During a visit to York, Lister is delighted when Doctor Belcombe confirms that she is the perfect tonic for Ann Walker’s nervous disorder. When news of a friend’s death arrives, Ann’s desperate reaction makes Lister suspect that she has secrets of her own. Meanwhile, as her rivalry with Christopher Rawson heats up, Lister steps up her plan to re-open her old coal mines. At Shibden, Eugénie’s misfortune has implications for John Booth, and Thomas Sowden spins a risky web of lies after his father’s disappearance.