Sybil's Death

(Sybil's POV)
I awoke and sat straight up. A shooting pain went through my stomach. Tom rubbed his eyes.
Tom: Darling what's the matter?
Sybil: I think my contractions may have started.
Tom: Already?
I nodded and breathed through the searing pain.
Tom: Alright. I'll go and summon Dr Clarkson.
He left the room.

    (Cora's POV)
I awoke to Tom standing over our bed. I sat myself up and tried to wake myself up.
       Tom: I think Sybil is preparing to have the baby.
       Cora: What?
       My heart filled with excitement and also bewilderment. My little baby was giving birth to her own baby.
        Robert: Let's ring Dr Clarkson.
        Tom and Robert left to telephone him. I woke up Mary and Edith and we all went into Sybil's room.

    (Sybil's POV)
         When Dr Clarkson arrived, I was so relieved. I didn't like being left alone in the state I was in. He examined me and he told me it wouldn't be too long now. I was so happy. I had always dreamed of becoming a mother and I knew that this baby would grow up with the most wonderful father.

        (Cora's POV)
When Dr Clarkson came to examine Sybil, it brought me back to when she was a child. Dr Clarkson would come and tend to all 3 of my girls whenever they were ill. I trusted him with my baby and knew he would do his best with the new baby.
        The next morning, Robert came upstairs while I was having breakfast. He told me he telephoned Sir Philip Tapsell to look after Lady Sybil and he would be here by dinner. Sir Philip Tapsel had been delivering aristocratic babies for years. In fact, he was one of the many doctors I had seen when I was pregnant with Mary. However I found his personality to be a bit harsh; especially with someone in a delicate condition.
    Robert: We can't risk her welfare to sooth Clarkson's feelings.
    Cora: I know.
    Robert went on to point out that he missed the warning signs with Lavinia and had misdiagnosed Matthew.
    Cora: Is that fair? He didn't want to get Matthew's hopes up and with Lavinia the disease could move like lightning. He may have delivered lots of Lords and Royal Highnesses but he doesn't know us.
    Robert: I'll ask him to include Clarkson in his deliberations if that will satisfy you.
    Cora: I suppose so.
    I was happy that we were keeping Dr. Clarkson. I wanted Sybil to feel as comfortable as possible during this process with someone she had known all of her life.

(Sybil's POV)
    Tom decided to stay in his dressing room for the rest of the night in case anything serious happened. Dr. Clarkson had a nurse come and stay with me during the night. I barely got any rest. When I stepped out of bed, my feet felt a bit odd. I looked down and my ankles had swollen to twice their size. As the sun rose, I started hearing movement on the gallery. After breakfast time, Mary came into my room to check on me.
    Sybil: I'm the size of a house. My back hurts and my ankles are swelling. And the headaches. Honestly I cannot recommend this to anyone.
    Mary: I am listening. But of course I'm dying to start one of my own.
    Sybil: So you're not waiting?
    Mary: Waiting for what?
    Mary gave me a puzzled look. I didn't know why she was so confused by what I said. It made perfect sense to me.
    Sybil: I don't know but I did wonder.
    I don't know why, but I felt I should tell Mary about wanting the baby to be Catholic. I felt as if I needed to; that I would need her support in some way. She agreed to stick up for me if it came to it which I felt it would.

(Cora's POV)
    That night we sat down to dinner with Sir Philip Tapsell. As the hostess, I was seated beside him to make conversation. He was still the same man I remembered meeting all those years ago; very brash and almost arrogant.
    Cora: We also told our local doctor we'd ring him when it looks as if the baby is coming.
    He was very welcoming of the idea in his words, but I could tell the idea had angered him. That made me even more distrusting of him.
    Over the next day, Sybil was still in labor. I knew that labor could last for multiple days sometimes, but something just didn't sit right with me. That night at dinner I told Sir Philip that I was going to ring Dr. Clarkson after dinner since Sybil was almost ready to give birth. I was shocked when Robert started to contradict me. I put my foot down and insisted that he be there.
    That night at dinner, everyone sat in silence as we waited for the baby to come. We made small talk about Edith possibly writing a column. Suddenly the nurse came in and I headed up the stairs to be with Sybil.
    The room became too crowded with all of us there so Mary Edith and I went back downstairs while the doctors dealt with her. When the doctors came back down to the library, Dr. Clarkson said that he was concerned about Sybil.
    Robert: What do you mean concerned?
    Dr. Clarkson: Lady Sybil's ankles are swollen. And she seems...muddled.
    Cora: What sort of muddled?
    Dr. Clarkson: Not quite there. Not quite in the present moment.
    I felt my heart begin to race. I was getting increasingly concerned but I knew I had to stay calm.
    Mary: What do you think it means?
    Philip: It means she's having a baby.
    I stared at Sir Philip in fury. How could he be so flippant of these symptoms? Sir Philip called Dr. Clarkson out of the room. I was nervous he would bully Dr. Clarkson into silence.