- [the servants are discussing Matthew Crawley, Lord Robert's heir, and his mother Isobel]
- Thomas: So what d'you think we'll make of them?
- Sarah O'Brien: I shouldn't think much. *She* hasn't even got a lady's maid.
- Anna: It's not a capital offence.
- John Bates: She's got a maid - her name's Ellen. She came a day early.
- Sarah O'Brien: She's not a lady's maid. She's just a housemaid that fastens hooks and buttons when she has to. There's more to it than that, you know.
- Anna: We want some *very* precise reporting when dinner's over.
- Thomas: Are we to treat him as the heir?
- Sarah O'Brien: Are we heck as like! A doctor's son from Manchester? He'll be lucky if he gets a civil word out of me.
- Anna: [drily] We're *all* lucky if we get a civil word out of you.
- Isobel Crawley: [about the hospital] Who pays for it?
- Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham: Oh good, let's talk about money.
- Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: I thought you didn't like him.
- Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham: So what? I have plenty of friends I don't like.
- [Sarah O'Brien is talking about Matthew and Isobel Crawley]
- Sarah O'Brien: I'm sorry but *I* have standards. And if anyone thinks I'm going to pull my forelock and curtsey to this Mister Nobody from Nowhere...
- [Lady Cora comes into the Servants' Hall. All the servants stand up]
- Cora, Countess of Grantham: O'Brien! Were you discussing Mr Crawley?
- Sarah O'Brien: Yes, My Lady.
- Cora, Countess of Grantham: Is it your place to do so?
- Sarah O'Brien: I've got my opinions, My Lady, same as anybody.
- [Mrs Hughes comes in]
- Mrs. Hughes: Can I help Your Ladyship?
- Cora, Countess of Grantham: [to Mrs Hughes] This is the button that's missing from my new evening coat. I found it lying on the gravel. But I was shocked at the talk I heard as I came in.
- [to O'Brien]
- Cora, Countess of Grantham: Mr Crawley is His Lordship's cousin and heir. You *will*, therefore, please accord him the respect that he is entitled to.
- Sarah O'Brien: But you don't like him yourself, milady. You never wanted him to come...
- Cora, Countess of Grantham: You're sailing *perilously* close to the wind, O'Brien. If we're to be friends, you will *not* speak in that way again about the Crawleys, or *any* member of Lord Grantham's family. Now I'm going up to rest. Wake me at the dressing gong.
- [Lady Cora walks out of the room]
- Thomas: I don't think that's fair - not here in the Servants' Hall.
- Sarah O'Brien: I agree. If she was a *real* lady, she wouldn't have come down here. She'd have rung for me and given me the button, that's all.
- Thomas: This isn't her territory. We can say what we like down here.
- Mrs. Hughes: Who says?
- Thomas: The Law - and Parliament. There *is* such a thing as free speech.
- Mrs. Hughes: Not when *I'm* in charge! Don't push your luck, Thomas. Now, tea's over. Back to work!
- [Mrs Hughes leaves]
- Sarah O'Brien: Friends! Who does she think she's fooling. *We're* not friends.
- Anna: No?
- Sarah O'Brien: No. And you're not friends with the girls, neither. We're servants, you and me, and they pay us to do as we're told. That's all.
- Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: [to Matthew] We all have different parts to play, Matthew, and we should all be allowed to play them.
- Mr. Carson: I take it my resignation has not been accepted.
- Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: We all have chapters we would rather keep unpublished.
- Isobel Crawley: What should we call each other?
- Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham: Well, we could always start with Mrs Crawley and Lady Grantham.
- Matthew Crawley: I've got a job in Ripon. I've said I'll start tomorrow.
- Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: A *job*?
- John Bates: Even Mr. Carson wasn't born standing to attention.
- Thomas: I hope not, for his mother's sake.
- Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham: [about the refurbished room at the Crawley house] It always seemed rather dark when my mother-in-law lived here; but then, she made everything rather dark.
- Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham: [to Lord Robert] Why do you always have to be nicer than the rest of us?
- Matthew Crawley: [to Matthew] What will you do with your time?
- Lady Sybil Crawley: I've got a job in Ripon. I've said I'll start tomorrow.
- Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: A job? You do know I mean to involve you in the running of the estate.
- Matthew Crawley: Don't worry. There are plenty of hours in the day. And, of course, I'll have the weekend.
- Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham: What is a weekend?
- Isobel Crawley: [discussing whether they should keep the servants they've been assigned] What they expct, Matthew, is that we won't know how to behave. So, if you don't mind, I would rather not confirm their expectation.
- Matthew Crawley: I'll be no use to anyone if I can't be myself.
- Dr. Clarkson: [about Mrs. Crawley helping out at the hospital] It seems that she is going to stay on in the foreseeable future.
- Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham: Nobody can foresee the future, Doctor. Not you, not I, and *certainly* not Mrs. Crawley.
- Mr. Carson: If you're going to the ceremony, I thought we might walk together.
- Mrs. Hughes: Certainly I'm going. I want to see the old bat's face when they announce it. I must try not to look too cheerful. Or shouldn't I talk like that in your presence?