Louis Trevelyan marries the young Emily Rowley and are quite happy until Colonel Osborne arrives and starts to tempt Emily away from her husband.Emily continues to meet Osborne, refusing to make any promises to her husband that would imply a stain on her character. Neither side will back down and a gulf begins to grow between them, punctuated by increasingly bitter rows and failed attempts at reconciliation.

Tensions at the Outhouse’s are rising, but Emily is as determined as ever not to admit to any wrongdoing. Osborne, a vain man flattered to be linked to a beautiful young woman, visits the house to enquire after her. Rev. Outhouse turns him away without seeing Emily, but Bozzle, who has been embellishing the evidence of an affair to please his master, nevertheless reports this visit to Louis in Italy. Louis demands that his son be sent to live with him.

Louis arrives in London unkempt, dishevelled and friendless, driven by his obsession that his wife has betrayed him. When Emily meets him in the hope of a reconciliation she is shocked by the deterioration in his health.They try to resolve their differences, but the attempt founders, and a settlement seems further off than ever.