"I think Ivar unnerves everyone," he comments with a mild chuckle. He can more or less deal with the Viking now, but it's still frankly worrisome to think of Mary sharing a room with someone that unstable. At least in the cottage he knows she's safe, whether they share a room or not.

"I don't think I could ever manage a house like the one you lived in at home," he jokes. From the way she describes it, he knows Downton is a formidable place, but here it would be practically impossible to get a place like that. Not to mention that Jim would think it to be far too huge, unless he could convince Mary to let others take up all the empty rooms.