On a crisp autumn morning in 1903, a young woman seeks employment in a fashionable London townhouse.

Richard Bellamy engages an artist to paint a portrait of his beautiful wife, Lady Marjorie.

Matters get out of hand when the servants mock their employers while the family are away on a summer holiday.

Elizabeth returns from studying abroad and the household are in a frenzy, preparing for Elizabeth's entrée into London society.

Elizabeth decides not to marry Angus and is captivated by a German-baron visiting England at Christmas.

Richard's genuine concern for the new house parlormaid has eyebrows raised and tongues wagging.

Her sense of duty and loyalty are severely compromised when Lady Marjorie has a passionate affair with a friend of James, with whom she falls deeply in love.

Upstairs, Lady Majorie and friends plan an outing for the servants. However, Downstairs there is romantic intrigue going on between Emily and the next door footman.

Months after Emily's death, a grief-ridden Mrs. Bridges takes leave of her senses.

In an effort to help the poor in London's East End, James and Elizabeth come face-to-face with a downtrodden Sarah .

James entertains a visiting Swedish friend, and Sarah is the prime suspect when valuable household objects go missing.

On the eve of her 21st birthday, Elizabeth is utterly defiant and, consequently, on the brink of a complete breach with her parents.

Despite their disdain for social conventions, Elizabeth marries Fabian socialist and poet, Lawrence Kirbridge, in a traditional church service and all of its trappings.