In the great hall, Lavinia, Isobel, Mary, Edith, Cora, Eve, and Mrs. Hughes watch as everything was being moved for Lavinia and Matthew's wedding.
"We can put the presents in the drawing room against the window," Cora suggested.
"Very good, Milady," Mrs. Hughes replied before she leaves to take care of it.
"I suppose we do have to display all the presents. It can look rather greedy," Isobel commented.
"I can't bear the disruption we seem to have brought down on your heads," Lavinia apologized.
"Don't be silly," Cora reassured.
Mary and Lavinia spot Matthew loitering at the doorway, no longer in his wheelchair, and is now using a cane. The two then walk over to him before talking about the wedding.
That evening in Mary's room, Sybil had just told her sisters and cousin that she is going to announce her relationship with Tom tonight.
"But why announce it tonight all of a sudden?" Mary asked.
"He's got a job at a newspaper. He heard today it's a real chance," Sybil explained.
"Let him go to Dublin and then you can use the calm to consider."
"Mary doesn't want you to be trapped before you're completely sure," Edith reiterated.
"But I am sure!" Sybil shouted, "How many times do I have to say it? Anna, tell them."
"Lady Mary's right. It's a very big thing to give up your whole world," She replied.
"Thank you. Listen to her if you won't listen to me," Mary said.
"But I'm not giving up my world! They want to give me up. That's their affair. I'm perfectly happy to carry on being friends with everyone."
"Married to the chauffeur?" Mary questioned.
"Yes. Anyway, he's a journalist now, which sounds better for Granny," Sybil told them before she sits down on the bed, frustrated, next to Eve.
"'That which we call a rose. By Any Other Name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would were he, not Romeo call'd, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title'," Eve quoted Romeo and Juliet before saying, "The heart wants what the heart wants. If Sybil and Branson want to be together then who are we to judge. My parents were the same way and they led a happy life together."
"Thank you, Eve. We're going to tell Papa tonight," Sybil said.
"We"? You mean, you and Branson?" Edith questioned.
"He's coming in after dinner," She told them.
"But what will Papa do?"
"I imagine he'll call the police," Mary spoke.
Later in the drawing room, after dinner, Branson enters purposefully and everyone stares.
"Yes?" Robert addressed him.
Branson looks at Sybil before saying, "I'm here."
"So I can see," Robert said.
Sybil gets up and walks over to Branson, "I don't think this is such a good idea. We mustn't worry Granny."
"You've asked me to come, and I've come."
"Would someone please tell me what is going on, or have we all stepped through the looking glass?" Violet asked.
"Your grandmother has as much right to know as anybody else," Branson announced.
"Why don't I find that reassuring?"
Sybil then went on to tell everyone what is going on and Mary was the first to speak up, admitting that she had known about it.
"What do you mean, "you knew"?" Robert asked.
"I hoped it would blow over. I didn't want to split the family when Sybil might still wake up," She explained.
Robert turned to Branson, "And all the time, you've been driving me about, bowing and scraping and seducing my daughter behind my back?"
"I don't bow and scrape! And I've not seduced anyone!" Branson spat, "Give your daughter some credit for knowing her own mind!"
"How dare you speak to me in that tone. You will leave at once," Robert demanded.
"Oh, Papa!" Sybil whined.
"This is a folly! A ridiculous, juvenile madness!"
Violet holds up her hand to silence her son, "Sybil, what do you have in mind?"
"Mama, this is hardly—" Robert began before Violet holds up her hand, again.
"No. She must have something in mind. Otherwise, she wouldn't have summoned him here tonight."
"Thank you, Granny. Yes, we do have a plan. Tom's got a job on a paper. I'll stay until after the wedding; I don't want to steal their thunder. But after that, I'll go to Dublin."
Cora's eyes widen with every word her daughter spoke and asks horrified, "To live with him? Unmarried?"
"I'll live with his mother while the bans are read. And then we'll be married..." Sybil and Branson gaze into each other's eyes, "And I'll get a job as a nurse."
"What does your mother make of this?" Violet asked.
"If you must know, she thinks we're very foolish," Branson replied.
Violet chuckles, "So at least we have something in common."
Robert, who has been facing the wall, whips around and storms into the center of the room, "I won't allow it! I will not allow my daughter to throw away her life!"
"You can posture it all you like, Papa, it won't make any difference!" Sybil responded.
"Oh, yes, it will."
"How? I don't want any money and you can hardly lock me up until I die! I'll say goodnight. But I can promise you one thing, tomorrow morning nothing will have changed. Tom?" Sybil gives him a look to follow her out, leaving the rest of them in a state of shock.
The next day, Eve was in the drawing room with Edith sorting out the wedding presents while Hera lay under the table.
"Hello dears," Violet greeted.
"I've left space at the front for jewels. I know Lavinia's getting something from Papa," Edith said.
"And from me. Though she's so slight, a real necklace would flatten her," Violet quipped. Edith, Eve, and Violet chuckle, "What news of Sybil?
"Uncle Robert is with her now," Eve informed her.
"I'm afraid it'll end in tears," Violet said.
"Maybe," Edith agreed, "But they won't be Sybil's."
"I used to think that Mary's beau was a misalliance, but compared to this, he's practically a Hapsburg. Oh, don't worry. Your turn will come," She told Edith.
"Will it? Or am I just to be the maiden aunt? Isn't this what they do? Arrange presents for their pretty relations?" Edith inquired.
"Don't be defeatist, dear, it's very middle class. Now, I better go up and support your father," Violet left the drawing room.
That evening in the dining room, the main topic of conversation was the events that had taken place the night before.
"I'm glad you're here, Sybil, dear. I was afraid you'd have a tray in your room," Violet said.
"Maybe you should have done," Robert suggested.
"Why?" Sybil asked," I'm not eloping like a thief in the night. I might have once, but Mary and Edith talked me out of it."
Mary, Eve, and Edith stare at her for outing them.
"Oh? The plot thickens," Violet commented.
"After all, Sybil's had enough time to think about it--"
"Mother, it is not for us to have an opinion," Matthew interrupted Isobel. Molesley falters in pouring Matthew's wine, "Mr. Molesley, are you quite well?"
"I--I'm all right, thank you, Sir," He replied.
"I don't believe you are."
"The awful truth is, I'm not quite all right and I'm afraid I'm going to ask you to excuse me," Cora spoke.
"I'm so sorry," Robert said as he and the other men stand as Cora gets up from the table, "Would you like us to call Dr. Clarkson?"
"No, no, darling, it's too late," She said.
"He's coming anyway, Your Lordship, for Mr. Carson," Anna informed them.
"I-- I'll bring him up when he arrives," Edith offered.
"I can sleep in my dressing room," Robert offered. Cora smiled and left the room. Robert sat back down and sighs, "The Spanish flu has found its way to Yorkshire."
"And to Downton. Dr. Clarkson says he's got ten cases already," Isobel added.
Anna then walked in and began to serve the wine.
"Ah, I thought Molesley had joined the temperance league," Robert joked.
"I'm afraid he's been taken ill, Milord. I am sorry."
"Molesley, too? Good heavens, everyone's falling like ninepins."
Mary looked over at Lavinia, who swoons in her chair.
"Lavinia?" Mary addressed.
"Do you know, I'm not at all well either," Lavinia explained, "I wonder if I could lay down for a minute?"
"Of course. Come to my room," She offered, "They'll have lit the fire by now."
Mary and Lavinia get up from the table and the men stand as they exit.
"Do you think we should take her home?" Isobel asked.
"No, let her rest for a moment," Matthew replied.
"Well, I—-I think I should go and help," Isobel gets up from her seat and leaves the room.
"Wasn't there a masked ball in Paris when cholera broke out? Half the guests were dead before they left the ballroom," Violet told them.
"Thank you, Mama. That's cheered us up no end," Robert voiced.
The next morning, Mrs. Hughes enters Cora and Robert's room as Edith, Eve, and Miss O'Brien nurse Cora. Overnight, Cora had gotten worse. She's running a fever and is covered with sweat from it.
"What can I bring to help?" Mrs. Hughes asked.
"Ice to bring her temperature down," Miss O'Brien replied.
"Mrs. Hughes, Sir Richard telephoned this morning. He's coming down to help. I wonder if you could have some rooms made ready for him and his valet, and tell Mrs. Patmore," Mary informed her.
"Very good, Milady," Mrs. Hughes responded before leaving the room.
That afternoon, things had gotten worse with Cora. Miss O'Brien, Eve, and Sybil did whatever they could to help her get through it.
"Why didn't anyone tell me she was like this?" Robert questioned as he entered the room and saw the state his wife is in.
"She took a turn for the worse about half an hour ago," Eve informed before turning to him, "Where were you?"
"Out. I went for a walk," Robert replied. Both Sybil and Eve knew he was lying, but didn't have time to deal with it.
Miss O'Brien enters with a fresh bowl of water and places a cloth over Cora's forehead, "There we are, My Lady. That's better, isn't it?"
"She's been with her all night," Sybil whispered.
"She has not had anything to eat or drink since yesterday," Eve added.
"O'Brien, you must have a rest," Robert suggested.
"Not just now, Milord. If you don't mind, I want to see her through the worst if I can. Now, I'll just make this colder for you," Miss O'Brien said as she dips the cloth in the water.
Robert takes Sybil and Eve aside, "How is she, really? Tell me the truth."
"I can't yet. Dr. Clarkson says we will know more in a few hours..." Sybil trailed off.
"God Almighty, how can this be? My whole life gone over a cliff in the course of a single day," Robert voiced.
As the day went on, Cora's condition seemed to have worsened with each passing hour. Eventually, Dr. Clarkson was brought in to help her. Robert, Eve, Edith, Mary, Sybil, and Miss O'Brien were in the room as well.
"I've given her the epinephrine," Dr. Clarkson informed Robert.
"Doctor!" Miss O'Brien called worryingly. They looked at Cora gasping for air and her nose is bleeding.
"Oh, no. What does that mean?" Edith asked.
"It's a hemorrhage of the mucus membranes," Dr. Clarkson explained, "It's, er, it's not unusual."
Sybil gets a bowl to Cora just in time as she vomits.
"It's all right, Milady. Don't worry. Don't worry a bit. Everything's going to be all right," Miss O'Brien comforted her.
"Everything is clearly not all right. How bad is it?" Robert asked in a whisper.
"If she lasts through the night, she'll live," Dr. Clarkson replied in a low voice. Mary, Eve, Edith, and Robert absorb this shock, "What about the others?"
"Come with me," Mary said.
"I'll be back shortly."
That evening it was a buffet-style dinner in the dining room. After being forced by Sybil to take a break, Eve was sitting at the table eating her dinner.
"You look very smart, Thomas," Mary commented as she served herself and saw Thomas in full livery.
"Well, I still have the shirt, Milady, and I found my livery in the cupboard, so I thought, why not?" Thomas replied.
Mary finishes serving up her plate and walks over to sit next to Matthew.
"I have a place for you here," Sir Richard spoke.
Mary pauses awkwardly and goes to sit next to Sir Richard.
"How's Lavinia?" Isobel asked her son.
"All right, I think. The illness has made her rather...confused," Matthew replied.
"What do you mean?" Mary inquired.
"Matthew! Eve! Mary!" Sybil called as she rushed into the room and everyone gets up.
"Is it Mama?"
"That's what's so...it's Lavinia," Sybil told them. Everyone's eyes widen and they rush out of the dining room.
When they reached Lavinia's room, they saw at how her condition had changed. She went from being able to talk and not showing any serious symptoms to now struggling able to breathe.
"What happened?" Isobel asked.
"This is how I found her. It's bad, I'm afraid. Very bad. The worst," Dr. Clarkson revealed.
"I don't understand. When I was with her, she was talking, she was fine," Matthew stammered.
"It's-- it's a strange disease with sudden, savage changes. I'm terribly sorry."
"Well, what can I do? Can I talk to her?" Matthew asked.
"Yes, of course," Dr. Clarkson replied.
Matthew sits in the chair next to the bed and takes Lavinia's hand. The men step away and turn their backs, but the women watch.
"My darling, can you hear me? It's me. It's Matthew," He spoke softly.
"Matthew," Lavinia croaked, "I'm so glad you're here."
"Of course, I'm here. Darling, where else would I be?"
"Isn't this better, really?" She asked.
Matthew's brow furrowed, "I don't understand you."
"You won't have to make a hard decision. Be happy, for my sake. Promise me. It's all I want for you. Remember that. That's all I want," Lavinia said, her breathing becoming worse with each word she spoke.
"But I can't be happy. Not without you," Matthew told her, "How could I be happy?"
Lavinia then takes a breath before she stops breathing. Isobel steps forward and the men turn back around. Dr. Clarkson checks her pulse, then places a hand on Matthew's shoulder and steps away.
It was the next night when Eve and Hera were walking toward Mary's room. Eve knocks on the door and Anna opens it before letting them in.
"It is all set," Eve informed Mary.
"Come with us," Mary told Anna.
Anna follows Mary and Eve down the corridor. Mary looks back at her and smiles. They show Anna a guest bedroom with flowers on the bed and candles everywhere. Anna smiles.
"Smuggle Bates in here when everyone has gone to bed. And for heaven's sake, make sure he gets the right room," Mary said.
"I don't know what to say, Milady. Who did all this?" Anna asked.
"Jane. I told her. She said it would be her leaving present. You can stay all night. She won't tell."
"Miladies, thank you. Very, very much."
The following Monday was Lavinia's funeral. She was to be buried at the Downton church.
"Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," Mr. Travis recited, "In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body that may be like unto his glorious body according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself. Amen."
"Amen," Everyone repeated after Mr. Travis. The mourners leave, but Matthew stays behind standing at Lavinia's grave.
When they returned to Downton Abbey, Mr. Carson informed them that Mr. Bates had been arrested by the police for the murder of his estranged wife, Vera.