Fortunes of War

Commander Sheppey holds a clandestine meeting to plot against the authorities. Guy, guilty about not being on active service, is determined to be productive. When he cancels a lunch arrangement with Harriet, she worries over his whereabouts. One of his colleagues, Clarence Lawson, entertains a lonely Harriet. Concern for the Drucker family intensifies when they go missing. When Guy and Harriet spend a weekend in the mountains, the feckless Yakimov is left looking after their flat, with tragic consequences. Guy has ambitious plans to stage a production of Troilus and Cressida but casting causes dissent. During the after-show celebration, British envoy Dobson makes a disturbing announcement about the political situation. The Pringles find Sasha Drucker, now in desperate need of their assistance.

A despondent Harriet arrives in Athens, where she's overjoyed to see Yakimov at a cafe. They find employment at the British Information Office but the mood sours when Pinkrose arrives. Harriet meets soldier Charles Warden, who is quite taken with her. She considers an affair but, as she is going to his hotel room on the final afternoon before his departure, she meets Sasha on the stairs. Sasha is convinced that the Pringles turned him in; Harriet assures him they did not. The delay makes her think better of her relationship with Warden. Guy applies for a lecturing post at the English School but is dismayed to find he is not first in the queue. When Athens comes under enemy fire, Yakimov is shot dead by a sentry. The remaining group leave Athens by sea for Cairo.

As Guy struggles to cope with his presumed loss of Harriet, Boulderstone starts his painful and slow road to recovery. Harriet makes a new friend and rediscovers old ones as she takes in the sights of Damascus. Upon discovering that Guy thinks she's dead, Harriet rushes back to Egypt.