After the death of an estate owner, the man's wife and daughter no longer feel it is home. The new heir and his lady friend make it obvious. They accept an invitation to Farthingale Park to distance themselves from the place where they are not wanted. Elisabeth is a very good chess player. Not so coincidentally, another guest, an unmarried gentleman fancies himself the best chess player around. He is horrified to have a woman beat him at his game. What will happen to the couple and their new friends in Cambridgeshire? What about her mother and Lady Katherine's friend, Anne?