Now in Leeds, the pregnant Emma Harte learns that Blackie O'Neill has gone to Ireland to care for a sick friend. She finds a place to stay but has tried everywhere to get a job with no success. Her luck changes when she rescues a middle-aged man, Abraham Kallinski, be stoned by two boys. Kallinsky is a Jew and while Emma doesn't quite understand why the boys were stoning him, she is invited to the Kallinsky home where she is warmly welcomed and given a job in one of their clothing factories. She quickly rises from seamstress to cutter and eventually a designer. Emma works long hours, her ambition driven by the fear of poverty. After the birth of her child, Edwina, she rents a shop from Joe Lowther and her business is a huge success. She and Joe eventually marry and she then gets her opportunity, opening a large department store in Leeds. She continues working with the Kallinski family eventually expanding to owning textile mills and clothing manufacturing. When World War I comes along, both Joe and Blackie are called up but only one of them will return.
—garykmcd