*EDITED*

Elizabeth had gotten ready for the day and joined everyone for breakfast. She made up a small plate of food as Mary broke the silence in the dining room. The family was sat, silently eating. Robert was reading something Thomas had given him.

"Who's that from, Papa? You seem very absorbed," she questioned.

"Your Aunt Rosamond," Robert answered, barely glancing up from the letter. 

"Anything interesting?" Edith asked. 

"Nothing to trouble you with," he reassured. 

"Poor Aunt Rosamond. All alone in that big house. I feel so sorry for her," Sybil spoke up. 

Elizabeth sat down, "She must be lonely."

She could never imagine not having someone to share her life with, whether it was her sisters or her parents, or even eventually someone she married. If she married. Elizabeth wasn't sure where she stood on the idea of marriage, she didn't have to think of it yet. She wasn't eighteen yet. She just knew she never wanted to be alone. She knew though, with Sybil as her sister, she wouldn't be. If Sybil married and Elizabeth didn't, the elder of the two had said Elizabeth was to live with her. They knew they never wanted to be without the other. They were inseparable and always would be.

"I don't. All alone, with plenty of money, in a house in Eaton Square? I can't imagine anything better," Mary responded. 

"Really, Mary, I wish you wouldn't talk like that. There will come a day when someone thinks you mean what you say," Robert scolded after angrily closing his letter. 

Mary raised a brow, "It can't come soon enough for me."

"Carson, I'll be in the library. Will you let me know when Her Ladyship is down?" Robert requested. 

"Certainly, milord."

"Elizabeth, darling, this one's for you," Robert informed before leaving. He had handed the letter to Edith who passed it along. 

Elizabeth quickly ripped the letter open, her eyes darting across it before she grabbed Sybil, pulling her along and out of the room. They rushed to where Gwen would be. Elizabeth's smile never faltered as Sybil stumbled to keep up. She found Gwen, throwing the letter into her hands and demanding she read it.

"I saw another opening for a secretary and I applied," Elizabeth explained to Gwen when she had read through the letter. 

"But you never said."

"I didn't want you to be disappointed," she told.

"I thought you'd given up."

"I'll never give up and nor will you. If we even thought of giving up Sybil would be quick to scold us. Things are changing for women. Not just the vote, but our lives," Elizabeth replied. 

"This is one of those changes," Sybil added. 

"But it's tomorrow at ten o clock. Last time we waited for weeks and weeks, and this one's tomorrow," Gwen exclaimed. 

"Then we must be ready by tomorrow, mustn't we?" Elizabeth smiled at Gwen, who began glancing between the two sisters. Sybil sent her a smile as well and after a moment's hesitation, Gwen smiled too. 

---

Sybil and Elizabeth had decided that they would both take Gwen to her interview to provide her with moral support and ensure she got there and back unnoticed by the others at the house. Elizabeth, however, had offered to be the one to write the note to Lynch requesting the governess cart.

"I thought you went to bed hours ago," Robert voiced as he saw her about to go up. 

"I was writing a note for Lynch. I need the governess cart tomorrow," she informed. 

"Oh?" 

"I'm going to Malton with Sybil," she elaborated. 

"Oh, don't risk the traffic in Malton. Not now every Tom, Dick and Harry seems to have a motor," Robert replied.

"Hardly," Elizabeth responded, chuckling slightly at his exaggeration. 

"Last time, there were five cars parked in the market place and another three drove past while I was waiting," he recalled. "Get Branson to take you in the car. Neither of us are using it."

"I thought we'd pop in on old Mrs Stuart. Will you tell Mama, if I forget?" Elizabeth spoke, avoiding his suggestion.

---

The next morning Sybil and Elizabeth prepared to take Gwen to her interview. They met her outside the estate to ensure that no one saw what they were doing. 

"I had to let the skirt down a little, but I can put it back," Gwen told as she ran through the woodlands to the cart. 

"No, it's yours. What will happen if one of the maids finds your room empty?" Elizabeth responded. 

"It'd only be Anna and she wouldn't give me away. She's like a sister. She'd never betray me," Gwen reassured. 

"Then she's not like our sisters," Sybil quipped. She then continued their journey. 

They had dropped Gwen at her interview and went to make sure that the reason for their journey lined up with what Elizabeth had told Robert. 

Upon ending their visit, the trio got back into the cart, however, during their journey back, their horse, Dragon, cast its shoe and they were forced to walk alongside them. It took a short while before they saw a man walking his dog and decided to ask him for help. 

"Can you help? I shall be so grateful. Our horse has cast a shoe. Is there a smithy nearby?" Sybil asked the stranger. 

"Aye, you can try old Crump in the next village," he answered. 

"Thank you," the three girls chorused. 

"You see? Help's at hand. At least it happened on the way home," Elizabeth comforted. 

"Well, they'll be worried about you and if they check on me, I'm finished," Gwen responded. 

They managed to arrive at where 'old Crump' was meant to be, only to be met with bad news. 

"Sorry, Miss, but Mr Crump's staying over at the Skelton estate tonight. He's working there all week," the man informed. 

"Is there anyone else?" Elizabeth asked. 

"Not that I know of."

He tipped his hat before walking back inside. Elizabeth sighed before they continued their journey. 

"At least it's good exercise," she voiced. 

Her slight optimism was short-lived as Dragon stopped walking when they reached a particularly muddy spot and instead began eating the small amount of wildlife there. 

"Come on Dragon. Come on," Sybil exclaimed, moving to the other two to help try and push the cart. 

"Dragon, if you don't move now, I'll have you boiled for glue," Elizabeth shouted. It was then that Dragon began to run, causing all three girls to fall into the mud. 

They managed to stand and soon began the walk back home.

Arriving back home, Elizabeth told the story of how the horse was unable to make the journey back, leaving out that Gwen was with them. She was quickly cleaned up and changed, ready for dinner.