The difference of opinion is only the first of many upsets that well-nigh ruin their Christmas. First, Haydn announces that he intends to chuck his well-paid job so that he can lead a life of rustic simplicity; next, their only son seems to have married a total stranger in suspicious haste. Fortunately, Jonty Cragg has arrived. He is a remarkably ingenious young man and, by Christmas Eve, has manoeuvred Haydn into renouncing his retirement from business, capably cooked the Christmas dinner, and wooed and won Haydn's lovely daughter.