Downton Abbey Script Book Season 1 (21 page)

Kemal, in a dressing gown, looks over to confirm he's at the right door. Thomas nods. Kemal turns the handle.

Kemal comes round the door. Mary seems so young with her loose hair hanging down, lit by a candle, nothing more. She looks up, suddenly, as she hears the door open.

MARY: You must be mad.

KEMAL: I am. I'm in the grip of madness.

MARY: Please leave. At once. Or I'll—

She hesitates.

KEMAL: Or you'll what?

MARY: I'll scream.

KEMAL: No, you won't.

MARY: I'll ring the bell, then.

KEMAL: Who's on duty now? The hall boy? Will you let him find a man in your bedroom? What a story!

Mary stands. Kemal's confidence is infuriating.

MARY: Do you have any idea what you're asking? I'd be ruined if they even knew we'd had this conversation. Let alone if …

KEMAL: What? Don't worry. You can still be a virgin for your husband.

MARY: Heavens. Is this a proposal?

KEMAL: Alas, no. I don't think our union would please your family.

MARY: I'm afraid not.

KEMAL: Or mine.

Mary's rather put out. She thought she was the grand one. Now he smiles, roguishly, playing his next card.

KEMAL (CONT'D): But a little imagination, a phial of blood hidden beneath a pillow. You wouldn't be the first.
*

MARY: You and my parents have something in common.

KEMAL: Oh?

MARY: You believe I'm much more of a rebel than I am. Now, please go.

But instead he approaches and draws her down on to the bed. She talks on, but she is beginning to babble.

MARY (CONT'D): I'm not what you think I am. If it's my mistake, if I've led you on, I'm sorry, but I'm not.

She is unnerved by him, rattled, and he can sense her resistance is failing. He is getting to her.

KEMAL: You're just what I think you are.

MARY: No. I've never done
anything
—

He stops her mouth with his finger, cutting off her speech.

KEMAL: Of course not. One look at you tells me that.

He moves to kiss her, only removing his finger when he can replace it with his own lips. Despite herself she responds.

KEMAL (CONT'D): Oh, my darling.

MARY: But won't it hurt? Is it safe?

She is desperately nervous. He takes her face in his hands.

KEMAL: Trust me. And I promise you a night you will never forget.
*

He draws her towards him for another kiss.

Anna is asleep. Gwen is next to her. A female hand slides over Anna's mouth and clamps it shut. Her eyes fly open.

MARY (V.O.): Sssh!

Anna looks over and sees Mary, hair tumbled, in a negligee. She nods slightly and Mary removes her hand. With an impassioned look, Mary tiptoes out and Anna follows her.

They are together in the passage. Anna is deeply shocked.
*

ANNA:
What?

MARY: He's dead. I think he's dead. No, I'm sure he's dead.

ANNA: But how? Why?

MARY: We were together and …

She breaks off. Surely this is clear enough.

MARY (CONT'D): He's dead.

ANNA: In your room.

Mary nods. This is deeply shocking. These characters are not living in our world. Anna makes a decision to help.

ANNA (CONT'D): We've got to get him back to his own bed.

MARY: How? It's in the bachelor's corridor, miles from my room.

ANNA: Could we manage him between us?

Mary shakes her head impatiently.

MARY: He weighs a ton. I can't shift him at all. We'll need at least one other. What about Bates?

ANNA: He couldn't lift him. William can't keep a secret and Thomas wouldn't try to. And there's no point in asking Mr Carson. He'd pass out from the shock.

MARY: Well, we've got to do something.

ANNA: What about your sisters?

Mary shakes her head firmly.

MARY: Sybil's too young. And Edith would use it against me for the rest of my life and beyond.

ANNA: Then who else has as much to lose as you, if it ever gets out?

MARY: Not Papa. Please don't say Papa. I couldn't bear the way he'd look at me.

ANNA: No, not his lordship …

Cora covers her face with her hands in horror. Kemal's naked, dead body is sprawled among the sheets.

CORA: What happened?

MARY: I don't know. A heart attack, I suppose. Or a stroke. Or … He was alive and suddenly he cried out. And then he was dead.

CORA: But why was he here at all? Did he force himself on you?

Mary hesitates. Silently, she shakes her head. If anything, this is even more shocking than the death. Cora breathes for a moment, to steady her nerves.

CORA (CONT'D): Well … we can talk about that later. Now, we must decide what to do for the best.

ANNA: There's only one thing we can do.

She stares at Cora who is beginning to understand.

CORA: I couldn't. It's not possible.

MARY: If you don't, we will figure in a scandal of such magnitude it will never be forgotten until long after we're both dead.

CORA: But I—

MARY: I'll be ruined, Mama. Ruined and notorious, a laughing stock, a social pariah. Is that what you want for your eldest daughter? Is it what you want for the family?

Cora looks at her child so differently now.

CORA: We must cover him up.

A door opens and the women come out, looking about. Anna carries Kemal's legs, while behind her Mary and Cora have an arm each over their shoulders. The corpse is in his own dressing gown. The thin light of dawn seeps in.

CORA: Hurry. The servants will be up soon.

ANNA: We've got time.

Kemal's head lolls sideways against Cora's neck and she cries out. Mary hisses at her.

MARY: Mama!

CORA: Sorry.

They move on. As they pass, a door opens from the back stairs. Daisy leans out to investigate the noise she just heard. In the distance, along the passage, the women are turning the corner. Anna and Cora are out of sight, but Mary, with the arm of the corpse over her shoulder, is just visible. Daisy watches dumbstruck until they vanish.

He is in bed. Anna hangs the dressing gown behind the door, while Mary arranges Kemal in a believable position, weeping as she does so. The eyes are open despite her efforts.

MARY: I can't make his eyes stay shut.

CORA: Leave that and come away!

Anna is kinder. She goes to Mary, taking her shoulders.

MARY: He was so beautiful.

ANNA: Her ladyship's right. We must get back to our rooms.

Anna leads Mary to the door but Cora stands in their path.

CORA: I feel now I can never forgive what you have put me through this night. I hope in time I'll come to be more merciful. But I doubt it.

MARY: You won't tell Papa.

CORA: Since it would probably kill him and certainly ruin his life, I will not. But I keep the secret for his sake, not for yours.

MARY: Yes, Mama.

CORA: Anna, I will not insult you by asking that you also conceal Lady Mary's shame. Now, let us go.
*

She opens the door and they slip silently out.

The three women hurry down as far as the door to the backstairs, where Anna slips away, leaving the others.
†

MARY: She won't betray us.

CORA: I'm sure she won't. It pains me to say it, but this morning I find that I trust a housemaid more than I trust my own child.

She moves on, leaving Mary to shift for herself.

Thomas walks along with a tray of tea and a jug of hot shaving water. He reaches a door, gives a soft knock, waits for a second and goes in.

Thomas closes the door and turns. The body lies where the women left it, eyes open, staring. We hear an ear-splitting crash. Thomas has dropped the lot.

Mary descends the stairs. She is dressed simply, in a white shirt and a black skirt, traces of red around her eyes. The dining room door opens and Evelyn Napier comes out.

EVELYN: I imagine you've heard what's happened?

MARY: Yes.

EVELYN: Terrible thing. Awful.
Ghastly
for your parents. I don't suppose I shall ever make it up to them.

MARY: It's not your fault.

EVELYN: I brought him here. If it isn't my fault, whose is it?

Mary would rather not answer this, so she doesn't.

EVELYN (CONT'D): Breakfast's almost finished. Shall I tell someone you're down?

MARY: No, thank you. I had a tray in my room.

EVELYN: My mother never used to allow trays for unmarried girls.

He is trying to be light and pleasant.

MARY: Nor does mine. As a rule.

Her tone is sadder and heavier than his.

EVELYN: I was wondering if you might show me the gardens before I go? We could get some fresh air?

MARY: I won't, if you'll forgive me. I ought to stay and help Mama.

EVELYN: Of course.

She cannot lift her spirits, no matter how she tries.

EVELYN (CONT'D): I am so sorry about all this. I should never have inflicted him on you in the first place.

Mary has to defend her chosen lover.

MARY: Please don't say that. We were glad to have him here. Very glad.

EVELYN: Lynch's taken a message to the local … They'll be along to collect him in an hour or so. I'll wait until that's done.

Mary looks at the ground.

EVELYN (CONT'D): I've told your father I'll deal with the Embassy. There won't be any more annoyance for you.

MARY: Thank you.

Her voice is not steady.

EVELYN: Actually, he was a terribly nice fellow. I wish you could have known him better. I took him on as a duty, but I liked him more and more, the longer I knew him.

At last Mary looks up, her face streaming with tears, and Evelyn realises that he is preaching to the converted.

EVELYN (CONT'D): Perhaps you saw his qualities for yourself.

At this Mary breaks down and runs, sobbing, back upstairs. Evelyn looks after her, speaking under his breath.

EVELYN (CONT'D): Which, obviously, you did.

Bringing him to an unwelcome conclusion.

William and Thomas, Anna and Gwen have carried down the remains of breakfast, which now they unload with Daisy.

WILLIAM: I had an uncle who went like that. Finished his cocoa, closed his book and fell back dead on the pillow.