In pre-WWI London, struggling writer Tommy Brown befriends an older, enigmatic man named Alfred Oddy. Bonding over shared literary tastes, the two find comforting companionship, though Tommy eventually begins to question who Mr Oddy truly is and the strange coincidences surrounding him.

George prefers to doze but then a startling transformation occurs after he meets a beautiful young woman.

Hugh's domineering mother expects him to marry the woman she has chosen for him, but will her scheme go to plan?

American reporter James Dell attends a society party in London and encounters Mrs Isobel Asterley, a hostess wearing a priceless emerald pendant originating from Italy's historic Orsini family. Dell, however, recognises Mrs Asterley as his childhood nanny who had been in love with his father and ultimately left the treasured gems in his will. Seeking a form of personal revenge for his mother, Dell contemplates exposing her and the secret legacy of the emeralds.

Fanny returns home after 12 years to marry her first love, Harry, a furnace worker, but must reconcile her more sophisticated existence with his working-class lifestyle, a conflict brought to a head by local gossip and a confrontation in church, ultimately leading her to choose love and sensuality over social aspirations.

Follows a music critic's encounters with the multifaceted Grace, a woman who presents different personas to different lovers.

Paul Pellew visits the family home of his girlfriend, Eleanor Maltby. He comes under the deceptive guise of merely studying local churches because Eleanor is terrified of letting her family know the truth about their socially incompatible romance.

Set primarily in an interior/apartment space, a writer is working on a book concerning an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister. In the manuscript, an apparent inadvertence leads to a woman the PM is speaking with being shot instead of the intended target.

Explores themes of change and life on the cusp of a wedding day, featuring detailed regional settings and characters dealing with personal struggles.

Philip and Lally love each other and are living together without matrimonial bond. Their relationship begins after Philip finds Lally in distress and helps her. Thus, they were lonely before they met each other.