Season 2, Episode 8

Mary: But why announce it today, all of a sudden?
Sybil: He's got a job on a newspaper. He heard today. It's a real chance.
Mary: Let him go to Dublin and then you can use the calm to consider.
Edith: Mary doesn't want you to be trapped before you're completely sure.
Sybil: But I am sure! How many times do I have to say it? Anna, tell them.
Anna: Lady Mary's right. It's a very big thing to give up your whole world.
Mary: Thank you. Listen to her if you won't listen to me.
Sybil: But I'm not giving up my world. If they want to give me up, that's their affair. I'm perfectly happy to carry on being friends with everyone.
Mary: Married to the chauffeur?
Sybil: Yes. Anyway, he's a journalist now which sounds better for Granny. We're going to tell Papa tonight.
Edith: We? You mean you and Branson?
Sybil: He's coming in after dinner.
Edith: But what will Papa do?
Mary: I imagine he'll call the police.

Robert: Yes?
Tom: I'm here.
Robert: So I can see.
Sybil (to Tom): I don't think this is such a good idea. We mustn't worry Granny.
Tom: You've asked me to come and I've come.
Violet: Would someone please tell me what is going on? Or have we all stepped through the looking glass?
Tom: Your grandmother has as much right to know as anybody else.
Violet: Why don't I find that reassuring?
[...]
Robert: What do you mean you knew?
Mary: I hoped it would blow over. I didn't want to split the family when Sybil might still wake up.
Robert (to Tom): And all the time you've been driving me about, bowing and scraping and seducing my daughter behind my back?
Tom: I don't bow and scrape and I've not seduced anyone. Give your daughter some credit for knowing her own mind.
Robert: How dare you speak to me in that tone? You will leave at once!
Sybil: Oh, Papa.
Robert: This is a folly. A ridiculous, juvenile madness.
Violet: Sybil, what do you have in mind?
Robert: Mama, this is hardly...
Violet: No. She must have something in mind, otherwise she wouldn't have summoned him here tonight.
Sybil: Thank you, Granny. Yes, we do have a plan. Tom's got a job on a paper. I'll stay until after the wedding, I don't want to steal their thunder. But after that, I'll go to Dublin.
Cora: To live with him? Unmarried?
Sybil: I'll live with his mother while the banns are red. And then we'll be married and I'll get a job as a nurse.
Violet: What does your mother make of this?
Tom: If you must know, she thinks we're very foolish.
Violet: Oh, so at least we have something in common.
Robert: I won't allow it! I will not allow my daughter to throw away her life!
Sybil: You can posture all you like, Papa, it won't make any difference.
Robert: Oh yes, it will.
Sybil: How? I don't want any money and you can hardly lock me up until I die. I'll say goodnight, but I can promise you one thing. Tomorrow morning, nothing will have changed. Tom?

Anna: Mr. Branson, I know it wasn't easy last night.
Tom: We should have spoken out long ago.
Daisy: Spoken out about what?
Tom: Oh, why not? Lady Sybil and I are getting married.
Carson: Have you no shame?
Tom: I'm sorry you feel like that, Mr. Carson. You're a good man. But no, I have no shame. In fact, I have a great pride in the love of that young woman and I will strive to be worthy of it.
Carson: I will not disgrace myself by discussing the topic and nor will anyone else. Now, if you will go, Mr. Branson, we will continue with our day. Leave an address where we may forward what is owing to you.
Tom: No problem there, Mr. Carson. I'll be at the Grantham Arms in the village until Lady Sybil is ready to make her departure. I bid you all a good day.
Jane: Is it really true?
Carson: Please! I have asked for silence, and silence I will have.

Violet: What news of Sybil?
Edith: Papa is with her now.
Violet: I'm afraid it will end in tears.
Edith: Maybe. But they won't be Sybil's.
Violet: I used to think that Marys beau (Carlisle) was a mesalliance, but compared to this, he's practicalle a Habsburg. Don't worry, Your turn will come.
Edith: Will it? Or am I just to be the maiden aunt? Isn't this what they do? Arrange presents for their prettier relations?
Violet: Don't be defeatist, dear. It's very middle class. Now, I'd better go up and support your father.

Sybil: Your threats are hollow, don't you see? I won't be received in London. I won't be welcome at court. How do I make you understand? I couldn't care less.
Violet: I do hope I'm interrupting something.
Robert: I only wish you were, but I seem to be getting nowhere. Have you seen Cora?
Violet: Oh. She's lying down. And can we blame her? Now, Sybil, dear, this thing is all very well in novels, but in reality it can prove very uncomfortable. And while I am sure Branson has many virtues... Well no, no, he's a good Driver.
Sybil: I will not give him up!
Robert: Don't be rude to your grandmother.
Violet: No, she's not being rude. Just wrong.
Sybil: This is my offer. I will stay one week to avoid the Impression I've run away and because I don't want to spoil Matthew's wedding. Then we will marry in Dublin and whoever whishes to visit will be very welcome.
Robert: Out of the question.
Sybil: Will you forbid Mary and Edith?
Violet: No, no, don't say anything you may have to retract.
Robert: Know this. There will be no more money. From here on in, your life will be very different.
Sybil: Well, bully for that.

Cora: So, what do we do next?
Robert: God knows. This is what comes of spoiling her. The mad clothes, the nursing. What were we thinking of?
Cora: That's not fair. She's a wonderful nurse and she's worked very hard.
Robert: But in the process she has forgotten who she is!
Cora: Has she, Robert? Or have we overlooked who she really is?
Robert: If you're turning American on me, I'll go downstairs.

Violet: I'm glad you're here, Sybil, dear. I was afraid you'd have a tray in your room.
Robert: Maybe you should have done.
Sybil: Why? I'm not eloping like a thief in the night. I might have once, but Mary and Edith talked me out of it.
Violet: Oh? The plot thickens.
Isobel: After all, Sybil's had enough time to think about it...
Matthew: Mother! It is not for us to have an opinion.

Tom: But I don't accept that I am ruining her life, nor that I'm cutting her off from her family. If you want to cut her off, that's your decision.
Robert: But how will you look after her? How can you hope to provide for her?
Tom: With respect, milord, you seem to think that she can only be happy in some version of Downton Abbey, when it's obvious that if she wanted that life, she would not be marrying me.
Robert: Very well. I'd hoped to avoid this, but I see that I can't. How much will you take to leave us in peace?
Tom: What?
Robert: You must have doubts. You said your own mother thinks you foolish.
Tom: Yes, she does.
Robert: Then yield to those doubts and take enough to make a new life back in Ireland. I'll be generous if we can bring this nonsense to an end.
Tom: I see. You know your trouble, milord? You're like all of your kind. You think you have the monoply of honour. Doesn't it occur to you that I might believe the best guarantee of Sybil's happiness lies with me?
Robert: Well, if you're not prepared to listen to reason...
Tom: I'm not prepared to listen to insults.
Robert: Then I will bid you a good day. And I want you to leave the village.
Tom: Even though she'll come to me the moment I call? Do you really want me to leave now, when I will take her with me that same hour?

Mary: It's good of you to come, but I don't really see what you can do.
Sir Richard Carlisle: I just thought I would do my bit. You say the chauffeur's gone, so I could always drive the car.
Mary: Preferably over the chauffeur.

Robert: Why are you here?
Tom: To pay my respects to Miss Swire. And to see Sybil.
Robert: Lady Sybil.
Sybil: Oh, Papa, what's the point in all that nonsense?
Robert: I suppose you'll go to Dublin now. Isn't that your plan?
Sybil: In a day or two. Mama is well again and I see no reason to delay. Although I do so wish we could have parted friends.
Robert (to Tom): What about you? Do you want to part friends?
Tom: I do. Although I don't expect to.
Robert: All right.
Sybil: What?
Robert: Well, if I can't stop you, I see no profit in a quarrel. You'll have a very different life from the one you might have lived, but if you're sure it's what you want...
Sybil: I am.
Robert: Then you may take my blessing with you. Whatever that means.
Sybil: Papa, it means more than anything. More than anything!
Robert (to Tom): If you mistreat her, I will personally have you torn to pieces by wild dogs.
Tom: I'd expect no less.
Sybil: Will you come over for the wedding?
Robert: We'll see. We'll talk about that later. And there will be some money. But not much.
[...]
Violet: So, you've given in?
Robert: She would have gone anyway. And perhaps we should let Lavinia's last gift to us be a reminder of what really matters. Of course, you'll think that soft.
Violet: Oh, not at all. The aristocracy has not survived by its intransignence. Oh, no, no. We must work with what we've got to minimise the scandal.
Robert: But what have we got to work with?
Violet: Well, you'd be suprised. He's political, isn't he? And a writer. Well, I could make something out of that. And there's a family called Branson with a place not far from Cork. I believe they have a connection with the Howards.

Season 2, Episode 9

Sir Anthony Strallan: So how is everyone? Lady Sybil is married I hear. Living in Ireland. How was the wedding?
Violet: Quiet. It was in Dublin. They didn't want a big affair.
Sir Anthony: Did you all get over?
Edith: Mary and I did...
Violet: We were all ill. Isn't it sad?
Sir Anthony: What's he like?
Violet: He's political.
Sir Anthony: As long as he's on the right side. So, does he shoot?
Edith: I'm sure he does...
Violet: But I don't think pheasants.

Robert: This came for you in the evening post. It's from Sybil.
Cora: You must go up and change.
(...)
Robert: What is it?
Cora: Sybil's pregnant.
Robert: I see. So that's it then. No return. She's crossed the Rubicon.
Cora: She crossed it when she married him, Robert. She says we are not to tell anyone, not even the girls.
Robert: I wondered why she didn't ask to come for Christmas.
Cora: Would you have allowed it?
Robert: Well, well. So, we're to have a Fenian grandchild.
Cora: Cheer up. Come the Revolution it may be useful to have a contact on the other side.

[...]
Cora: I've written to Sybil. I sent her your love. I won't be kept away from my first grandchild, Robert.
Robert: I don't know what you mean. I didn't quarrel with her. I gave my permission, I didn't fight it.
Cora: But you wouldn't go to the wedding.
Robert: No.
Cora: It isn't what I wanted for her. None of it is, but this is what happened and we must accept it. I want to go over there and I want Sybil to come here.
Robert: And the chauffeur?
Cora: Him too. It's been a happy day, Robert. Let's end on a happy note.

Season 3, Episode 1

Matthew: Is there any news of Sybil?
Mary: She's still not coming. She insinsts they can't afford it.

Mary: Is there really no way we can get Sybil over? It seems ridiculous.
Robert: On the contrary. It's a relief. Branson is still an object of fascination for the county. We'll ask him here when we can prepare the servants and manage it gently.
Isobel: He's making a problem where non exists. No one could care less were Branson at the wedding or not.
Matthew: You must think country life more exiting than it is, if you imagine eople don't care when an Earl's daughter runs off with a chauffeur.
Isobel: Well, the fact remains she has run off with a chauffeur and they'll have to get used to it.

Isobel: I suppose you agree with Robert.
Violet: Then not for the first time you suppose wrongly. The family must never be a topic of conversation.
Cora: I'm afraid Sybil already made the Crawleys a permanent topic.
Violet: All the more reason. If we can show the county he behave normally, they will soon lose interest in him. And I shall make sure he behaves normally, because I shall hold his hand on the radiator until he does.
Isobel: Well, I don't know this young man aside from "godd morning" and "good night", but he strikes me as a very interesting addition to the family.
Violet: Oh, here we go.
Isobel: And why should he be normal, as you call it? I say he should come here and fight his corner. I like a man of strong beliefs. I think I'll send them the money.
Cora: Please don't. Robert's expressly forbidden it. He'd be furious.

Sir Anthony Strallan: (...) And Sybil? Is she here yet?
Edith: As a matter of fact, she wasn't coming, but I think she is now. Mary had a letter this morning. Papa doesn't know yet.
Strallan: He will be pleased.
Edith: I do hope so.

Violet: But what was in the letter?
Mary: Just that Sybil's coming after all. She'll be here on wednesday in time for dinner.
Isobel: Will she be coming alone?
Matthew: Don't make trouble, mother.

Sybil: Dearest Papa. Tell me, did you send the money? Please say yes.
Robert: What money?
Cora: Hello, Tom. Welcome to Downton.
Tom: I hope I am welcome, your Ladyship.
Mary: Of course. Alfred, would you take the luggage for Mr. Branson?
Edith: There's tea in the library.
Tom: Thank you. Hello, Mr. Carson.

Thomas: I'm sorry, I won't and that's flat.
Mrs. Hughes: Then you'll have to do it, Mr. Carson.
Carson: I am not dressing a chauffeur.
Mrs. Hughes: He's not a chauffeur now. Anyway, you don't have to dress him. Just see he's got everything he needs.
Carson: I am not often at one with Mr. Barrow. But no.
Mrs. Hughes: Then Alfred must do it.
Carson: Alfred? He wouldn't know what to do beyond collecting dirty shoes outside the door.
Mrs. Hughes: Well, he'll have to learn.

Violet: Is it an Irish tradition?
Tom: What?
Robert: She means not changing.
Sybil: Of course it isn't, Granny.
Violet: It might have been. You don't change on the first night of a voyage.
Tom: No, milady. I don't own a set of tails. Or a dinner jacket, either. I wouldn't get any use out of them.
Robert: Well, I hope you own a morning coat since you're here for a wedding.
Tom: No, I'm afraid I don't.
Sybil: We live a completely different kind of life, Papa.
Robert: Obviously.
Tom: Could you lower it a bit, please, Mr. Carson?
Mary: You should buy a Downton wardrobe and leave it here. Then you won't have to pack when you come.
Edith: What a good idea.
Tom: I'm sorry but I can't turn into somebody else just to please you.
Violet: More's the pity.
Isobel Oh, no, Why should you change to please us?
Matthew: What is the general feeling in Ireland now?
Tom: That we're in sight of throwing off the English yoke.
Isobel: Do you approve of the new act?
Tom: Would you approve of your country being divided by a foreign power?
Isobel: Well, won't it bring Home Rule for southern Ireland nearer?
Tom: Home Rule on English terms, presided over by an English King.
Matthew: Is keeping the monarchy a problem?
Tom: Would it be a problem for you, to be ruled by the German Kaiser?
Robert: Carson, are you allright?
Carson: I have been very clumsy, milord. I do apologise.
Cora: Is it true that Irish gardens have more variety than ours?
Edith: Oh, yes. Don't you remeber Lady Dufferin's ball at Clandeboye? The gardens there were heavenly.

Alfred: I thought them very down on him.
Thomas: That is because you know nothing.
Carson: And wasn't he down on him? Insulting our country, insulting the King. I thought it was a miracle his Lordship held his temper.
Mrs Hughes: But it must be hard, Mr. Carson. To sit up there with people he used to drive around.
Tom: It is hard, Mrs Hughes. Please, sit down.
Carson: Is there something we can do, sir?
Tom: I just wanted to come down to say hello. I wouldn't want you to think I'd got too big for my boots.
Mrs Hughes: That's nice.
Anna: I hope you and Lady Sybil are well.
Tom: We are, thank you. And we've been following the story of Mr Bates. Mary keeps us informed. Still, I mustn't interrupt your dinner.
Mrs Hughes: Thank you for coming down.
[...]
O'Brien: He's settled into his new life.
Carson: "Mary keeps us informed"
Mrs Hughes: Well, he knows her now.
Carson: What's that got to do with it? His Lordship would never call her "Mary" when talking to me. Never. If he wants to play their game, he'd better learn the rules.

Violet: Tomorrow, let's ask the servants to come up and dine with us. It'll make things easier.
Mary: You must get him to stop calling Granny "milady". And Mama.
Isobel: We need something that doesn't sound too stiff and grand.
Robert: "Lady Grantham", of course. And he can call me "Lord Grantham"
Sybil: That doesn't sound stiff or grand at all!
Mary: One step at a time.

Sybil: Somehow none of it seems to matter when we're in Dublin. Class and all that just seems to fade away. I'm Mrs Branson and we get on with our lives like millions of others. But here he feels so patronised, and he hates it.
Mary: But you don't regret it?
Sybil: No. Never. He's a wonderful, wonderful man. I just wish you knew him.
Mary: Darling, we will know him. We'll know him and value him, I promise.
Sybil: Anyway, I best go upstairs and make sure he's not too suicidal. Goodnight.
Mary: Oh, by the way, I don't know if Mama's told you, but the whole Grey family is coming tomorrow night.
Sybil: Including Larry? Crikey.
Mary: You'd better warn Tom. Oh, and, Sybil, if I were you, I wouldn't tell Papa about being Mrs Branson.

Tom: But who are the Greys? And why does it matter that they're coming?
Sybil: The father, Lord Merton, is Mary's godfather, but Larry Grey used to be keen on me when we were young.
Tom: Were you keen on him?
Sybil: No. I don't think so. I can hardly remember, to be honest.
Tom: So what are you saying?
Sybil: Nothing, particularly. But we could run into Ripon and find some tails. We have the money.
Tom: I won't spend more of that money.
Sybil: All right. But pleasy don't talk about Ireland all the time. I just want to make things easier for you.
Tom: For me or for you? Don't disappoint me, Sybil. Not now that we're here.

Matthew: A bit early for drowning your sorrows.
Tom: I thought it might be better if I moved down to the pub.
Matthew: You're not serious?
Tom: I can't go through too many more dinners like last night.
Matthew: You don't make it easy for them. Do you really think you can recruit Cousin Robert for Sinn Féin?
Tom: I don't know what gets into me. I can see them staring and I know they don't want me here.
Matthew: Well, don't include me. Or Mary.
Tom: She wasn't too keen on the idea of a chauffeur as a brother-in-law.
Matthew: Forget that. She's a pragmatist.
Tom: She could be a though fighter, too.
Matthew: Let's hope she's not tested. Now, forget this and walk back. We're brothers-in-law with high-minded wives. We'd better stick together.

O'Brien (about Alfred): He's looking after Mr Branson now. Though I dare say a chauffeur can dress himself.

Larry Grey: I've known Sybil all my life. So you can imagine how curious I was when I found out you'd be here tonight. I never thought we'd meet in person.
Tom: As opposed to what? In spirit?
Larry: Well, you see, to us, in marrying you it seemed like Sybil had left Downton Abbey forever. If you know what I mean.
Tom: I know exactly what you mean.
Larry: Did they lose your suitcase on the way over? How maddening for you.
Tom: No, my suitcase arrived safely, thank you. Along with my manners.

Violet: He's still dressed as the Man from the Prudential, I see.
Isobel: Yes. It's nice to see someone from the real world, isn't it?

Daisy: How's it going?
Alfred: Awkward. Mr Branson's well away and Lady Sybil doesn't like it much. I don't understand it. He's only had one cocktail.
Daisy: Maybe he was drinking before he came down, to calm his nerves.

Tom: No! I don't agree! And I don't care who knows it! The Black and Tans are there to restore order, are they? Why don't they just murder the entire population? Then you wouldn't hear a squeak out of any of them!
Violet: Is there any way to shut him up?
Robert: If I knew how to control him, he wouldn't be here in the first place.
Cora: Are you interested in Irish politics, Lord Merton?
Lord Merton: Well, I was just only saying that I thought...
Tom: He's interested in Irish repression, like all of you!
Matthew: Look, old chap. Of course this stuff matters a great deal to you...
Tom: Yes, it does matter, this stuff. It matters a very great deal.
Mary: What's so funny?
Larry: Nothing. I'm just enjoying this vivid display of Irish caracter.
Sybil: Please, Tom, we don't need to wear everyone out.
Tom: Why? What's the matter? Am I not being polite enough?
Sir Anthony: Wait a minute! This was down to you, wasn't it?
Larry: I don't know what you mean.
Sir Anthony: Yes, you do. I saw you. You put something in his drink, didn't you? Just before we came in.
Sybil: That's not true, is it, Larry?
Edith: What a beastly thing to do!
Larry: Oh, come on, Edith. That's not like you. You could always take a joke.
Mary: The bully's defence. Listen, everyone, Mr Grey has given my brother in law something to make him appear drunk.
Violet: Could it be drink?
Mary: No, not drink. Some horrible pill. Sybil, take him upstairs.
Robert: Il ne manque que ca. (Das hatte gerade noch gefehlt)
Cora: Tom has been the victim of a cruel prank, which I know you will all be Kind enough to forget.
Violet: Forgive, perhaps. Forget, never.
Lord Merton: Is this true, Larry?
Larry: I don't know why you're all getting so hot under the collar. He's only a grubby little Chauffeur chappie, in case you've forgotten.
Lord Merton: Be silent this instant, sir! I apologise for my son, Mr Branson. Unreservedly. I only hope you recover before the wedding.
Matthew: I hope so, too. Since I want him to be my best man.
Isobel: Bravo! Well said.
Sybil: Do you really mean it?
Tom: Honestly?
Matthew: I've told you before. If we're mad enough to take on the Crawley girls, we have to stick together.
Mary: Oh! Thank you, Matthew. Thank you so much.

Tom: Hello, Mr Molesley. I got a message to call on Mrs Crawley.
Molesley: Very good, sir. If you’d like to give me your hat and coat, sir.
Isobel: Come in, Tom. May I call you Tom?
Tom: Of course. Good afternoon, milady, that is Lady Grantham. I’m glad to find you here, because I want to apologise for last night.
Isobel: Oh, there’s no need. We know it was not your fault.
Violet: You weren’t the first drunk in this dining room, I can assure you.
Tom: Only the first republican.
Violet: Well, you’ve got me there.
Tom: Why was it you wanted to see me?
Isobel: We’ve asked Molesley to look out Matthew’s old morning coat. He is confident he can make it fit.
Tom: That’s very kind, ladies. But you see, I don’t approve of these costumes. I see them as the uniform of oppression and I should be very uncomfortable wearing them.
Violet: Are you quite finished?
Tom: I have.
Violet: Good. Please take off your coat. Molesley, do help him.
Molesley: If you’ll just slip it off, sir.
Violet: Shouldn’t he put the waistcoat on first?
Matthew: What’s going on?
Tom: They’re forcing me into a morning coat.
Matthew: He has no say in it?
Violet: No, he doesn’t. And nor do you. Well, what do you think, Molesley?
Molesley: It’ll need lifting a little here, mylady. I’ll move the buttons so.
Violet: I think the shoulders look odd.

Mrs Levinson: You must be the chauffeur I’ve heard so much about.
Tom: I am, ma’am.
Sybil: Tom’s a journalist now, Grandmama.
Mrs Levinson: Oh, well, well. I’ve heard of those journeys on my side of the water. It’s very pleasant to hear of them happening here.

Robert: No, it wasn’t me. Someone sent Sybil and Tom the price of the tickets to come over.
Sybil: Does it matter who it was? It meant we could be at the wedding. Of course, I wish it had been you, Papa, but I don’t mind. I thank them, whoever they are.
Cora: Well, I’m very glad you’re here, but it wasn’t me either, I’m sad to say.
Mrs Levinson: Well, I love a mystery. Who could it be?
Robert: My guess is Cousin Isobel. She always likes to stick her oar in.
Sybil: I’m going to ask her.
Violet: For heaven’s sake, it was me.
Sybil: You? But it wasn’t your writing.
Violet: No, Smithers did it. Like all ladies’ maids, she lives for intrigue.
Tom: You wanted me to come here?
Violet: I wanted Sybil and her husband to be here for Mary’s wedding, yes.
Sybil: But why keep that secret?
Violet: It was silly, wasn’t it?
Tom: I’m very touched, I’ll admit it.
Mrs Levinson: How democratic. It makes me think maybe I’ve been mistaken in you.
Violet: I’m a woman of many parts. After all, Branson isn’t… I mean, Tom. You are a member of the family now. You’ll find we Crawleys stick together.

Cora: It’s nerves. Everyone cries at some point before the wedding.
Mrs Levinson: But what was the quarrel about?
Edith: I’m not sure. I know she accused him of not being on our side.
Violet: Oh, I hope she’s wrong or that could be rather serious.
Robert: Of course he’s on our side, it’s ridiculous. I’ll go and see him.
Tom: No, I’ll go. I’m his best man. I should be the one to go.
Robert: What?
Tom: I know what it is to marry into this family. I’m not comparing myself to Mr Crawley, but he is another kind of an outsider.
Robert: Well, I hardly…
Mrs Levinson: Well, why not? He’s the one who’ll lose his job if the wedding’s cancelled.

Tom: It seems big, but it’s not big.
Matthew: And if it happens and I get the money? I can’t do what she wants.
Tom: It’s strange for me to be arguing about inherited money and saving estates when the old me would like to put a bomb under the lot of you.
Matthew: But?
Tom: But you’re meant to be together. I’ve known that as long as I’ve been at the house. And at first this kept you apart and then that kept you apart, but please don’t risk it a third time. Because I tell you this, you won’t be happy with anyone else while Lady Mary walks the Earth.
Matthew: Call her Mary, please.
Tom: Never mind what I call her. I know what I’ll call you if you let this chance slip through your fingers.

Tom: Right. I’m off to collect Matthew:
Robert: You look very smart.
Tom: I hope so. Because I’m extremely uncomfortable.
Robert: Branson. That is, Tom. I want to thank you for what you did last night. I’m grateful. I mean it.
Tom: They’re both strong characters. I’d say we have plenty of slamming doors and shouting matches to come.
Robert: Forgive me. I was about to be indignant. But of course you have a perfect right to speak as you do.
Tom: I hope you mean that, too.
Robert: I do. Now, hurry up.

Matthew: Molesley. I’m very grateful to you for keeping Mr Branson up to the mark. We bot are, aren’t we?
Tom: We certainly are.

Tom (to Matthew before the wedding): Good luck.

Season 3, Episode 3

Cora: How will they advertise it (=Downton Abbey)?
Robert: I don’t know exactly. „Desirable nobleman’s mansion with surrounding estate and properties.“
Tom: Where will you go?
Robert: We have some land further north, at Eryholme on the border with Durham. It came with my great-grandmother. The house is pretty, and we might make something of it. We could always rename it Downton Place.

Sir Anthony Strallan: Lady Edith… I mean, Edith tells me that you’re very interested in politics.
Robert: Tom is our tame revolutionary.
Strallan: Every family should have one.
Matthew: As long as you are tame.
Tom: Tame enough for a game of billiards. What about it?
Matthew: Can you tell them where we’ve gone to?
Robert (to Strallan): We’re getting used to Tom, and I hope you will, too.

Mary (at Eryholme): Won’t it be a bit cramped?
Tom: You do realise that for most people it looks like a fairy palace?
Sybil: You’ll be able to run it with a much smaller staff.

Season 3, Episode 4

Sybil (on the phone): I’ve no time to talk, but tell them I’m all right. I’m out of the flat. They haven’t stopped me.
Edith: Who hasn’t stopped you? Sybil? Hello?

Violet: Tell me, Doctor Lang, do you find that the war has driven the people back into the churches or further away than ever?
Doctor Lang: Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
Matthew: Someone sounds very angry.
Cora: Or very wet.
Mary: Or both.

Alfred: Do you have any luggage, sir?
Tom: I barely have the clothes I stand in. Where are they?
Alfred: They’re in the…
Mary: Tom? What’s happened? Where’s Sybil?
Tom: I had to get away and leave her to follow, but I’d made all the arrangements, in case. She’ll be on her way by now.
Mary: But why are you here? And why must she follow you alone?
Tom: I can explain.
Mary: There’s a dinner going on, but I’ll go and tell them that you’re here.
Tom: No, don’t. No one must know. I’ll tell you it all when they’re gone.
Matthew: What’s the matter? Tom!
Mary: Go upstairs and find some dry clothes of Matthew’s. I’ll come for you when the coast is clear. Would you please ask Mrs Hughes to sort some food out for him?

Mary: An idiotic man delivering a village pamphlet. Can you imagine? In this weather and at this time of night? (To Robert) It’s Branson. He wouldn’t come in.
Robert: Why not? Is Sybil with him? What’s going on?
Mary: She’s not here, but apparently she’s coming soon. He’ll explain what’s happened when our guest has gone.
Violet: Something to look forward to.
Robert: Other men have normal families, with sons-in-law who farm or preach or serve their country in the army.
Violet: Maybe they do, but no family is ever what it seems from the outside.

Daisy: Do you think he’s on the run from the police?
Anna: Don’t be so daft.
Thomas: Well, he hadn’t got the money for a taxicab from the station.
Mrs Hughes: Maybe he fancied the walk.
O’Brien: Yes, that’s it. I should think he loves a night’s walk in the pouring rain without a coat.
Daisy: What room is he in?
Carson: I’ll take that, thank you, Daisy.
Thomas: So there’ll be no more gossip on that subject tonight.

Tom: They’ve turned everyone out of the castle, Lord and Lady Drumgoole, their sons and the servants and then they set fire to it.
Edith: What a tragedy.
Violet: Well, yes and no. That house was hideous. But of course that is no excuse.
Robert: No. It is not.
Matthew: But what was your involvement?
Tom: Who says I was involved?
Mary: Well, you seem to know a lot about it if you weren’t!
Cora: And why are you running away? And what was Sybil’s part in all this?
Tom: She’s not involved, not at all. But they think I was part of it. They think I was one of the instigators.
Mary: So the police are looking for you?
Tom: That’s why I couldn’t go home. I knew if they took me, I wouldn’t get a fair hearing.
Cora: You mean you gave them Sybil while you saved yourself?
Tom: I don’t think they’ll hold her, but if they do, then I’m prepared to go back and face the consequences.
Robert: You damn well better be!
Cora: You must see the Home Secretary.
Robert: And tell him what? The police say he was there. He says he wasn’t!
Tom: I didn’t say I wasn’t there.
Robert: Why were you? For the fun of seeing private property destroyed?
Tom: Those places are different for me. I don’t look at them and see charm and gracious living. I see something horrible.
Violet: With Drumgoole Castle I rather agree.
Robert: Mama, you are not helping.
Tom: But when I saw them turned out, standing there with their children, all of them in tears, watching their home burn, I was sorry. I admit it. I don’t want their type to govern Ireland. I want a free state. But I was sorry.
Edith: Never mind that. What’s happened to Sybil?
Tom: We agreed that I should leave at once and that she’d close the flat and follow. But I got the last boat, so she won’t be here before tomorrow.
Robert: Good God Almighty! You abandon a pregnant woman, in a land that‘s not her own? You leave her to shif for herself while you run for it?
Cora: You have to go to London, Robert. For Sybil’s sake, if not for his, you have to see Mr Shortt.
Robert: I don’t „have“ to do anything!
Tom: I never meant…
Robert: Go to bed! I’ll give you my answer in the morning.

Mr Molesley: Of course, she married beneath her.
Mrs Patmore: And who are you, then, a Habsburg archduke?
O’Brien: What if he has to go to prison? What then?
Carson: That’s quite enough of that, thank you, Miss O’Brien. Bedtime, I think.

Carson: I‘ going up.
Mrs Hughes: Good night.
Carson: I’ll try and keep them quiet, but, to be honest, I knew it would happen. I knew he would bring shame on this house. It sounds as if he is on the run from the police and, for all we know, Lady Sybil is languishing in a dungeon somewhere in Dublin.
Mrs Hughes: Let’s wait and see what the morning brings.
Carson: What in God’s name is it?
Mrs Hughes: An electric toaster. I’ve given it to myself as a treat. […]
Carson: Is it not enough that we‘re sheltering a dangerous revolutionary, Mrs Hughes? Could you not have spared me that?

Robert: I want to make it quite clear that whatever I do, I am doing it for Sybil and not for you! I find your actions despicable, whatever your beliefs. You speak of Ireland’s suffering and I do not contradict you. But Ireland cannot prosper until this savagery is put away.
Mary: That’s all very well, Papa, but you must keep Tom out of prison.
Robert: I’ll go to London today. I’ll telephone Murray and ask him to arrange an interview. I won’t come home until I’ve seen Shortt.
Cora: Thank you. I know it’s right.
Robert: It’s right for him.
Cora: And for Sybil and for this family.
Robert: I suppose so. Let me know if Sybil gets in touch.
Tom: She won’t. She won’t want to give them anything to trace her by.
Robert: What a harsh world you live in.
Tom: We all live in a harsh world. But at least I know I do.

Tom: Oh, thank God. I’m so sorry.
Sybil: It’s allright. […] They didn’t try to stop me. But it doesn’t mean they won’t come after us, unless Papa can persuade them otherwise.
Cora: Tom, how could you have left her all alone, to fend for herself?
Sybil: It wasn’t like that. We thought this might happen and we’d decided what to do. The question is, what now?
Cora: You mustn’t travel anymore. Not before the baby’s born.
Sybil: But Tom wants it to be born in Dublin.
Mary: He won’t hold you to that now.
Tom: Won’t this be the first place that they look?
Mary: How could you be part of it? The Drumgooles are like us. She came out with me. She was Laura Dunsany then. How could you dance round her burning house, Tom? It’s horrible.
Sybil: He didn’t dance and he isn’t dancing now. Come in.
Carson: A telegram for you, milady.
Cora: Your father’s coming home. He’s seen Mr Shortt.
Sybil: And what happened?
Cora: He doesn’t say. Only that neither of you is to leave Downton.

Tom: I can never go back to Ireland? That’s impossible!
Robert: If you do, you’ll be put in prison. It’s the best I could manage.
Cora: Surely they need proof, to ban a man from his own country?
Robert: They have more proof than Tom will concede.
Sybil: Is that fair? He’s admitted to being there. He’s told you himself.
Robert: But he did not tell me that attended Dublin meetings where the attacks on the Anglo-Irish were planned.
Tom: I was always against any personal violence. I swear it.
Violet: Oh, so at least we can sleep in our beds.
Robert: Maybe. But you were not against the violet destruction of property.
Tom: I’ve told you. The sight of it was worse than I expected.
Matthew: So what was the deal you managed to extract from the Home Secretary?
Robert: They don’t want to make a martyr of him. And with Sybil, they could have another Maud Gonne on their hands, or Lady Gregory or worse, if they’re not careful.
Violet: Lady Gregroy, Countess Markievicz, why are the Irish rebels so well-born?
Robert: Whatever the reaseon, I don’t want Lady Sybil Branson to join their ranks. Mercifully, nor do
the Irish authorities. If Tom can stay away, they’ll leave him alone.
Tom: I can’t be kept away from Ireland.
Robert: You’ll be arrested the moment you touch dry land.

Tom: If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to bed. Can you tell the others?
Robert: Tomorrow we’ll make some plans.
Tom: I don’t know how.
Matthew: You’ve lived out of Ireland before. Surely you can again.
Tom: But Ireland is coming of age now and I need to be part of that. But I know what you’ve done for me. I know you’ve kept me free. And I am grateful. Truly.
Matthew: Poor chap. I’m sure he is grateful.
Robert: No, he’s not. He says it to keep the peace with the Sybil. But then I only rescued him for Sybil’s sake, so I suppose we’re even.

Mrs Hughes: Oh! Are you going to tip that over me? I was just making myself some toast. You have to set the number on the dial and I had it up too high, but I’ve got the hang of it now. Would you like a piece?
Carson: I was worried that Mr Branson might take it into his head to burn the house down. But I didn’t think that you would.
Mrs Hughes: No? You should never take anything for granted, Mr Carson.
Sybil: You never told me you went to those meetings.
Tom: I never told you I didn’t.
Sybil: And what else haven’t you told me?
Tom: All I know is I can’t stay here. Not for long.
Sybil: You must. And so must I. And you must let the baby be born here.
Tom: You’re very free with your musts.
Sybil: But I will not be free with our child’s chances. We need peace and safety. Downton can offer us both.

Matthew (about Edith’s newspaper column): Well done, that’s most impressive.
Robert: Don’t say you support her.
Matthew: Of course I support her, and so do you, really, when you’ve had a chance to think about it.
Tom: So I should hope, anyway.