 Barbara's indebted and calculating mother, Lady Diana Alderley, arrives to inform them of Barbara's possible marriage to Roger Montgeoffry, Earl Devane, a former aide to the deceased Duke.Barbara is pleased with the news, believing herself to be in love with the handsome, wealthy, and popular earl despite his age (nearly thirty years her senior).Roger in turn desires Barbara's dowry of land in London, which he hopes to develop into an opulent estate and townhouses; she and her mother travel to London to make arrangements for the betrothal.