Thomas Farriner returns home to Pudding Lane to find the bakery ablaze and his two daughters asleep upstairs, unaware of the raging inferno below.

As the fire gains strength, Thomas bursts into Sarah's lodgings to lead his family to safety. The King follows Samuel Pepys' advice to survey the damage for himself.

Thomas has to reveal to Sarah that her husband Will is not dead but has run off to the colonies.