Plot

The stables are proving to be hard to financially manage as Rob and Colin get behind in the bank re-payments. Victoria turns down another proposal.

Victoria, frustrated with being a maid, ponders Herbert's marriage proposal, even though she still holds a torch for Rob. Colin and Rob pursue thieves who stole ten of their horses. With Amanda Douge as Victoria Blackwood, Greg Parker as Herbert Elliott.

The stables are proving to be hard to financially manage as Rob and Colin get behind in the bank re-payments. Victoria turns down another proposal, this time from Herbert Elliott and she decides that it is time to leave. Meanwhile, Matt has his birthday.

Biddie ("Kate Atkinson") continues tormenting Victoria ("Amanda Douge"), and the Blackwood girl's discomfort is exacerbated by knowing she is the subject of gossip and pity in the town.

A man called Ben Lennox ("Richard Sutherland") visits Langara and tells Matt ("Andrew Clarke") he'd like to hire or buy some horses from him to use as mounts for a party of sight-seers. Matt refers the Lennox to Rob and Colin's stables.

A slick real estate agent, Ambrose Wylie ("Neil Pigot") books into Jessie's hotel, announcing that he is on the look-out for properties in the area. Victoria, at the end of her tether, asks Rob ("Guy Pearce") to lend her her train fare back to Melbourne, but he has to turn her down due to his own lack of funds.

Lennox goes to the stables to ask if they can meet his needs. The McGregor boys are only too eager to take his business, as they have fallen behind with installments on an operating loan made by the bank, due to Rob's poor book-keeping skills. The payment Lennox makes by cheque upfront enables the boys to contribute to a new saddle the family is buying Matt as a present for his birthday.

Victoria surprises many people by having an intimate dinner with Herbert Elliott ("Greg Parker"), but she is in for a shock of her own when Herbert confesses that he has always been in love with her. Meanwhile Rob tells his father that he has high ambitions for the stables, in the hope that becoming a successful businessman will compel Victoria to accept his marriage proposal, but even as he speaks, Herbert is asking Victoria to be his wife. Victoria tells Herbert she needs time to think, but promises to give him an answer in the morning, and it's Herbert's turn to be astonished when the next day she accepts his offer. However, this is nothing compared to the double shock Rob receives when Herbert announces firstly his marriage to Victoria, and secondly the fact that the cheque Lennox used to pay for the horses is worthless because the issuing bank is no longer trading, meaning effectively that Lennox has stolen the best livestock from the stables.

Despite the fact that marrying Herbert will solve her financial problems, it's clear from how distressed Victoria is when she's alone in her room that she has acted out of self-preservation, rather than love.

Herbert informs Matt about Lennox's con job. Rob and Colin ("Brett Climo") ride out after Lennox, and when they split up temporarily, Colin discovers the crook in a remote cabin, but unexpectedly this turns out to be his family home, where he lives with his wife and small child. He comes clean to Colin, and his unsuspecting wife, confessing that Wylie, the real estate speculator, had been behind the whole plot, and that he (Lennox) had only gone along with the scheme because he had lost all he had in the bank's collapse, and was desperate to provide for his family.

Jessie ("Josephine Byrnes") and Matt talk to Victoria and convince her not to marry for the wrong reasons, and further offer to help her stand on her own two feet. She therefore changes her mind, and tells Herbert that she doesn't love him and calls off their engagement. The banker is devastated, but takes the news with charm,and pledges her his unending friendship.

Rob catches up with Wylie, and reclaims the stolen horses. When he hands Wylie over to the troopers, he is ecstatic to discover that there is a substantial reward for the man's capture, as he is wanted for his part in the collapse of the bank.

A contrite Lennox apologises to the McGregors, who decide to be lenient with him, choosing not to turn him over to the authorities, and even giving him a horse and a promise of work on Langara.

Determined to make a fresh start, Victoria says goodbye to Rob and departs on the stagecoach for Melbourne, leaving a saddened Herbert behind,. However Biddie, ever on the lookout for a good prospect, dolls herself up and makes a beeline for him while he's vulnerable.