Alfred, Thomas and Jimmy James are just wrapping it up with Tufton -- with Alfred admiring his array of spices -- when he tells them about a fair in the town that weekend at which he'll have a booth. Alfred wonders if they can get the time off, but Thomas is optimistic and asks Jimmy James if he's interested. Jimmy James, however, says he'll only go if there's a group of them...

...while Carson complains to Mrs. Hughes that he can't let his staff "go gallivanting off to every fair at the drop of a hat." Mrs. Hughes assures him she'll take care of Branson, but Mrs. Patmore then comes up and asks for that Friday afternoon off and when Carson hears she wants to go to the fair as well (with "a friend," don't you know), he makes noises about being "undermined at every turn," and I suppose the rest of them don't need to go elsewhere for their entertainment if he's going to put on such a dramatic production about every little thing. Mrs. Hughes giggles before telling Mrs. Patmore what Carson was on about, and when she hears about the boys' plans, Mrs. Patmore suggests the entire staff go -- she'll make Branson a tray and he can stay and keep charge of the house. I'd protest about Branson being made to feel even lonelier if I didn't know how this was going to play out.

At Duneagle, everyone is chatting when the butler announces Gregson, who of course first thanks Susan for her hospitality and I wonder what the over/under is on the number of people in the room who mentally make some smart remark in response. Matthew asides to Mary that he looks perfectly normal, but Mary's hardly going to stop now: "Since he came here with the express purpose of dining at Duneagle, he obviously brought a set of tails." It's the "oh, come ON" tone of voice that really sells it. Edith brings Gregson over to Cora and the Dowager Countess, and the former kindly tells him that she started reading his magazine for Edith's column, but now she wouldn't miss it. Lord Grantham, however, announces that he's puzzled why Gregson would employ "amateurs" like Edith (Mary, sotto voce: "I agree"), and since she's presumably getting paid you could argue his choice of words, but I suppose he means that Edith had no experience when he took her on. Gregson doesn't argue the semantics, but still thinks the distinction isn't meaningful compared to whether the person has something to say, and Lord Grantham -- while still not looking super-psyched -- at least appears to acknowledge the compliment given his daughter. Edith then brings Gregson to meet Mary, while across the way, Susan complains that Rose is "slouching like a field hand," to which Rose angrily asks if she could have five minutes without being criticized. I think if I'd watched last episode knowing what I know now, I'd have been inclined to give Rose much more of a break. None of this is lost on Cora or the Dowager Countess, the latter of whom whispers that now that she's witnessing it firsthand, she doesn't think Susan is handling herself well with Rose. Cora's more sympathetic, saying it's difficult with a young daughter full of new ideas; she thinks you're fighting her when you're just scared. She gets overcome with memories of her departed daughter and the Dowager Countess gently tells her that they all miss Sybil... every single day. The butler then appears with a nod to signal that dinner is ready and when Susan makes a lifeless announcement of same, the Dowager Countess looks at the unhappy family with grave concern. Maybe it's time for another speech about spending some time apart?