Distention: The state of being distended, enlarged, swollen from internal pressure. For example, on inhalation there is distention of the lungs due to the increased air pressure within the lungs. The word distention comes from a Latin root tendere, to extend. The word tendon comes from the same root.
He and Lady Mary Crawley entered a tumultuous eight-year relationship ending with Matthew's second proposal in early January 1920. Mary finally accepts, five and a half years after the first. They get married in May 1920 and lived together in Downton Abbey.
It's 1912, and life in the Edwardian country house of Downton Abbey is idyllic and bustling for the Crawley family, aided by their cadre of servants. Robert, Earl of Grantham, his American heiress wife Cora, and their three daughters, along with Robert's mother Violet, have lived largely uncomplicated lives.