Preparations are underway for a wedding of convenience at the Big House between Edmund and Harriet. Meanwhile, a love match takes place in the village as Gilbert and Agnes get married in the face of Norma's fierce opposition.

The Middletons are finally doing well but Grace and John are drifting apart as her politicisation sits uneasily with John's determined self-reliance. But he loves her and is determined to win her back. Meanwhile, Bert decides to leave the village altogether and make his fortune elsewhere. And Martha and Eyre wonder at what kind of future they could have together.

When Bert and Phoebe are caught by a gamekeeper on Big House land, he marches them back to the reception hoping to shame them. To his surprise the villagers are outraged as courting couples have been sneaking off to the Hollow for many years.

Thus begins a chain of events which leads the villagers to trespass on the day of the Allingham wedding in protest at the blocking of traditional paths. All of these stories come together as the protest begins. When the march is hijacked by Bill Gibby, it quickly escalates out of control - with disastrous consequences for John and many others in the village. Show less