Lord Slane is dead. After a lifetime spent supporting his career as Viceroy of India, Prime Minister and elder statesman, Lady Slane is free at last to do as she pleases. Downstairs her children are busily deciding her future, assuming gracious compliance but Lady Slane plans to reassert her independence.

Lady Slane has escaped the clutches of her family. Now the tenant of Mr Bucktrout's house at Hampstead, she sets about creating a new home for herself and Genoux. An unexpected visitor, however, disturbs the calm by confronting Lady Slane with the errors of her past.

After more than half a century as a dutiful and loving wife, Lady Slane revels in the company of her new-found friends. But FitzGeorge has one last surprise in store for her, leaving a problem which only she can resolve.