Louis arrives in London unkempt, dishevelled and friendless, driven by his obsession that his wife has betrayed him. When Emily meets him in the hope of a reconciliation she is shocked by the deterioration in his health.They try to resolve their differences, but the attempt founders, and a settlement seems further off than ever.

Louis flees back to Italy with his son, and Sir Marmaduke reluctantly agrees to allow Hugh to try and track him down again. In Wells, a lonely Aunt Stanbury sends her maid to Nuncombe with a peace offering for Dorothy. She arrives to find Brooke, who has refused to accept Dorothy’s letter and has persuaded her to marry him despite her aunt’s embargo. Meanwhile, a desperate Gibson confesses to Mrs French that he cannot go through with his marriage to Camilla.