As housemaid Emma and young master Edwin fall deeper in love, she struggles to see how they can overcome their class differences. Meanwhile, Adam and Olivia continue their own love affair as Adele's erratic behaviour and paranoia worsen. In the 1970s, 80-year-old Emma reckons with her children's plan to oust her from the Harte empire - unaware of a secret romance blossoming between her protégée granddaughter Paula and Jim Fairley.

In early 1900s Yorkshire, ambitious maid Emma Harte dreams of escaping Fairley Hall for a better life, but is caught up in a forbidden romance with Edwin Fairley, son of the master of the house. In 1970s New York, the world's richest woman is warned that a plot is brewing to take away the empire she has worked so hard to build.