The close of Downton Abbey's third season brought with it a slew of sadness over the abrupt death of Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), as his wife Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) was left widowed with a newborn child.

While Matthew's passing wasn't exactly ideal to most of the British-American show's loyalists, it did serve to pique their interest on just how Mary's dating life will unfold.

Dockery spoke to the Los Angeles Times recently, and stated that her character won't be moving on "that quickly" in Season 4.  She also said that the grieving for Matthew will happen properly.

"The predicament that Mary's in now is that she does need to find someone eventually. She has the heir to Downton, she has baby George and she is under pressure to find someone. In that world, women had to find someone.  It was all about marriage and who you'd spend the rest of your life with," she explained.

With noteworthy actors such as Tom Cullen and Julian Ovenden coming on board to play two of the eligible bachelors aiming to woo Mary, the latter will clearly not be at a deficit when it comes to potential suitors.

Downton Abbey, which airs in 219 countries across the world, follows the ups and downs of the royal Crawley family and their staff in the 1920s.

The series is set to premiere its fourth season in the U.S. on Jan. 5, 2014, according to The Huffington Post.

Keep checking back for more of the latest details on the popular series.

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