It is the summer of 1932 and Ed Hallam and the beautiful Maisie celebrate their marriage in great style at Ryland Castle. Peg Hallam, once the gardener's daughter, is now apparently secure in her new role as Lady Ryland After years of various tribulations it appears that the Hallam and Ryland families have at last found happiness and stability. They have all, to some extent, come up in the world and the bewitching Maisie, formerly a nightclub dancer, with her marriage to a naval officer seems about to cross that class barrier too and achieve respectability. But has she? Or will the siren call of her former glamorous but dissolute life threaten not only her and Ed's new-found happiness, but send shockwaves through the entire family so that a dark cloud hangs ominously over the future.