Cora

She leaves when the men and women separate because she wants to check on her son. While she walks through the Abbey she thinks about how beautiful this house is. She doesn't feel comfortable being here. Before her father interfered, she had thought that Downton Abbey might be her home one day because Lord Downton had pursued her and she liked him. She still likes him and she enjoyed talking to him at dinner, although she wonders why he married the woman he is married to because after having spent only half an hour in her company she already knows that Lady Downton is a horrible person and Cora can't fathom what Robert might find it her. She thinks it is probably nothing and she doesn't hold it against him. She didn't particularly like her husband either and only married him because her parents wanted her to do so. And because by the time the Duke proposed the news of Lord Downton's engagement had already been made public.

Now she is all on her own. When they told her that her husband had been part of a carriage race and died in an accident that involved four carriages and sixteen horses, it wasn't his death that made her sad, but the fact that her unborn child would never meet his or her father. She had been pregnant for only two months by the time her husband died and seriously considered going back to America to raiser her child. But her father had written to her that she could only do so if she had a daughter because a son would be the Duke to Suffolk from the moment of his birth. Her father was of course right and when they placed her son in her arms she knew she'd have to stay in England indefinitely. Had the child not been a boy, the dukedom would have lapsed, because there are no other male relatives. She kept her husband's old estate agent to manage the estate for her and her son because she has no idea how to do that. Neither does she have any idea on how to raise a duke. That is why she came to this house party. She hoped to find friends here, people who might be willing to help her. So far all she has found out is that Lady Downton wants her daughter to marry Sam. She thinks that this is a ridiculous notion, considering how young these children are.

When she opens the door of her son's makeshift nursery she almost laughs out loud. There is a young girl in a nightshirt standing on a chair peering down into the crib. The nanny is nowhere to be seen, but Cora has told the nanny to sleep in the room next door because she usually cares for her son herself at night. Should Sam want anything he'd scream loud enough for half the house to hear anyway. So this little girl has not been spotted yet and she is sure that it is the daughter of Lord and Lady Downton.

"Lady Mary", she says. When the girl turns around, she looks so afraid that Cora can't help but be kind to her. "You've come to meet the Duke then." The girl nods timidly. "It is very nice of you to welcome him. But I am afraid he is asleep. And I don't think you should be standing on that chair. It's a little dangerous." She walks towards the girl and lifts her off the chair. The girl looks flabbergasted. "How about this? When Sam is awake tomorrow morning I'll let you know and you can meet him properly then." The girl nods and smiles. "We have a date then", she says and smiles back at Mary who now looks as if she was stealing herself to do something. Mary takes a deep breath and then says "You talk funny." It is not the first time Cora has heard this, but it is the first time that someone says it without wanting to hurt her.

"It's because I am from America."

"Does everybody talk like you there?"

"Yes."

"Then maybe in America people think that I talk funny." She can't believe the girl is only three years old. She seems so much older.

"I think so."

"I want to go to New York."

"I am from New York. If you want me to, I'll tell you about it tomorrow. But I think that now we'll have to get you back to your nanny."

"I want my Papa." Now the girl seems like a three year old.

"Would you like me to get your parents?"

"No. Just my Papa, please."

"All right. But you have to come with me." She holds her hand out to the girl and Mary takes it. Cora has no idea how to manage to get Lord Downton without alarming Lady Downton but she has the feeling that it is import to the girl. When she hears the patter of Mary's feet she looks down and sees that the girl is wearing neither socks nor any kind of shoes. "Mary," she says and forgets all about the title. "You can't walk over this stone floor without any shoes on." So she picks her up and carries her into the entrance hall. She sees a servant in the hall and she is quite sure that it is the under butler. "What is that man's name, Mary?" she asks. The girl looks at her as if she was scared to death but then says "Carson".

Carson

He turns around at the sound of his own name. He is sure that he has misheard because he has never heard that child's voice before, although he, like many others, has been hoping to hear it for a very long time. He sees the Dowager Duchess caring Lady Mary, who is only wearing her night clothes and no shoes. "Carson", the Dowager Duchess says, "would you be so kind as to hook Lord Downton out? Without anyone becoming suspicious?" She smiles at him with a soft smile and then smiles at Lady Mary. "Of course Your Grace", he says. Somehow the Duchess must have won that little girl's trust. He goes into the room and looks for Lord Downton who thankfully is not surrounded by family. "Excuse me my lord, but I think you should go into the entrance hall. She has spoken to the Duchess." "Who has spoken to her?" Lord Downton asks rather unhelpfully. He doesn't want to draw any attention to this. "Lady Mary", he whispers. "Thank you Carson."