About this story
Sir Patrick drinks and spends until his own funeral procession is stopped on the road and his hearse seized for debt. His heir, Sir Murtagh, answers each humiliation with a lawsuit, selling land to fund the next one, while your son Jason quietly keeps the ledger no one else will read. Two reigns end before dawn; a third master is coming who has not seen the bill.
How it opens
You had served the Rackrent family long enough to call loyalty a duty even when judgment objected.
Sir Patrick RackrentKeep the doors open, Thady; an unexpected guest honours the house twice.
Sir Patrick RackrentMy table feeds landowners, neighbours, and any gentleman content with the chicken house afterward.
Estate AgentHospitality has consumed rents not yet collected, and tradesmen have stopped accepting promises.
Sir Patrick answered accounts with another birthday feast and a bowl of his celebrated raspberry whiskey.
Sir Patrick RackrentA full house is better security for a gentleman's name than a full strongbox.