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Flamboyant charm often masks quiet marital detachment and youthful angst.

Felicity, Lady Chetwode, manages an extravagant London household while her husband spends his time at horse races and antique auctions. Her sixteen-year-old brother Savile consults her over his absurd romantic complications, including a boyhood engagement to Dolly Clive and a crush on Adelina Patti. Meanwhile, family pressure builds around their sister Sylvia to marry the wealthy Greek banker Mr. Ridokanaki, despite underlying hints that she favors her father's impoverished secretary, Frank Woodville.

CHAPTER I → CHAPTER IV

Secret devotion struggles against societal demands and unexamined jealousy.

Savile confides his verses to his traditional Aunt William before meeting fourteen-year-old Dolly Clive in Berkeley Square to formally end their secret childhood engagement. Meanwhile, Frank Woodville secretly loves Sylvia Crofton, enduring the agony of watching wealthy suitors like the banker Mr. Ridokanaki pursue her with extravagant gifts. Bound by pride and lack of fortune, Woodville insists on keeping their secret engagement concealed from her father, Sir James, who sees his secretary as entirely unmarriageable.

CHAPTER V → CHAPTER VII

Social advice bureaus and rival schemes mask genuine emotional yearning.

Felicity holds court in her boudoir, acting as a sentimental advisor to eccentric friends like Jasmyn Vere while fending off the aggressive advances of Bertie Wilton. To indulge Savile's hopeless adoration of the singer Adelina Patti, she secretly funds his brief pilgrimage to Wales. Meanwhile, the Greek banker Mr. Ridokanaki hosts Woodville at dinner and offers him a lucrative position running a bank in Athens, subtly attempting to remove his romantic rival from London.

CHAPTER VIII → CHAPTER XI

Intimate confrontations expose the absurdity of rigid social expectations.

Sylvia secretly visits Woodville's shabby Chelsea studio to confront him over the proposed exile to Athens, refusing to let financial pride separate them. Savile arrives to escort Sylvia home safely, quietly shielding her reputation without revealing his knowledge of her romance. Meanwhile, Felicity visits her self-dramatizing friend Vera Ogilvie, offering sharp comedic perspective on Vera's artificial romantic anxieties and planning a group outing to Madame Tussaud's.

CHAPTER XII → CHAPTER XVI

Rare stolen moments of freedom challenge long-standing personal restraint.

Weary of continuous self-denial, Woodville yields to Sylvia's persuasion and takes her on an illicit afternoon excursion to Richmond Park. Back in London, Savile approaches his brother-in-law, Lord Chetwode, asking him to use high-society connections to secure Woodville a respectable position. Chetwode agrees to quietly assist, while showing the first subtle signs of marital jealousy over Bertie Wilton's persistent attendance upon Felicity.

CHAPTER XVII → CHAPTER XX

Prophetic fortunes and renewed youthful pacts steady uncertain futures.

A fortune-teller named Madame Zero predicts a church wedding for Sylvia during a gathering at Vera Ogilvie's home. In Berkeley Square, Dolly Clive breaks with her French admirer after being neglected at a dance, prompting Savile to re-establish their childhood engagement on his own terms. Seeking further aid for Woodville, Savile consults the hospitable Jasmyn Vere, who generously offers his own private capital to set the young secretary up in business.

CHAPTER XXI → CHAPTER XXVI

Unexpected fortune resolves complex romantic entanglements at the last moment.

Aunt William receives word from Savile that Mr. Ridokanaki has fallen in love with a French girl in Paris, releasing Sylvia and offering Woodville a lucrative banking appointment in London. Galvanized by the news, Aunt William abandons her strict thirty-year habit of staying home on her reception day to help convince Sir James to approve the marriage. With financial obstacles dismantled and parental opposition overcome, Sylvia and Woodville finally secure their long-awaited future together.

CHAPTER XXVII → CHAPTER XXVIII

Book

The Twelfth Hour

An insider look at Edwardian London society where lighthearted wit, vanity, and secret devotions resolve complicated romantic entanglements.

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