01x06 - It's Christmas

[bunniefuu]

- [THUMP ON WINDOW]

- [GROUP CHUCKLING, DISTANT]

[THUMP ON WINDOW]

[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]

["CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE

COME HOME)" PLAYING]

[ALL LAUGHING, EXCLAIMING]

[THUMP ON WINDOW]

[THEO SIGHS] I'm calling us

the winners. Joint winners.

- Joint snowball champions.

- [CHUCKLES]

- Look who's arrived.

- Yes. Here I am. [CHUCKLES]

Your Grace.

Delighted you could make it.

And did you arrive with

[CHUCKLES] Finally, the fun's

here. I see Guy's looking after you.

[JEAN] Oh, we're

looking after each other.

[THEO] Welcome, both of you.

Does Mother know you're here?

[SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]

[CONTINUES, INDISTINCT]

And thank you for taking

care of my best man.

Is that what I am?

Well, I hope so. [CHUCKLES]

Who else would do it?

My mother in a tailcoat?

[CHUCKLES]

Come here. [CHUCKLES] Thank you.

[THEO] Right. It's Christmas Eve.

Let's spend it with

the ones we love most.

["NORTH AMERICAN SCUM" PLAYING]

[BOTH MUMBLING, CHUCKLING]

Are any of them actually alive in there?

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

You know, Miles is funny and charming.

And he has that penniless

second-son-thing of having to marry money.

That's exactly what I look for.

You know, Mother will

haul us home next month

if you're still horrifyingly unmarried.

Oh, it's Christmas. It's

no time to think about home.

- [CHUCKLES]

- And if you wanna stay so badly,

why don't you marry him?

I love you!

You know they're waiting to

see if we get into an argument?

Can nobody understand "amicably apart"?

Should we just pretend

to get into a fight,

- for the drama? [CHUCKLES]

- [CHUCKLES]

I could grab your hair.

I'm sorry. I didn't I didn't

I didn't mean it like that.

I think we both know who likes

to have their hair pulled, Dicky.

[CHUCKLES]

Mabel! [CHUCKLING]

- [MABEL] No!

- [ALL CHUCKLING]

[JINNY COUGHING]

I love you, Jinny.

I love you.

Sounds like Conchita.

I wish we could spend

Christmas on our own.

With your friends

sometimes you're not as easy to love.

Oh, I'm sorry. I

Jinny.

Only us.

- Only us. Always.

- [CHUCKLES]

[INHALES SHARPLY] Now

what are you gonna wear?

[JINNY SNIFFS]

[SNIFFING]

Round off the edges, and don't

leave yourself undefended.

Snowballing.

[CHUCKLES]

Vital to have rules,

as so often in life.

If your gloves need drying

May I?

They say a glove

can be a useful tool for communication.

"I'm engaged."

"I wish I were with you."

"Would you pass me those nuts?"

- [LAUGHS]

- [CHUCKLES]

[NAN] Yeah.

I prefer speaking plainly

rather than in code.

Take plenty.

Christmas is a time for

keeping our families tight

- and our corsets loose.

- [CHUCKLES]

- I barely fasten mine.

- [CHUCKLES]

What a pleasure to have

you with us this year.

Of course, Theodore is only truly

happy near his beach and studio,

in what I call "extravagant isolation."

Though somehow this year,

despite Scotland being a

very long way from Cornwall,

there's a smile on his face, which

I can only assume is down to you.

One Christmas, he set up his

new train set under his bed,

and we didn't see him for three days.

The servants had to leave plates

of food for him, like a cat.

[CHUCKLES]

He was 23.

[CHUCKLES]

Six or seven, I believe.

Best Christmas of his

life, he's always said.

Till this year, I suspect.

You've pleased him more than

I could ever have imagined.

Oh, he pleases me too.

I mean, we just We We

enjoy each other's company.

[MABEL] And what shall we

call our snow child? [CHUCKLES]

- Hmm. He looks like a lord.

- Lord Snowman.

- That's his name. [CHUCKLES]

- [CHUCKLES]

I think we make a pretty

good team, you and I.

[LIZZY] Jinny! Come play with us!

- Faster. Come on. Giddyup. What is this?

- [LIZZY] I'm not weak. [CHUCKLES]

- Oh, come on.

- [CONCHITA] What is this, Lizzy?

- [LIZZY] I'm no [GRUNTS] I'm not weak.

- [CONCHITA] Come on. Faster!

Come on. Giddyup, Lizzy. Come on.

- Jinny, come play with us!

- [CONCHITA] Oh, Jinny's here.

Where have you been

hiding? Come on. [LAUGHING]

Oh, Lizzy. [LAUGHS]

Why don't you get on, and I'll pull you.

You've got the strength

of an ant. [GASPS]

- [YELLS]

- Oh! Are you okay?

- [LIZZY] Yeah. It's all right. I'm fine.

- I'm so sorry. Let me help you get up.

- I'm so sorry. Are you sure?

- [LIZZY] I said I'm fine, really. Yeah.

[CONCHITA GRUNTS]

- No [STAMMERS] I-I-I

- [CONCHITA] Oof.

[LIZZY SIGHS]

No, I don't need any any help. I'm

[SEADOWN GRUNTS]

[CONCHITA] Wow.

Look how big and strong your

husband is, Jinny. [CHUCKLES]

Oh! You're so [SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]

All that Jinny wants,

all we both want,

is to have a wonderful

first Christmas together.

And I know she'd feel very upset

if there was any kind of fuss.

Don't you think?

[LIZZY CRYING]

I was hoping to see you earlier.

Hmm. Yes, I thought during all

that snowballing and whooping

you were probably really looking for me.

That evening, after we'd been

at the boathouse, I was awful.

I'm so sorry. My mouth sometimes

I don't know anything about your mouth.

Well, I feel terrible.

- I-I shouldn't have

- It was entirely new for me.

What happened.

What we did.

What I felt.

All of it. It was all new.

And I'm so sorry that

I [BREATHES SHAKILY]

I felt it too.

Happy Christmas.

It's a silly

Probably.

The two of them, they reminded me of

I-I mean they do not do what we

did, those two. Not even slightly.

Which is bad luck for them, actually.

But that would be a

different kind of music box.

I just The way they

seemed to be together

Anyway, um

Lizzy and I will have to

go back to New York soon.

And actually, I've

thought of a way to stay,

but in case my plan doesn't work out

- [STAMMERS]

- Good luck, Honoria.

[LIZZY] You remember we were

playing sardines, looking for Mabel?

It was a time when Seadown was

He was very focused on me.

We went into a bedroom

to look, and I thought

You went into a bedroom?

He told me to undress.

So I did.

I was naked.

I lay on a bed.

I didn't know what I was supposed to do.

[CLICKS TONGUE]

What did he do?

After a while, he left.

[INHALES SHAKILY] He sent

in a servant to tell me

that he wasn't coming back.

I was humiliated.

Which was the idea, I suppose.

To make me feel

worthless. And it worked.

I wanted to be alone with him, I think.

Perhaps, I even wanted to kiss him.

I was so ashamed.

- Why Why are you telling me this now?

- [SIGHS]

I'm worried about you.

You said yourself that he sometimes

wants you to be

something that you're not.

- No, stop saying it. Stop it.

- I know. I know you wanted a husband.

- We were both told to want that endlessly.

- No. I love him.

- Okay, it's not just

- But I don't think

that he loves you the way

that you hope to be loved.

[INHALES SHARPLY] So you're not saying

that James forced you into that room?

Did he force you to

take your clothes off?

Did he rip off your dress?

Did he push you onto the bed?

That's not what I said.

He didn't make you do anything.

And when you undressed,

he left, like a gentleman.

Lizzy, if you regret debasing yourself,

well, that's hardly James's fault.

But he is my husband.

He chose me, and I

will always choose him.

["IT'S NOT JUST ME,

IT'S EVERYBODY" PLAYING]

[MISS TESTVALLEY] Wakey-wakey.

Who doesn't enjoy a Christmas nap?

Essential.

Thank you.

For being here. And for

looking after everything.

[MINNIE COOS]

Here's my girl. [GRUNTS]

Oh, my little treasure.

There's my girl. Hmm?

[CHUCKLES]

[SIGHS]

[BREATHING DEEPLY]

[EXHALES SHARPLY]

[KNOCKING, DOOR OPENS]

Wrong room?

[BREATHES DEEPLY]

I've been trying to learn

how to be less reserved.

You are not reserved.

Perhaps, I'm riddled

with secret shyness.

[CHUCKLES] I saw your knickers

before I saw your face.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

Honoria.

Is there, perhaps, a man

who's caught your eye?

No, there's no man.

You know,

confidence is not just ribbons

or flowers in your hair.

There's a kind of glow that

comes with understanding yourself.

Which I believe you have.

And it's absolutely beautiful.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

And underwear helps, of course, too.

- [CHUCKLING]

- Fantastic underwear.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

You know, Richard is unhappy

all the time without you.

Well, we're both entirely miserable.

But he could have me back in an

instant if only he chose to let go.

Of what?

Whatever's holding him back.

I was just eating a walnut.

I'm happy for you.

- And I've got mulled wine. Mmm.

- Mmm. Big day.

- I'm here with Theo.

- Your fiancé.

And you're here with Jean.

Have you brought me in

here to confirm the facts?

I don't wanna talk about

what happened when we

[GUY] Well, let's not then. Absolutely.

[NAN] Sometimes I feel

very panicked about the idea

of trying to fit the whole

world into one lifetime.

Do you know what I mean?

I had one of these. [SIGHS]

I put pins in every

place I wanted to visit.

And where do you wanna go now?

[GUY] A million places.

But recently, I can only

concentrate on one of them.

I want to make clear

before we met,

I did think, briefly, a rich

bride might be the answer.

To save the house.

Perhaps, like a fool, I

thought it might save my mother.

But that was before I met you.

Nan, when I met you, it was

immediately, entirely real.

In any case, our house is gone.

My mother's gone.

[SCOFFS]

And the telegram? The lost telegram.

What did it say?

It said

"Enjoy your trip with your fiancé.

And, perhaps, I'll see

you one of these days."

Well, Jean seems really lovely.

[GUY] She really is, in fact.

Yeah, she's full of surprises.

And I hear her family has money.

So, perhaps, your wish

might come true after all.

Theo will be looking for me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. [LAUGHS]

[COOING]

[RICHARD] Look how strong

you are. [EXCLAIMING]

- Yes. [CHUCKLES]

- [CONCHITA] Hey.

- Oh, sorry. It's your turn. I-I can leave.

- [CHUCKLES] No, stay.

You know, Minnie adores this ball.

- Look.

- [GASPS]

What's that? What's that?

- She loves it. I don't know why.

- It's her favorite ball.

- It's her favorite ball. [LAUGHS]

- No, you can't eat it.

Minnie, Minnie. Minnie, careful.

- [COOING]

- [BOTH CHUCKLING]

[RICHARD, CONCHITA CHUCKLING]

- [CONCHITA] Good girl! [CHUCKLES]

- [RICHARD] Well done.

[RICHARD, CONCHITA CHUCKLING]

- [RICHARD, CONCHITA, INDISTINCT]

- [CHUCKLES]

I like your flower, Lady Honoria.

Oh.

It must feel strange, Miss Testvalley,

to spend every Christmas

with someone else's family.

Well, that's the job.

And I pride myself on

being more than simply

- Oh! You're indispensable.

- [MISS TESTVALLEY SIGHS]

You were the only governess

to attempt to teach me French.

Bien sûr. [CHUCKLES]

Not easy to find new

horizons in that house.

But Richard's married now.

He has a real chance at happiness.

And freedom.

Merry Christmas.

Why did you ask me to marry you?

You'd ignored me the previous night

when we were all playing games.

Then Then in the morning

you appeared with a ring.

Virginia, I don't find

it easy to show warmth.

You've met my family.

At Runnymede, I was

trying to win the hand

of the most beautiful woman in the room.

You make me nervous.

Only you.

I [STAMMERS] I have

to say this out loud.

Lizzy said that when we were all

playing games, the two of you

upstairs

[SCOFFS]

So, that's it? I'm nothing to you?

[GASPS] James, please.

I told her that I didn't wanna hear it.

I told her that you would never do it.

I told her that I would always

choose you ove over anyone.

[SIGHS]

- Mmm. Have you tried these?

- [MILES SIGHS]

- [BOTH CHUCKLING]

- [MILES GASPS]

Thank God you're here.

Oh, we'd be lost without each other.

The others just don't understand us.

We're free spirits. [CHUCKLES]

Not free for long.

My parents are planning to

marry me off to some rich bore.

If only we could both find spouses

who'd just let us do as we please.

Miles

[DUCHESS OF TINTAGEL] Uh.

Somebody who's a a woman.

- Florence Nightingale.

- Mm-mmm.

- [GUY] Waiter uh

- [DUCHESS OF TINTAGEL] Um, pouring

- a chemist. A scientist. Uh

- uh, a doctor

- uh, bar bar barman.

- [DUCHESS OF TINTAGEL] Um, tea.

- Cup of tea. Uh, me. I'm a window opener.

- [THEO] Honoria. Honoria, uh

- Honoria.

- Oh! It's Mr. James Bullman.

Who?

Mr. James Bullman, he delivers

the milk to my parents.

[CHUCKLES]

If we knew him,

- I'm sure it would have been very good.

- Oh, I just

I didn't know anybody.

He normally delivers

- [MILES] Everybody, can I just

- the milk to my parents.

Mabel Elmsworth, this

may be rather sudden.

But, sometimes,

something just comes along

that makes such complete sense.

Will you marry me?

[GASPS] And stay in

England as your wife?

That would I believe it

would be absolutely perfect.

- [BOTH CHUCKLING]

- [GUESTS APPLAUDING]

Well done. Just right.

Mabel, what on Earth?

It works for us all. Now,

Mother can't drag us home.

But

Mabel, you don't actually

You don't love him.

No. I mean, no more than he loves me.

But which married couple can

honestly say they're in love?

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

[JEAN SIGHS] Could you bear it?

Waiting all that time.

I mean, it's practically

Boxing Day. [CHUCKLES]

Happy Christmas.

[CHUCKLES]

It's cheese.

- You are a very surprising woman.

- [JEAN CHUCKLES]

I've been dreading Christmas this year.

You've made it so much

Would you like to go

for a ride tomorrow?

Miss Christmas lunch

and avoid the madness.

[SIGHS] I'd like that very much.

- Will you bring your cheese?

- Cheese is the main event.

[KNOCKS ON DOOR]

[JINNY] James?

James?

James, I'm so sorry.

What can I do?

All I ever do is make you quite

certain of my devotion to you.

I trust you. With everything in my life,

you are my life. I have no secrets.

Can you say the same?

It's hurtful that you never give

me cause to believe you trust me.

I do. I do trust you. I choose you.

Yet, you hang on to

these childish notions

of being a sister, and

a daughter, and a friend,

whispering with them

about God knows what.

How do I know you truly love me?

Without reservation. How do I

know you value me above all others?

Prove it to me.

Please.

["LITTLE SAINT NICK" PLAYING]

This is how things should be.

I've been waiting for you.

[SIGHS] I'm going to be a better man.

I promise. I'll show you.

You just have to show yourself.

- [KNOCKING ON DOOR]

- Ugh.

- [CHUCKLING]

- Don't answer it.

We have to. [CHUCKLES]

[CLEARS THROAT] Come in.

- Merry Christmas, Lady Marable.

- [CONCHITA] Merry Christmas.

- [MISS TESTVALLEY] Lord Marable.

- [SNIFFS]

I've come to say my goodbyes.

I've been offered a position in

Cornwall, which I've accepted.

You're leaving? But it's Christmas Day.

I'm afraid I'm required urgently.

My carriage is being prepared.

[CONCHITA] What can we do?

How can we persuade you

I'm afraid I'm quite

decided, Lady Marable.

I wish you both good luck,

and I should be glad

to have news of you all.

But I think it's time to move on.

For all of us.

Minnie will be dressed

and ready whenever you are.

[KNOCK ON DOOR]

Your Grace, Merry Christmas.

I hope you've had a

really wonderful s

I'm going to ask you to pack

your bags and leave immediately.

[CHUCKLES] Oh, is this Are you

I've recently been made

aware of your predicament.

Your being the product of

your father's indiscretion.

We'll make it public

your father is unwell,

and you had to return to America.

By next season, I'm quite sure

everyone will have forgotten

Wait, wait, wait. But how do you

[STAMMERING] Who told you?

Theo will be hurt, of course.

But he'll see entirely

your union isn't possible.

But only yesterday you said

how much he loved me and

how much I please him.

This is not about anything

as trivial as love, Annabel.

If you were to marry my son,

you'd destroy 500 years

of civility and sacrifice.

Heredity, I'm afraid, is not one

of those silly games you're fond of.

But no one knows. No one has to

know. We don't have to tell anyone.

[DUCHESS TINTAGEL] I'm as sorry

as anyone that you lied, Annabel.

I know you come from a country

where people aren't burdened

by the rules of propriety,

but in this country, that kind

of behavior is quite inexcusable.

I fully expect not to see you again.

["YO! MY SAINT" PLAYING]

[RICHARD] Laura.

Please don't go. Stay.

You're doing a fine job of standing

on your own feet, Lord Richard.

Your own family.

No need for old attachments.

Minnie will miss you

terribly. So will Conchita.

Not a moment of this is about Conchita.

She's just the latest

in a long line of people

who will never understand us.

Did you tell her?

- Happy Christmas?

- No. No.

About me. About my mother.

Nan, of course not.

I told you I wouldn't.

But you're the only other person that

I may have wondered about telling once,

but when I said I wouldn't, I meant it.

And after everything All this

being pulled into rooms and

So, if the duchess

knows, does that mean

I'm not getting married. You

can be quite certain of that.

And how do you feel?

How do you feel about

not getting married?

Relieved.

I didn't expect to say that.

I have to go and tell him.

[STAMMERS] Nan.

Jinny.

Jinny did what she

thought was best, Annabel.

As she always does.

I will never forgive you.

Not ever.

I will lose everything

just because you are

What Jinny wants most of all,

Nan, is to avoid embarrassment.

- So if you'd leave quietly

- Is that what you want? Honestly?

I'm sorry. Truly, I am. I

But, um, your shame

is is not my fault.

[SCOFFS]

A marriage shouldn't be based

off of lies. You're right.

And nor should a life.

Who did you tell?

The duchess has been good enough to

welcome us for Christmas, my love.

It's absurd to think this

would've remained secret.

Better to play it out

quickly, without fuss.

If your sister doesn't

trust you to do what's best,

I'm afraid it's only further

proof that you've grown apart.

Annabel, as discussed, you won't

be joining us. Sit down, Theodore.

- Everybody, shall we?

- Please. Your Grace, I have wanted

I have had enough of being frightened,

and I have something

that I wanna say out loud.

I'm illegitimate.

My father was unfaithful

and Patricia St. George

is not my natural mother.

Although, I've come to believe that

motherhood is much more than blood.

And in these last few months,

I have felt a million things,

but what I refuse to feel any longer

is shame.

And that might be American,

and that might be brash.

And maybe I should've

signaled it with a glove

and hoped that no one would see.

But I am proud to have

survived the revelation.

I am proud of my mother.

And I am proud to be

I'm proud to be.

I'm really sorry for having lied to you.

I was afraid.

Sometimes the more desperate you

are to tell somebody something,

the harder it is to say.

But I'm really sorry for

having embarrassed you,

and I'm really sorry for

having ruined Christmas.

It looks like a lovely lunch.

[THEO] You're quite right, of course.

This entire display has

been incredibly American.

But I happen to be very much

in love with an American.

I know more than most that we

can't choose how we're born.

But we can choose who

we are and who we love.

I choose being a person who loves you.

I loved you the moment I saw you,

and I will never stop choosing you.

Annabel St. George, you are

the woman I want to marry.

That'll never change.

And if necessary, though I know

it can be crowded up

there on Christmas Day,

I will shout it from the rooftop.

I love you, Nan.

[JEAN] I was worried

you'd changed your mind.

I haven't. [SIGHS] Not a bit.

Let's make Christmas less complicated.

Theodore, we need to talk

about this in private.

Whoo. [CHUCKLES]

[LIZZY] Whoo-hoo!

[MABEL CHUCKLING]

["LEAN IN" PLAYING]