Free Downton Abbey Script Book Season 1 by Julian Fellowes Page B

things. The hall boys are laying the table. William sits at the piano and starts to play.
    THOMAS: She’s a match for the old lady. She wasn’t going to give in.
    CARSON (V.O.): What ‘old lady’ are you referring to, Thomas?
    He stands in the doorway, magnificent. William stops.
    CARSON (CONT’D): You cannot mean her ladyship the Dowager Countess. Not if you wish to remain in this house.
    THOMAS: No, Mr Carson.
    CARSON: William, are you aware the seam at your shoulder is coming apart?
    WILLIAM: I felt it go a bit earlier. I’ll mend it when we turn in.
    CARSON: You will mend it now . And you will never again appear in public in a similar state of undress.
    WILLIAM: No, Mr Carson.
    CARSON: To progress in your chosen career William, you must remember that a good servant at all times retains a sense of pride and dignity, that reflects the pride and dignity of the family he serves. *
    This has silenced the company. William is crushed.
    CARSON (CONT’D): And never make me remind you of it again.
    He leaves. The sigh of relief is almost audible.
    DAISY: I’ll do it. And cheer up. We’ve all had a smack from Mr Carson.
    She takes the coat and picks up a needle from the table. Anna glances at the despondent William.
    ANNA: You’ll be a butler, yourself, one day. Then you’ll do the smacking.
    WILLIAM: I could never be like him. I bet he comes from a line of butlers that goes back to the Conqueror.
    BATES: He learned his business and so will you. Even Mr Carson wasn’t born standing to attention.
    THOMAS: I hope not for his mother’s sake.
    In the laugh that follows, William notices Daisy smiling at him. He finds it surprisingly encouraging.
----
13 INT. CORA’S BEDROOM. DOWNTON. NIGHT.
    Robert and Cora are in bed. She is trying to read.
    ROBERT: But if he must work, it should be politics. He could build on it when he goes to the Lords.
    CORA: He trained for the law.
    ROBERT: Well, I don’t know what the local people will make of it.
    CORA: I can’t see why he has the right to your estates or to my money. But I refuse to condemn him for wanting an honest job.
    ROBERT: Really, Cora. Just because you dislike my mother, there’s no need to turn into Mark Twain.
    He blows out his lamp and settles down for the night.
----
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
14 INT. CARSON’S PANTRY. DAY.
    A new day. Carson is checking the account books, when William appears, carrying an envelope.
    WILLIAM: This was at the back door.
    CARSON: Thank you, William.
    The footman goes as he opens the letter. One glance is enough to make him stand, take his hat and hurry away.
15 EXT. DOWNTON VILLAGE. DAY.
    Bates is walking back through the village when, across the road some way ahead, he sees Carson hurrying along. He vanishes into the pub. Bates is rather surprised. He walks on, past a sign announcing the cottage hospital.
16 INT. WARD. VILLAGE HOSPITAL. DAY.
    Isobel is in a ward, with Doctor Richard Clarkson.
    CLARKSON: It’s kind of you to take an interest.
    ISOBEL: I’m afraid it’s a case of the warhorse and the drum. You know my late husband was a doctor?
    CLARKSON: I do. I’m familiar with Doctor Crawley’s work on the symptoms of infection in children.
----
    ISOBEL: My father was also in medicine, Sir John Turnbull, and my brother is Doctor Edward Turnbull. *
----
    He acknowledges her provenance.
    ISOBEL (CONT’D): Even I studied nursing during the South African War.
    They have come to a bed which is screened off. A young woman is being helped away by a nurse. Isobel looks enquiringly at her companion. Clarkson lowers his voice.
    CLARKSON: Very distressing. A young farmer, John Drake, a tenant of Lord Grantham’s. He came in today. It’s dropsy, I’m afraid. *
    ISOBEL: May I see him?
    Clarkson is surprised but he moves back the screens. A young man of about thirty is sitting up against pillows, his skin grey, his legs twice their normal size. He looks