Under orders from Winston Churchill, Tommy is brokering an arms deal for the Russian "Whites" (monarchists) to fight the Bolsheviks.

The wedding party is a jarring collision between the "loutish" Shelby family and Grace’s family of British cavalrymen. This friction highlights the Shelbys' status as "outsiders"—working-class, Catholic, and Irish Travelers—trying to navigate a rigid social order.

The tension peaks with the arrival of Anton Kaledin, a Soviet spy posing as a contact. When he provides the wrong code name ("Constantine"), Tommy orders his execution.

Tommy’s desperate plea to his family—"No cocaine, no sport... and the main thing is, no fighting"—is undercut within minutes by his own violence against a servant and the brutal murder occurring in the cellar. International Espionage: The Russian Plot