Desperate Romantics - Episode 6

Tuesday 25th August 2009

Rossetti and Lizzie return from their honeymoon, ready to settle into conventional married life. However, when Millais proposes the idea of an artistic colony for the Brotherhood and their wives, Rossetti is immediately attracted by the bohemian notion of group living. Lizzie – used to Rossetti's wandering eye – is less than enthusiastic.

True to form, within days of their return, Rossetti starts up a flirtation with William Morris's wife, Jane Burden. Ruskin also abandons Lizzie, withdrawing his support for her art. As her life seemingly spirals out of control, Lizzie turns to the highly potent narcotic, laudanum, to numb her pain.

Hunt, meanwhile, sets out to win back Annie Miller, hoping to persuade her to move into Millais's colony with him. He sends Fred to deliver his latest offer of marriage. Annie, unsurprisingly, has had enough of Hunt and tells Fred that she has no intention of accepting the proposal. Fred seizes his own chance of happiness and proposes to her himself, even though he's still in love with Lizzie. Annie laughs off the offer, leaving Fred humiliated and vowing, in future, to always tell the truth, no matter how brutal.

When Fred chooses the fragile Lizzie as a recipient of one of his home truths, little can he imagine the devastating consequences...