The Homecoming

Selling Larkdale Hall seemed the right remedy for the escalating troubles of the Heriots. However, stepping towards their independent lives, not knowing what was going to happen, seemed only to exacerbate tensions amongst them. Their initial troubles intensified, their woes worsened, causing them to fall into deeper and more serious difficulties. Charles Heriot, once a pillar of society, becomes unrecognisable to all who knew him. This respectable and revered man turns into a low-down drunken adulterer. And, only a miracle could patch up his awkward estrangement from the lovely Clarinda, who is dumbstruck and bewildered by his behaviour. Then, Haydon. He imagined he had found some paradise with Rowena, only to find he had married a woman with a trail of debts following her. Now he truly knows the meaning of money worries. He is at the end of his tether not only for himself and Rowena but also for Bertie, Betsy and their newborn baby. Their lives are an utter shambles. It is not plain sailing for Matilda and Leyton either. She does love Leyton but finds him extremely insensitive at times. Her feelings get hurt; she becomes exasperated by things he says. At times being with him is something of a labour. Then he loses his job at Larkdale Hall, where he had been retained, when Richard Heriot sold the house. To make matters worse, Matilda must come to terms with not being a mother. She had not bargained on not getting pregnant. All in all, the Heriots were going through hell. Now this family is not only fragmented and fragile but also a family on the cusp of destruction. However, Richard Heriot did have a plan. He believed his wonderful plan could be the magic key to saving his family. But would his fantastic idea be the final solution for his beloved family? Only time would tell.