Tom embarks on a journey, while Sophia attempts to escape the threat of marriage.

After learning that Tom was with another woman at the inn, Sophia falls in with her cousin, Harriet Fitzpatrick, who is herself fleeing from her violent husband. Tom is put on the right road by two travelling puppeteers with Partridge reluctantly in tow. But in London he can find no word of Sophia and once again Tom falls victim to a plot.