The book starts in December 1918.
The country is struggling to return to normal after the war. Many men are still waiting to be demobbed. The first one to return is Jack, and Beth finds him so thin and different.
William and Edward are still in France. Edward hopes to return soon, but then he is told that after his experience in banking he is to be in the Peace Conference in Paris, which may last many months, so he writes to Beattie to tell her that he can't go back yet.
Laura is also in France. After the end of the war Lady Overton lets her keep the ambulance, so she stays there, using the ambulance to transport anybody who needs her. Jim is also in France, but he keeps moving from town to town, so they don't see each other. Then she happens to meet Ronnie's aunt, who tells her that her friend is working in a canteen. Laura knows that Ronnie needs to do more than just serving tea and coffee, so she goes to find her and she agrees to help her.
David and Antonia are going through a rough patch. When on Christmas Day the family go to the Palfreys, there is a discussion about the role of men and women, Antonia feels that Audrey is left alone in her position, so she blurts out that she is expecting a baby. After that revelation, David says they have to go home. He is very angry, telling her that he feels betrayed for not telling him before, and then he says that she is irresponsible to fall pregnant when he is a cripple and has no future prospects. I think he is very unfair, and Antonia tries to make him see that he is a bright young man and it takes two to make a child, and he even says that she allured him.
As her father is marrying at the end of January, Antonia decides to go and stay with him, claiming that she wants to have the house ready for Yvonne. She takes Marcus and Ethel with her. When Antonia tells her father, she admits that her father warned her, but she married David, knowing that he didn't love her but she hoped that he would grow to love her. Mr Weston tells her that she can't leave his marriage like that, and Antonia says that after his honeymoon he will return home.
Sadie has a new suitor, Adolphus Beamish, Mrs Fitzgerald's nephew, who was in the war. They met when he was about to leave. The young man plays music, and Sadie tells him that if he likes music so much, he should pursue a career in that. Then Adolphus asks her to go out with him, but Sadie has to tell him that there is someone else. John is still in France, and she wonders when he will be back.
Cook's Fred hasn't returned yet, and he writes to her to say that they are sent to Germany. Cook has mixed feelings about Fred now. Even though the idea of moving to Australia was attractive, now she is not so sure and is afraid because being in service has been her life, and she doesn't like the idea of not seeing England again.
From Mrs Chaplin they have learnt that Lillian, who was the maid that replaced Ethel, has died of a liver condition. It seems to be something linked to her job in the munition factory. And we still don't know what happened to Emily. I really miss her in the book.
This is the last book in the series, and I'm going to miss all these characters when I finish reading.
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