Sybilla Grenfell
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| Portrayed by Claire Foy | |
| Full Name | Sybilla Hyacinth Grenfell |
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| Associated Noble House(s) | Barony de Grave |
| Date of Birth | February 3, 1792 |
| Father | George Grenfell |
| Father's Rank | 16th Baron de Grave |
| Mother | Caroline Grenfel |
| Mother's Rank | 16th Baroness de Grave |
| Town Residence | de Grave House, 39 Bruton Place |
| Year of Debut | 1811 |
| Dowry | Generous |
Sybilla Hyacinth Grenfell is the fourth child and only daughter of George and Caroline Grenfell, 16th Baron and Baroness de Grave. She was preceded by her brothers George, Leander, and Piers, and currently resides with her sister in law, the current Baroness de Grave. Sybilla is played by Pictsie.
Family
George Grenfell, 16th Baron de Grave (1756 - 1805, father)
Caroline Grenfell, 16th Baroness de Grave (176? - 1792, mother)
George Grey Grenfell, 17th Baron de Grave (1780 - 1808, brother)
Sophronia Grenfell neé Redgrave, 17th Baroness de Grave (b. 1785, sister-in-law)
Iphigenia Grenfell (b. 1804, niece)
Leander Grey Grenfell, 18th Baron de Grave (1781 - 1809, brother)
Matilda Grenfell neé Bartley, Baroness de Grave (b. 1787, sister-in-law)
Robin George Grey Grenfell, the 19th and current Baron de Grave (b. 1808, nephew)
Piers Grenfell (b. 1785, brother)
Early Life (1793 - 1811)
Sybilla's came to the world quite unexpectedly. Her mother never conceived or birthed easily, but her final childbirth had been so difficult that the doctor advised the then Baron and Baroness de Grave against any more pregnancies. But the couple was not ready to give up on their matrimonial intimacy, and for the longest time it seemed they'll have nothing to worry about. However, it was not meant to be, and on the 3rd of February, 1792, their fourth child and only daughter had been born.
Weakened by the experience more than ever before, Caroline Grenfell, 16th Baroness de Grave, died less than seven months later.
It didn't seem that anyone laid any particular blame on Sybilla, and since she was such a beautiful, healthy baby with a calm and sweet temper, her father quickly became immensely fond of her. Her brothers - twelve, eleven, and seven years her senior respectively - didn't really care for the brat, at least not until they discovered the beneficial influence of having an adoring little sister to one's ego (though the fact that they loved her didn't mean they found performing the sacred brotherly duty of mercilessly teasing their sister difficult or tedious at all).
Since early childhood, Sybilla was bestowed with the finest governess and tutors her father could acquire. Having a curious mind, she enjoyed lessons that had more to do with actual education than a lady's accomplishments, and her father, who could not deny her anything, found himself persuaded to give her a home schooling that, while certainly nowhere equal and extensive, resembled the one he gave his sons, with lessons in French, German, horse-riding, natural sciences, history, art, and literature. Sybilla's favourite pastimes in that age were reading, bringing animals to the house and demanding to keep them, listening to her father talk about her late mother, and sneaking around after her brothers around like a little meddlesome nuisance that she was.
The relationships she built with each of her brothers differed greatly between each other. As someone who was given full reign of herself and her time by their father, Sybilla would at times butt heads with George who, being prim and proper at all times as he was, never hesitated to point out whenever she did something unladylike or impolite, as well as lapses their father was making in her education by allowing her to skim (if even that) trough classes more befitting a young woman of noble breeding. Because of that, she considered George stuffy, boring, and stiff. Piers, on the other hand, she was careful around. His nature and temper often found her the easiest victim to lash upon, but at the same time he could be wonderful when he wanted or needed to. This is why she never really knew how to behave around Piers and she learned to be grateful for the times when he was good and quick on her feet when he felt like bullying her. Leander was the only one of her brothers for whom she retained her grand childhood love, because they were the closest to each other by age and in temperament. Much like their father, he spoiled her silly and minded her demands for attention the least of all her brothers, going so far as to play and study with her sometimes. She idealized Leander; in her mind, he could do no wrong.
As Sybilla was the youngest and a girl, nobody really took her seriously or watched what they said around her, and since she was attentive, observant, and intelligent, she very soon learned that her family dynamics isn't exactly functional. Oh, they seemed to get along when they wanted to, but there was no hiding that the relationships her brothers had between themselves and their father were not smooth, and were even strained sometimes. Their natures clashed, and it showed more and more as they grew, the first inkling to the awful things the future will bring.
And then came the first truly awful day in her life, the day her father passed away and her brother George became the 17th Baron de Grave and Sybilla's legal guardian. The lessons she loved so much were toned down to make space and time for feminine skills such as drawing, dancing, music, sewing, embroidery, and home economy. He was determined to fill the gap in her education, having in mind her future début and how much of her future happiness depended on her successful presentation to their society. But Sybilla saw this as an attack on her freedom and fought the change with passion. Only, it didn't help. George was unyielding on the matter, and his wife, Sophronia, always took his side, something which made Sybilla dislike her sister-in-law very much. Piers wasn't particularly helpful either, as he couldn't seem to be bothered with the issue, but generally tended to agree with George and Sophronia, so all Sybilla could do was defy them as much as her powerless position allowed her and fantasize about the day Leander (who all but literally fled the family the first chance he got) would return and make everything right again.
In the end, her misbehaviour caused so much trouble that George, Sophronia, and Piers sat down and decided that the best way to deal with the insufferable girl was to send her away to Miss Pirbright's Select Seminary for Young Ladies, a very respectable boarding school located at Claverton, to the east (the London side) of Bath, where she would be under the strict hand of teachers and forced to interact with young ladies of her own age and station, from whose example she could learn how to behave in polite society. Sybilla reacted as well as one could expect of her in that stage of her life – with screaming revolt, locking herself away in her room, and writing tearful, overly-dramatic letters to Leander, begging him to come back to rescue her. The reply she got from Leander was basically this: she is no longer a child and it isn't befitting of her to keep behaving like one; that school isn't that bad and that she’ll make lots of new friends; and that she really should learn that, sometimes, one needs to do as they’re told. It broke her little heart, and made her lose the will to fight, which made sending her away at the beginning of the school year much less stressful for her brothers and sister-in-law.
School Years (1806 - 1810)
Sybilla was inconsolable and thought she will never like this new and strange environment. Everybody around her seemed so comfortable and elegant, especially the older girls, to whom graceful femininity seem to come so naturally. It made Sybilla feel like a clumsy oaf amongst them, and she shied away from everyone in fear that they'll find her lacking and make fun of her. But her fear was...well, not unfunded, there are and always will be mean people out there ready and set to ridicule you for even the tiniest flaws, but greatly exaggerated, because girls at school seemed to like her in general. In a very short time, she was on polite terms with the majority of her classmates, and soon enough gained a small circle of faithful friends. Finally, she had some female influence in her life and began to learn about feminine skills and secrets she had no one to teach her before. She found the one about feigning meekness, quietness, and obedience in order to make people stop paying attention to a person and leave them to dispose of themselves and their free time on their own the most useful one, and applied it generously every time she would be staying at home for the holidays, since it made her life easier to make everyone think they broke her spirit.
In the meantime, her family situation changed once again when her brother George died, leaving behind no male heir and making Leander the newest Baron de Grave...but that didn't make him leave the home and family he built across the Atlantic (tarnishing further the perfect image Sybilla had of him), leaving Piers and Sophronia in charge of all that was under the De Grave name, Sybilla included. It was not much of an improvement, and soon if got even worse, for Leander passed away as well, leaving his infant son the mantle of Baron de Grave. Sybilla's new sister-in-law, Matilda (of whom she has not yet formed an exact opinion, but leans towards liking her), refusing to simply give away her son, came to England with him, and a whole new (and by far the worst) war started waging at home. Sybilla felt sorry for her little nephew. The poor boy was going to grow up torn between two constantly-feuding sides in a vitriolic atmosphere that couldn't have been good for anyone - atmosphere which, Sybilla swore to herself, she will escape as soon as possible.
Present Day (1811)
Upon graduating with honours, Sybilla returned under her family's wing, the very last place she wants to be, but knows very well that she has no choice in the matter. There is only one way she sees is to find herself a suitable husband as soon as possible, and she is now devoting herself to this cause. The moment of her début into society has come, and she fully intends to make the best use of it she possibly can. With her position, a generous dowry, and family connections, she has no doubts that she will have many offers to choose from. All she has to do now is pick the right one.
She had her début shortly upon arriving to London, after which she proceeded to be dragged left and right to each and every suitable social event by her guardians, whether she liked it or not. She usually didn't, but only because being surrounded by such fine and very obviously comfortable in their element people, made her feel even more self-conscious about her own flaws... but, being practical, she determined that she would use these opportunities to rectify (or, at least, learn to hide) her faults. Luckily, though, she had made a few rather lovely acquaintanceships and was re-united with a few of already-made friends, which made things run smoother by far. Her first week was spent mostly in testing of waters and frantically learning as much as she could to pass herself off as less of a socially inept dolt she sees herself as, while the second passed in the much more relaxed and pleasurable manner (if one discounts the few skirmishes she had with Sophronia and that dratted brush of cold she contracted from the children, which made her have to either reschedule or completely abandon some of the plans she had for the week, but luckily lasted no longer than a few days and had only truly attacked her usually strong health after her first eve at the Almack's Assembly Rooms).
The third week is off to a promising start, and Sybilla hopes it will make good on that promise.
Physical Appearance
Sybilla is a moderately attractive young lady of an average body frame, standing at even 5 feet, weighing 125 lbs, with straight brown hair she usually wears in a simple and elegant chignon, and blue eyes full of intelligence and emotion. She prefers her clothes, footwear, and various accessories to be as simple, comfortable, and practical as fashion will allow. She prefers colours and designs that are easy on the eyes, usually in pastel tones, but with a splash of something more daring for decoration (she abhors white, though, and cannot wait until it is out of fashion). Her fair skin is lightly sprinkled with freckles across the nose and cheekbones, less noticeable when she keeps away from the sun. She neither owns nor knows how to use makeup, but she is fond of perfumes, especially those with light, fresh scents, such as lily-of-the-valley and elder or linden blossoms, and likes a small amount of simple jewellery best. She doesn't consider herself unattractive, but she also has a worse opinion regarding her visage than other people do.
Personality
Sybilla is very careful about how she shows herself to people, a lesson she learned all too well from her hectic family life. She will appear meek and unassuming to people she knows she has to guard herself from, but when surrounded with those she knows she can trust, she allows herself to let her spirit free. She is a very strong, very durable person, with a sarcastic wit and a somewhat bitter outlook on life, but then again, who could blame her. Intelligent, resourceful, and fond of learning, you will often find her with a book in her hand. Practical and logical, sensible but not without a sense of humour, her heart's greatest desire is to have a peaceful, happy life and home, the principal motive behind the way she nurtures and cherishes her friendships. She is fiercely loyal, but will be the first one to flatly and directly point out if there is something wrong or unwise with what is being asked of her, refusing to abide to imprudence or foolishness and thus hurt more than help.
Her likes and dislikes are based on instinct as much as rational thought, but deeper emotions (love, friendship, devotion) require time and consistency. She is not exactly known-of (quite natural for a débutante), but she is generally on polite if not on good terms with most people who know her. They are the ones who see her smile; the people she loves are the ones who hear her laugh. With them, some of that mischievous, unruly child that she was comes back and warms them like a ray of sunshine. It is not easy to get to know her intimately, but those who manage to do so usually like what they find out. She is also immensely fond of all kinds of animals, and the tiny Yorkshire Terrier pup that she received as a present on her 18th birthday by one of her dearest school-friends, Basil, is currently one of the few constant joys of her life.
And then there are the people she truly dislikes. They are few, and most of them are members of her own family. Since they are usually more powerful than she is, she tries to stay out of their way and keep her feelings and thoughts about what they say and do mostly to herself, but if she is pushed too far, all those bottled emotions will burst out and it will not be pretty. Another thing that will bring out her malicious side is seeing someone or something she cares about hurt or otherwise endangered. She can't – or perhaps even doesn't want to – think in her usual clear and prudent way in such situations, and can retaliate most severely, to the surprise of many people.
A romantic idealist in childhood, she was cured from it very early, and now has no more illusions about life or people. In fact, she can be somewhat difficult about it, and it takes her a while to give her trust, affection, or even to simply accept something or someone that seems good on first glance, fearing being hurt – or worse, made a fool. Sybilla is proud the way only someone so young can be, and it will on occasion slip into condescension towards others. She hates being weak and showing weakness, and being dependant on others. When she recognizes a lost battle, she is able to surrender, but since she is the kind of person who is driven to the point of being stubborn and hates quitting, it may take her a while to realize when she is in a stalemate position.
Sybilla's most guarded secret is her insecurity when it comes to her image and the way an unmarried lady should behave around eligible bachelors, seeing how she had no mother or older sisters to teach her about it in time. Directly tied to it is her fear that these insecurities might spoil her chances of making a favourable match. She has an idea of what kind of man she would like for herself (kind, brave, and gentle, educated and open-minded, a man from whom she will not have to hide her true nature, a man somewhat a mixture of her father and her brother Leander), but also believes that it would be highly stupid to believe such a man exists, and will happily settle for a man she can respect and become friends with, a man able to provide for her and their future offspring, and as less alike to her brothers George and Piers as humanly possible.
Sybilla can't really say that she loves her family, although she will claim (even to herself) that she does love them - but simply doesn't like them all that much (if at all). She can never forgive them for not being the united, loving, supportive family she wishes she had, for not accepting her as she is, for making her afraid that she will not be able to escape that same fate when she is married off...that is, she would, if they would ever stop squabbling like rabid dogs and change their behaviour for the better of the whole family, but she is certain that will probably never happen. And so, at the present, Sybilla is wary of her brother Piers, finds both Sophronia and Iphigenia thoroughly antipatic (although she has not yet given up on her niece and hopes to rub off her enough for the little girl to snap from under her mother's influence, as she does love her dearly), is non-committally polite to Matilda, both because she doesn't know her well enough to know how much of herself she can reveal to her American sister-in-law and because showing too much affection for her can cause her much trouble with the rest of her family, and is devoted to Robin with all her heart, as he is the only member of her family who is honest and truly loving to her.
Family Connections
Sophronia Grenfell - Can anyone say hissing cats?
It's pronounced 'Teh-ah-tim-eh'
Matilda Grenfell - While their relationship is considerably better than the one Sybilla has with Sophronia, Sybilla is still rather cautious about her American sister-in-law.
Much Ado About A Midsummer Night's Tempest
It's pronounced 'Teh-ah-tim-eh'
Societal Connections
Emma Vickery - The best friend Sybilla's ever had, they had met each other's acquaintance during their school years, and Sybilla is fiercely devoted to Miss Vickery. She thinks the world of the young woman and looks up to her greatly. She sees Miss Vickery as a sister she never had, and often comes to her for advice and consolation.
A bank whereon the wild thyme blows
Once Upon a Time in Fair London Town - Miss Vickery's birthday fancy-dress ball. In keeping with the fairyland theme, Sybilla chose the guise of Queen Mab.
Sixty seconds' worth of distance run
Robert Vickery - The elder brother of Miss Emma Vickery, and a childhood acquaintance of Sybilla through his schoolroom connection to her eldest brother. She is yet to completely forgive him for chucking bugs and teasing her with that ridiculous nickname alongside her brothers on the few occasions he visited Copperdene in his boyhood. They have a relationship based on teasing each other, but while others may see them as flirting, Sybilla thinks of Mr Vickery in brotherly terms.
Delivery of Flowers to de Grave House
Robert Fitzgerald - The well-read, good-humoured, and tragically wounded Colonel instantly endeared himself to Sybilla with his broad taste in literature, clear appreciation (without that taint of condescension men usually had) of her own love of reading, and penchant for playful ribbing bordering on flirtation (although, at the time, Sybilla did not see it as flirtatious at all).
Much Ado About A Midsummer Night's Tempest
George Hackett - While she is yet to form a clear opinion of Lord Selwyn, Sybilla enjoyed dancing with him at Miss Vickery's birthday ball... although she probably would've felt far less charitable towards him had she any knowledge of his List.
Won't be a flower on this wall
Honoria Bartram - An elder unwed lady Sybilla met at the Ridotto at Vauxhall Gardens. She happened to have been present when Sybilla's hairpins were stolen by a pickpocket, and the two women developed a fast but apparently deep connection thanks to some similarities of character.
Hairpins for Miss Sybilla Grenfell
Eleanor Clare - An alumna of the same ladies college Sybilla attended, she met Miss Clare again in London by chance when out on a stroll through Hyde Park with Lady Rosanna Devereux.
Rosanna Devereux - Youngest of Earl of Oughterridge's children, and Sybilla's acquaintance thought family connections. Lady Rosanna Devereux is one of the very few girls Sybilla knew before being sent off to school.
Natalie Relmsey - A newly-made acquaintance, introduced by Lady Rosanna Devereux.
Bee Rosdew - Sybilla and Miss Rosdew ran into each other while making last minute preparations for the coming out ball of Lady Olivia Fitzgerald. Sybilla rather likes the young lady, even if she feels severely inferior in comparison.
Algernon Culpepper (and other Culpeppers) - Words cannot describe the height and force of Sybilla's dislike. Quite possibly mutual,