoulders and forcing her back down onto the bed. "My lady, I don't think you're well." She placed her hand against Sybil's head, checking her temperature. "You don't feel hot-"
"I would know if I were sick!" Sybil shouted. "Now tell me what is going on? Tom? Tom!"
"What is going on!" another maid said, rushing into the room.
"I think she's delirious. Help me get her into bed and I'll go get her ladyship."
Sybil didn't want to lie down though and began to struggle even as the two maids pushed her back under the covers. "What are you doing? Why won't you make sense? Where is my baby?"
"Please, Lady Sybil," the other maid said, wiping her brow with a cloth. "You are confused. Just relax."
Suddenly Sybil's eyes focused and she stared at the maid, taking in her red hair and kind eyes, and began to shake in fear. "Gwen?" She whispered.
"That's right, Lady Sybil, that's right… Shhhh…"
"No… you… you can't…" Dark edges appeared in her vision and she heard her mother rushing into the room, her cries having drawn her in. "How… where… Tom… the baby…"
And then she knew no more.
~A~O~O~O~F~
"When I woke up again I feared that it had truly been all a dream," Sybil told Matthew, the two of them once more seated at the table though now Matthew had brought his chair to her side so he might better hold her hand and offer her comfort. "I made things terrible for them all, what with the news of James and Patrick just hitting them and then me in my 'delirium. Mama was convinced that Anna had let slip the news and I'd reacted badly. I was too grief-stricken to correct her but after a few days they felt I knew I couldn't wallow in bed and began to live my life again. I began to gather my evidence and confirm that I hadn't just imagined it all and that somehow I had ended up back in the past."
"I scared my mother the same way," Matthew said. "She thought I was sleep walking."
Despite how horrific it had been when it had happened Sybil and Matthew both chuckled. "I suppose we are lucky neither of us were committed."
"Not lucky, smart," Matthew said. "We knew to keep quiet about it."
"True," Sybil said. "It was so hard though." She toyed with her napkin with her free hand, looking down at her cup. "I so badly wanted to confide is someone. I thought about going to Gwen but I realized I had no way to really prove it to her. And even if I did… would it have been fair to place the burden on her? And what if she wanted to know about her future? Oh, I'd have loved nothing more than to tell her that she'll get a job and she shouldn't worry but what if doing so changed things? What if she knew those other interviews didn't matter and so she didn't go to them and when it was time for the one that mattered she wasn't prepared and blew it? Or what if I let slip something that she shouldn't know and she told the wrong person…" Sybil sighed. "So I bottled it up and didn't say I word. I kept it all to myself."
"Well, you don't have to do that anymore and neither do I." He gave her hand a squeeze. "We've got each other now."
"Thank God for that." She waited for a moment before finally dragging her eyes back up to look at Matthew. "Please… I have to know…" she shook her head and felt her emotions take another swing as all she wanted to do was cry. "God… I don't even know her name. I don't know my own baby's name." She sniffed, fighting back the tears that threatened to reappear. She knew already that she was going to look a wreck from her earlier crying jag but just the thought that she knew nothing about her daughter-
"Sybil," Matthew said.
"Yes?"
"No… that's what Tom decided on. He named her Sybil." She saw him smile only for it to fall when he looked at her. "What?"
Sybil realized she'd scowled at that. "Sorry… just… I hate it when fathers name their sons after themsleves. Just sounds so arrogant. I understand why Tom did it and I don't fault him for it but I really don't like thinking that my daughter was Sybil Branson II."
Matthew smiled weakly. "We called her Sybbie, if that helps."
"Oh God, that was all Mama, wasn't it?" She grimaced as the memory hit. "She called me that ALL THE TIME. I finally got her to stop a year ago from… now." She shook her head. "I hate that nickname." She sighed in utter annoyance. "Mama always thought it was so cute. I shouldn't be surprised she saddled it on my baby. Probably thought it was a lovely tribute." Matthew merely shrugged and Sybil waved him off. "It doesn't matter. I'll be naming her this time; a good proper Irish name that will make Tom happy and will make papa scowl when he has to call her that but we both know he'll grow to love it. Now, what about Tom? What happened to him?" It hurt to think of her husband and how rudderless he had been since they'd been forced to return to Downton. She'd been angry with how stupid he'd been, how he'd become involved with those… hooligans… who'd burned that estate down, but despite what her family thought she'd never gotten upset about what it meant to her. No, what pained her was what it meant for him. He'd been doing so well, becoming a writer for the paper, making a name for himself… and then, in one horrible night he'd tossed it away. He'd gone from a truly self-made man to being forced to live with his in-laws, feeling like he couldn't support his family, unsure about his future. She'd watched him struggle those last few weeks and sworn that she would find some way to help him once the baby came…
Matthew smile though eased her worry. "It hurt him, losing you. I won't claim otherwise. I think he felt your loss every day and while he could hear your name or think of your time together and smile it still left a hole in his heart that hadn't healed. But… he did find a purpose and his job did help keep his attention focused on other things than his pain."
"His job?" Sybil asked excitedly. "He got a job?"
"Believe it or not… Violet got it for him."
"No!" Sybil gasped in utter delight, squeezing Matthew's hand. "She did? Truly?"
"She did… though to be fair it was to solve another problem and not just to help Tom."
"What do you mean? What problem could be solved by helping Tom find a job?"
Matthew sighed, letting go of her hand and running his fingers through his hair. "Do you remember how your father was upset about you coming down for Mary and my wedding? How he thought your mother sent the money?" Sybil nodded; even though things had been mending it still upset her to know her father had been so against her coming. "He wasn't ashamed of you. And I think, had things been different, he would have brought you down much sooner. It was just easier to use Tom as an excuse, so he didn't have to admit the truth."
"I don't understand."
"Your father… Robert is a good man. But he has two flaws when it comes to being earl. The first is that like so many other men who are born into money and never have to work for it he has no understanding of how to properly manage it."
Sybil's eyes went wide. Of everyone in the family only she would have clued in on what Matthew was getting at; while her and Tom hadn't been living paycheck to paycheck they had been careful with their money and worked to be smart with it. Tom had showed her how he managed his own salary from Downton and as they'd settled in Dublin the two of them had worked together each week to go over their budget and ensure that they were spending their money wisely and saving what they could. It was so different from Downton, where no expense was too great and her parents and sisters would throw away all they had, forever thinking there was more…
"He lost it all, didn't he?"
"He did. He's already started us along that path." Matthew sighed in annoyance, his jaw working slightly. "He placed all of your mother's fortune into a rail line in Canada. Just after the war the entire enterprise will go bankrupt and with it all will be lost. It was only Reggie Swire, Lavinia's father, willing me his great fortune that saved Downton." He sighed. "I looked at the books and that wasn't his first mistake. To be honest, Sybil, I fear that had I not given Robert the money he wouldn't have even managed to keep Downton Place for long."
"Oh, how terrible. I knew it was bad, of course... papa made that much clear... I assumed he had merely lost a good amount and the move would be for a little while, until he could recover what was lost. But to lose everything? Oh, papa." She looked down only to snap her head back up. "Please tell me you have a plan to prevent it this time! Please tell me that! Even if you managed to gain the wealth again, and I dare say I don't think you have it in you to lead on Miss Swire like that just for a payday-" Matthew quickly and rather violently shook his head, his disgust clearly written on his features, "-it must have broken Papa to fail like that."
"It did," Matthew admitted.
"Then you must save Downton from him, Matthew. Even if you must shatter his ego it would be better to have a small wound like that then a mortal blow like losing Downton."
"Of that I agree… but I do think I can save Downton without hurting your father. That is the reason I've decided to work less and focus more on the estate. I hope, by summer of next year I will have gained his trust enough to suggest pulling out of that venture and moving to my plan."
"And what is yours?"
"Mine is the cause of the second problem… and related to your father's other flaw." Matthew stood up and went to retrieve his coffee, Sybil using the moment to nibble on a bit of bacon. "Robert is a kind man."
"And being kind is a flaw?" Sybil asked, knowing there was more to the story.
Matthew nodded. "When it comes to managing those that live on his lands? Yes." He began to pace. "You must see it yourself, or if you don't you will if we can sneak away for a tour of the farms. He allows the tenants to do as they wish, following old methods and old ways. It was fine in the days of his father but we live in a new world, a busier one that demands more. Downton could be self sufficient… no, it could be more than that. It could not only see itself empowered but those that run the lands as well! But Robert fears upsetting those that have served Downton without realizing that he is hurting them worse by not caring for them as he should. He acts like a friend who constantly pays his drinking buddy's tab rather than a father firmly but kindly guiding his children to greatness."
Sybil sighed, nodding her head. "I can see that. Papa is always so fond of saying that he sees Downton as his fourth child and when I think of how he has raised all of us it is easy to take in the mistakes he would make. He allows us too much slack and he does the same for the tenants. One only needs to see how Mary is allowed to talk as if she were the queen herself to see proof of that. Old age has shown me that."
"I suppose that means you'll stop rebelling and demand he put his foot down?"
Sybil laughed at that. "I am more mature but I'm not a fool." She lapsed into a gentle smile. "So am I correct to guess that you wished to place the power of the money not in the hands of faraway businessmen but into Downton itself?"
"Exactly. Modernize, use the strengths of the lands and farms while diminishing the weaknesses. I had many plans before… before I passed away… but was only able to see one or two be put into motion. But that was enough for Jarvis."
"He left, didn't he?" Sybil said, once more cluing it. Matthew nodded and Sybil felt her spirits raise as she put the pieces together. "Tom! You made him the agent!"
"It was your grandmother's idea. He had more knowledge of farming than any of us and she predicted, correctly so, that the two of us would get on swimmingly. Tom is a socialist, yes, but he isn't an idealist. He understands how the world works. Even your grandmother could see that he would understand what Downton could do for the tenants and why it was needed. It was a good fit for me… and your father found it a good fit too." He paused, biting his lip. "I hope, with your blessing, to see him in that role again."
Sybil felt herself on the verge of crying once again, her hands fluttering to her mouth as she smiled. "Oh, that would be brilliant! We could stay at Downton but Tom wouldn't feel as if we were receiving charity… and it fits so well with what he wants! He'd be able to protect the tenants and help them establish themselves better in the world! Oh, it's perfect!"
"I worry if he'll be up for it, considering how he was when we first met him. He was rather against us all, if I recall right."
"You leave that to me," Sybil said with a playful grin. "I already planned to not dance around him as we did last time and I'm sure I can find the right path to get him towards taking that role." She could suddenly see it in her head; Tom, dressed in a suit, walking with Matthew, his 'for the people' views allowing him to argue how to not just help Downton but help the farmers and the people of the village, so that all could prosper. And then he'd come home, to their modest but beautiful home, where she would be waiting ready to hear about his day. Perhaps he would even allow her to work with him, at first in secret but later openly, the two of them helping Mary and Matthew bring Downton to new heights of greatness. The four of them could truly make the estate something beautiful, a modern jewel that was the envy of all!
The more she thought about it the more right it felt. She had loved her life in Dublin, despite what Mary and Edith and her parents might have thought, but being able to take the modesty and quietness of that existence and combined it with her family made her heart soar. She imagined herself talking her daughter ('Who will NOT be called Sybbie! Perhaps Caitlin and Bridget instead…') for a walk through the village then joining with Mary and her little boy before they all went up to Downton to visit her father and mother and let the proud grandparents spoil their grandchildren. She saw herself hosting Matthew and Mary at her home and going on trips with Edith, pushing a pram down the street as they looked through windows, all the while knowing Tom was out with her father and Matthew, securing the children's future.
' It is a crazy dream but one I will work hard to achieve. Harder than I've ever worked before.'
"You approve?" Matthew asked breaking her from her thoughts.
"Again and again," Sybil said with a smile. "Tell me… what other plans do you have? What else do you wish to change?"
"Believe it or not…" Matthew said with a grin, "I made a list."
"Of course you did! That is you to a t!" Sybil clapped her hands, feeling like a child at Christmas time. "May I see it?"
Matthew nodded and quickly popped up stairs to retrieve it from his safe, Sybil tucking into her meal. She found it easier to eat than to pace about, for it felt as if she had the energy of twenty women. It was the same nervous energy she'd felt when she'd been a nurse, waiting to find out if a favored patient would make it through surgery. Though this time the energy came from giddy joy rather than fear.
Her brother-in-law (and he was her brother-in-law even if Mary and him hadn't even shared a kind word yet) returned, shutting the door before coming over to her and unfolding a loose sheet of paper. She carefully smoothed it out before examining his crisp, clean letters, a smile forming on her lips as she began to read. "Did you ever come up with a better name?"
"No," Matthew admitted with a laugh. "And you'd have thought I would, what with have several months before I met any of you."
Sybil chuckled and continued to read. "Making Mary fall in love with you before being concerned with your own death? That is telling."
"Will you lie to me and say that Tom is not first on your list, before your own death?"
Sybil's smile fell at that. He was right, of course; while she hadn't actually written out a list ('How can one hope to ever hide anything when it is impossible to be alone in Downton?') her thought seemed to always dwell on Tom. She missed seeing his face, the way he'd smile when he spotted her in a room or the twinkle in his eye when she got excited and in turn he grew excited for her. Where so many other men would have been upset at her trying to better herself he delighted in her success for the mere reason that he loved her and wanted the world to see how wonderful she was. There were still nights, even though she'd gotten used to being back in her old life for a second go-around, where she'd reach over to hold him and found nothing but emptiness. Her greatest fear was him looking at her and not recognizing her and her greatest drive was the hope that she could make their story start all the sooner and all the stronger.
'Even when I try to think of my death it turns back to him,' she thought as she took a sip of tea. 'How it affects him, how he is managing…' she let out a quiet snort.
"What?" Matthew asked.
"I just realized… I keep thinking of Tom in the present tense." Matthew looked at her, forehead crinkling at that, and Sybil sighed. "I think about what he must be doing now, how he is handling my death and the baby… except he isn't handling it. Because he doesn't know me and I haven't died. It feels… it feels in here," she tapped her chest, "as if I've merely fallen down Alice's rabbit hole and he is still out there."
Matthew sighed and took his seat. "I wish I could say it gets better…"
"Oh… Mary…"
"Mary," Matthew repeated.
"How did you manage to get through dinner last night, with her acting so dreadful?" Sybil found herself saying, wishing she could show more tact but finding her mouth saying the words before she could stop. "At least with Tom I know he will see me just as the daughter of his employer. That will be hard enough but… oh Matthew…"
He managed a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I remind myself that I will have her back soon enough." His grin grew bit more genuine. "And besides… I find it rather interesting to go back to their point in our relationship. There is a thrill there."
"That makes no sense to me."
"Do you mean to tell me a part of you isn't a bit excited to startle the entire family by announcing you are marrying the chauffer?"
"What's next on the list?" she asked, ignoring his laughter. "'Turkish prick'?" Matthew grimaced at that and Sybil couldn't help but find it hilarious. "We survived a war, our own deaths, and Mrs. Patmore putting salt in the pudding and it is a bit of coarse language that has you fidget?"
"It's not that," Matthew said. "It's just… this shouldn't be the way you find out." He took a moment before adding. "Had I had my way you would have never known as it would have never happened."
Sybil sighed. "I heard the rumors, same as you and probably everyone else. It wasn't hard to hear them, to be honest… you don't realize how anxious upper class girls are to tear down their peers. I tried to fight them at first but Mary finally told me to just let it be, that I was wasting my breath. That's when I knew they were true, because Mary wouldn't give up so easily if they were lies." Sybil bit her lip. "How did you find out?"
"Mary told me," matthew stated. "Right before I proposed. It was Christmas and I was trying to understand what had gone wrong with the two of us. She finally told me about how she took the man as her lover and it had made her unworthy of me and it was that, more than anything, that caused her to cringe back when I reached out to her."
"And what did you say?"
"That she had nothing to ask forgiveness for. That it was her past and no one had the right to demand she apologize for it. She could feel guilt but only if she felt it for her own regret… not because in her mind another demanded it."
"And you wish to prevent her from doing this?"
"Not because I need her to be… pure… for our wedding, if that is your concern. I only know that it upset her greatly what she had done and she felt it the source of so many problems. By guiding her away from the Turk I hope to help her prevent a mistake."
"Matthew…" Sybil paused, steeling her nerves. "While I agree wholeheartedly that we must spare Mary that pain I feel I must warn you… there is a very good chance you are wrong about what happened."
"You mean that she loved him? That she wanted it-"
"The opposite," Sybil said, a bit more forcefully that she'd originally meant to. Matthew cringed and Sybil took a calming breath. "When I was a nurse I had my eyes open to certain… truths about the world. Mary scolded me when I tried to run away with Tom, claiming that I thought life was a fairy tale but honestly that lesson I'd learned years before. I saw how men and women could be with each other…" she shrugged. "I saw how men could be with each other. And women with women." Matthew opened his mouth but she held up a hand to stop him, continuing on. "I saw how sometimes it was an act of desperation, with a woman flinging herself at a man because she saw him as her only hope or a soldier, broken and damaged, giving in to advances because he feared they would be the only ones he received. I saw the war break down boundaries just as it did with me and Tom. Yet… I also saw how men with power would use their station and strength to make women believe they had no option but to… give in."
Never had she been more glad that Matthew was a smart man. She watched his emotions flicker across his face, taking in what she hinted at and allowing it to process… and for the cold truth of what she was suggesting happened to Mary fall upon him like a heavy load. Shock. Horror. Rage.
"He… you think he…"
"I don't know," Sybil admitted. "But we must be prepared that such is the case. The more I think of it, though, the more I believe it likely. A strange man appears in her room, threatens her with scandal and disgrace if she doesn't give in…"
"No," Matthew said, shaking his head. Sybil felt for him, wanting to comfort him but knowing he needed to work through this. "Mary would never… no one would see it as her fault!"
"Would they?" Sybil asked. "We live in a world where men's word is law and sex is something the boys boost of and the girls must treat as a quiet shame never to be mentioned. When a woman claims a man raped her," she ignored the flinch Matthew made had her blunt statement, for she was a nurse and wouldn't dance around what it was just because it wasn't 'polite', "it is always the woman who ends up being looked down upon if it is merely her word against his. 'Why didn't she fight back?' 'I bet she really wanted it.' 'She's probably making it all up, just to get back at him'. There are even some who claim that it is proper… that men cannot control themselves when it comes to such things so they must be forgiven while 'the fairer sex' must either prove themselves stronger or be revealed to be sluts and whores." With each point Matthew jerked as if shot and Sybil wondered if he saw other men, men he knew, shouting such things at Mary. "Mary would know such things… and if that Turkish Diplomat cornered her and made it seem that the choices were ruin or submitting-"
"I'll kill him," Matthew said darkly.
Sybil was startled by such a threat coming from Matthew. She was used to thinking of him as being so gentle and kind. He wasn't a pushover, no, and he had a temper… but she'd never thought of him as a truly violent man. Even when it came to thinking of the war she couldn't picture him killing soldiers and tended to hold a vision of him rallying the troops rather than firing on the Germans.
And yet there he was, his jaw clenched, the mere thought that the woman who would become his wife could be violated so, in her own home, and lie to all including herself that she had been given a choice in the matter burning his very soul.
"I'm not saying that he did that," Sybil said ('Though I believe he did'). "I just wanted you to be prepared. We're going to change so much, make things better for our family… but we can't do that if we don't look at every option."
Matthew nodded, his anger dissolving away and leaving him looking tired. "There's so much I want to do… and I'm scared that trying to help them will only make things worse."
"It's a risk," Sybil admitted. "But so is life. We could be sitting here and a tree could fall through the roof and kill us both. That's just the way things are. We can't let that stop us though from trying to do better."
"You're right," Matthew said after a long moment. "Thank you."
Sybil nodded before looking back down at the list. "I'm #5?" she said, feeling oddly touched.
Matthew launched into the rest of his list, explaining what he wanted to try to do, his reasoning for what he wanted to change and what had to remain, and asking her opinion on anything he might have missed ("Help Bates and Anna," had been her main inclusion, as she knew from the blonde maid that it hadn't just been Matthew, Mary, Sybil, and Tom who'd dealt with rocky and prolonged courtships) and suggestions on how to accomplish certain tasks (she honestly felt that, despite Matthew's desire to save her infant sibling, there would be nothing they could do to prevent that tragedy). They talked for over an hour, each of them feeling their burdens lighten in knowing that there was at least one person out there who remembered the life-that-might-never-be and who they could turn to when this second chance grew too painful. Sybil left Matthew with a promise to try and help him however she could and he the same, both of them reaffirming they were family and nothing would change that.
As Sybil left the cottage though her thoughts returned to the Turk… and Matthew's rage. She knew he'd felt anger at what the man had done/would do but Sybil was convinced that, when the moment of truth arrived, Matthew's better angels would see him stay his hand. Because her dear brother-in-law, for all his passion and wearing his heart on his sleeve, was an honorable man. Mary and her had been lucky in that they'd both fallen for men that, despite their differences and 'lower birth', were the most noble and kind representatives of mankind. No… Matthew wouldn't kill the Turk, even if he was allowed to rape Mary.
'And that," Sybil thought as she thought of her family and her silent pledge to protect those she loved she'd made once she'd realized she was living her life once more, 'is why the task falls to me.'
~A~O~O~O~F~
Author's Note: So some were wondering when Sybil had come back and here we find out the exact same day Matthew did, only she woke up a few hours later.
Fun fact! Thanks to Game of Thrones when Anna first came in I had her say 'milady' and talk very 'game of thrones' style instead of Downton British, as it were. Oh well, at least I didn't do this Gwen call Matthew 'Jon Snow' and tell him he knew nothing.
And as an aside, I know it would never happen because Kit Harrington hates Downton Abbey but I wish he would have been Gwen's husband in that last season episode…hmm… plot bunny where it is revealed Gwen's new job was fighting with the wildlings and when she returns all of Downton knows about South of the Wall and thinks it is a sad place and Violet is the Night's Queen.
Before anyone says that I based Sybil's return to the past on Mary's from 'Miracles Happen', know that I wrote that scene back in JULY, long before I even posted the first chapter of this story.
So for this chapter's plot bunny I've decided that since we've done a ton of Mary/Matthew plot bunnies and have done a Sybil/Tom one, I'll try something different and go with an Anna/Bates plot bunny. And I promise soon I'll try and put up a Mrs. Hughes/Carson bunny.
This bunny can starts during the Third Series, during the episode when Bates is released from prison and arrives at Downton. He and Anna are welcomed back by Carson and Mrs. Hughes and the rest of the staff only for a message to arrive from Robert: there is a lawyer requesting Bates and Anna come up to the library. Naturally Anna is panicked that something has gone wrong and Bates will be sent back to jail but he assures her that it will be fine and it is probably just someone from the government wanting to make sure he doesn't seek charges against the police for them convicting an innocent man.
Arriving in the library the lawyer reveals he wanted Robert and the family to be there to serve witness and because he thinks Bates and Anna will need their support. Again, Anna is near tears thinking they have come to arrest Bates; Robert and Matthew believe the same and state that they won't allow Bates to be hauled away again. The lawyer, Mr. Perkins, causes everyone to become confused when he merely asks Bates what he knows of his paternal grandfather. Bates states that his father was the bastard son of a maid and he never knew his grandfather. Perkins states that Bates' grandmother had an affair with Timothy Mercer, who Robert instantly recognizes as the Earl of Redcliff. Lord Redcliff's estate, North Greens, is actually rather close to Downton but Lord Redcliff is a known recluse who hasn't been seen outside of his home in decades. The lawyer reveals that Mercer confided to him, Perkins, on his death bed his great secret: he had loved Bates' grandmother and wanted to marry here but his own father would not allow it. Mercer married another woman but other than his wedding night he never went to her. She died years ago and Mercer was left alone with only a few servants ever since, dreaming of the life he could have lead had he only stood up to his father.
As such, Mr. Perkins states, as of yesterday when Mercer died Bates, Mercer's grandson, is now Lord Redcliff and Anna is Lady Redcliff.
Naturally Anna faints.
The story would deal with Anna and Bates suddenly finding themselves on the same level as the Crawleys and everyone dealing with this new reality. There would be fun things like the servants struggling to deal with the fact that the maid and the valet they had meals with each day are now upper class nobles. Thomas of course would just break down laughing, seeing it as a practical joke God is playing on him, while Carson would be so utterly flustered he wouldn't know what to do, especially when Bates and Anna awkwardly go back down for supper and have to deal with the entire staff standing at attention. Several of the Crawleys would be horribly awkward around the two... after all, Robert now calls the man whose seen him naked a peer! And Cora would be terribly nervous about the whole thing. As for the Dowager she would be so startled she wouldn't know what to think. Other people would handle it better: Tom would, of course, be the first to congratulate Bates, while Matthew would offer himself to be a friend to the two, as he knows better than anyone what they are going through. And Mary, after a few seconds to think about it, would find herself utterly delighted as she already sees Anna as a friend and now she can truly count her as one, offering just like Matthew to help guide them in this new life.
Meanwhile, Bates and Anna would struggle with their new reality. They would be the servants that are now Lord and Lady, which would make hiring a staff hard. I see them making some interesting choices; for example, I'd have Anna, knowing that Alfred loves to cook, decide to give him a chance and hire him as their cook since no one else wants to work for them; perhaps Alfred would then hire other young men he knows want to learn how to cook and the entire kitchen staff would be men and teen boys. And on the Crawley side maybe Mr. Lang could return, now better adapted to his PTSD and him and O'Brien could begin to develop a relationship, with Thomas, after the issues with Jimmy, deciding to bury the hatch and actually encourage Lang and O'Brien to find some joy. A
nna and Bates would also struggle with what it means to be a lord and lady, as they suddenly find themselves utterly bored with their lives and fighting not to do chores or handle things like the long dinner parties and such. I see a scene where they are sitting around their new library and Bates and Anna comment on the weather before both say they are utterly bored out of their minds and wonder if they could call Robert and Mary and ask if they can be valet and lady's maid on the weekends to kill the dullness.
But through it all it would be a fun romance for them as they brought the village of North Greens into the modern day (Mercer was good with his money and left Bates a fortune) while also developing new relationships with Downton. Id love by the end Robert and Bates are true friends while Mary would happily take Anna with her to London to shop and eat at the best restaurants and just be excited to have a true friend to do such things with, realizing she never had a friend before and it is such a novel thing to have another woman she can just go to London with or see a play or just visit.
I think in the right hands this would be a fun fic that would offer a ton of slice of life fun, twists to canon (for example... what happens now that Mr. Green doesn't have Anna downstairs?), and just a chance to show what happens when two servants suddenly have it all.
