While visiting her father, an American teenage girl is thrown into London society during its final "Debutante Season."

Kate is secretly betrothed to a struggling journalist, Merton Densher. But she knows her Aunt Maude will never approve of the match, since Kate's deceased mother has lost all her money in a marriage to a degenerate opium addict. When Kate meets a terminally ill American heiress named Millie traveling through Europe, she comes up with a conniving plan to have both love and wealth.

Successful businessman Joe Lampton is married to the wealthy Susan, has two children, and lives in the mill town of Warley in northern England. But his career seems to have plateaued, leaving him disillusioned. This feeling is only exacerbated when he discovers his wife's infidelity with local man Mark. So he takes up with attractive TV host Norah and moves with her to London, aiming to reignite the fire that drove him to the top.

Hugo Carmody, the impoverished secretary to Lord Emsworth falls for Millicent the boss's niece, and steals his Lordship's prize pig in a scheme to raise funds to marry her.

In a French coastal town, Det. Dermot Kinross is inspecting the murder of antiques dealer Maurice Lawes, and the evidence points to Lawes's son, Toby -- and especially to Toby's bride-to-be, Eve Atwood. Eve's ex-husband, Ned, had his eyes set on something Lawes possessed.