Delphine even runs a London night club which has a delicious free and easy atmosphere, a great source of fascination to the London social scene including, of course, the lovely Rose Selfridge, Harry's wife.
There were snippets of things to come but this first programme was a slow watch.
We had Selfridge's 15-year-old son Gordon telling his parents he'd had it with school and wanted to be with good old father at the coal face, the glistening and lavish department store. And dad, being the stickler for detail and all, told his boy that was fine but he needed to start at the bottom in the store's loading bay and work his way up.
This, of course, caused Mother Rose to flutter her lace-edged hankie and flee and son's bottom lip to plummet, but Dad was resolute so good lad Gordon traipsed in and helped in the stores.
And matrimonial trouble is simmering for the exquisitely petulant Lady Mae Loxley (Katherine Kelly, who was the fab, irascible Becky in Coronation Street).
Her snarling husband Lord Loxley (Aidan McArdle) arrives back in London unexpectedly and Mae overhears him trying to persuade and blackmail his way on to a Government military committee with the rumours of impending war.
He also ensured he publicly insulted his proud Lady Mae in the foyer amidst towering floral displays and the perfume counter in Selfridges store ... the Lady's ire was palpable but she contained herself with superb style ... I look forward to the next match.
So all the elements are lining up, it's just that I'm impatient. A British costume drama is not really a race track, I suppose.
