<p>How can she guarantee she’ll be ready in a certain timeframe at this point??</p>
<p>[Downton</a> Abbey Facebook Recap Season 4 Episode 3 | Happy Place](<a href=“http://happyplace.someecards.com/28749/downton-abbey-facebook-recap-season-4-episode-3]Downton”>http://happyplace.someecards.com/28749/downton-abbey-facebook-recap-season-4-episode-3)</p>
<p>Reading this instead of watching the show is totally working for me! 
(Plus bonus Chris Christie joke!)</p>
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<p>And being a wealthy heiress (again like Lady Mary) has also been proven to speed things along.</p>
<p>garland, what’s the Chris Christie joke? I didn’t see it.</p>
<p>Look at the post about the Duchess of Yeoville purchasing a train ticket to London.</p>
<p>Love the FB version – so creative!</p>
<p>Thanks, sally! Now I see it!!</p>
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Really? I don’t think so … remember, Mary’s a very rich widow now, lots of the aristocracy are running into money problems, and marrying the money you need to keep up appearances was perfectly acceptable.</p>
<p>I do think it’s interesting that the new season seems to be bringing out the gentler side of the Dowager Countess. She has grown to respect people like Isobel and Tom, although she still zings with the best of them.</p>
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No, but they didn’t stop & restart that story line. I think that the fake Patrick was a “stand-in” for all the fake heirs that would have shown up for many families in similar situations.</p>
<p>But they got rid of Braithwaite once, then brought her back to continue the same story line. To then just dump her again makes even less sense.</p>
<p>I’m still not convinced that the fake Patrick was fake. But back then I thought that he and Edith would get together to deprive Mary of her dominant position. It seems that they decided to go in another direction.</p>
<p>Now they could hypothetically bring Tom and Mary together, although I believe at that time it may still have been illegal to marry the surviving spouse of a deceased sibling. This changed at some point after the War. Not sure when.</p>
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<p>Interesting – in some cultures, if the brother of the deceased husband is not married, he is expected to marry his brother’s widow.</p>
<p>From Wikipedia: [Deceased</a> Wife’s Sister’s Marriage Act 1907](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deceased_Wife’s_Sister’s_Marriage_Act_1907]Deceased”>Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907 - Wikipedia)</p>
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<p>I honestly can’t see Mary and Tom together. To me, they just don’t “gel” that way. I do think they’ll do a very good job managing the estate, though.</p>
<p>I never remembered Braithwaite from the first time, and still don’t. I must have fallen asleep when she was around the first time.</p>
<p>Remember all of the on/off engagement storyline between Matthew and Mary (his engagement to Lavinia and Mary’s engagement to Carlisle)? Do you think the proposal of Lord G is just a replay of that mess?</p>
<p>Ema, Braithwaite hit on Lord Grantham. They ALMOST had a thing but didn’t.</p>
<p>OK, what did people think about Edith signing whatever it is she signed for Michael? Why do I suspect he is yet another person taking advantage of her?</p>
<p>I recall very clearly his telling her before she signed that it was so she could manage his affairs while he was abroad. I assumed it was a Power of Attorney or some such. I didn’t think anything of it, but apparently some of you do.</p>
<p>I’m with VeryHappy - I think Michael is a good egg, and truly loves Edith. </p>
<p>Oh, and Braithwaite wasn’t the one who hit on Robert. That was Jane: [Jane</a> Moorsum - Downton Abbey Wiki](<a href=“http://downtonabbey.wikia.com/wiki/Jane_Moorsum]Jane”>Jane Moorsum | Downton Abbey Wiki | Fandom)</p>
<p>Yes. He SAID that, but she didn’t read a single word, blinded as she was by his “devotion” to her. Do others believe he is truly as madly in love with her as he purports to be?</p>