Unable to communicate with the Belgian refugees they're expected to look after has left the staff feeling put out, frustrated, and angry. They want the refugees to leave but, after hearing their tragic stories, things change and they're sorry to see them go. Meanwhile, Edward is caught in the middle between those who love him and want him to be safe, and everyone else who make him feel guilty for not enlisting; but after hearing the refugees' stories, he decides to do what he thinks is right, and Daisy is not pleased.

After James talks about an appalling lack of ammunition, Geoffrey Dillon leaks it to the press for political gain. Pleased with the results, a grateful Dillon pulls strings to get James a promotion and a cushy job, but James doesn't want it. Hoping he'll intervene, James goes to his CO who shows him the story and, citing his discovery that James is the leak, refuses to help, turning the desk job into a punishment of sorts. Meanwhile, Edward and Daisy become engaged.

The bitter anti-German sentiment generated by the sinking of the Lusitania causes the Bellamy servants to consider their own attitudes when a local tradesman of German descent is attacked, along with his family. Hazel discovers that Hudson has been spreading scare stories around the servants' hall and displaying an exaggerated hatred of Germans.

Daisy and Edward get married right before he ships off to France. Georgina goes to the train station to see a couple of friends off and sees the horrors of war firsthand. She's so moved by what she witnesses that she applies for a volunteer nursing program. On another note, James has been writing her letters in secret. Ruby surprises everyone with a surprise announcement.~

James is home on leave and finds the rest of the family busy with war work. He's so unhappy with his current position on staff, so Hazel makes a sacrifice on his behalf. Georgina finds that nursing is more demanding and less glamorous than she imagined. Most of the housework at Eaton Place now falls on Daisy after Rose obtains a part-time job.

The reappearance of Gregory Wilmot throws Rose into a tailspin. Lady Prudence butts heads with Helen over a tea party for wounded officers.

Hazel has a little fling with Lt. Jack Dyson, whom she met at the tea party for wounded officers, and is seen by one of her lady acquaintances. James and Georgina meet in France and share a moment of passion.

Sadly, perhaps inevitably, a double dose of tragic news arrives for those at Eaton Place.

This difficult year finally comes to bumpy close. Helen and Richard meet Mrs. Charles Hamilton who wants Richard to help get her pet project off the ground. Edward is home on leave but all is not well. A bombing in London brings a familiar face back to Eaton Place.

Lady Prudence commandeers the Bellamy drawing room for a worthy cause. Another London bombing, another close call, and another tragedy is heaped upon the tattered nerves of those at Eaton Place.

Grasping at straws, the Bellamy family continue to search for any information to indicate James is still alive, but when Trooper Frederick Norton, James' servant, arrives to deliver James' personal belongings, Hazel loses all hope.

Virginia Hamilton returns to Eaton Place, seeking Richard's advice for her son who is facing a court martial. Meanwhile, Edward is scheduled to go back to France, and James is wallowing in self-pity.

Rose receives excellent news, James is depressed about his slow recovery, Richard is courting Virginia, and the Great War is winding down to a victorious conclusion, but there's still one more casualty to be claimed.