George informs Maud that, while in London, he took her letter to Geoffrey's uncle's house but found the house closed up. Maud tells him that she's received a letter from Geoffrey, and his uncle has died of a stroke while they were on a business trip and has left all his money to Geoffrey. There is now no reason for her family to object to their marriage. Geoffrey has asked Maud to come to London and discuss their future together, but now her engagement to George has been announced, complicating everything. Swallowing his disappointment manfully, George tells her that her path is clear: do as Reggie did and elope with Geoffrey. Maud is reluctant to do so, but eventually says that she will. As George prepares to leave, Maud asks him what he's going to do. He tells her that he has to go back to London for a short time, then return to America to work on a couple projects he's signed on to. They say good-bye, promising to always be friends.
The night of the dinner party at Belpher Castle, Maud is jarred to find not one, but two rejected suitors seated at the table: George and Edwin Plummer, the man who had been proposing to Maud on the evening of Percy's birthday ball. He has convinced himself that Maud had refused him because she was planning to marry Reggie, but news has gotten out of Alice and Reggie's elopement and he's hoping to catch Maud on the rebound. George is also uncomfortable; he doesn't understand why he's been invited to the dinner and he's also shocked to see Billie Dore, who should be getting ready to go onstage in London at this hour, introduced as Lord M.'s new secretary. George makes conversation with the young lady he's seated next to- Plummer's sister- who turns out to be a big fan of musical theater. She is delighted to find out that George is the Mr. Bevin, famous composer, and announces it loudly to the rest of the table. George is embarrassed, but almost everyone else is delighted except Lady Caroline and Percy, whose plan to have George seem out of place and insignificant and thereby lose Maud's admiration, has failed miserably. His displeasure however is nothing compared to his outrage at what happens next. Lord Marshmoreton rises determinedly at the end of the table and clears his throat. When he has everyone's attention, he announces that Maud and George are engaged to be married and proposes a toast to their happiness. In the shocked silence which follows, there is a sudden sound of breaking glass... Keggs has dropped his serving tray. Later, after dinner, Maud and George retreat to the terrace to try to figure out what to do. Maud starts making a choking sound and George thinks she's crying. It turns out that she's laughing at the memory of the look on her Aunt Caroline's face when Lord Marshmoreton made his announcement. She swiftly sobers though, when she realizes what this means; her father has sent an announcement of the engagement to the newspaper and after it appears, letters of congratulations and gifts will start arriving. She also worries that this will be very hard on George, but he tells her not to be concerned for him; he will do anything she thinks best to extricate Maud from this difficulty. Touched once again by his unselfish and caring attitude, Maud tells George that he is the best friend that she's ever had. She says that she's more comfortable talking to him than she is with anyone else, including Geoffrey. George informs Maud that, while in London, he took her letter to Geoffrey's uncle's house but found the house closed up. Maud tells him that she's received a letter from Geoffrey, and his uncle has died of a stroke while they were on a business trip and has left all his money to Geoffrey. There is now no reason for her family to object to their marriage. Geoffrey has asked Maud to come to London and discuss their future together, but now her engagement to George has been announced, complicating everything. Swallowing his disappointment manfully, George tells her that her path is clear: do as Reggie did and elope with Geoffrey. Maud is reluctant to do so, but eventually says that she will. As George prepares to leave, Maud asks him what he's going to do. He tells her that he has to go back to London for a short time, then return to America to work on a couple projects he's signed on to. They say good-bye, promising to always be friends. Meanwhile in the castle, once the guests are gone Lady Caroline and Percy corner Lord Marshmoreton in his study and harangue him for announcing Maud's engagement to George. At first cringing, Lord M. finds his backbone and stands up to them, saying that Maud is in love and George is a fine man, not to mention rich. Caroline is not convinced and continues her diatribe until interrupted by Lord M's new secretary, Miss Dore, who enters the study and asks him if there's anything he needs done before she goes to bed. Lady Caroline answers for him, telling Billie that he won't be working on the history this night. After she leaves, Caroline resumes her argument, saying that, wealthy and nice or not, George is a nobody. She says that Miss Dore is a nice person, but how would he feel if Percy announced that he was going to marry her? Lord M. says that that would be impossible, gets up and goes to the door. Lady Caroline tells him that she's glad he has that much sense, but then Lord M. continues... it's impossible because he married Miss Dore himself on the previous Wednesday. He escapes out the door before either Caroline or Percy can react.
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