When Thomas and Margaret discover her father has passed away suddenly in the rectory, the whole community joins together, not only in condolences for Margaret but also with pointed suggestions that now might be a good time for Thomas to pop the question. But the funeral of the old vicar means the arrival of a new face in Lark Rise and as we all know, that can only mean a cat has been dropped firmly in among the pigeons.

For the new visitor in none other than Margaret’s brother George. A man who, as a half-trained doctor, comes in handy to pop Sally Arless’s shoulder back in after she dislocates it tripping over on the muddy road to his father’s funeral, and who also offers to lend a hand mending said road so that no other unfortunate souls suffer a similar fate. Although to my mind the “mending” took a form that looked as though many more people would trip and fall than had done so before.

But all this good nature is of no consequence to Margaret, who slaps him about the face as soon as she claps eyes on him, and storms off in high dudgeon. And why is he only a HALF-trained doctor anyway?

Because he’s an atheist! A damn heathen, who will surely burn in the fires of hell for his wickedness. At least, if Thomas Brown is to be believed. And the good people of Lark Rise (and Candleford) – all (most) good, God-fearing people – are only to happy to shun the unbeliever and leave him with nowhere to stay. Nowhere, that is, apart from at the slightly-more-level-headed Dorcas’ place, even though that means sleeping in the same room as Thomas and being subjected to his rather-louder-than-usual evening prayers.

These are fraught times for Margaret. The new vicar coming to replace her father is a married man, so will have no use for a housekeeper. And though she longs to return to the happy days when she and George played cricket in the wheat fields, she can’t forgive him for the years of estrangement from her father and, more meaningfully, the years when George left her to “cope with” her father on her own.

But this is Lark Rise (and Candleford), so no obstacles to happiness can remain in place for long. After an abortive attempt to propose, Thomas is rescued from a ditch by George, Margaret and George are reconciled, and being bowled over by the happiness of the moment, she proposes to Thomas, thereby relieving him of any responsibility apart from that of saying “yes”, which he does in a most gracious manner.

Naturally, the Second Law of Candleford (and Lark Rise) dictates that George, being a transient character, cannot remain. Fortunately, Margaret offers to pay for him to complete his doctorin’ so he can go off to somewhere that isn’t Lark Rise, but isn’t Brazil either. Well, that’ll have to be Oxford then, as the only other place that’s ever mentioned outside of London.

There’s one more loose end to tie up of course. The matter of Margaret’s position, since the Third Law of C(aLR) states that no regular character can ever leave, her worries about the new vicar not needing a housekeeper must be allayed. God be praised! He needs a governess. So that’s alright then. The sun can keep shining in Lark Rise for another week. And Candleford.