Phoebe plucks up courage to send Bert a letter asking him to meet her and, although the letter goes astray, she and Bert begin a tentative relationship. She asks him to take her to the opening night of Hankin’s new dancehall on Saturday.

Grace is encouraged by Bill, the Labour candidate, to join the Cycling Club for a bike ride across the Peaks. She makes use of the fact that John is at chapel to escape the farm and join the ride. She returns, full of guilt and excitement, and when he asks her to come to a political meeting he is holding at the Institute, she agrees, telling herself that it is Bill’s political rhetoric that attracts her.

John is aware that Grace is distracted and begins to suspect that she may be interested in Alf Rutter. He retreats further into the daily challenge of making the dairy business work without access to a barn and a milking machine.

Marie Stopes’s caravan arrives in the village, somewhat too late for Agnes who has discovered that she is pregnant with Bairstow’s child. Gilbert Hankin is put in charge of the factory by his father, who is working all hours to open his dancehall. When Gilbert sees that Agnes is unwell he moves her to a different part of the factory, with disastrous results.

Robin comes to Martha’s aid with an opportunity to escape from her stifling marriage to George Allingham and the repression of the Big House. He reinstates her as teacher at the local school, which throws her into Eyre’s company. Meanwhile, Clem begins to suspect the truth about Edmund’s sexuality, and encourages him to get married.

Hankin‘s dancehall opens. Gilbert has persuaded Agnes to accompany him. Phoebe sees that Bert is distracted but doesn’t understand why until Martha arrives