George and Lynne are talking to Lady Blenkinsop. She tells them that her son's main interests seem to be gardening and cooking. Lynne asks her if he has time to pursue both. Lady Blenkinsop says that it seems he does, and we see him chasing the gardener and the cook around the garden.George and Lynne are having quite an informal chat with Lady Blenkinsop so it would suggest that they know her rather than just going to a National Trust house. How well do they know this Lady Blenkinsop because although it looks like the real Lady Blenkinsop in the first frame, in the second frame it looks like a man in a dress. Suddenly her jaw line is less defined and she has a receding hair line. What has this imposter done with Lady Blenkinsop!? George and Lynne have no idea that this isn't the real Lady Blenkinsop. She's probably tied up in the pantry.
Whoever it is that is claiming to be Lady Blenkinsop, she hasn't been paying too much attention to her son. His interests aren't really gardening and cooking. He is just claiming this so he can try and woo the maid and the gardener. If Lady Blenkinsop, or whoever is claiming to be Lady Blenkinsop, knew what was going on she would have to fire her gardener and maid. Her son is obviously the problem but the staff are enjoying the attention. They could probably keep their jobs, just as long as their work isn't suffering. The son should make a decision about which one he likes the best. We can only imagine it will be the one he catches first.
Firing the staff would be counterproductive. Firstly, it would absolutely invite an industrial tribunal, and rightly so. That would be an easily demonstrated case of unfair dismissal. Instead the 'sex pest' son should be reigned in - inherited money is no excuse for improper behaviour.
ReplyDeleteHowever, an assumed familiarity such as this isn't actually that out-of-character for a hostess like Lady Blenkinsop. Society families are used to living rather more out in the open than the middle classes, and this is just a case of Lady Blenkinsop's poor understanding of boundaries and protocol within her middle-class guests.
Blenkinsop suggests maybe a Boer history for the family? Pure supposition, but it does sound somewhat Afrikaans, so may go back to a convenient marriage some centuries before, probably with a mill-owning new money family. It's clear the son has no interest in an arranged marriage of convenience however, he'll chase any 'bit of rough' in a skirt, shame on him.