Downton Abbey season 5, episode 3 just aired on ITV, and it seems as though Lady Mary isn’t quite as decided as she thought she’d be.
Sin and debauchery
We rejoin Lady Mary and Lord Gillingham at the end of their week together, where Mary is looking thoroughly debauched in bed. They share in some idle chatter about all they’ve done together in Liverpool — and no, not just each other — before separating to enjoy their respective breakfasts. As Gillingham leaves her side, the look on Mary’s face is one of disappointment. It seems their week together didn’t quite live up to her expectations.
Of course, they couldn’t get away scot-free. As Gillingham sees Mary off at her car, none other than Spratt — the Dowager Countess’ butler — catches them together. But just what was he doing in Liverpool? According to Lady Violet, he was seeing his niece down the aisle at her wedding, which was ‘extremely inconvenient’ for her. For Lady Mary too, it’d appear.
When he returns to work, and brings the sighting up to the Dowager Countess, she’s quick to provide a cover story for the pair. She informs Spratt that she knew of their trip to Liverpool, and that they were attending an informal conference for ‘northern land holders.’ We’re pretty sure that’s not the only land Gillingham was holding this week.
Back at Downton, Sergeant Willis returns to speak to Mr. Carson about Mr. Green’s visit to the house prior to his death. He, apparently, spoke ill of his time there to some of his colleagues, saying that he had a quarrel with someone. Carson doesn’t recall any arguments, noting instead that Mr. Green inspired the rest of his staff to get rowdy. If there was anyone that disapproved of Mr. Green, it was Mr. Carson himself. Uh-oh. He better watch what he says, or suspicion might turn his way!
In Memoriam
Mrs. Patmore asks Mrs. Hughes to speak to Carson about the possibility of having her nephew’s name added to the Downton war memorial. He deserted his post during the war, and received a bullet to the head for his trouble. Though they know more about shell shock now that the war is over, Mr. Carson believes it’d do discredit to all those men who lost their lives standing their post. This proves another hiccup in the budding relationship between Carson and Mrs. Hughes, and puts them out of agreement once more.
Barrow requests some time away from Downton to visit his ‘dying father’ — a ruse he’s concocted to cover his true intentions, which appears to be a potential new job. We have a feeling this may unravel around him, as Baxter is familiar with his father, and takes the news with some sadness. Will she soon be reaching out to the family to offer her condolences, only to discover the truth?
Discovery
Though he deals well with Sergeant Willis’ questioning, Mr. Bates appears to be high on the list of suspects in Mr. Green’s death. He was, apparently, mentioned by name as someone who had a grievance with Mr. Green. He offers up a list of his whereabouts on the day of Mr. Green’s death, but as Mrs. Hughes points out, they were all within traveling distance of London. Sergeant Willis may not be quick enough to put two-and-two together, but one of his colleagues might.
The Dowager Countess invites her granddaughter around, only to advise her that she knows of her dalliance with Lord Gillingham. She asks if there may be an ‘unwanted epilogue’ to the affair, to which Mary assures her there won’t — and Lady Violet almost slips Edith’s secret. Whoops. The Dowager Countess recommends a date be set for the wedding, but Mary still doesn’t seem convinced.
The final part of Baxter’s secret also came out this week — after Cora accepted an ultimatum to allow it to go straight back into the ground afterward. Baxter was swayed by another employee of the household, Coyle, who was a nasty piece of work and made Baxter in kind. After he handed in his notice, he convinced Baxter to take the jewels, only to disappear after she handed them over to him. She took full blame, and he got away without a black mark to his name. This story is enough to sway Cora, and she decides to keep Baxter on.
Robert, who made his way to London to surprise Lady Grantham with dinner out, is less than impressed when she returns to his sister’s house after having spent the evening with Simon Bricker. Looks as though he may have caught on to Bricker’s true intentions — well, right up until he tells his wife that he can’t understand why he’d want her opinion on art. Ouch. He’s certainly not doing himself any favors, and Cora tearfully retires.
Russian Around
Mr. Drewe comes to the back door to see Edith and advises that she should maybe stay away for a while. His wife is becoming far more suspicious and unforgiving of Edith’s attention towards Marigold — especially after an earlier scare where she thought Edith had run away with her. Edith doesn’t take the news well, and retreats to her room in tears.
The arrival of the Russian refugees to Downton brings more than a few surprises. Not least of which Lord Gillingham, who shows up unannounced. Lady Mary seems less than impressed about the intrusion, and it certainly marks some points against him. Mr. Blake may still be in the game yet. Another unwelcome guest is Sarah Bunting, who manages to offend the Russians within seconds of opening her mouth. Thankfully, Cora comes to the rescue using her knowledge of the history of the Russian art that they have at the house. Lord Grantham should be eating his words any second now.
As they peruse the art, we learn a little more about the Dowager Countess’ visit to Russia. She regales everyone with an opulent tale, and it is clear the whole visit was like a fairy tale for her — complete with a dashing prince. Prince Kuragin, to be exact. He is among the refugees, and gifted her with a rather intricate fan on her visit. There is definitely more to the story than she’s letting on. The look that they share as Violet retires for the evening suggests she may be cut from the same cloth as her granddaughter. Cool blue velvet with seductive silver lace. Scandalous!