Having secured a month's work at the manor house, Laura's father takes in a homeless family. It's only meant to be for one night but when they wake the next morning, they find the family has gone on having left their little girl, Polly, behind. He takes her to work with him but when Lady Midwinter finds her in the garden, she proposes to her husband that they keep her as their own. He doesn't agree and raises eyebrows, especially those of the Pratt sisters, when he takes the girl to Dorcas' house late in the evening. Dorcas and Laura plot to move true love along by sending a poem from Thomas to the minister's daughter. He receives one in return but a mix-up leads some people to jump to wrong conclusions.
—garykmcd