As before, I ask that this thread remain spoiler-free, with discussion limited to the episode(s) which, at the time of your posting, have already been broadcast in the U.S. - then discuss all you want. Speculation, gossip, rumors and discussion of past episodes are fine, but please, no spoilers.
That trailer is not available in the US, but if it’s the same ITV Christmas trailer I’ve seen elsewhere, there most definitely are spoilers if you have not watched the rest of season six.
I enjoyed the episode, but found it rather difficult to believe that even in 1925 Lady Mary’s tryst with Lord Gillingham would be very good blackmail material. A year-old story about an attractive young widow staying in a hotel at the same time as an unmarried man known to have been courting her seems like pretty small potatoes. It’s not even the most shocking sex scandal Mary has personally been involved in.
Had the obnoxious hotel chambermaid approached Lord Gillingham then I could see him paying her off to keep his wife from finding out about how close he and Mary had really been and/or out of chivalrous feelings for Mary. But I didn’t buy that Mary would be fearing “ruin” for herself over this story. I’m not convinced a gossip rag would even be interested in running such a boring story. They apparently weren’t writing about how Lady Mary’s maid was suspected of murdering Lord Gillingham’s valet, and that seems far juicier.
