Roger, newly-engaged to Cynthia, is on his way to Africa. Dr. Gibson and Squire Hamley aren't overjoyed about the match, but they have no real objections... yet. Mrs. Gibson, meanwhile, is delighted. She's been eavesdropping on her husband's conversations, and knows that Osborne is seriously ill. Money-obsessed brat that she is, she's hoping he'll die so Roger -- and Cynthia -- will get the Hamley estate. I'll let Squire Hamley describe Mrs. Gibson.
Cynthia goes off to visit her cousins in London. While there she gets a proposal from another man, Mr. Henderson, and -- for once -- is sensible enough to refuse him. Her mother isn't happy.
Osborne and his wife Aimee have a child now, and Osborne's health is rapidly deteriorating. His father still doesn't know he's married, Roger is in Africa, and Molly is the only person in England who knows of Aimee's existence. So Osborne gives her his wife's address.
Molly has her own problems. A rumour has been circulating about Cynthia and Mr. Preston, but a misunderstanding leads to Molly's friends believing she is engaged to Preston.
Cynthia returns and finally admits that thanks to her vanity, she borrowed money from Mr. Preston when she was fifteen(!) and agreed to marry him in return. (Yes, people could get engaged at fifteen back then. Doesn't make it any less creepy.) Now she wants to break off the engagement, but he won't let her.
Lydia and Wickham version 2 (with Molly dragged into this sorry mess).
So Cynthia sends Molly to ask Preston for some letters she wrote him. Naturally, someone sees Molly and Preston talking, alone, early in the morning, in a forest. Poor Molly's reputation is almost ruined.
Thanks to some intervention from Lady Harriett, Molly manages to avoid total disgrace.
Lady Harriett
Cynthia doesn't help at all, spoilt brat that she is. Preston disappears from the story (about time!), and Dr. Gibson finally hears the full story of what his step-daughter has been involved with. A terrible argument later, Cynthia decides to break off her engagement with Roger. Thank goodness!
Now comes the most heart-breaking part of the series. Osborne dies 😭
😭
Molly tells the Squire about Aimee, and sends word to her about Osborne. The Squire, after some reluctance, decides to let Aimee stay.
Aimee and Osborne Jr.
Roger comes home, and almost immediately falls in love with Molly. He doesn't think she could love him and she doesn't realise he loves her, but it works out in the end. Adorably.
One of the sweetest proposals in period drama 😍
Sadly we don't get to see the wedding (*gives the director an unamused look*), but we do get a nice scene of Molly and Roger, together, in Africa. Aww 😍
My overall opinion is "great series with some really obnoxious characters". I can't stand that airhead Cynthia, that even bigger airhead Hyacinth, or that creep Preston. Luckily the decent characters are good enough for me to ignore those brats.
The main drawback with this series is the length of the episodes. There are only four episodes, but a lot happens in them. As a result each episode is over an hour long, and there are times when it seems like they'll never end. I get the feeling the series would have benefited from having eight half-hour episodes instead of four long ones. But that's the only real complaint I have about it.
Is it available online?: Yes, on Dailymotion.
Rating: 8/10.
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