Downton Abbey, 1919
It was in the morning, Eve and Edith stood at the front door and watch as an army hospital truck was being packed with the last of the equipment before leaving. Mrs. Hughes joins them and they watch the truck leave.
"That's the last of the equipment gone," Edith told Mrs. Hughes.
"The maids have put the drawing room back to normal," Mrs. Hughes informed her.
"It will seem strange now that everything is gone now," Eve said.
With not being able to work at the hospital, Eve spent her days walking the grounds, reading, and trying anything that would keep her from dying of boredom. Eve was sitting on her bed reading the story that she had typed on the pages before she lost her memory.
She was so engrossed in the story that she didn't hear the dressing gong, but she was pulled out when there was a knock on her door.
"May I come in, Milady?" Anna asked.
"Yes, you may," Eve replied as she hid the pages underneath her pillows before Anna came in.
"How are you doing, Milady?"
"I suppose how anyone would be doing if they cannot do a single thing they used to before they lost their memories," She answered.
Anna gave Eve a comforting look, "Don't worry, Milady. I know that your memories will return. As you always say, "You have to have faith'."
"Thank you, Anna. May I ask you a question?" Eve asked.
"Of course, Milady," Anna answered.
"Do you have any stories about me? I'm hoping that by hearing these stories I'll regain some memories. I just feel like I don't belong here and that I'm just a stranger in a strange land."
"Milady, I remember, not long after I first arrived at Downton, that when I was in the library cleaning you had surprised me when you walked in and I accidentally knocked over a vase. I panicked and apologized, even though you said it was a simple vase with thousands like it. Mrs. Hughes then walked in and asked what happen. And just as I was about to open my mouth, You told her that you had accidentally knocked it over while you were helping me. When she left, I asked, 'Why did you help me?' and you said that I shouldn't be blamed for your mistake and that I would have done the same if our places were switched."
Eve smiled at the story Anna had told her, "Thank you, Anna."
"Your welcome, Milady."
Later on, in the drawing room, everyone was discussing how things are different now with the war over.
"I nearly came down in a dinner jacket tonight," Robert told the room.
"Really? Well, why not a dressing gown? Or, better still, pajamas?" Violet questioned.
"That's why I didn't," He replied.
"I like the new fashions. Shorter skirts, looser cuts. The old clothes were all very well if one spent the day on a chaise longue, but if one wants to get anything done, the new clothes are much better," Isabelle spoke.
"I'll stick to the chaise longue," Violet said.
"Granny, you don't really want things to go back to the way they were, surely?" Sybil asked her grandmother.
"Of course I do. And as quickly as possible," She replied.
"What about you, Papa?" Sybil asked.
"Before the war, I believed my life had value. I suppose I should like to feel that again," Robert said, an awkward silence follows.
"Have you seen the boys' haircuts the women are wearing in Paris?" Mary asked.
"I hope you won't try that," Matthew said. Mary looks over at him in surprise and Violet looks curiously between them.
"I might," She responded.
"I'm not sure how feminine it is," Lavinia commented.
"I'm not sure how feminine I am."
"Very, I'm glad to say," Richard told Mary.
"I think it sounds very revolutionary. It's a way for women to express their newfound freedom in this new day and age," Eve said.
"Carson, I keep forgetting to tell Mrs, Hughes we've had a letter from Major Bryant's mother. She and her husband are in Yorkshire on Friday and she wants to pay us a visit," Cora informed him.
"Why?" Robert asked.
"The last time they saw him alive it was here. I can understand," She replied.
"Will they be staying, my lady?" Mr. Carson asked her.
"No, but we'll give them luncheon. That way, they can talk about the Major with all of us who knew him."
Eve noticed that Sybil looks like she was trying to contain her irritation toward the insipid conversation.
"That lets me out, thank heaven," Violet said.
The next day, Sybil, Edith, and Eve were walking through the library with Hera close behind them.
"Doesn't it feel odd to have the rooms back?" Sybil asked.
"And only asked to sit in them. I suppose we'll get used to it," Edith replied.
"I don't want to get used to it," She said.
"What do you mean?" Eve asked.
"I know what it is to work now. To have a full day, to be tired in a good way," Sybil explained, "I don't want to start dress fittings and or paying calls or standing behind the guns."
"I know what you mean. I feel that ever since I lost my memory and I can't go back to being a nurse, my life is not as fulfilling as it was before," She told Sybil.
"But how does one escape all that?" Edith asked her sister.
"I think I've found a way to escape," She replied.
"Nothing too drastic, I hope."
"It is drastic," Sybil told Edith, "There's no going back once I've done it, but that's what I want. No going back."
"I don't want to go back either," Edith said.
"Then don't. You're far nicer than you were before the war, you know."
That night, after Anna had helped Eve get dressed, Eve sat at her desk writing on her typewriter while occasionally reading what she had written before she lost her memory. Suddenly, she heard her Uncle Robert call out to her, her Aunt, and her cousins.
"Mary! Girls!" Robert called, "Cora, come at once."
Eve opened her door before she and Hera followed her cousins, Aunt, Uncle, and Lavinia down the corridor.
"Everyone come at once!" He told them.
"What is it?" Mary asked, "What's happened?"
"Come and see this!" Robert replied as they rushed down the stairs and into the library.
"Is it true? Is it true what Lavinia says?" Robert asked Matthew. Lavinia goes to Matthew and he takes her hand to help himself stand up. The family is stunned with joy.
"I can't believe it!" Mary exclaimed.
"It's so wonderful!" Cora spoke.
"It is, but don't tire yourself out. Sit down now and we'll send for Dr. Clarkson," Sybil said worriedly.
"She's right. Edith, go with Branson. Ge--get Clarkson, but fetch Mama and Cousin Isobel as well. I don't care what they're doing. Tell them to come now," Robert instructed before moving toward Matthew, "My dear chap, I cannot begin to tell you what this means to me."
"Well, it's pretty good news for me, too," Matthew quipped.
Eventually, Dr. Clarkson, Violet, and Isobel arrived and they gathered in the library.
"There is only one possible explanation. It starts with my own mistake. Every indication told me that the spine was transected, which would have been incurable," Dr. Clarkson informed them.
"But when Sir John Coats came to see Matthew, he agreed with you," Robert reminded.
"Well, he didn't, not entirely," He confessed, "He thought that it could conceivably be a case of spinal shock. That is, erm, intense bruising, which was sufficiently severe to impede the leg mechanism."
"But which would heal," Mary said.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Lavinia asked Dr. Clarkson.
"Because I didn't agree with him, and I didn't want to raise Captain Crawley's hopes to no purpose."
"I understand," Matthew forgave Dr. Clarkson, "And I don't blame you."
"You must take it slowly," Dr. Clarkson instructed him, "Rome wasn't built in a day."
"I know."
"And I'm afraid you will carry a bruise on your spine for the rest of your life."
"But I will have a life?" Matthew asked.
"Yes," Dr. Clarkson replied, "I think we can say that you will have a normal life, and it won't be long in coming."
"My darling boy. My darling boy," Isobel cried, she gets up to kiss her son.
"Excuse me, My Lord, but Mrs. Hughes was wondering what she should do about dinner," Mr. Carson interrupted.
"Er, you'll all stay for dinner, won't you?" Robert requested.
"I'm afraid I'm not dressed," Dr. Clarkson told.
"Oh, never mind that. Who cares about that? What about you, Mama?"
"Oh, certainly," Violet replied, "All this unbridled joy has given me quite an appetite."
Later in the dining room, everyone sat down to eat their meal.
"Tell me, how are things progressing at Haxby?" Violet inquired.
"Quite well," Richard answered, "I've put in a condition so the builders are fined for every day they go over."
"Does that make for a happy atmosphere?" She asked.
"I want it done. They can be happy in their own time," He replied.
"Why the rush, if you do not mind me asking, Sir Richard?" Eve asked.
"Certainly not, Miss Eve. I like everything I own to be finished and ready to sell."
"You're not thinking of selling Haxby, surely?" Violet questioned.
"Depends. We'll have to see if it suits us to be so close to Downton."
"I—I want to tell you all something. As you know, during this - well, I think I can say – horrible time, Lavinia has proved to be the most marvelous person," Matthew began.
"Here, here," Robert agreed.
"Indeed," Cora agreed.
"I never thought we would marry, for all sorts of reasons, but she wouldn't accept that. And so, now I'm very pleased to say that she's been proved right," Matthew and Lavinia hold hands at the table, "Lavinia and I will get married. Just as soon as I'm well enough to walk down the aisle. Dr. Clarkson can help us with when."
"Not long now," Dr. Clarkson reassured.
"And she feels we ought to marry here, at Downton, to bury forever the memories of what, I hope, has been the darkest period of my life," He announced.
"Of course," Robert said.
"Are you sure?" Lavinia asked him, "I know it should be at my home in London, but we've been through so much here.
"We'd be delighted," He told her.
"Yes, bravo. Excellent news," Violet cheered before asking Mary, "Mary, isn't that excellent news?"
"Just excellent," She replied.
The next day, the Bryants arrived and joined them for luncheon. They were visiting because their son had stayed at Downton during the war while he was recovering before being sent back to the front and, eventually, killed.
"I'm afraid Downton will be a place of pilgrimage for a while," Mrs. Bryant said.
"We're glad to be," Cora told her, "if we can help to bring some peace of mind."
"There's no point in wallowing in it," Mr. Bryant said, "What good does it do?"
Suddenly, Ethel rushes into the room with a young child in her arms.
"Leave me alone!" She cried.
"Ethel!" Mrs. Hughes called as she and Anna followed in pursuit. The luncheon party is shocked.
"I tried to stop her--" Anna began.
"What on earth?" Robert exclaimed.
"I know what this is. Mrs. Hughes, I don't think it's quite the right--" Cora began.
"I'm stopping...until I've had my say," Ethel interrupted, "This is Charlie, your grandson. He's almost a year old."
Mr. Bryant stands up and throws his napkin on the table, "What proof have you?"
"What?"
"I say, what proof have you? If my son was the father of this boy, where's your proof? Any letters? Any signed statement?" He repeated.
"Why would there be any letters? We were in the same house," Ethel told him.
"I think she's telling the truth," Mrs. defended.
"I'm not interested in "think." I want proof that my son acknowledged paternity of this boy. If what you say is true, then he would've known of the boy's existence for months before he...before he was killed," Mr. Bryant exclaimed.
"Yes, he knew."
"So, what did he do about it?"
"Nothing," Ethel replied, close to tears, "He did nothing."
"Thank you. That's the proof I was looking for. If Charles was the father, he would never have shirked his responsibilities. Never."
"Well, he did!" She told him.
"I won't listen to any more slander!" Mr. Bryant demanded, "Now, will you please go and take that boy with you, whoever he is! You're upsetting Mrs. Bryant!"
"Well, I would like--" Mrs. Bryant began before being interrupted by her husband.
"I said you are upsetting Mrs. Bryant!" He yelled, "Lord Grantham, are you going to stand by while this woman holds us to ransom?"
Robert gives Mr. Bryant an irritated look, but stands up, "This isn't doing much good."
"Ethel, you better come with me. Come on," Mrs. Hughes said before she and Anna escorted Ethel out with Charlie crying in her arms. Robert and Mr. Bryant take their seats.
"She thinks we're a soft touch. They hear of a dead officer with some money behind them and suddenly there's a baby on every corner," Mr. Bryant scoffed.
"But if she's telling the truth--" Isobel began.
"If Charles had fathered that boy, he would've told us. No, I'd say she's done her homework and discovered he was an only child. She thinks we'd be ripe for the plucking."
The luncheon continues and Mrs. Bryant turns to Isobel.
"You knew her. Was she one of the nurses when he was here?" She asked.
"She was a housemaid," Cora answered.
"No one told me Major Bryant was your only son," Isobel said.
"That's right," Mrs. Bryant confirmed, "Just Charles."
"Matthew is my only son, and he nearly died. I think I know a little of what you're going through."
"He seems such a nice young man--" Mrs. Bryant began.
"Well, I think that's cast rather a shadow over the proceeding, so I don't see any point in prolonging it," Mr. Bryant announced, "Daphne, come on, we're leaving."
"He's afraid of his own grief. That's why he behaves as he does. He's terrified of his own grief," Mrs. Bryant said before getting up to leave and following her husband out.
After the luncheon, everyone gathered in the library. Everyone was talking about what happened during luncheon.
"He's their only grandchild. There can never be another," Mary said.
"Even if Ethel is telling the truth--" Richard began.
"I believe she is," Cora interrupted.
"Even so, there's no legal reality to it. The child is her bastard and has no claim on them."
"Steady on, Sir. The ladies have had enough shocks for one day," Robert scolded, "Especially, Eve. Poor thing, she is rather delicate."
"No, I'm not!" Eve exclaimed as she stood up and everyone looked at her, "I am not delicate, but all of you seem to treat me as if I'm a china doll. Ever since I returned to Downton Abbey, all of you act as if I could shatter at any moment, but I'm not. I am stronger than any of you would believe. And I could not believe the way you all just sat there while that barbarian Mr. Bryant cut Ethel down as he insulted her. Major Bryant was not a kind man at all! Do any of you have any shame at all?"
Eve stormed out of the drawing room and up the stairs to her room with Hera following her. Once Eve was in her room, she changed into riding clothes. The two then left Eve's room and went down to the stables. Eve passed each horse until she found one in particular.
"Hello, Perseus," She greeted the horse. Eve then began to pet his muzzle, "I'm sorry that I have not been down here for some time, but I'm afraid to say that my wardens have prevented me from coming down here, but that doesn't matter now."
Eve opened the stall and stepped in before getting Perseus set up and propping herself up to sit on the saddle. She then signaled Perseus to move and they walked out of the stables with Hera. Once they were outside, Perseus went into a trot.
Three traveled around the grounds of Downton Abbey until they reached a pond and rest under a tree. While Perseus graze on the grass, Eve and Hera sat under the tree. Eve petted Hera as she rested her head on Eve's lap. Eve took in the beauty of it all and was thinking is this life truly hers or someone else's? After an hour, the three returned to Downton.
That evening in the drawing room, details of Matthew and Lavinia's wedding were being discussed.
"Will it be April or May?" Edith asked Lavina.
"I should steer clear of May. Marry in May, rue the day," Violet advised her.
"I think it's April. Matthew should be walking normally by then," Lavina said.
"Spring weddings are the prettiest of all," Edith commented.
"Do you know what wedding your parents had?" Lavina asked Eve.
"I am told that my parents had eloped and were married in the same catholic church that they met in New York," She informed, "They did have pictures taken and it looked so beautiful. It wasn't anything fancy or elaborate, but they looked more happy than anyone in the world."
"They must have loved each other very much."
"They did," Eve smiled.
A moment later, Matthew wheels himself into the room.
"Hail to the hero," Edith announced.
"Ah, here we are," Robert said.
Matthew stops by the fireplace, and Lavinia asks him if he wants help getting up with a look. Matthew holds out a hand. He'll do it himself. As he stood up, everyone applauded.
"Well done," Robert commented.
Mary walks away from Richard and sits down next to Violet.
"Where's Sybil?" Mary asked.
"She's not feeling well," Edith answered, "She told Anna she wouldn't be down for dinner."
After returning from Sybil's room, Mary told Eve and Edith what is going on and enlisted their help along with Anna to find Sybil and Branson. On the night road, Edith drives with Mary, Eve, and Anna in pursuit of Sybil and Branson.
"They must stop at some point. It won't be open before the morning," Mary said.
"She won't expect us to be in pursuit until tomorrow, so they'll stay somewhere on the road," Edith added.
"We hope," Anna spoke.
"Everyone keep an eye out for the motor," Edith instructed.
The girls' pursuit continues before they pass the Swan Inn with a couple of motorcars out front.
"Isn't that the car?" Anna pointed, causing Edith to slam on the brakes.
After parking the car, Mary, Eve, and Edith rush up the stairs. Mary knocks on the door and enters. Sybil and Branson pull off blankets as Branson gets up from the chair and Sybil gets up from the bed.
"How did you find us? How did you know?" Branson demanded.
"Never mind that. At least nothing's happened, thank God," Mary sighed in relief.
"What do you mean "nothing's happened"? I've decided to marry Tom, and your coming after me won't change that," Sybil declared. Branson steps up beside Sybil confidently.
"This isn't the way," Edith told her.
"She's right. Of course, Mama and Papa will hate it--" Mary began.
"Why should they?" Branson fought.
"Oh, pipe down," She scolded, "Sybil, can't you let them get used to the idea? Take your stand and refuse to budge, but allow them time. That way you won't have to break up the family."
"They would never give permission," Sybil stated.
"You don't need permission, you're twenty-one. But you do need their forgiveness if you're not to start your new life under a black shadow."
"Don't listen. She's pretending to be reasonable to get you home again," Tom said.
"Even if I am, even if I think this is mad, I know it would be better to do it in broad daylight than to sneak off like a thief in the night."
Branson sighs and then looks at Sybil as he sees her resolve to wane. She looks up at him, and he knows Mary won, "Go back with them, then. If you think they can make you happier then I will."
"Am I so weak you believe I could be talked out of giving my heart in five minutes flat? But Mary's right. I don't like deceit and our parents don't deserve it. So, I'll go back with them. Believe it or not, I will stay true to you," Sybil kisses his cheek. Edith gets Sybil's luggage, and Sybil takes one last teary-eyed look at Branson before leaving the room with Mary, Edith, and Eve.