After Robert visits a country estate that is up for sale as the owners cannot afford to stay there, he realises that the same thing could happen at Downton and he wonders whether to downsize his staff.
Mary tells Robert that she will take over the management of the estate now that Branson is in Boston, but when a hotel maid tries to blackmail her for sleeping with Lord Gillingham, Robert pays her off. Meanwhile Edith wonders whether she should move to London to work more closely on the magazine that she inherited from Gregson.
Below stairs, Bates and Anna hear that the case against them has been dropped after the real killer is found, but their happiness is overshadowed as they can't seem to conceive the baby they both long for. Meanwhile, although Carson is eager to set a date for his wedding, Mrs Hughes wants to know whether he is expecting them to sleep together once they are married, but, after a heart-to-heart, he manages to reassure her how much he loves her.
Elsewhere, Daisy lands in trouble as she stands up for Mr Mason, and Violet and Isobel are at loggerheads over the future of the hospital when they learn that a large hospital wants to take it over.
