After the death of the Duchess of Omnium the grieving Duke suddenly finds himself responsible for family matters that his wife had largely managed, and when he discovers that Lady Mary has already pledged herself with her mother’s approval to Frank Tregear, a young gentleman whose fortune and position he considers inadequate, he declares the marriage impossible and orders his daughter to give up the attachment, while his eldest son Lord Silverbridge also begins moving away from paternal expectations by entering politics as a Conservative rather than following the family’s Liberal tradition and by remaining deeply involved in racing, leaving the Duke to confront the painful realization that all three of his children possess wills and ambitions quite independent of his own.
