wee_mango | 'Downton Abbey', Episode 3

November 1912. Housemaid Gwen confides in Anna that she is thinking of leaving service and is seeking employment as a secretary, having been taking secret typing lessons with her typewriter. However she begins to have doubts as Carson and Mrs Hughes can't understand why she wants to leave Downton, but she is encouraged by Bates and Anna to go for it.

- Edith: (on showing Matthew around the local churches) "It's too long since I've played the tourist."
Poor Edith. :(

- Anna: "Which churches will you show him?"
Edith: "I can't decide. Careby possibly or Easingwold perhaps."
Mary: "You don't think you're being a bit obvious?"
Edith: "Coming from you that's rich."
Cora: (from behind the door) "There was a letter from Mr Napier in the evening post."
Mary: "Mmmm? Did he accept?"
Cora: "Not yet."
Edith: "Perhaps he thought it was too obvious."

Bates meanwhile purchases a device to correct his limp but this proves to be extremely painful. Mary informs Cora that Evelyn Napier, the wealthy son of a peer and possible suitor, will be visiting. A traditional English foxhunt is organised at Downton and Napier brings with him his good friend Kemal Pamuk, a dashing Turkish diplomat, who is in London for the Albanian independence negotiations. Mary is smitten. Edith meanwhile is showing an interest in Matthew and takes him round the local churches. To her disappointment, he is far more interested in the buildings (and Mary it seems) than herself.

Gwen: "I doubt I'll leave here before I'm sixty."
Anna: "Hey...what's all this?"
Gwen: "Oh you saw their faces and they're right! Oh look at me! I'm the daughter of a farm-hand; I'm lucky to be a maid. I was born with nothing and I'll die with nothing."
Bates: "Don't talk like that. You can change your life if you want to. Sometimes you have to be hard on yourself but you can change it completely, I know."
Poor Gwen. :( *squishes* And much ♥ to the other 2 for being the confidants. ;)

Mrs Hughes: "Are you sure you're alright? You're as white as a sheet?"
Bates: "It's my wonderful complexion, inheirited from my Irish mother."
XD

LOL at these three sneaking a peek & getting caught by Carson. XD

- Violet: "I hanker for a simpler world. Is that a crime?"

- Matthew: "Is it fun to be back in the saddle?"
Mary: "Yes, although I'll pay for it tomorrow."

Thomas makes a pass at Pamuk, which horrifies him however, provided Thomas will do something in return for him, he will say nothing. During dinner, Mary has eyes only for Pamuk but when he surprises her by forcibly kissing her, she rejects him. Undeterred he goes to her room that night, led by Thomas, and seduces her. During the night, Anna is woken by Mary with shocking news: Pamuk has died in her bed.

To avoid a scandal, they must move the body back to Pamuk's room, but as they can't carry him on their own, Mary is forced to tell her mother what happened. Cora is horrified but having no other choice, helps the other two carry the body back across the house just before dawn but unknown to them all, Daisy, carrying out her early morning rounds, sees them. Cora agrees not to tell Robert the truth, knowing it would destroy him. The next morning, Mary is visibly upset by Pamuk's death and Evelyn Napier realises he doesn't have a chance with her.

Sybil. ♥ :D My fave of the Crawley sisters. Really hope she can help Gwen get the job she wants.

- Robert: (about Pamuk's death) "It's been horrid for the ladies and for the female staff, I expect."
Carson: (handing him a cup of tea) "It's particulary hard on the younger maids."
Robert: "Indeed. Don't let the footman be too coarse in front of them. Thomas likes to show off, but we must have a care for feminine sensibilities. They are finer and more fragile than our own."
♥

- Violet: "Oh my dears! Is it really true? Oh I can't believe it! Last night he looked so well! Course, would happen to a foreigner...typical."
Mary: "Don't be ridiculous!"
Violet: "I'm not being ridiculous! No Englishman would dream of dying in someone else's house!"
LMFAO oh Violet...

Carson: "We're all behind you my lady, the staff. We're all on your side."
Mary: "Thank you Carson. You've always been so kind to me. Always, when I was quite a little girl. Why is that?"
Carson: (smiling) "Even a butler has his favourites, m'lady."
Awwwwwwwwwwwww. :D

Robert has a quiet word with Mrs Hughes about Bates, both having noticed him occasionally wince in pain. Bates reluctantly comes clean: in a desperate attempt to straighten his right leg out again, he has been wearing the device too tight causing it to cut into him. He and Mrs Hughes both agree to get rid of it and they throw it into the lake. He promises not to keep things bottled up to himself next time. Out in the courtyard, Thomas updates O'Brien on what really happened, given that he was the one to discover Pamuk dead in his own room.

Ep 3 synopsis