RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
You seem very informed on this family's private affairs. But you ought perhaps to know that I do not intend to fight the entail. Not any part of it.
DCDuke of Crowborough
You can't be serious.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
It pains me to say it, but I am.
DCDuke of Crowborough
You'll give up your entire estate--your wife's money into the bargain--to a perfect stranger? You won't even put up a fight?
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
I hope he proves to be perfect, but I rather doubt it.
DCDuke of Crowborough
A very odd thing to joke about.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
No odder than this conversation.
CCCora Crawley, Lady Grantham
It's a cottage hospital, of course, but quite well equipped.
VCViolet Crawley, the Dowager Countess
Oh, good, let's talk about money.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
My father gave the building and an endowment to run it. In a way, he set up his own memorial.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
And Mr. Lloyd George's new insurance measures will help.
VCViolet Crawley, the Dowager Countess
Please don't speak that man's name; we are about to eat.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
You do know I mean to involve you in the running of the estate?
Oh, don't worry, there are plenty of hours in the day. And of course I'll have the weekend.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
We'll discuss this later, we mustn't bore the ladies.
VCViolet Crawley, the Dowager Countess
What is a weekend?
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
[About Matthew Crawley, Lord Grantham's new heir] I thought you didn't like him?
VCViolet Crawley, the Dowager Countess
So what? I have plenty of friends I don't like.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
You do not love the place yet.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
No, you don't love it. You see a million bricks that may crumble, a thousand gutters and pipes that may block and leak, and stone that will crack in the frost.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
I see my life's work.
CCCora Crawley, Lady Grantham
Where's he staying?
He says he's found a pub that caters for hunting.
CCCora Crawley, Lady Grantham
We can improve on that, he must come here! He can send the horses up early if he wants.
He'll know why you're asking him.
CCCora Crawley, Lady Grantham
I can't think what you mean. His mother's a friend of mine; she'd be pleased at the idea.
Not very pleased. She's dead.
CCCora Crawley, Lady Grantham
All the more reason then.
CCCora Crawley, Lady Grantham
It's not of my doing. It's all Mary's own work. But I think we should encourage it.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
Branscombe's a dull dog, but I don't suppose that matters.
CCCora Crawley, Lady Grantham
Did you know his wife had died?
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
He only ever talks about racing.
...
CCCora Crawley, Lady Grantham
Is the family an old one?
VCViolet Crawley, the Dowager Countess
Older than yours, I imagine.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
Old enough.
CCCora Crawley, Lady Grantham
And there's plenty of money.
VCViolet Crawley, the Dowager Countess
Really?
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
Mama, you've already looked him up in the stud books and inquired about the fortune, don't pretend otherwise. Are you afraid someone will think you're American if you speak openly?
VCViolet Crawley, the Dowager Countess
I doubt it'll come to that.
Mr. Bates, what's the matter?
Nothing, not a thing. I'm fine.
I'm perfectly alright. Thank you, Mrs. Hughes.
Are you sure? You're as white as a sheet.
It's my wonderful complexion, inherited from my Irish mother.
VCViolet Crawley, the Dowager Countess
Oh, my dears! Is it really true? I can't believe it. Last night he looked so well! Of course, it would happen to a foreigner. It's typical.
VCViolet Crawley, the Dowager Countess
I'm not being ridiculous. No Englishman would dream of dying in someone else's house, especially someone they didn't even know.
SCLady Sibyl Crawley
Oh, Granny, even the English aren't in control of everything.
VCViolet Crawley, the Dowager Countess
Well I hope we're in control of something, if only ourselves.
RCRobert Crawley, Lord Grantham
You are my darling daughter, and I love you, hard as it is for an Englishman to say the words...If I had made my own fortune and bought Downton for myself, it should be yours without question. But I did not. My fortune is the work of others, who labored to build a great dynasty. Do I have the right to destroy their work, or impoverish that dynasty? I am a custodian, my dear, not an owner. I must strive to be worthy of the task I have been set.