Scarlet Feather II

Just when Cathy and Tom are getting a kitchen to work from and starting off the business, Cathy gets some financial backing from her aunt Geraldine. Geraldine is her mother's sister, who has gotten out of poverty and set up her own business. She is single and has a lot of admirers. Then, Neil's family have a crisis. Jock Mitchell, Neil's father, has a brother (Walter's father) who is a failure at business and always in financial trouble. His wife Kay is very neurotic and she drinks. The couple have two children who are a lot younger than Walter. Simon and Maud are twins and still school children. Kay is a neglectful mother because of her "nerves" and drinking. Kenneth, the father is not much better. Kay ends up in hospital because of her drinking, and the children are sent to Jock Mitchell's house as there's noone to look after them. They are rather bratty because their parents have never cared much for them. Hannah Mitchell has them to stay for a couple of days and they steal food and leave a bath running so that the ceiling collapses. She is not particularly maternal so she passes the kids on to Cathy. Cathy tries to look after them but she is very busy, and her parents Maurice and Lizzie Scarlet offer to help. Strangely, the children in spite of their bad behaviour, take a liking to the older Scarlets, and begin to improve...Muttie (Maurice) tells them about betting on the horses, which is his passion. But he insists they do their homework and help in the house. Cathy can see that they are improving, and is pleased and begins to like them. She can see that their parents are terrible and have let them grow up wild. But Neil feels as a lawyer with left wing views, that children should be with their blood parents. He tries to work at getting Kenneth and Kay to take on their responsibilities and look after Simon and Maud.