During a visit to York, Lister is delighted when Doctor Belcombe confirms that she is the perfect tonic for Ann Walker's nervous disorder. When news of a friend's death arrives, Ann's desperate reaction makes Lister suspect that she has secrets of her own. Meanwhile, as her rivalry with Christopher Rawson heats up, Lister steps up her plan to re-open her old coal mines. At Shibden, Eugénie's misfortune has implications for John Booth, and Thomas Sowden spins a risky web of lies after his father's disappearance.

With Ann Walker's mental state in a downward spiral, Lister is forced to contemplate travelling to Europe alone, despite her family's warnings that doing so will raise eyebrows. Aunt Anne and Captain Lister endure another visit from the irritating Mr. Abbott, while Marian remains peeved that her sister is absent once again. Lister reopens her coal-mine negotiations with the powerful Rawson brothers. Thomas Sowden's secret casts a cloud over his budding relationship with Suzannah Washington. Ann's Scottish relatives swoop in with their own ideas about what's best for her future.