With 12 weeks still to go before Helene's baby is due, Dorothy hopes to speed up the process in order to honour the dying wishes of Edmund's mother and deliver an heir to Hunderby within a year of her death. Recruiting Biddy as a makeshift midwife, Dorothy refuses the assistance of a real medic despite Helene's protestations. "I'm sure Mistress Helene would rather Biddy's pipe up her canal than Doctor Foggerty's clumsy thumbs," says the devious housekeeper. With Edmund distracted by a gift from Brother Joseph in the form a new companion to replace Geoff, Annie goes in search of Doctor Foggerty as she fears for the safety of Helene. But when Dorothy attempts to stop Graham seeing his former lover and a struggle ensues, all hell breaks loose as a wealth of secrets are unravelled - not least the origin of bubbly milk - and everything that was known at Hunderby is turned upside down.