In which Maisie, newly at her father’s house and amid the subtleties of social engagements and elusive explanations, sets out for a stroll in Kensington Gardens with Sir Claude, whose candid demeanor and amusing commentary offer her a curious window onto the tangled relations of those around her. Their chance encounter with Maisie’s mother and her companion introduces a sudden, charged confrontation, revealing the fraught complexities that underlie the appearances and the fragile loyalties in this world of cultivated manners and private dramas.