About this story
Falkland is gracious but guarded, prone to sudden silences and burned pages, until you hear him groan behind a locked closet door and he turns on you as though you'd caught him at a crime. He presses five guineas into your hand as apology — and the steward Collins warns that the trunk's secret begins with a man named Barnabas Tyrrel.
How it opens
The cottage retained the smell of funeral earth while rain clicked against your father's unshuttered window.
Mr CollinsYour father's books and tools are yours; I will help you settle the household accounts.
Mr CollinsMr Falkland asks you to attend him tomorrow, after your father's burial duties are complete.
The steward had encouraged your reading for years and reported your progress to the lord of the manor.
Choose
Does Mr Falkland mean to question my father's debts?
What use can the master have for an orphan with village learning?