wee_mango | 'Downton Abbey' Season 2, Episode 3

Preparations are well underway to turn Downton into a convalescent home, and not everyone is comfortable with it; Edith is finding it difficult to make herself useful but Sybil encourages her to find something she is good at; Violet plans to grill Lavinia when she visits Rosamund; Anna thinks she glimpses Bates in the village but he vanishes when she tries to look for him, later confiding this to Mary who says she will have Sir Richard look into it; Branson is adamant that he will not fight; O'Brien plans to have Thomas running the staff at Downton.

Robert, Carson and Isobel are not happy with the possibility of Thomas running Downton, since both Robert and Carson know of Thomas's previous thefts; Ethel catches the eye of one of the officers in the house but is advised to keep well away by both O'Brien and Anna; things come to a head when Cora, Robert and Isobel can't agree on the running of Downton with Robert stating that it will be run his way (that they will admit friends and relatives) or everyone can pack up and leave.

Cora is not best pleased upon discovering Isobel ordering the servants about downstairs...

Thomas: "So are we ready for the big invasion, 'cause they'll be here at teatime."
Carson: "We'll have to be ready won't we, Thomas?"
Thomas: "We will, Mr Carson, and it's Sargeant Barrow now."
Carson: "Acting Sargeant I believe..."

- Ethel: "Is that better?"
Major Bryant: "Much, but I may need some more tucking very soon."
Ethel: "Well no one tucks better than I do."
Subtle Ethel lol.

Mary has news for Anna: Bates is working in a pub in a nearby village; Rosamund and Violet plan to get rid of Lavinia but Mary is uncomfortable with their plans; Branson confesses to Sybil that he cannot fight after being diagnosed with a heart murmur, however Sybil has noticed that he seems angry a lot of the time (he later confesses to having lost a cousin during the Easter Rising in Ireland the previous year); Anna visits Bates who reveals that he may soon be free of Vera as he has grounds to divorce her for adultery; Lang wakens the servants that night and they discover he is suffering from terrible nightmares.

(in the pub, Anna and Bates are at a table by themselves)
Bates: "It was me. I knew you used to go to the village on a Wednesday. I so longed for a glimpse of you."
Anna: "But why are you up here at all, and why didn't you tell me?"
Bates: "Because I want to get things settled first. You see I've discovered that Vera has been unfaithful to me. I've got proof."
Anna: "We can't criticise her for that..."
Bates: "No but it means I can divorce her. I've had to leave the house to prove that it has broken the marriage, so I came up here to be nearer you."
Anna: "But what if she fights it?"
Bates: "She can't. For her to divorce me, she needs something beyond adultery; cruelty, or such like. For a husband, adultery is enough."
Anna: "It's not very fair to women..."
Bates: "I don't care about fairness, I care about you. The point is I can get rid of her. If she goes quietly, I will give her money and plenty of it and if not, she leaves empty-handed."
Anna: "And when will this be?"
Bates: "I need to get her to accept it first. She's made threats about selling stuff to the papers."
Anna: "What stuff?"
Bates: "Don't worry, they won't offer what I will. You've changed your hair."
Anna: (smiling wryly) "I was trying out lady Mary's new curling iron. What do you think?"
Bates: "I think I would love you however, whatever, whenever."
Anna: "We don't have to wait you know. If you want me to throw up everything and come with you I will, gladly."
Bates: "I can't marry you yet, not legally, and I won't break the law."
Anna: "It's not against the law to take a mistress, Mr Bates."
(She puts her hands into his)
Bates: "I know you, Anna Smith, and I love you but that is not the right path for you. It won't be long now."
(She nods, understanding)

Cute Mary/Matthew moment #18954398459. ;)

Mrs Patmore is adamant in seeing that Daisy keeps William happy; Mary discovers Lavinia and Sir Richard may have been lovers at one point but won't tell Matthew; Anna, Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes mistake Branson's letter to Sybil to mean that he will attempt to murder the General but when confronted, Branson reveals that he only intended to pour a mixture of slop over the man's head; Lavinia confesses to Mary that she and Carlisle were never involved romantically but that she passed him some information for his newspapers in the hope that it would save her father from ruin; Edith is praised for her efforts in helping with the soldiers; William and Daisy get engaged (Mrs Patmore having said yes on Daisy's behalf); Lang suffers a nervous breakdown when the General heads off, believing he will be forced to return to the trenches but Robert assures him otherwise (the large numbers of soldiers in the house haven't helped either in this factor).

Mary: "Why must she be so savage? It's my broken heart, it was her advice that wrecked it in the first place."
Violet: "Classic Rosamund; she's never so righteous when she's in the wrong."

William and Daisy announce their engagement to the rest of the staff, with William scuppering Daisy's plans on getting married when the war finishes, he wants to get married as soon as possible (she wants to break off the engagement as soon as the war ends!); Carson agrees with Mrs Hughes that they must let Lang go but Lang is one step ahead: Carson finds him packing but promises to give him a good reference; Robert plans to place William with Matthew as his manservant to try and keep him safe when they return to the Front.

- Robert: "We dreamed a dream my dear but now it's over. The world was in a dream before the war but now it has woken up and said goodbye to it, and so must we."
(Cora reaches over to kiss him and he turns out the light)