RECAP: Nuptials For Edith On 'Downton Abbey'?

Downton Abbey is back for American audiences, and episode two of season three had another wedding — almost — in store for fans. Edith (Laura Carmichael) and Anthony Strallan (Robert Bathurst) are set to tie the knot and, in Edith's words, be "so terribly, terribly happy," in spite of the fact that Edith is dull and the one-armed Strallan is twice her age.

The episode begins with Downton prepping for the wedding festivities, even while suffering under the pall of bankruptcy. Everyone is cautiously happy for Edith's big day, which elicits such comments as, "At my age, one must ration one's excitement," from Dowager Countess Crawley (Maggie Smith).

Even Mary (Michelle Dockery), who had her own wedding to Matthew (Dan Stevens) earlier this season, puts aside her differences with her sister for the occasion. "I know we always haven't gotten along and I doubt things change in the future," she tells Edith before she walks down the aisle. "But today I wish you all the luck in the world," she said, kissing her.

Even Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), who initially disapproved of Strallan, formerly warning him, "Don't you dare marry my daughter," changes his tune, saying that his previous threat was "nothing personal."

But at the end of the day, it is Strallan himself who stands in the way of the couple's happiness. "I can't do this," he tells Edith in front of the whole village who has gathered to see them make their lifelong commitment. "I can't do it. You know it's wrong."

Edith is prepared to argue with him, trying to assure him that he is what she really wants, when the dowager steps in to help her avoid the scene. "He's doing the most sensible thing he's done in months," she tells her granddaughter. "Let him go."

Anthony's comforting words to his wife-to-be-no-longer: "I pray that you are going to be happy. As long as you don't waste your life on me."

On a lighter note in the episode, Lord Grantham, making jokes about the family's predicament, suggests that the downgrade from Downton Abbey after they are forced to sell it should be called "Downton Place." Well, at least all that honeymoon money Edith was planning to spend in Venice, Paris and Rome won't go to waste.

Downton Abbey’s season three continues next Sunday on PBS at 9 p.m. EST.

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