'Downton Abbey' Recap: Season 3 Episode 2

Downton Abbey airs Sundays at 9:00 pm and is available to stream by WTTW Passport members. Recap the previous episode.
Keep up with your favorite dramas and mysteries by signing up for our newsletter, Dramalogue.

A couple of months have passed, and everyone at Downton Abbey is getting ready for Edith’s wedding to Sir Anthony two days hence. The wedding dress has arrived, the gifts are pouring in, and the great hall is being adorned with flowers. Edith is thrilled, while Cora is doing her best to tamp down her misgivings about Edith marrying a man so much older than she, a feeling that Robert and Violet emphatically share.

Downstairs, Mrs. Hughes is still waiting for a definitive diagnosis from Dr. Clarkson. As she and Mrs. Patmore commiserate in a hallway, an alarmed Carson eavesdrops. Later that day in the village, he chases down Dr. Clarkson to pry into Mrs. Hughes’ condition. Dr. Clarkson doesn’t yet know and won’t reveal much, but suggests that Carson could make things easier by reducing her workload. Increasingly concerned, Carson takes Mrs. Patmore aside, hinting that Dr. Clarkson told him Mrs. Hughes’ secret, and tricks her into revealing it: possible breast cancer. 

The feud between Thomas and O’Brien has continued in the wake of the “stolen dress shirts” incident, with Thomas looking for ways to get revenge. He may have found one: one of Molesley’s acquaintances is looking for a job as a ladies’ maid. Thomas, swearing Molesley to secrecy (hah!), hints that a position might be opening up at Downton, as O’Brien is planning to resign her post. Naturally, Molesley goes straight to Cora, in front of the family, to put in a good word for his friend. Cora is shocked, angry, and disappointed: O’Brien never mentioned that she was planning to leave Downton. (With good reason: she isn’t.)

Robert has finally accepted the idea that they will have to sell Downton. There is a much smaller manor house among Robert’s holdings that might be suitable for their new home. Cora, making the best of things, suggests they all go on a picnic there the following day.

That evening, Matthew tells Mary that Mr. Swire’s lawyer is ready to transfer his client’s estate to Matthew. He asks Mary to suggest some worthy charities. She is incensed: she would give it all to her father to save Downton. Matthew accuses her of not understanding his moral dilemma. He’s right: she doesn’t.

In the kitchen, Daisy grills Alfred, on whom she has a crush, if he likes outspoken women like Martha’s maid Reed. (Daisy had observed Reed kissing Alfred in the pantry during the failed dinner party.) Alfred concedes that he does, even if Reed is gone. Maybe Daisy ponders trying it.

Late Fathers-in-Law and Old Fiancés

After dinner, Robert, Matthew, Tom, and Sir Anthony remain in the dining room, having their brandy and cigars. After Matthew and Tom, now fast friends, retreat to the billiard room, Sir Anthony awkwardly tries to ascertain if Robert is happy about his marrying Edith. Robert clearly has his doubts but is resigned. Sir Anthony is having misgivings, too…Edith will be caring for an old man before long. He says as much to Edith, and she assures him that she loves him because of his shortcomings: “I want you to be my life’s work,” she declares. (Yikes.)

In the village, Isobel is teaching sewing techniques at her workshop for “fallen” women. Her students are not enthusiastic; their main interest is when they will be fed. Ethel reappears…she is not there for herself but for her young son. As the other women mock her, she hurries away in fear before Isobel can find out more. Isobel later shares her concerns with Mrs. Hughes, who directs her to the hovel where Ethel lives.

Matthew, guilt-ridden after meeting with Mr. Swire’s lawyer, is given a letter from the dead man that he can’t bring himself to read. Mary comes to collect Matthew for the picnic; there is tension between them, especially after she finds out about the letter. She urges him to find out what it says, or let her read it for him; he refuses and thinks he might burn it.

Anna pays a visit to the late Vera Bates’ friend and confidante Mrs. Bartlett, who receives her with hostility – she was firmly in Vera’s corner. Anna hands over some money, but Mrs. Bartlett, evidently breaking a previous agreement, now claims that she knows nothing and won’t help. She claims Vera was “terrified” of Bates and the last time she saw her, she was “jumpy and fearful but determined,” making pastry and then compulsively scrubbing her hands. Outside the house in a drizzle, Mrs. Bartlett observed a sort of “halo” around Vera. The next day Vera was found dead on the kitchen floor. Bates should’ve been hanged, she declares viciously.

Meanwhile in the prison exercise yard, a fellow inmate slips Bates some important advice: search his bunk, as his cellmate Craig has hidden some contraband there for the guards to find. Bates manages to find it just in time, to Craig’s disappointment.

Cut to the road to what will be called “Downton Place.” On the grounds of what most people, as Tom says, would consider “a fairy palace,” Robert admits it would be economical to run, and Violet jokes about opening a shop. 

At lunch with all the servants present, Molesley references O’Brien’s upcoming departure and that he had mentioned it to Cora. O’Brien is incandescent with rage, and Molesley, realizing he has made a huge blunder, is rightly fearful of what she could do to him. O’Brien tries to assure Cora that she has no plans to leave, but Cora, still feeling betrayed, is hurt. Later, Molesley, quaking, manages to convey to O’Brien that Thomas was the one who told him. She forgives Molesley, but as for Thomas…this means war.

Carson approaches Cora to share the news about Mrs. Hughes being “ill,” and she wonders what they will do without her and O’Brien. O’Brien’s imminent departure is big news to Carson. Later, Cora summons Mrs. Hughes and assures her that if she is too ill to work, the house will shelter her and provide care. This is a great relief to her.

A Wedding?

That evening, Edith excitedly shares that Sir Anthony is taking her on a six-week honeymoon in Italy. She is looking forward to that, and to taking over the management of Sir Anthony’s small estate. And to Matthew’s fury, Mary has taken it on herself to read Mr. Swire’s letter. As Matthew recoils, Mary explains that Lavinia had to have written to her father the day she died, after she asked to break off the engagement. So Mr. Swire knew that Matthew would never be his son-in-law but retained him as an heir anyway. Matthew doesn’t believe it’s real – how could Lavinia have written without anyone that day in the house knowing about it?

The next morning, Mary hurries downstairs to grill the servants: did any of them post a letter for Lavinia the day she died? To everyone’s surprise, Daisy admits that she did. Mary is thrilled and grateful. And when she tells Matthew, his guilt is alleviated (and their marriage is probably saved).

Cut to the church, where everyone is arriving for the wedding. Sir Anthony is apprehensive, and no wonder: once Robert escorts Edith to the altar and the vows begin, Sir Anthony suddenly interrupts the minister: he can’t go through with the wedding. As the congregation looks on in horror and astonishment, Sir Anthony tells Edith that he won’t allow her to “throw away her life” on him. Violet, firmly in agreement, assures him he made the right call. He leaves Edith in the church, devastated. Edith, sobbing, can’t bear to look at her (“married and happy”) sisters, and after they return home, she shuts herself in her room as the servants work quickly to clear away everything set up for the wedding. As the family dines upstairs, the servants are confronted with a baffling supper consisting of fancy hors d'oeuvres and an elaborate wedding cake.

Matthew reveals to Robert that he has decided to give him Mr. Swire’s money, to save Downton. Robert reluctantly agrees, but only if Matthew will become an equal owner of the estate. Matthew, seeing no alternative, smiles and agrees.

The next day, a dejected Edith declares herself “a useful spinster.” And the results of Mrs. Hughes’s tests have finally arrived: her lump is benign and there’s no malignancy. Mrs. Patmore conveys the good news to a jubilant Carson. Later, Mrs. Hughes hears Carson singing to himself as he polishes the silver. Maybe his interest in her is more than professional.