Gentleman Jack saw Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) and Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle) troubled by financial dealings and emotional heartache as the period drama continued this week.
As Ann made some unsettling discoveries, Anne tried to decide on the best way to expand her business empire.
Here’s what happened in episode 6 of Gentleman Jack season 2…
*WARNING - spoilers below*
Ladies of letters
Anne Lister and Ann Walker may have tried to laugh it off as a prank, but the fake marriage announcement that has been placed in the newspapers is still bothering the couple.
The incident has particularly upset Ann, who feels humiliated and laughed at by the locals in Halifax. To make matters worse, Ann then receives an anonymous letter warning her about Anne Lister and saying that Anne is tricking her out of her reputation and wealth. The note also mentions Anne’s former lover, Eliza, and when Ann asks Anne about her, it comes to light that Eliza had mental health issues and ended up in an asylum. Anne swears she wasn’t to blame and that she tried to help Eliza.
But who is behind the nasty jibes?
Great estate
Meanwhile, Ann continues to try to divide up the Walker estate between her and her sister Elizabeth (Katherine Kelly), but she makes some worrying discoveries in the family papers. Ann learns that Elizabeth has conveyed all her property to her husband Captain Sutherland (Derek Riddell), which goes against their late father’s wishes. She also finds out that her cousin William Priestley (Peter Davison) managed to get hold of some properties on the estate that he had no right to.
As letters pass between Yorkshire and Scotland, Captain Sutherland is suspicious about how urgently Ann wants to divide the estate and he appears to be trying to delay.
As things get too much for Ann, she frets that everything will go to Elizabeth’s son and reflects on her dreams of one day having her own children and being a mother. This irks Anne Lister, who suggests Ann is just waiting for a man to come along and wants her to be sure that she wants to be with Anne…
Business deals
Plans are gathering pace for Anne’s new property development comprising a hotel and casino. And Anne’s ambitions become more elaborate as she speaks to a dynamic new architect who thinks, if she invested more cash, she could build a whole new quarter for Halifax with houses and shops.
While her solicitor Mr Parker (Bruce Alexander) suggests caution and tries to curb Anne’s desire to borrow more money, he also warns that she will need a licence for an inn or casino and that her rival Christopher Rawson (Vincent Franklin), as chief magistrate, may need to sign it off.
Meanwhile, Anne's numerous coal mines are also giving her headaches as she tries to work out the best way to get the biggest return from each of them so that she can get one over on the Rawsons and stop them from trespassing on her pits and stealing her coal. She is torn between trusting the advice of her employee Holt (George Costigan) or slippery businessman Hinscliffe (Daniel Betts). But when she speaks to a group of brothers who work in the pits, they give her hope that with a new pit, she could solve her issues.
Gentleman Jack season 2 airs on Sunday evenings at 9 pm on BBC One and iPlayer. In the US the new series started on Monday, April 25 on HBO. The series is eight parts long and new episodes will premiere each week.
