In 1851, Morland Place is recovering under Benjamin’s careful management, and Charlotte, now Duchess of Southport, prepares to open a modern hospital for the poor. Cavendish’s engagement to the beautiful but impractical Miss Phipps alarms his family, yet the wedding proceeds as the Morlands enjoy a rare period of stability and confidence.
That security ends when Britain enters the Crimean War. Cavendish is sent east and disappears during the Charge of the Light Brigade, forcing the family into a winter of uncertainty and grief. The novel contrasts Victorian faith in progress, medicine and domestic improvement with the incompetence and suffering of the Crimean campaign, where aristocratic glamour gives way to military confusion and loss.
