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Downton Abbey

999 replies

missmogwi · 18/09/2011 22:18

Bloody mum rang to ask me about how much Internet she can use before it's full. Don't ask.

Why did bates have to leave?? Aaargh missed crucial bit!

OP posts:
TipOfTheSlung · 22/09/2011 15:41

Fancy- who is his sister? If you mean Isobel I think she's more distantly related than that. Afterall Matthew is Third cousin once removed of the Earl

diddl · 22/09/2011 15:49

His sister is the one who asked Mary if she would be happy as the wife of a solicitor.

diddl · 22/09/2011 15:58

Lady Rosamund Painswick

FancyForgetting · 22/09/2011 16:02

That's right - Lady Rosamund and her fancy London ways!

I can't decide between:

1 Sybil nurses an injured Matthew and marries him while Mary looks on sadly from The Shelf.

2 Sybil nurse/marries Matthew while Mary looks on sadly from her Loveless Marriage to the press baron.

3 Sybil nurses/marries Matthew, who turns out to be Not The Man He Was before his terrible injuries, seeks comfort from Branson (in a Lady Chatterley fashion), thereby furnishing an heir, while Mary, who is privy to all these terrible secrets, looks on very, very, very sadly.

Over-active imagination, moi? Smile

limitedperiodonly · 22/09/2011 16:07

I see Lady Rosamund Painswick (fabulous name) has a daughter called Lavinia. Is it the same one?

I think Lavinia was a popular name back then though. A beastly Lavinia made Sarah Crewe's life hell at Miss Minchin's Academy in A Little Princess. Consequently, I'd never choose it for a daughter. That and the fact that she'd get called Lavvy at school.

Must go to shops now.

diddl · 22/09/2011 16:08

I´m liking 1&2 Fancy

diddl · 22/09/2011 16:10

Just reading the link I see that Lady Rosamund didn´t marry an Aristo but someone very rich.

Maybe she´ll try to push Mary to marry mediaman, then.

FancyForgetting · 22/09/2011 16:20

Yes diddl, pretty sure Lady R would believe that Money Conquers All - and at this stage of the war it is already clear that there are increasingly fewer young men. Suspect she will bring her forceful pragmatism to bear on Mary, who may feel she has nothing left to lose (sob!).

ripstheirthroatoutliveupstairs · 22/09/2011 16:22

My word how it's moved on. DH is flying in tomorrow with Downton. He did think it a strange request, but he's used to those.
DD asked him to bring her bike. That is not going to happen.
Fancy I like all of your theories.
How about crisis as a replacement for climax. Apparently that's what Lady Chatterly had, good enough for one Lady, good enough for any.

diddl · 22/09/2011 16:25

I think the "problem" for these girls is that although they have more freedom, they´re still unlikely to get a job good enough to support themselves!

So marrying new as opposed to old money might at least give them more freedom.

TipOfTheSlung · 22/09/2011 16:29

Rosamund doesn't interfere much though does she because she's rarely there.

diddl · 22/09/2011 16:46

But it was her who convinced Mary not to marry Matthew without Downton?

ScatterChasse · 22/09/2011 16:53

Well, Cora was basically new money wasn't she? It just worked out rather nicely for them that they did actually fall in love.

Did we ever really find out how she felt about the entail? Presumably she was used to money being split equally between all the children.

diddl · 22/09/2011 16:57

I suppose they assumed they´d have a boy!

But what I do find odd is that all her money became tied in the estate so that they can´t leave the girls anything(?)

SoupDragon · 22/09/2011 16:58

Other pressing questions... Do you think NetHuns has a Downton thread and do you think they have investigated all the possible sexual positions Mary and Mr P could have got up to?

TipOfTheSlung · 22/09/2011 17:02

I don't think Mary took much convincing but then I haven't warmed to Mary at all.

Georgimama · 22/09/2011 17:19

I expect the estate was broke and he married her to save it, then fortunately for them both they turned out to love one another. Happened a lot (Duke of Marlborough married Consuela Vanderbilt for a cash injection - did not end so happily).

ScatterChasse · 22/09/2011 17:28

Yep, the American girls were wealthy in their own right, as inheritance was split between the children, regardless of age and sex (that's why the fortunes didn't always last as long though), whereas in England it was passed down the male line, so girls had to marry well, or would always be supported by their parents/elder brother.

Georgimama · 22/09/2011 17:32

Lord G did say to Mary in series 1 that if he had bought Downton with his own money he would happily have left it to her, but that it isn't really his and he has to secure its future. Entails of this kind can't be created anymore.

ScatterChasse · 22/09/2011 17:43

Also, I have a question about last series.

If Cora hadn't miscarried, what would people have thought? I mean, obviously the family would have been very happy if it was a boy, but would other people have been surprised/shocked by the age gap, and by the fact that it wouldn't have been that strange for Mary to be married and possibly pregnant at her age?

Georgimama · 22/09/2011 17:53

I don't think anyone would have thought anything - back before contraception women went on conceiving and childbearing well into their 40s. I mean obviously they still do, but it was very common back then to have children ranging in ages from 25 down to the cradle.

Aftereightsaremine · 22/09/2011 18:03

My dads sister was 20 when my dad was born so it definitely happened.

diddl · 22/09/2011 18:05

Of course it happened.

But perhaps there would have been another one or two inbetween?

josephinebonaparte · 22/09/2011 18:23

Women can have a fertility surge before the menopause.

SheWhoMustNotBeFlamed · 22/09/2011 18:28

You're not wrong, Josephine