Freed from her miserable marriage by widowhood, Henrietta is at last able to marry her beloved Jerome Compton, but his divorced state means that they have to make their home away from Yorkshire. Settling in London Henrietta finds she takes to urban life with great enjoyment, as does her daughter Lizzie.
Soon their home is full of visitors from the best of the city's artistic and scientific circles, and she also makes contact with her cousin Lady Venetia - now a qualified doctor and married at long last to "Beauty" Haselmere. Venetia's marriage has redeemed her reputation and they find themselves guests at Sandringham and Hatfield.
Healthy children are born to both women and it seems as though the comfortable tenor of their lives will never be disturbed again, but clouds are gathering on the horizon and when the deluge comes one of them is forced out of society. Yet it proves more of a homecoming than an exile.
