Violet Aird is the centre of the novel, the matriarch of the Aird clan, and long-time family friend of Lord Balmerino a.k.a. Archie Blair. The characters of the book all have a problem to overcome, such as jealousy, envy, or greed. Violet watches over them all, but knows she can only watch. Lottie Carstairs, released from the local psychiatric hospital drives Violet's friend (and employee) Edie to distraction - along with everyone else, disagreement over their son's schooling drives parents Edmund and Virginia Aird ever further apart, the Balmerinos are deeply troubled by debt, and into all this, the bewitching and beautiful Pandora Blair, who ran away from home twenty years before, adds her own brand of chaos.