Hons and Rebels 2 (Pages 56 - 104)

 The family had a house in London, 26 Rutland Gate, in Kensington. 26 Rutland Gate is a large, detached house on Rutland Gate in the Knightsbridge district. In the 1920s and 1930s, the house was the London home during the Season of the Mitford family, who acquired the lease on the house for £28,000 after selling Asthall Manor, their country house in Oxfordshire

That is where the family stayed when Diana married Bryan Guinness, and Jessica and Debo could not attend the wedding because they had scarlet fever. They married on 30 January 1929.

Diana and Bryan then came to be part of the group of youngsters known as Bright Young People. The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a term given by the tabloid press to a group of Bohemian young aristocrats and socialites in 1920s London. They threw flamboyant fancy dress parties, went on elaborate treasure hunts through nighttime London, and some drank heavily or used illicit drugs. 

During the 1930s there were diverse attitudes towards politics. Many swore to be pacifists and against the idea of war. In the book there is a mention of the Oxford pledge. The King and Country Debate was a debate on 9 February 1933 at the Oxford Union Society. The motion presented, "That this House will under no circumstances fight for its King and country", passed with 275 votes for the motion and 153 against it. The motion would later be named the Oxford Oath or the Oxford Pledge. It became one of the most controversial topics held within the Union, driving debate between the older and younger generations about patriotism and pacifism, and whether this motion would actually help or hurt war prevention efforts.

Around this time Diana got divorced and started seeing Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists. Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. In February 1932, Diana met Sir Oswald Mosley at a garden party at the home of the society hostess Emerald Cunard. He soon became leader of the newly formed British Union of Fascists and Diana became his lover.

Unity turned to Fascism as well, and she went to Germany with the intention to meet Hitler. She managed to enter the circle of Hitler and other high-rank Nazi officers when she kept going to the Osteria Bavaria restaurant where these men usually had dinner. After ten months, Hitler finally invited her to his table, where they talked for over 30 minutes, with Hitler picking up her bill. Hitler became smitten with the young blonde British student. He was struck by her curious connections to the Germanic culture including her middle name, Valkyrie. Mitford subsequently received invitations to party rallies and state occasions and was described by Hitler as "a perfect specimen of Aryan womanhood."

Nancy wrote "Wigs on the Green", a novel about Unity and her Fascism. Wigs on the Green is a 1935 satirical novel by Nancy Mitford. A roman à clef, it is notable for lampooning British fascism, specifically political enthusiasms of Mitford's sisters Unity Mitford and Diana Mosley.

There are many references to Jessica's second cousin, Esmond Romilly, who she eventually married. He infuriated his parents by announcing he was a pacifist. He also ran away from school, and he edited and published 'Out of Bounds' a magazine against FAscism. He eventually went to prison and when he was released, he went to live as a ward of Dorothy Alhussen. Esmond Marcus David Romilly (10 June 1918 – 30 November 1941) was a British socialist, anti-fascist, and journalist, who was in turn a schoolboy rebel. He emerged in the 1930s as a precocious rebel against his background, openly espousing communist views at the age of fifteen. He ran away from Wellington College, and campaigned vociferously against the British public school system, by publishing a critical left wing magazine, Out of Bounds: Public Schools' Journal Against Fascism, Militarism, and Reaction, and (jointly with his brother) a memoir analysing his school experiences. 

Nancy married Peter Rodd. Hon. Peter Murray Rennell Rodd (16 April 1904 – 17 July 1968) was a British soldier, aid worker, film-maker, and idler. He was married to author Nancy Mitford from 1933–57.