Freddie flies in with his crewmates, and touches down. There's a brief moment of camaraderie, before he ruefully watches his squadron head towards the mess. He turns the other way: there's a car waiting for him. Garland and Emma walk through the funeral behind the Hamiltons. To Garland's horror, Charity Lambert is waiting outside, to pay her last respects. Garland's unsettled – what could she possibly want? Lady Hamilton watches him usher her away, looking furious. If Garland felt that they could make a clean slate, he's very much mistaken.
At the wake, as Freddie talks with guests, the weight of his new responsibility looms into view: he's expected in the Lords, with his father's friends. More alarmingly, Lady Hamilton wants him to use his leave to support her with the hotel. When Freddie demurs, the extent of her distress becomes clear: she's all alone now, and needs her boys. Freddie feels a new sense of guilt. Lady Hamilton wants to discuss the future of the hotel. It's time to make changes, and it's clear that she has Garland in her crosshairs.
Garland insists he's not worried – that he needs to show Lady Hamilton how indispensable he is to the workings of the hotel. Peggy and Feldman aren't so sure: Lady Hamilton is wild with grief, and has nobody left to blame for her husband's indiscretions but the manager who enabled them. Emma's worried that she hasn't heard from Freddie, who was distant at the funeral. A more pragmatic Betsey is sure that things have changed – he's Lord Hamilton now, Emma should forget any hope of romance. Betsey implores Emma to go to Café de Paris and forget her worries: dancing is just what she needs.
Max Klein arrives at the hotel: he's an Austrian, sent by an agency for kitchen work. Garland seems not to worry that his nationality will invite hostility, but when he's shown around the kitchens, he is immediately confronted by head chef Parry, who resents having a "German" working in his kitchen.
Emma and Betsey arrive at the Café de Paris: the place is wild and alive, bodies flinging everywhere, and Sonny Sullivan moonlighting on the keys for an American singer. Emma is dismayed to see Freddie across the room, laughing with his squadron: so this is why he hasn't been in touch?
Garland realizes Lady Hamilton has put the word out against him. Feldman and Peggy try to scheme with Garland for a way out of his troubles, but it doesn't seem as though there's anywhere for him to go. Garland claims he has a plan, to Feldman's great unease.
Meanwhile, Emma and Freddie reunite at the Café de Paris, but they argue. She and Betsey storm out, in a rage. Freddie's at a loss of what to do. Back at the Halcyon, in utter desperation, Garland does something drastic.
Charity meets Joe and reveals her plans: she's embittered and out for blood: Joe refuses to help her, but can see that she won't be stopped.
The party begins: Freddie in low spirits, Toby getting drunker and drunker. He goes to confront his older brother about residual anger over their father. Anger rides high and Toby bursts out that it was he who spoke to Joe O'Hara. Freddie is horrified – the weight of responsibility that's been pressing down on him has passed his brother by completely.
The next day, Garland wakes up. He may be in dire straits, but he's going to fix the Halcyon's troubles. Tension has been lanced between Toby and Freddie: as Lady Hamilton delivers a lecture on their comportment, they can't help but smirk like naughty schoolboys. The boys make up and Toby announces his intentions to join the war office – he doesn't need his father's approval anymore, but wants to do something useful in this war. Will Garland fare as well with the new Lord Hamilton?
Written by TonyMayhew on Jan 6, 2017