Josiah Ferraby is a wealthy Northern ironmaster, active in civic improvements. It is feared bearing another child will kill his beloved wife Eliza. As he is periodically obliged to go to London, where he is struggling to make the contacts they need to expand and develop their interests, she suggests he takes a mistress there, away from local gossip. He is introduced to the noted courtesan, Madame Clorinda Cathcart…