In the spring of 1912, Lady Marjorie prepares to visit Elizabeth in New York and James takes an interest in Richard's comely and respectable new secretary, Miss Forrest.
James' weekend visit to Somerby Park, with Hudson in tow as his valet, presents an opportunity for both to appreciate their beloved Eaton Place and what they've left behind there.
Hazel Bellamy assumes her role as mistress of the household with great trepidation and Richard becomes the quarry of a bounty-hunting Austrian woman and her wily and rapacious brother.
Richard Bellamy, who has been in considerable financial distress since the death of Lady Marjorie, finds himself at the center of a insider trading firestorm in his capacity as a member of Parliament.
Hazel's first substantial encounter with fashionable society causes her great humiliation, marital distress and a near-fatal accident, when she and James visit Lord and Lady Newbury at Sommerby Park.