“Mum, Dad…” Sybil said finally. She looked up, her eyes catching on the group and how they all now paused before stepping out the door. It seemed her mouth had moved without permission from her mind and now her heart was beating so fast she couldn’t quite remember what it was she could have been thinking.
“Sybil?” Robert tried, taking a step in toward his daughter.
“I, uh, never mind…” she brushed off. Her eyes turned to the floor and she nervously pushed a stray curl behind her ear to distract her shaking hands. But then, with a newfound bravery, she tried once more. All of it, every last feeling she had for Tom came rushing through her veins with every passing heartbeat. “I’m dating Tom…” she blurted out, keeping her family from leaving the room completely. Immediately those same trembling fingers were pressed to her lips. She was shocked by her own inhibition; this courage was unsettling and with the truth now told, she wondered if she was impressed or terrified and which response was preferred by the company she was currently keeping.
Robert took yet another step in toward his daughter, this time angling his foot to show he was committed to what she had just said. If he asked for an elaboration it was likely they would be late and while his work as Vice Chancellor was important to him, the work he now needed to do as a father trumped all. “Dating?”
Musings of a Yankee Countess 