Episode 2 - Have a Nice Trip? (Series 01, Ep.1)
The arrival of the Duke of Crowborough was cause for great excitement both upstairs and down. Carson, especially felt the need to really show the Duke that the staff of Downton was capable of measuring up to those of any house in the land. It was with a fair amount of trepidation, therefore, that he looked over the group turned out and presented for his inspection. The girls and Miss O'Brien were presentable, and of course, Mrs. Hughes was always impeccably attired, but William, as usual, was a bit scruffy. He reached over and brushed a piece of lint from William's lapel, gave Thomas the once-over, cleared his throat and said, "Very well, we shall all go out to greet them."
He started for the stairs, but was interrupted by Daisy's squeak of, "Me too, Mr. Carson?"
"No, Daisy," he intoned, "not you."
Turning once again for the stairs, he realized that he had another problem on his hands.
"Can you manage Mr. Bates or would you like to wait here?" Tact was the best approach, though Bates was half-way up the stairs.
"I'd like to go, Mr. Carson."
He tried again. "There's no obligation for the whole staff to be present."
Still, "I'd like to be there."
Carson resigned himself to Bates's presence, "Well it's certainly a great day at Downton to welcome a Duke under our roof." As he moved aside to let the rest of the staff go up, Thomas caught him asking how much longer this was to go on. How much longer indeed…Carson thought…
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The first part of the arrival went well. Introductions were made, niceties exchanged, and although the Duke largely ignored the staff (as was to be expected), Thomas drew the prize when the Duke mentioned that he was in need of a valet for his stay. Bates happened to be standing between Thomas and O'Brien during the arrival bit, and couldn't help but see O'Brien's glares from the corner of his eye. Just as the family were about to enter the house, he felt his cane kicked from under him and he went crashing down in a cloud of dust and flying gravel.
Mr. Carson's face was a thundercloud waiting to explode, but Lord Granthem made a half-hearted attempt to help him before he remembered that Bates was just a servant, and the family continued in to the house.
Bates looked up to see O'Brien sneering down at him before she turned triumphantly to walk away…
STOP…REWIND…
Bates looked up to see O'Brien sneering down at him, and felt an indescribable surge of anger. As she turned to stalk past him, a flick of his wrist brought his cane around behind him to tangle her feet. The satisfying thud she made as she hit the ground was a small victory and gave him no small sense of satisfaction until the shame of what had happened came crashing down on him. To his horror, Anna was there to help him up, brush him off, but he was unable to see her act for the kindness it was - taking it instead as pity. As he turned to walk away, he was gratified to see that there was no one left to help O'Brien up. Thomas and William had gone in with the luggage, the other staff were already making their way back downstairs. Only Anna was left, and she turned to follow behind him, leaving O'Brien to sort herself out alone.