Grantham to Scotland to visit Duneagle Castle. While there, she apparently comes to like Lady Flintshire and manages to arrange to become her lady's maid. She leaves Downton at the very beginning of the fourth series in the middle of the night to take her new position, leaving only a letter to explain her actions. In series five, Mrs Hughes tells Mr Carson that O'Brien has left Lady Flintshire to serve as lady's maid to the wife of the new governor of the Bombay Presidency in British India. Finneran stated that the character "is a thoroughly despicable human being", and that "People actually love that she’s a nasty piece of work. They love to dislike her." Finneran stated her belief that O'Brien's negative attitudes originated from how the character "has basically sacrificed her entire life to somebody else, for the good of their life and their home — it’s no wonder that she would get frustrated or angry about things." Finneran believed that O'Brien "was great to play." Alexander Chee of The New Republic described O'Brien as the show's "best, most complex villain" and stated that her departure made the show less interesting. Jen Chaney of Vulture ranked O'Brien as the series' second most "despicable" character. Executive producer Gareth Neame stated that Finneran had chosen to leave the series. Finneran herself confirmed this. Daisy Parker Daisy Parker (formerly Mason (née Robinson)) (played by Sophie McShera) is the kitchen maid, later assistant cook, at Downton. Timid by nature, other characters frequently take advantage of her naivete or pull rank by tricking her or handing her the more undesirable and menial tasks. She is one of eleven children and her parents are deceased. She was forced to leave school at the age of 11. In the first series, she is shown to have feelings for first footman Thomas, something that Mrs Patmore tries to discourage as she can see that Thomas is "not a ladies' man". After being caught stealing a bottle of wine, Thomas takes advantage of her feelings for him to persuade her to tell Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes that she saw Mr Bates take the wine. She later retracts the statement as she feels guilty and over time, her feelings for Thomas diminish and she notices that Downton's other footman, William, likes her. She is unsure how to handle the situation, especially when he is drafted during the