The latest episode of "Downton Abbey" was a remarkably modern episode that saw Lord Grantham taking a trip to America, and Lady Mary--well known for her prim and proper appearance-- getting mucky with pigs.

In the latest episode, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) was forced to take a trip to America to help Cora's (Elizabeth McGovern) brother, who is in dire financial trouble. While he would naturally take Bates (Brendan Coyle) with him as his valet, Bates knows he should stay with Anna (Joanne Froggatt), who is still emotionally recovering from the rape.

Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) makes an appeal to Lady Mary to convince her father to take someone else in Bates' place. Lady Mary would not do it without an explanation as to why, so Mrs. Hughes tells Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) about the horrible incident. Lady Mary then supplicates her father to take someone else in Bates' place, saying Bates is dealing with important personal issues. Lord Grantham concedes, and agrees to take Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier) in his stead.

Meanwhile, Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) tells her mother that she's going to London, and Lady Rose (Lily James) goes along with her. But she does not tell her mother the real reason why she's traveling to London: to decide what to do about her out-of-wedlock pregnancy.

Alfred (Matt Milne) comes back from London to visit a family member, and wants to make a stop at Downton. However, Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) don't want Alfred to come back just yet, as the jealously has heightened between Daisy (Sophie McShera) and Ivy (Cara Theobold) over Alfred.

Carson (Jim Carter) staves Alfred off by telling him to stay in an inn because Downton has an outbreak of the flu. Yet Alfred stops by anyway, to both Daisy and Ivy's delight and Mrs. Hughes' and Mrs. Patmore's chagrin. For the first time, Ivy shows some romantic interest in Alfred, which renews Alfred's hope and dashes Daisy's.

At the same time, the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith), she has taken ill with bronchitis, and is running a high fever. The always generous Isobel (Penelope Wilton) insists on taking care of her, and sits by her night and day until her fever breaks. After Violet's fever and delirium goes away, she is surprised to hear from the doctor that Isobel has taken care of her the whole time.

Back at Downton, Lord Napier (Brendan Patricks) has left for the evening and Tom Branson (Allen Leech) has gone to a political lecture, so Cora, Mary and Lord Napier's boss, Charles Blake (Julian Ovenden), are left to dine together.

Before dinner, Charles Blake and Mary, who have been at odds over their conflicting views about aristocratic estates, decide to go for a walk to see the estate's new pigs. When they get there, they see a pig is dying from dehydration because the pigs accidentally knocked over their water trough. Mr. Blake springs into action, knowing they have to fill up the trough a little bit at a time to let the pigs stay hydrated.

The ordeal takes most of the night, with the usually coiffed Mary getting absolutely covered in mud. During the long night, the two opposites begin to bond with one another, and even have an adorable mud fight. They then creep in into the servant's kitchen in the wee hours of the morning, and Mary does another surprising thing: she cooks eggs for the both of them. It is clear there's a budding romance between the two formerly antagonistic acquaintances.

Meanwhile, in London, Edith tearfully tells her aunt her big secret. She says she's made the decision to get an abortion, and her aunt agrees to go with her to the clinic. But once she's there and sees a woman crying in the clinic, she decides against the abortion, meaning she will keep the baby.

Also, Rose continues her scandalous relationship with African American jazz band leader Jack Ross (Gary Carr).

Back at Downton, Lord Gillingham (Tom Cullen) makes a surprise visit, meaning his valet, the horrible Mr. Green (Nigel Harman), also returns. While eating at the servant's table, Green says he didn't like the opera singer last time he was at Downton, so he came downstairs. Bates knows Anna was downstairs at the time of the opera singing when she was attacked, so he instantly knows that Green was her attacker.

On the next episode, "Robert and Thomas return from America, Bates makes a surprise trip to York, Edith prepares to go abroad, and suitors flock to Mary. Branson helps someone move on, and Rose makes her move."

Watch the promo below for episode seven, which airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on PBS.