^^^ All I know is that PBS published the DA quiz, and PBS said that Edith’s Lady’s Maid is named Madge.
In reality, in the 1920s, the domestic staff employed by Highclere (sp?) (the house used for Downton Abbey) was about three times as large as that shown on the tv program. And this doesn’t include the full-time outdoor staff.
My favorite fact about the real-life family who lived in Highclere during that time is that the real-life Earl (Lord Carnarvon) funded the expedition that resulted in the discovery of King Tut’s tomb! (I may have mentioned this waaaay upthread). I wish Lord Grantham would do something like that! At least they should have Howard Carter (the lead archaeologist) turn up at dinner.
I’m so glad that Edith finally claimed Marigold. It should get very interesting from here. One by one people in her family will figure it out and who knows what cold and b*tchy thing Mary will say then?
I can imagine, “ohhhh, so you had to have a child too. How original of you” or, with slightly lifted brows, “so she has a daughter now? Too bad. The poor child may take after it’s mother. Pass me the red hat, Anna, will you?”
Mary is so cold and manipulative! I like her a bit usually but she was over the top in the latest episode (extreme lack of empathy to Edith and pure machinations with Tony). I can only keep alive my like for her by imagining spoofy things she might say. I hope she falls hard for Blake and he makes her run a little dance before giving in. She needs to be the one who is pursuing and not pursued for a change.
Tom and Lorenzo for this week…spot on, as usual.
http://tomandlorenzo.com/2015/02/downton-abbey-haircuts-and-horses/
Why didn’t Daisy want to take MR. Mosley’s book??
I also thought the book scene was strange.
I did get the impression Isobel planned to accept the marriage proposal, but she didn’t actually say so outright, did she? Is it for certain?
Oh, yes, it’s for certain. She told Violet that she figures she will have one more adventure.
To me the book scene felt like Daisy is wanting to embrace the hope and possibility opened up by Miss Bunting through education, and the dusted off history book of a newly promoted first footman who dropped out of school at 12 taints her vision of education as an unfolding world of endless possibilities. If Mosley had access to that all along and is still polishing silver then it might feel more like an anchor or a bad luck thing than a thoughtful gesture.
Don’t we all have a Mary and Edith in our lives. The one relative or friend who is all about themselves and seem devoid of sympathy. And the other relative for whom everything goes wrong and also makes everything about them and expects you to cater to them.
No one except for the dowager knows really what went on with Edith. As far as they know, Gregson was a admirer and friend who has been missing for years. Besides Mary is very self centered and she probably feels that Edith wasn’t as sympathetic to her when Matthew died and he was her husband, while Gregson was not as important as he was just an admirer and not her husband and father of her child.
@saintfan, that’s an interesting perspective. I thought it was nice of Daisy to ask Mosely how old he was when he dropped out of school. Given the difference in their age and position in the house, I doubt they had ever chatted much before. I think Daisy is evaluating how different the servants’ education has been, and I suspect she’s going to turn into a bit of a radical – maybe not as much as Miss Bunting, but I think she’s going to challenge the status quo.
I think Mr. Moseley is thought of mostly as “Poor Old Mr. Moseley” - once a valet and now a lowly footman, and only recently first footman. Daisy did say something to him a couple weeks ago when he was upset at how much work he had “What did you think, when they made you first footman that you’d be sitting around with your feet propped up?” I think only Baxter feels he has something to offer.
I think Molesly is sweet, and I can see him together with Baxter, who apparently also has a good heart. But no one has mentioned this bombshell: Carson’s proposition that he and Mrs. Hughes go into buying a cottage together??? If those two don’t end up married by the end of the series, then I will be sooo disappointed!
Was Mrs. Hughes married before, or is the “Mrs.” rather than “Miss” title due to her age and position of authority?
She was not married before. An old beau showed up a few seasons ago but she rebuffed him and told him that housekeepers always are called Mrs.
@ operdivasmom – you’re right! i’d forgotten that proposition. Carson was so awkward with it; but mrs. Hughes smiled, didnt she?
I can’t imagine that Mary would have even noticed whether or not Edith was sympathetic to her when her husband was killed on the day of their child’s birth. She seemed to have the kind of grief where even 6 months after the fact, she wasn’t taking the measure of how other people were reacting to her. All grieving people are self-centered; it goes with the territory. I never saw any suggestion that she felt Edith didn’t take Matthew’s loss seriously.
CBBBlinker, I also saw that quiz about Madge. But there was at least one other mistake in the quiz. It asked how long the race course was, and I guessed 2 miles and it said ‘correct.’ I rewatched the episode last night and it clearly said the course was ‘3 miles, two times around the 1.5 mile track.’
I for one did not like the haircut and didn’t find it flattering. I love the cut of the clothes but everything is so drab…all variety of browns. RE asking Mosely when he dropped out of school…a nice way to remind the tv crowd how different it was not so long ago.
From the Downton Abbey wiki:
Madge appears in several episodes, but don’t read the wiki yourself if you want to avoid spoilers.
twoinanddone – OK, then. When I took the quiz I guessed 3 miles on that question because I thought that’s what I had heard. Then I got the question “wrong,” and figured I had just mis-remembered. Oh well. So who knows for sure who/what Madge is! 
Re: Carson’s proposition to Mrs. Hughes to buy property together – I was actually thinking he was about about to ask her to marry him! I too would like to see them married by the end of the series. Mrs. Hughes is one of my favorite characters.