asking if Jimmy might try writing. Jimmy says he would try, though he's not very good at it, and then leaves the estate a broken man. Thomas later tells Anna Bates that he's upset because he wasn't special to Jimmy, which Anna very adamantly disagrees with. He also later mentions Jimmy to Phyllis Baxter in a bout of sadness and annoyance that he's gone. Jimmy's whereabouts post-Downton are never revealed. Ethel Parks Ethel Parks (played by Amy Nuttall) was the new maid introduced in the second series as Gwen's replacement. Outspoken, Ethel does not like being told what to do by anyone, which often has her in conflict with Anna or Mrs Hughes. She says that she does not want to be in service for the rest of her life and often complains about her surroundings. She begins an affair with Major Charles Bryant (played by Daniel Pirrie) when he is being treated at Downton while it is a temporary convalescent home. Mrs Hughes dismisses her after discovering the two of them in bed together, but Ethel shortly returns having nowhere else to go when she finds out she is pregnant with his child. She names her son Charlie after his father, before moving away from Downton to start a new life. She is replaced in her position by Jane, a war widow. In the Great War, Ethel has trouble supporting herself and her son and Mrs Hughes helps her, acting as her friend and bringing her food. Ethel tells Mrs Hughes that her neighbours think she is a war widow but admits that Major Bryant refuses to acknowledge that he is Charlie's father, despite Ethel and Mrs Hughes's best efforts to get him to admit paternity. However, he is killed during the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. When Lady Cora learns that Mrs Hughes is supporting Ethel, she is persuaded to invite Major Bryant's parents to Downton Abbey. Ethel bursts into the meeting with her son, proclaiming that Charlie is their grandchild, but Mr Bryant accuses Ethel of only being after their money and insists that his son was a good man. He also insists that Ethel cannot prove that Charlie is Major Bryant's child. Eventually, his wife persuades him to accept the child as his grandson, and Mr Bryant offers to adopt Charlie. Ethel, however, would not be allowed contact, learning that Charlie will be told that his father