DOWNTON ABBEY: Virtue Isn’t Easy {Recap}

For a change of pace, we’ll start with the Granthams and then go below stairs for this week.

Mary’s love life continues to be complicated. Spratt saw she and Lord Gillingham in Liverpool and tells Violet. That makes Violet worry about when Mary might set a date and her granddaughter’s virtue, especially after everything from before. But Mary also talks to Tom and hints that she isn’t sure she and Tony are as well situated for each other as she thought before. A surprise visit from Tony after their week away doesn’t help Mary’s thoughts either.

Rose is working hard with the Russians in York. A tea is organized at Downton and while it doesn’t go well (Miss Bunting upsets one of the guests), but the artifacts that Violet had brought back are well received. It turns out that one of the men in the group gave Violet one of those fans being shown off. That puts Isobel’s being chased by Lord Merton into a new perspective.

Edith’s visits to Marigold are so frequent that Cora and Robert think she might be driving the mother to distraction. As if to prove that point, when Edith looks after Marigold while Mrs Drewe needs to run an errand, Edith and Marigold aren’t in the house when Mrs Drewe returns and she frets and worries about Marigold. Edith is told she can’t visit because of how flustered it made Mrs. Drewe.

Mr. Bricker invites Cora to London to see more of the artist he’s studying (the same one as the painting at their home) and after a long day at the gallery he convinces her to dine out with him. Robert had decided to surprise Cora in London after a few meetings, but finds her off with this man. It’s always been rather smooth sailing for the Granthams in their releationship, but clearly this Mr. Bricker is frustrating Robert.

Tom is having a hard time convincing Robert of a new business proposal to bring new homes to the family land, but that’s not as difficult as planning his own life when he leaves Downton.

Downstairs, tensions are still high from everything else.

Mrs Hughes makes a good case to include Mrs. Patrmore’s nephew in the War Memorial, but Carson won’t have it right now because the young man killed himself from shell shock while still enlisted.

Daisy’s schooling is going well – maybe too well – but Mrs Patmore also has bad news. Her news is that her nephew can’t be included in the War Memorial of his town because he died for trying to leave and she wants to see if he can be included in the list at Downton.

The witness that is now coming forward in Mr Green’s case said that she heard someone say “Why have you come here?” Now Anna and Mrs Hughes are talking about the witness and what she might have seen – thinking that Mr. Bates was there and responsible for the death. The officer has heard that Mr Bates and Mr Green had bad blood and wants to talk to Bates about it. Bates can’t remember all of the details of his trip to York (where he had lunch escapes him) but the officer thinks it’s enough for now.

Cora will allow Baxter to stay on as her maid only if Baxter tells her the last piece of the story. The rest of the story is that she stole them for a footman in the house who had controlled her movements in the house, so in the end she wasn’t the truly responsible party to the crime. Baxter can stay.